------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr Driller Drill Spirits FAQ By Rok Bloom ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---Chapter 1--- Chapter 1:Table of Contents/Intro/Game Info Chapter 2:Mission Driller Chapter 3:Pressure Driller Chapter 4:Time Attack Driller Chapter 5:Driller Store Chapter 6:Frequently Asked Questions Chapter 7:Miscellaneous To go directly to the start of a chapter hit control + F and type in the code. Chapter 2: *ch2* Chapter 3: *ch3* Chapter 4: *ch4* Chapter 5: *ch5* Chapter 6: *ch6* Chapter 7: *ch7* Mr Driller Drill Spirits is a DS game made by Namco that involves you drilling through colored blocks to reach a certain depth to save a fellow driller. It also has two more modes: Pressure Driller and Time Attack Driller. In Pressure Driller theres a giant Drill machine trying to drill you, so you must get power blocks and shoot fireballs to destroy the maching. Time Attack driller involves you reaching a depth in a certain amount of time, aided by collecting blocks that reduce your time. Mr. Driller Drill Spirits is rated E for Everyone +-Characters-+ -Susumu- Susumu is the first driller you get. The basic all around driller. -Puchi- Puchi is the second driller you get. He is aimed towards novice drillers and consumes air slower than Susumu and his special ability is to jump up 2 blocks. (Unlock Puchi by completing Japan: 500m) -Holinger-Z- Holinger-Z is a great choice, especially for novice drillers. He gets 2 hits per life as opposed to the normal 1. He also consumes air slower than Susumu. (Unlock Holinger-Z by completing China: 800m) -Anna Hottenmeyer- Anna is a faster than normal driller, but she also consumes air faster than Susumu. (Unlock Anna Hottenmeyer by completing India: 1000m) -Taizo Hori- Taizo moves slower than Susumu and also eats up air quickly. To counter this, he also drills blocks quicker than Susumu and most others. (Unlock Taizo by completing Egypt: 1500m) -Ataru Hori- Ataru moves very quickly but also eats air very quickly. He is Susumu's brother and Taizo's son. (Unlock Ataru by completing America: 2000m) -Usagi-RUMOR- Usagi is available in the Japanese version, and is rumored to be in the USA version after being seen as the 7th character on the character select wheel on a TV show. (Unknown how to unlock) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---Chapter 2:Mission Driller--- *ch2* Mission Driller is the basic game. Your goal is to drill down to a certain depth to save your fellow drillers. Each stage after the Drill Lab 300m stage also unlocks the driller your trying to save. You have 3 lives to complete each level. --Controls-- Drill A, B, or Y Move D-Pad Jump up Blocks Hold <- or -> --Hints and Strategies-- Mr Driller isn't a game where you can write a walkthrough, persay, so instead I will give you different hints or strategies you can use to help. --General Hints-- Air: You dont need to get every single air container. Unless its on your way down or really easy to get, you can usually pass on it unless your below 50%. Drillers: If you are having trouble with a stage, I suggest looking at which driller is best for that situation. Holinger-Z is a good character for most stages in Mission Driller, but someone such as Ataru would be a good choice for Time Attack Driller. Getting Stuck: If you find yourself stuck in X-Block bowls, try using Puchi, who's special ability allows him to jump up two blocks as opposed to one. -Straight Down Strategy- An easy strategy to use. It's basically trying to drill straight down so that no blocks can fall and crush you. Only move when you need air or there is an X-Block in the way. -Drill and Go Strategy- This strategy basically involves drilling as fast as you can to beat Air Levels and blocks squishing you. This is a good strategy to use on Time Attack Driller and with characters like Ataru and Taizo. -Strategy Strategy- This involves going slowly and looking for ways to make combos to destroy blocks. This is best used with drillers with slow air consumption, such as Puchi or Holinger-Z. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---Chapter 3:Pressure Driller--- *ch3* Pressure Driller is a bit different than the normal drilling modes. There is a giant Drill O' Doom Machine trying to drill you. On the top screen there is a map on the right showing where the Destroyer Drill is in relation to your driller. There are a few special blocks in this mode. -The Destroyer Drill will shoot out little red blocks that act just like X-Blocks. You lose air for destroying them and they like to block off passages... -The Destroyer Drill also shoots out White Destroyer Blocks (which act as regular white blocks) and Destroyer Crystal Blocks (which act as normal crystal blocks) -There are also Power Capsules, they look like air capsules, but are darker. You can hold a maximum of 3 at a time, giving you max power. --How to Defeat the Destroyer Drill-- The Destroyer Drill has a health bar on the top screen underneath the "radar". It says D-HP and has a bar underneath it. The actual health is shown next to the bar. Such as on the first level it is 200 Tons. First, build up power, preferably 3 capsules, (shown next to your air gauge). Next, watch for the flower thing to pop out of the Giant Drill. Then, line yourself up and press X to shoot a fire ball straight up. If it hits the flower, the Giant Drill will flash and loose health according to how much power you had built up. When the power gets low, it will loose its outer armor and just be the skeleton of the machine. Sometimes it will go into "berserk mode" and come down faster and shoot many blocks out. If you get squished by blocks or lose all your air, you dont lose the game, but you lose lots of time and the Giant Drill may catch up to you. If you touch the Giant Drill, you lose the game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---Chapter 4:Time Attack Driller--- *ch4* In Time Attack Driller, you have to reach a certain depth within the time limit. There are, however, special blocks to help you with this. Look out for the blocks that look like little clocks with a number on them. They subtract the amount shown on their face from your time. Be careful with these though, dont go out of your way to get them or you may lose more time than you gain. On some stages there are long streaks of these clocks, which are worth getting usually. Know when these are coming up and plan accordingly. In Time Attack mode, you only have one life, so be careful! Good drillers to use in Time Attack mode are Ataru and Taizo. I suggest against using slow characters like Puchi and Holinger-Z, as well. I beat most if not all of these levels after unlocking Taizo. His fast drilling helps a lot. -Stage A, The Amazon- This is a easy straight forward stage. Stay towards the middle and pick up the -1 blocks as you go. Be sure to look out for the chute with lots of -1s. Difficulty * -Stage B, Brazil- This stage has a lot of chutes for you to go down. Be sure to look out for these as they also usually end up with a -1 or other clock block. Falling is faster than drilling is a nice motto for this stage. Difficulty * -Stage C, China- Time limit is 45 seconds? Wow! This should be easy! Actually, its pretty hard. But its also a favorite of mine with all the nifty little switches. There are about 4 little sections of blocks, you have to use switches to pass them. The only part you might have trouble with is the last switch area. Make sure to hit the switch on the left before hitting the flip switch on the bottom, or else you will be crushed. You have to leave that flip switch in the hole because when the left-most flip switch flips the stage, you have to run into that hole so your not smushed. Difficulty ** -Stage D, Denmark- This stage involves a lot of running, so I suggest Ataru or Taizo. Ataru's fast running speed is very helpful here. On Denmark, try to follow the clocks, usually at the end of a crystal chute. Also, on one part with -.5 blocks in a pattern, be sure to pick those up. You should be at about 8s or so when you start the full screen run across between the X Blocks. At the end, drill the red block and fall down that. Difficulty ** -Stage E, Egypt- Ah! Egpyt! This is an interesting stage as well. This stage is taken in parts. WHen you start, drill down the left side and drill out the bottom layer just above the row of X BLocks, then get under the hole in the X Block mountain as it will come raining down. Watch for incoming blocks on the top screen then pick up all the -1 blocks. Repeat this for the next 3 X Block clusters making sure to pick up all the -1 blocks possible without being smushed. After you know how to do this stage, its pretty easy and you should be able to get around 18s. Difficulty *** -Stage F, France- This is a stage that has a ton of X Blocks. Start out by drilling to the left, let the starting X Block chunks open a passage and collect the -3. Drill down to the bottom of this X Block cluster and cross over, drill as fast as you can down and pick up the clocks along the way. Difficulty *** -Stage G, Germany- This is a stage that should remind you of a collapsing mine. It involves a very large number of crystal blocks dropping large amounts of blocks on you. Drill as fast as you can, picking up clocks on your way. I got 21s on my second try at this level. Difficulty ** -Stage H, Hong Kong- This is a rather straight-forward drilling stage. Just be sure to stay toward the right side if you can as there are a lot of X Blocks on the top left. Be sure to go down the -2 clock chute on the left though. Difficulty *** -Stage I, Italy- This stage has a reallllllly tight time limit. This stage has you riding down brown block elevators as they fall a lot faster than you can drill and then drilling to the other side, catching the next elevator. Follow the elevators down until you get to the bottom, being sure to get clocks along the way. Watch out when you get to the 100m barrier, as a nasty little suprise waits for you from above. Drill as fast as possible to hit the barrier. It is vital to completing this stage on time that you hit every elevator. Be careful on the part where there are two rows of 3 X Blocks with a clock in the middle. Get the clock and scoot BACK out, then fall down the chute after the X Blocks fall, then hop in the elevators. For the last 50m or so, it is elevator after elevator, so move quickly. Note: Clocks are often found in the place where you sit in the elevators. This is a really fun stage, but its just really hard as well. Difficulty **** -Stage J, Japan- This is one hard stage. Trust me. Start by drilling to the right, and down to avoid getting smushed by the X Blocks. Drill to the left asap before the crystal blocks break. Drill down as fast as possible. Follow the path, watching out for the traps. Drill straight down here until you hit a wall. Next part is a crystal block landslide, which flows into a lethal combo stage. Next is the hard part, follow the chutes collecting the -.5 blocks. Ride the Silver X Block elevators. Here is the hardest part. Clear out a lot of blocks on the top rows then drop the X Blocks to cause a chain reaction, hit the switch and watch out. Next, drill down and chain reaction these X-Blocks as well. Hit the switch and watch out for falling blocks. Almost there! Drill down and hit the crystal switch, followed by the flip switch. Drill like mad to the finish! Congratulations! Now you beat Time Attack! Just Kidding. Now you get to do the Reverse Stages X.X Difficulty ***** -The Reverse Stages- The Reverse Stages are the exact copies of the above stages, flipped horizontally. They also have incredibly strict time limits. Good luck. I'll eventually add them in here, if I can ever unlock the second row! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---Chapter 5:Driller Store--- *ch5* The Driller Store is where you can buy upgrades aka items for your driller. There are two catagories, Mission Driller and Pressure Driller. --Mission Driller Items-- -Barrier Barriers protect you from a certain number of blocks squishing you. -Life Up Life Up Items start you off with extra lives. -Air Capsule Air Capsule items give you extra air per air capsule you pick up. -Speed Up Speeds up your drill and movement speed. --Pressure Driller Items-- -Barrier Barriers protect you from a certain number of blocks squishing you. -S. Fireball S. Fireball items increase the speed at which you shoot fireballs. -Ex. Damage Ex. Damage items increase the damage that your fireballs do -Speed Up Speeds up your drill and movement speed. --Acquiring Driller Store Items-- To acquire items from the store, you must earn "mileage" points. You gain mileage points by drilling. If you complete a stage you also get mileage bonuses. If you are low on mileage, do a stage you know you can complete quickly and do it a few times. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---Chapter 6:F.A.Q.S.--- *ch6* Q: How do I save my data? A: It auto saves. Q: I always run out of air! Help! A: Try using either Puchi or Holinger-Z, who both use up less air, or just plain go faster and avoid breaking X-Blocks. Q: How do I rename my file? A: Press Y and Start at the title screen. Q: How do I delete my data? A: (From Manual) Simultaneously press SELECT and the L, X, and B BUTTONS while booting Mr Driller Drill Spirits. (page 7) Q: I got a really good score! But it didnt save...? A: If you use any items to do a stage, your score doesn't save...(It even says this when asked if you want to use items...) Q: How many characters are there? A: 6, you start out with Susumu and unlock the others. Q: Who is the best driller? A: Depends on the situation, look at the situation or look in the appropriate section in this guide. Q: Who is Usagi and how do I unlock him? A: This is unknown at the time, but there are several rumors flying around. Personally, I think it has to do with Driller Medals, but only time will tell. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---Chapter 7:Misc--- *ch7* This guide was written by me, Rok Bloom, and may not be used on any other website or media without my permission. Current List of Websites With My Permission: www.GameFAQS.com If you want to use any portion of this guide, in part or whole you must also get my permission. Updates 1/3/05 Whoops! Time Attack limits are different for each character, so I edited them out until I have time to record everyone's times. 12/30/04 Fixed typos and added detailed info on Time Attack Driller. 12/28/04 First version of guide submitted. (c)Rok Bloom, 2004