The graphics in Mr. Driller are strictly 2D. No real glitz, no real glamour. Fortunately, they’re in the PSX’s 640x480 mode, so they’re quite crisp. However, this being a puzzle game, the graphics aren’t really expected to be mind-blowing 3D goodness. Still, a little more pizzazz would have been nice, but as it seems that Mr. Driller is basically a port of an arcade game, one can expect that it’s going to look a whole lot like said arcade game. The graphics themselves are in the “Kawaii Japanese” style, with lots of pastels and cute character design.

The sound effects in Mr. Driller are adequate and very Japanese as well, from the “Nam-co!” at the beginning to the indecipherable sound that Mr. Driller makes when he gets an air capsule. Whatever it is, it’s Japanese. The music in the game is... unique. The intro theme starts out music-box style, then busts a beat, then shifts back. I don’t get it, but I know what I like, and I like it. Definitely some of the strangest video game music I’ve heard in a long time, but it’s damned memorable, that’s for sure.

Mr. Driller is about gameplay, and it’s got it in spades. You’re this little drilling dude, and the object of the game is to drill down to either a certain depth or (in Survival mode) as long as you can survive. There are different color blocks, which if you drill one, the entire connected section of those disappears. Of course, this may cause the things above it to become unstable, in which case they wiggle for a second before smashing down. If they touch any blocks of the same color as themselves, they stick, and if they total four or more, they disappear. We’re talking massive chain reactions of death, folks, and sometimes it rains down on you and you get smooshed without knowing why. But most of the game is spent drilling, picking up oxygen (so you don’t run out), and basically trying to get deeper and deeper.

Like any good puzzle game, the style itself is addictive. It has its issues, however -- things will often come down on you that you didn’t see before, and you have only a split-second to react without getting completely splattered. This is really noticeable in some of the Time Attack levels, especially Armory. This keeps the game from being as pure of a speed-puzzle delight as, say, Tetris Attack was, because at least then you knew everything that was happening. It’s still enjoyable, though, and a few precautions (digging into safe-houses) will generally keep you safe from any fallout of a massive chain reaction.

The game itself offers many gameplay modes. You can play Arcade-style, which lets you try to get to either 2500 or 5000 feet; you can play Survival Mode, which gives you one life and has you dig as deep as possible; you can try the devilishly hard Time Attack, which gives you barely enough time to dig through a certain amount of feet of crap, picking up little clocks that cut seconds off your time a la Crash Team Racing. Of all the modes, Time Attack is the hardest to do consistently, but it’s the one I found myself going back to the most. There’s something about a purposefully impossible challenge that makes me want to best it. (People say it’s just the masochist in me.)

Once you understand the basic game mechanics, Mr. Driller is very simple. That’s not to say that it’s easy. The Time Attack is hard as hell, and it’ll be many times that you die before you really get deep into any of the other modes. Perseverance pays off, however, and soon enough you’ll find yourself “drilling” to new depths. (Har har.)

For a puzzle game, it has all the right mechanics; they’re understood within seconds of playing the game. Sure, the fine details may warrant a browse through the instructions, but... it’s not really necessary. The controls themselves are tight, perfect for the digital pad, and since all the buttons do the same thing, you’re not really going to find yourself getting confused. Mr. Driller isn’t the end-all, be-all of action puzzle games (Tetris Attack and the original Tetris are going to have to hold that title for now, and probably forever), but it’s a damned fine romp through the genre, and at the low price that it’s being offered, you can hardly go wrong with it. Pick it up.