Welcome to VC Weekly, N-Europe’s guide to the wonderful world of Nintendo’s download service. Written by Sam C Gittins and Dean Anderson

It has been a long time coming for this unique title made by Game Freak, a release this big deserves a decent sized review so it needs to be covered by two reviewers, so this one is a Sam & Dean super collaborative VC review. Anyway enough from us and on with the game!
 
Available for download this week we have...   

In recent years, Game Freak have found themselves branching out away from their old stalwart with a few different original concepts.  Through the rhythmic action of Harmoknight, to the elephantic roaring action of Tembo: The Badass Elephant, it’s almost like Game Freak is trying to say something… Well, whatever it is they’re trying to say, it’s not the first time they’ve said it; because they did the same thing back in 2006 with another action title by the name of Drill Dozer!  It’s almost like they used to be known for making action orientated games or something…

What? You think these guys look like Pokémon characters? You must be imagining things...

Now there’s actually a pretty decent chance that you actually probably aren’t familiar with this game, because it actually has never been released in Europe before… which makes it all the more surprising that it actually has full support for not just English, but German, French, Italian and Spanish as well! This certainly wasn’t included in the original US GBA cart release! (And I would know, I still have the copy I imported back in the day!).  Nintendo of Europe should really be commended here for offering the game in 4 additional languages for the first time ever, even if it’s highly likely that they’ve probably just been sitting on this release for 10 years.

What makes this release even more special however is the fact that it brings another Virtual Console first to the table…

WOAH! What IS this freaky thing!? It must be diseased, no wonder it never came to Europe!

As anyone who imported the original release would tell you, Drill Dozer came on a special GBA cartridge that included a rumble feature; one of only two GBA games to ever do so (the other one being Wario Ware Twisted).  I am glad to report that this feature has indeed been replicated with this Wii U Virtual Console release; so you will indeed feel your controller of choice rumble along with the hectic action, just as the God of Vibration intended. So with all that said, how is the game anyway? Is it worth all the pomp and circumstance that this lengthy intro implies? Over to Sam to find out!

Our story starts as the Skullker gang steal a Red Diamond from our heroes the Red Dozers, they also beat up the main character Jill's Father called Doug - who was the Red Diamond leader - plus on top of this the diamond in question was a gift from Jill's deceased Mother so she's now taken the role of the boss on a quest to retrieve the Red Diamond at all costs because it is certainly now more than personal at this point. You're not alone though as you have Gearmo who is the mechanic responsible for fixing up your Drill Dozer plus you also have the veteran Grutch  who with his vast experience is your main source of intel; of course the story might start out simply enough but be assured that it does develop into downright craziness but you'll have to play in order to find out more. Which is exactly what you should be doing, after reading the rest of this review for this fantastic title which Dean and I have put together of course!

All aboard the hype... truck? Such a crazy yet cool method of transportation.

Following a short but sweet introduction you are put straight to work as you are dropped off at the last-known hideout of the Skullker gang which is an industrial environment which is where you'll learn all about the games simple but effective controls which consist of jumping with one action button, interacting with your surroundings with the other - this includes taking calls from your team who will aid you on your missions - and controlling the Drill on your Dozer with both shoulder buttons as the left spins it anti-clockwise while the right allows for standard clockwise rotation which comes into play throughout the missions.

Your Drill Dozer uses Gears, with just the one Gear you can turn your Drill inside your Dozer for only a few seconds but if you find a second then you can turn it for longer enabling you to become stronger and when you obtain a third gear you can power through just about anything! The catch is that after a mission the gears will fail so you will need to obtain them on every mission, this adds an interesting level of exploration to the stages which have many doors to go through.

If in doubt, drill it! A good philosophy for life... or maybe not.

Indeed there are a fair few areas which you won't be able to get to initially which encourages replay, you'll need to scope out every inch of an area to find all the Treasure Chests in the game - of which their are Thirty-One which you can check in the Treasure Room - so there is a handy feature which lets you press "B" while inactive then you can scroll up or down to look around which is handy, also you may want to consider playing the Red Dozer's Training Course which opens up on the map after playing the first stage, you can pick up some handy gameplay strategies in addition to acquiring one-hundred-and-fifty chips which seem to be used for either continuing or for purchasing maps at certain points in the game which will open up some secret areas; other than that you have at least eleven main areas with an additional seven stages so there is a reasonable amount of content here.

A special mention simply must go to the aesthetics as being that this is a title which has been carefully crafted by Game Freak you get their previous years of experience behind it which up to the point of Drill Dozer's original release included several generations of Pokémon titles, so you can expect lavishly detailed environments which are littered with detail, just in the initial industrial setting alone there are plenty of small but significant things to notice such as the shutters on the doors, computer screens, beautifully contrasting colour schemes including a brilliant blue coupled with a monochrome green; all of the while Jill and her amazing contraption are always at the front with some stunning animations which must be seen to be believed. Of course all of this is backed up with a substantial soundtrack which is simply spectacular when heard on the Wii U via speakers or on the Gamepad which handles the whole game very well, it has some upbeat tunes which carry a great sense of enery with them, keeping the momentum going along with the fantastic Drill sound effects which when coupled with the phenomenal emulation of the rumble pak included in the original release really draws you into the game even more to the extent that playing it without the effect would be almost criminal.

Oh great, a two for one special on bosses... Go on Jill, give 'em a drill!

It's a fantastic thing to see when Nintendo actually goes the extra mile with its Virtual Console releases, that really could not be any more true than here as not only is this a previously unreleased title - in Europe - but to actually include the original Rumble function does go some way to rectifying the mistake made in deciding to not bring the title to all territories in the first place. In fact after doing a bit of research it seems that the whole story about the game not being released because there was potentially small amounts of mercury contained within the earthy-orange coloured cartridge were completely unfounded, especially as it doesn't have a tilt-sensor like Wario Ware Twisted did which was both interesting - and reassuring - to find out all those years later as I have owned the original game from new despite not properly playing it until this very day, but there we are it just goes to show that a little common sense plus a small spot of research goes a long way even if it does then bring up the bigger question of why the game wasn't actually originally released over here but I think we can let that slide now.

My original copy of Drill Dozer, fully complete and stored in a box protector for freshness!

So you’ve heard from Sam, but what about me? What do I think? In short, I think it’s pretty awesome actually! It’s a really solid action game, which feels very satisfying to play.  Game Freak put a lot of love and effort into making the game just feel good to play.  From the satisfying and meaty sound effects, to the great animation used throughout, to the excellent use of rumble (the way that it intensifies as you continuously ratchet up your gear speed is an inspired touch and more than justified the special cartridge it came on); the action gameplay is very satisfying.

It does move rather slowly though.  As Jill pilots a mech of sorts, she moves exactly how you’d expect; a bit slow and a little cumbersome.  The game is designed around this however as you are expected to make the most of your drill to keep a rhythm and flow going.  The developers did a great job finding all sorts of creative uses for Jill’s drill that go well beyond its expected standard function and the levels constantly throw new surprises your way all the way through.  While the long length of the levels and the large amount of dialogue may not be to everyone’s taste, I think it works pretty well in this game myself.  The characters are charming, the environments are all varied and interesting and the pacing never feels like it drags, even though the levels are quite long for an action platformer of this kind.  Despite the simple controls, the game offers an impressive variety of gameplay, with a nice balance between action platforming and puzzle solving throughout.  The boss battles are a particular highlight as well; Game Freak’s designers really put their all into them and there’s a LOT of them to sink your drill into!

While it might not appeal to action game junkies looking for something that moves at the same kind of pace as games like Contra or Gunstar Heroes, people who are looking for an action game more akin to the likes of the Wario Land series will likely strike oil with this long lost gem.
 
Verdict : Drill Dozer is definitely worth digging out some digital dosh for.

That's it for another installment of VC Weekly which will return again soon. So until then, enjoy the rest of the week and Game On!