===============================================================================
MR DRILLER
For Dreamcast¹
A Guide to Controlling Mr Driller
by
Tim Miller
v1.3 12 April 2006
===============================================================================
¹ This FAQ is specific to the Dreamcast version of the game. Not that you'd
find maracas for the Playstation or the Game Boy Colour, but just in case you
were wondering!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
-----------------
1 - Introduction
1.1 - What is Mr Driller?
1.2 - What's the point of this guide?
1.3 - Contact questions
2 - What are the Basic Controls?
3 - Controls on Each of the Controllers
3.1 - The Dreamcast Controller
3.2 - The Fishing Rod
3.3 - The Light Gun
3.4 - The Dreamcast Keyboard
3.5 - The Dreamcast Microphone
3.6 - The Samba de Amigo Maracas
3.7 - The Dance Mats
3.8 - The Steering Wheel
3.9 - The Dreamcast Mouse
3.10 - The Pop'n'Music Controller
4 - Rumours Shot Down in Flames
5 - Acknowledgements
6 - Contact Details and Legal Stuff
6.1 - Version History
1 - INTRODUCTION
----------------
1.1 - What is Mr Driller?
-------------------------
It's a puzzle game, by Namco. Well, more accurately, it's a
puzzle/platform/action hybrid, which doesn't fall into any of those categories
at all really. You play as a little man in a pink suit (which is the reason my
girlfriend refers to this as "the pink blobby game"), who must drill through
blocks to get to the bottom. This is more than just a rush to the bottom -
blocks disappear when they group together, and you've got to collect air
capsules as you descend.
Mr Driller was also released in the arcade, on the Playstation, on the PC, and
on the Gameboy Colour. Mr Driller 2 is available for Gameboy Advance.
Information on Mr Driller can be found at
http://www.gamerwiki.com/index.php/Mr_Driller
1.2 - What's the point of this guide?
-------------------------------------
Mr Driller is fabulous when played on a normal controller. But Namco didn't
stop there - you can use all manner of things to control Mr Driller. This FAQ
details how.
1.3 - You've got it wrong! Can I email you? Can I use this FAQ on my site?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
See Section 6. I have no idea why this should be at the beginning, but people
seem to look for it here ...
2 - WHAT ARE THE BASIC CONTROLS?
--------------------------------
Controlling Mr Driller is simplicity itself. You can drill in four directions,
you can walk in two.
To drill upwards, press up and drill.
To drill downwards, press down and drill.
To drill leftwards, press left and drill.
To drill rightwards, press right and drill.
To walk right, press right.
To walk left, press left.
You can also walk up a step - if there is a single block height wall to your
left, you can keep holding left and you'll walk up onto it. You don't need to
press up! Similarly for the right.
In terms of the objectives of the game - firstly, read the manual, and secondly
(if you haven't got a manual²), there are other FAQS at
http://www.gamefaqs.com
- I'd recommend checking there. It's a simple enough game, but with huge
amounts of depth to it (excuse the pun).
² Which is only really acceptable if you bought a second-hand game or a rented
one, and the manual wasn't included. If you've got a pirated version, you can
stop reading now.
3 - CONTROLS ON EACH OF THE CONTROLLERS
---------------------------------------
In almost all cases, I would recommend having at least one ordinary controller
plugged into the Dreamcast. This will allow you to plug in a VMU to save
options on. It will also allow you to navigate menus a little easier.
3.1 - The Dreamcast Controller
------------------------------
On the Dreamcast controller, the following buttons are used, as defined in
Section 2:
up/down/left/right - directional pad (d-pad)
drill - button A
pause - start
Other buttons also work for drilling, but A seems to be the most comfortable
for me.
3.2 - The Fishing Rod
---------------------
The fishing rod is simply recognised as a normal controller, so I would
recommend the following buttons for ease of use:
up/down/left/right - analogue pad
drill - button Y
pause - start
However, there is an extra method of control. The fishing rod contains motion
sensors which detect left and right movements (to a limited extent), and up and
down movements (to a greater extent). If you flick the rod forwards, it should
drill. Jerking it to the left and the right may make Mr Driller move, but
often it does not. So you can instead use the analogue pad for this, and flick
to drill.
Note that there is no d-pad on the fishing rod, so you have to use the analogue
stick instead. This does make controlling Mr Driller a little harder - you
have to move the stick further, which makes movement a little sluggish.
3.3 - The Light Gun
-------------------
As with the fishing rod, the light gun is recognised as a simple controller.
Therefore the optimum configuration to use is:
up/down/left/right - directional pad (d-pad)
drill - trigger
pause - start
A word of warning - do not try this one-handed, you will probably only get to
about 50m! It's best to use your left thumb on the d-pad, and your right index
finger on the trigger (or the other way round).
3.4 - The Dreamcast Keyboard
----------------------------
If Namco claims to support this, they are fibbing. It works, but only just.
The controls are as follows:
up - up cursor
down - down cursor
left - left cursor
right - right cursor
drill - any one of a number of buttons
pause - ESC
The buttons that work for drilling seem to be pretty random. A and D work, but
S doesn't. I recommend A.
This has the odd effect of directional movements on the right hand and drilling
on the left. It's not difficult to adapt, however.
3.5 - The Dreamcast Microphone
------------------------------
Now we can have some real fun. Plug in a controller, and the VMU, and the
microphone into slot 2. The controls are now as follows:
up/down/left/right - directional pad (d-pad)
drill - shout
pause - start
It doesn't matter what you shout. "Drill!" and "Down!" were what came to mind,
though "Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!" is good to get you down quite a few blocks.
With this set up, you should see a small box in the top-left corner of the
screen, labelled "MIC", with two small white marks and a line that fades from
green to red. The line measures the sound currently being detected by the
microphone; when it passes the second white mark Mr Driller will drill.
Luckily, you don't have to be too loud for this to happen. Unluckily, you
don't have to be too loud for this to happen. Don't have music playing in the
background, or Mr Driller will go on a mad drilling spree, straight through
X-blocks and to his oblivion.
If it gets too much for your voice, you can also press the A button to drill.
3.6 - The Samba de Amigo Maracas
--------------------------------
You thought £100 was too much to pay for one game? Well, the maracas work on
two!
You will not get high scores like this, I warn you in advance. You will get
aching arms and want to kick Mr Driller in revenge. He is unbelievably stupid
at times. The general controls have you holding both maracas in a neutral
position, very close to your body, at medium height. This is the "base
position". The controls then are:
To drill upwards, hold both maracas up and shake.
To drill downwards, hold both maracas down and shake.
To drill leftwards, hold the left maraca out to the left and shake.
To drill rightwards, hold the right maraca out to the right and shake.
To walk right, hold the right maraca out to the right.
To walk left, hold the left maraca out to the left.
In practice, the controls are more like:
To walk right, hold the right maraca out to the right. Then hold it further to
the right, and move the left maraca rightwards as well. Then try and stop Mr
Driller on top of the blue square, but fail and have him carry on to the
X-block. Now move him slowly back to the blue square by edging the maracas to
the left, and as you try and make him stop, move the maracas too far to the
right and make him walk right again.
You see now why you won't get a high score.
After a while the controls become easier. And it's good fun! Menus are also
negotiable by holding the maracas to the left or right to rotate them, and
pressing the right button as the "start button".
3.7 - The Dance Mats
--------------------
I hope you're fit. Dance mats work by just mapping pads in the mat to
controller buttons. The giant directions in the middle of the mat correspond
to the d-pad, and the buttons around the outside are the action buttons.
up/down/left/right - directional pads
drill - pad A
pause - start (if available)
Again, you will need a different controller plugged in to take the VMU.
3.8 - The Steering Wheel
------------------------
Back to the less 'fun' controllers now. Left and right on the steering wheel
correspond to left and right, and you'll have to use one of the thumb buttons
to drill. And for up and down ... well, there's no "yaw" on the controller, so
you'll have to use the d-pad.
up/down - directional pad (d-pad)
left/right - turn the wheel
drill - button A
pause - start
I've had an email from Pekka Salmia who adds:
"You can use '+' for up and '-' for down (these are the gear shifting buttons
on the wheel) and in addition to 'A', also 'B', 'L' and 'R' can be used for
drilling. The d-pad is not necessary to play the game (which should reduce the
boringness of the wheel in this context ever so slightly)."
Thanks ever so much Pekka.
3.9 - The Dreamcast Mouse
-------------------------
Namco lets us down here. The Dreamcast mouse isn't supported at all. Boooo!
3.10 - The Pop'n'Music Controller
---------------------------------
Ted on rec.games.video.sega pointed out this was missing.
"The Pop'n'Music controller is also supported. The controller can be
sensitive; for me the options were constantly revolving the first time I tried
it, since a button was sticking down."
up - left yellow
down - left green
left - left white
right - left blue
drill - red, right green, blue, white or yellow
Cheers, Ted!
4 - RUMOURS SHOT DOWN IN FLAMES
-------------------------------
Mr Driller has a keyboard on screen if you're controlling him with a keyboard.
Er, no - you're thinking of Typing of the Dead.
You can shoot away blocks with the light gun.
Er, no - there is no "real" light gun support - you drill like normal.
The blue animals are replaced by fish if you use the fishing rod.
Er, no - you're just being silly now.
5 - ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
--------------------
Thanks to:
Mike Jenkins for checking this guide for structure
Tamsyn Heritage for the "pink blobby game" comments
Matt Andrews for spotting missing words
Dave R for pointing out the existence of the PC version
Pekka Salmia for information on the steering wheel
Ted for information on the Pop'n'Music controller
Namco for supporting the maracas. Really!
6 - CONTACT DETAILS AND LEGAL STUFF
-----------------------------------
The email address associated with this FAQ is
[email protected] -
you should use this for all correspondence.
I (Tim Miller) retain all copyright over this document, since I wrote it. If
you want to use it on your website, email me and ask. I will probably say yes,
and specify that the actual content is not altered in any way (formatting will
probably be OK - not changing to American spelling though ...). However, you
must ask first.
If you notice any errors on this FAQ, please email me. If you have any
suggestions to additional material, please email me. If you have any questions
that aren't answered, please email me. In all cases, don't be offended if I
don't get back to you immediately, or don't take your comments completely on
board. I'm just like that.
6.1 - Version History
---------------------
v0.1 : 5 March 2002 - Added everything and sent to GameFAQs
v0.2 : 6 March 2002 - Found a couple of typos and erroneous references
v0.3 : 7 March 2002 - Made corrections and clarifications from Tam and Matt
v1.0 : 27 March 2002 - Added a few more controllers and tidied it up
v1.1 : 16 July 2002 - Added more information about the steering wheel
v1.2 : 11 March 2003 - Added information about the Pop'n'Music controller
v1.3 : 12 April 2006 - Added GamerWiki information
