The PrinceWatercress Blog

Compared to the last few main levels, this one is a breath of fresh air due to not being as frustrating as the last two areas we've been to.

The level begins with Grutch and Gearmo launching Jill onto the Doom Dozer - Croog's tank of doom - before their truck crashes. Meanwhile, Detective Carrie tries to figure out how to get on the ship.

Aside from the enemies you'll have to deal with from previous stages, you'll also need to avoid the missiles that shoot out of the missile launchers. Also, see what walls you can go through, as the secret path can get you to second and third gear as soon as the level begins. Compared to the last few levels, this one is pretty straightforward.

Also, there are a lot of slime shooting and bullet shooting turrets here.

You'll need to slide form the edge of one platform to another to face the missile tank, which we haven't seen since Area 1.

For the totems, wait for the lasers to disappear before drilling the totems in the face. The only difficult thing about destroying them is the missiles dropping from the air that interrupt your attack.

You'll eventually be able to get into the Doom Dozer itself. Start drilling the wall, shift up to third gear and keep going right. You'll eventually get the screen to turn white, topple the tower of the Doom Dozer and destroy the dozer outright.

You'll get back in the Drill Dozer, but you'll lose all three gears and the ability to use the drill. Croog mentions that as long as he has the Black Diamond, he can keep coming back. The only way to defeat him is with one well-timed punch, and when you do that, Croog loses his mask and he runs away after being revealed as some kid or something.

You'll have to avoid his attacks first. Jump over the lasers, and punch him when he gets close enough. You may have to avoid him once or twice, then hold the B button down to charge the punch up and let go when he rushes at you again. When you hit him once, you'll knock him off of his flying chair and he will retreat. The Black Diamond will break, then Croog loses his mask and runs away.

Afterwards, Grutch will mention that the Black Diamond amplified Croog's brattiness, and Gearmo will mention that the Black Diamond's power was amplified so much that is shattered into a million pieces. The Red Dozers get the Red Diamond back, the Yellow Diamond is returned to the museum vault, and the Blue and Green Diamond are taken by The Magnet Sisters, who suddenly show up and take them before Detective

A few days later, Doug is better again as the HQ is being rebuilt. Grutch considers using the Red Diamond to bring back the HQ, but Doug refuses, saying that doing it by hand is half the fun and they can always build a new one themselves. As for the trailer, the Red Dozers now have a new one. Doug declares Jill the new Big Boss of the Red Dozers, and we see the spirit of Jill's mother waving goodbye as The Red Dozers go off in search of new treasures. From there, the credits roll. Afterwards, you'll get a rank based on how many treasures you've collected, which increases when you go back through the game and get more treasures.

We're not done yet, though...we still have the secret areas and the rest of the treasures to deal with! Stay tuned!

Saturday, May 4, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Drill Dozer - Part 14 of 28

Now to take the other path. Guess what? It's the worser path.

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Area 2 Bonus: Employee Area

This time around, we'll be entering the door that briefly looked at in the last video. Guess what? This leads to the other path.

You'll be dealing with laser turrets and plenty of platforms, socket lifts and rubber blocks are you make your way around. At one point, you'll have to stay underneath a moving platform while fighting enemies so as not to get zapped by the lasers above.

Your timing needs to be dead on and staggered as much as possible to get to the door above the slow socket lifts. For best results, you'll need to stay on the slow socket lift for as long as possible.

Once you get third gear, you'll have to get rid of one statue. Carefully tap a shoulder button so you destroy the bottom statue, or else you'll accidentally destroy more than one and you'll have to leave the room and re-enter to try again. After some laser shooters, you'll have to deal with three more socket lifts to get to the end of the level...and it is the worst three socket lifts that I have ever played around with and the worst experience that I have in this game due to the timing of when the socket lifts show up and trying to make sure I hit the right button combinations while also trying to stay in third gear so I can make it. For some reason, this takes six minutes, which is five minutes longer than it should have, landing in the spikes and attempting to jump over them horribly every time I mess up, resulting in the loss of quite a bit of health. You can tell that I don't like this. At all.

When you somehow make it to the end, you'll be able to get the Samurai Sword and get out of here.

Friday, May 3, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Drill Dozer - Part 13 of 28

Before we beat the game, let's get some extra stuff done, shall we?

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Area 2 Bonus: Employee Area

When you go in, the green floors will blend in with the green walls, but if you pay attention to the floor, you'll be able to tell where you can go. In an even funnier twist, some things that can be destroyed will blend in with these floors.

There is a door we can slide to, but we don't enter that one yet. Instead, we go further to the right down a drill duct and take another path. This path is, thankfully, the easier path. Throughout this path, you'll be dealing with steam blasts as well as the pink Pac-Man enemies that will chase you down the ducts.

Once you hit third gear, you'll be having some fun with going in and out of the the smaller ducts to get back on the main path and revving the drill up ahead of time to ensure you can get through a series of ducts. You'll also have to face the crab boss again - twice! - but you fight the crab boss the same way. The eye that flashes indicates which claw it will attack with, and you'll need to attack that claw to damage the boss (or avoid that claw if you're not in position to). If it's the left eye, it will be the left claw; if it's the right eye, it will be the right claw. When the crab lowers its eyes into the duct after you successfully avoid its attack, you'll want to attack the eyes with the drill.

After a really fun part where you go through the drill ducts at top speed, you'll get the Pyramid Stone in a chest. You can then rocket through a few more ducts and get out of here.

But what about that set of doors that led to someplace completely different? We're going there next time!

Thursday, May 2, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Drill Dozer - Part 12 of 28

Croog knows you're getting close, and he's pulling out all the stops to ensure you do not stop his plans.

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Area 6-1: Drill Missile

After you beat Area 5-1, you're forced to play Area 6-1 whether you're ready for it - or want to do it - or not.

I don't like it when a game does this. At all. The game is virtually grabbing you by the hair and virtually chucking you into playing a stage and not giving you a choice. This is no different from what MediEvil II did with the boxing match, when I wanted to save after going through the Kew Gardens and the game wouldn't let me until I completed the whole of the next part that it wanted me to go through.

When you're forced into this stage like sardines into a tin, Croog unleashes his Drill Missile on the Red Dozers' home. As soon as it lands, it starts burrowing into the secret command dozer where Doug is laid up. You'll have to sneak inside the exhaust vent, get to the engine room and stop the missile before it gets there!

As soon as you get into the missile, you'll find out that the engine is designed to explode the missile when destroyed, and that you'll have to get to the spinning bit controlling the missile and destroy it.

Thankfully, you're not under a time limit through most of the stage. Watch out for the sparks. The pink ones travel faster than the blue ones. Also, get second gear as soon as you see it, so that you can destroy the self-repairing barrier.

The moving purple platforms will flip back and forth every so often. Get on the platforms when the electrified side is not exposed.

Once you get past the drill duct segment, you'll then have a three minute time limit in the lower-right corner. At this point, you'll need to drill through the blocks and avoid any mines that you run into. The explosions will knock you back and do a little bit of damage. Also, don't waste a lot of time here, as you'll still need as much time as possible to destroy the spinning bit at the bottom. Thankfully, destroying it isn't hard. Just drill into it and shift all to third gear every time while avoiding the sparks. Once the bit is backwards, you'll need to hold Up and press L to move the Drill Missile backwards.

Unfortunately, this trips another fail-safe: the missile's self-destruct sequence. You'll have to flip a switch in the engine room to get the engine to run in reverse. In the following drill duct section, go through all the ducts in third gear and maintain third gear throughout so that you don't get blown up.

When you get to the engine room, flip the level. Unfortunately, you're still not done, as this causes the engine to overload. You'll need to take the blue chip that is on the coolant tower to the right and move it to where the bar on the screen moves to balance the coolant levels before the bar gets too close to the side and causes the entire Drill Missile to explode with you still in it. When the display blinks and the screen shakes, the bar may switch directions. Be ready to stand in the middle and place the blue chip accordingly. For best results, place the blue chip when the bar is about to reach the last big bar on either side of the coolant levels. As you go, the yellow lights at the top of the towers will slowly light up, and when all five lights on both sides light up, you'll finally stop the Drill Missile before sending it back at Croog and blowing up his fortress. Croog responds by revealing his secret dozer.

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Drill Dozer - Part 11 of 28

Wanna see and hear me get frustrated? Here you go. Just keep in mind that it's not the worst case of me doing just that.

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Area 5-1: Clink Prison

The stage starts with Grutch and Gearmo showing up at a cliffside near Clink Prison, where the commissioner looks through Jill's rap sheet. When Detective Carrie questions the reasoning behind Jill's arrest and throwing her in jail without a trial, the commissioner tells her to keep her mouth shut before mentioning that the Red Diamond is still missing. After seeing Jill in jail, we then see the Drill Dozer activate on its own, much to the surprise of Grutch and Gearmo.

Without Jill, the Drill Dozer's jumping ability will be cut in half, and you'll be forced down further into the prison by your bad jumping. You also won't be able to reach the switch on the wall. Pressing B will allow you to hide in the shadows.

When you are fighting the enemies near the blocks, aim upwards to take them out from below with the drill.

To avoid the lasers, you'll need to use the B buttons. Be sure to watch the movement patters of the lasers. If the lasers hit you, you'll activate an alarm and the red blocks will disappear, and if you hit any spark pits, you'll lose some health and get sent back to earlier in the stage. Keep in mind that solid objects can block the lasers, giving you a potential safe spot.

The security guard in the yellow suit has a fist that you can drill, and once you destroy the first, you can destroy the suit outright. Be careful, because the fist can push you back.

Pay attention to walls and ceilings for cracks you can break through for extra chips for continues as well as the ship.

You'll need to jump up with the socket lift in order to go up with them as you get closer to Jill.

Some turrets will shoot slime. If you rotate your thumb all over the Control Pad, you'll break free faster. While slimed, you cannot use your drill, so you'll want to shake all that slime off as quickly as possible.

You'll eventually reach Jill's cell. Once you break through the bars with the drill, you'll find out that the Red Diamond contains the spirit of Jill's mother, which controlled the Drill Dozer up to this point. From here, Jill gets in the dozer, and you have total control of the drill again. You'll be able to break through the wall on the right and go to second gear, and you'll be able go back to earlier points and turn off the lasers that gave you trouble earlier, and you can backtrack to wrench blocks for more chips.

You'll eventually have to head back to the start and hit the switch to take a lift to more of the level. The officers in the electrical suits will speed towards you when you are at their levels, and you'll need to drill down into them from above to remove the screw in the suit and weaken them. From there,

There will be green tubes in the drill ducts with a number on them. These are called cannon clamps. The number indicates the gear you need to beat at to pass through them, or else you will be sent back. This will make getting through some of the drill ducts a little tougher, as you'll need to time up the revving of your drill just to get past certain points.

The first set of blue drill ducts will lead to the Magic Spice, which is a treasure you can get early in the game.

The officer on the jetpack will carry a gun and follow you around. When he stops moving briefly, he will shoot multiple bullets at you, and if you get hit, you'll be sent back to the beginning of the area. You may have to walk backwards while drilling to block the bullets and get away from him. When you're near the door, wait for him to stop shooting, then get in there.

You'll soon reach the office where you saw the commissioner and Detective Carrie earlier. If you press B at the desk, you'll find a note with instructions to tell lies about the Red Dozers and give them a bad rap, giving the Skullkers free reign of the city while keeping the police off their backs and the commissioner bribed. The note is signed by Croog, who we have not seen since the beginning of the game. So not only have the police been corrupted, but we still have to deal with the Skullkers. If you look at the control panel, you'll find out that the green light at the guard tower is on, and that you'll need to head there nex.t Also, if you go through the jail bars to the right you'll find some treasure painted on the wall as well as some real treasure: the Samurai Helmet.

The lower door leading to the guard tower, you'll be trapped in a room where bombs drop down. To disarm them, you'll need to remove the screws on the bombs with your drill. If the lights around the bomb are red, use R. If they are blue, use L. Always stay in the center of the room, and always shift up to third gear. Thankfully, the bomb explosions don't kill you, which is good, because a few may blow up on you before this part ends.

You'll eventually find a big door. You'll also run into Detective Carrie, who helps you gain access to the door despite not condoning what we are about to do. Outside, you'll run into the commissioner, who uses the Green Diamond to control the Sentry Tower. Avoid the laser and missiles by staying on the move and using the steel block platforms to your advantage. When the sentry tower robot strikes with its claw arm, aim up and run the drill to hit the claw. The claw will fall off and you'll be able to go in.

You'll then go into the sentry robot to enter one part of it to take out a part of the inner workings. There will be a timer, and if you don't destroy the engine for the current part of the robot you are in, you'll get kicked out and you'll have to do that part of the sentry tower fight again. Hope you brought a lot of energy tanks! Any cables you cut while inside the sentry tower robot will add five seconds to your time. That may not be much, but you'll need all the extra time you can get, as your skills with going through the cannon clamps in the drill ducts will be put to the test. The neon signs will tell you if you are doing okay with the gear shifting. Arrows will tell you if you need to shift up or down, and "OK!" tells you that you are the correct gear.

On repeat visits to the inside of the sentry tower, you'll need to take an alternate route. Thankfully, all three routes are short; they're just difficult.

On the third phase, be careful with the robot arm, as sometimes the sentry tower robot will fake you out and pull the law away at the last second. Just pay attention and you'll eventually get in to destroy the third engine. Afterwards, you'll get the Green Diamond. Detective Carrie will then tell you that Croog was seen with a fifth diamond while with the commissioner, but that she does not remember what color it was.

Once you beat Area 5, you'll get the Art Museum map, which unlocks Area 2's secret area.

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Drill Dozer - Part 10 of 28

Let's play a secret level before going to jail!

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Area 1 Secret Area: Restricted Area

Unmarked map (by Spannettone)

In order to access this level, you'll need to buy the Hideout Map from the shop for 300 chips. The map is unlocked when you reach Area 5.

Unlike the other levels, this one is super-short. You'll be at first gear the whole time, and you'll need to use the socket lifts to get from one end of the area to the other. This will probably be your toughest test with the socket lifts yet, as there is a big bottomless pit below, and you'll need to buckle down and really pay attention to what you're pressing so you can reach the other side.

The wrench boxes above the start will contain a lot of chips if you can get to them, as do the blocks in the upper-left corner above the exit.

When you reach the other side, you can enter the building. After fighting some Skullkers as well as some other robotic enemies you've met before, you'll get the Flavor Burst. Heading further left takes you to the exit. You're done here.

Monday, April 29, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Drill Dozer - Part 9 of 28

It's time to head to the air for the first (and only) time. But just when we think we're done...

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Area 4-2: Metal City Flight

In this level, you'll have to find a way up to the roof...but how.

The green turrets will shoot bullets. Be ready to drill to block the bullets before drilling into the turrets themselves.

After you get the second gear, you'll be fighting cops as well as Skullkers before facing The Magnet Sisters one more time. This time around, they will drop bombs from a magnet. Avoid the bombs, then drill into the magnet. After doing enough damage, The Magnet Sisters will bounce around the room until they collapse on the ground, in which case you'll have to drill into them again. If you get hit as they bounce around off the walls, floor and ceiling, you'll have to start the current phase over. There are three phases to the battle, and while they all go the same way, The Magnet Sisters will drop more bombs which each phase and the walls will close in, giving you less room to not only move around in, but to avoid The Magnet Sisters themselves. For the third and final phase, you'll want to find a safe corner, stay near the wall and duck.

After you beat The Magnet Sisters, you'll get the propeller, which allows you to fly in the air. Just like with the underwater level, you'll be doing this for one stage only. You'll need to activate the drill with the shoulder buttons in order to fly into the air, and shifting up will allow you to fly for longer. Also, holding one button, then pressing and holding the other allows you to hover, which lets you move from side to side without ascending or descending until you let go of both buttons. It gets even better when you reach third gear, as you'll be able to fly indefinitely. Much like with the underwater controls, however, this can also be pretty cumbersome and can take a second to get used to.

As you fly, you can break stuff to get through the sections to get chips for the shop. There are also enemies, such as the orange robots with the drills on their heads that fly back and forth. You'll also have to avoid the spiked balls as well as some stationary spikes, and your hovering skills will be put to the test as you move between the spikes.

In the fifth section of the stage (the one with the red walls), there are some metal blocks to the right. You won't be able to break those...yet.

When you reach the top, you'll have to get past more of those blue laser shooters before you can face the Skullker professor again. This time around, he will control the Drizzler, which controls the weather in Metal City. Unfortunately, the professor has taken control of it with the Red Diamond, and you'll have to do some damage to the Drizzler in order to wrestle control away from him.

There are three phases to the battle, and each one is an obstacle course. You'll need to get to the Drizzler without running into the damaging spiked walls, and each obstacle course is harder than the last. Using the hover ability will definitely help, as well as paying attention, as the machines on the walls produce clouds that obscure where you are as you fly around. When you get to the Drizzler, fly into it from below and shift up to third gear to do maximum damage.

For the second phase, the machines on the walls, will push you back in the direction they are facing, and for the third phase, the machines on the walls will shoot lasers. Stop and hover to avoid the lasers.

As you go through this battle, you'll want to keep your health high. When you beat the Drizzler, it's not over yet, as the Red Diamond gets taken away from you by the Drizzler, which is now out of control. Avoid getting hit by the rocks, and sta0y as far away as possible to avoid the laser. When the core is flashing, you'll want to drill into it from underneath. When the Drizzler is at half health, it will shoot out more rocks and it will fire the laser twice before you can hit it again.

After you defeat the Drizzler, you'll get the Red Diamond back. You'll then get a call from Grutch, even though his face is unseen and is only static. You'll then get picked up by the wrong trailer, which is manned by the police chief and is ultimately a trap. Jill gets arrested, and Grutch and Gearmo have to figure out what to do next.

After completing Area 4, you'll get the Hideout Map. This gives you access to a secret level in Area 1, and we'll be going there next time.

Sunday, April 28, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Drill Dozer - Part 8 of 28

The levels get longer and more frustrating in the second half of the game...and not surprisingly, so do the videos.

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Area 4-1: Metal City

If you haven't gotten it yet, the Hard Bit is now available in the shop. With the Hard Bit, you can go through the blocks with the four screws in them. By getting rid of these blocks, you can find some hidden chips as well as some shortcuts.

After leaving the Kuru Ruins, the Red Dozers find out that the Red Diamond is in the stadium in Metal City. Here, you'll find out that the police are in cahoots with the Skullkers, and while the commissioner is on the take, Detective Carrie has a bad feeling about the police's partnership.

If you haven't been in the Red Dozers' Training Area, you'll see the Time Blocks for the first time, too. When you break them, you'll hear three sets of beeps. After the third set of beeps, the block will come back as long as you're not standing in the area where the block was. You'll need to take advantage of that to get around in a few areas.

You'll then see drill spinners on the wall. Hold one shoulder button down, then press the other one to launch yourself into the air. The higher the gear you're in, the higher you'll go.

The ball-shaped robots will shoot lasers at you, but if you can hit them in the front, you can knock them down. Get behind them and drill them in the head to destroy them.

The screw gates are also back. Experiment with the shoulder buttons to see which button moves which screws, then get to the other sides before the screw gates move back to their original position.

The flying enemy with the target reticles will switch between a vertical orientation and a horizontal orientation. You'll want to attack the exposed sides when the target reticles aren't coming at you.

You'll then get on the top of the subway. Avoid hitting the walls. If you see any walls with blue or yellow lights, drill into them. The yellow light walls are easy to destroy, but the blue light walls take a little more effort. Also, avoid the electricity on the ground, and drill anything that gets in your way You'll get another flying target reticle enemy, but the wall will destroy it. Just fight off the enemies and outlast being shot with lasers. At the end, you can find some energy before you make your way back up to the city.

Back in the city, you'll find out that somebody is about to take the Red Diamond. Shortly after this, you'll be able to get to third gear. Near the end of the level, you'll see the darker time blocks that are used to get to other areas. Thankfully, the block trick from Kuru Ruins that involves getting to third gear and holding the direction you want to go still works.

By taking a shortcut up and to the left, you'll be able to find the Square Stone to add to your treasures.

The flying copter enemy with the spiked disc will stop and shoot the disc at you if it sees you, but if you can get under or beneath it, you can destroy it.

Near the end of the level is another place where you can drop down after going through some of the darker time blocks, and to the right is a treasure chest. I completely miss it, not even knowing that it was there until it was time to do some post-game treasure clean-up, and I end up getting it later.

You'll eventually reach the stadium. When you enter it, you'll find the Red Diamond, but you'll fall into a trap where you fight Detective Carrie's new and improved Policebot.

To beat the Policebot, you'll need to send the missile it shoots back at it with the drill and play tennis with it, then drill the red column on the chassis when it is exposed. There will be a timer on the stadium wall, and you'll need the missile to hit the Policebot when it's at zero. If the missile is red, you'll need to use the R button; if it is red, you'll need to use the L button. Just drill into the missile, shift up to third gear, then press the other button and you'll send the missile back. When the explosion from the missile hits the Policebot, you can move in and do damage.

For the second phase of the battle, you'll be doing more of the same, but you'll have to be a bit more crafty and the missile back as late as possible. The timer will also vary on each missile, so watch the stadium wall and be ready to jump over the missile if you do it right. If you do it right, the Policebot - which will lose its wheels and will now fly around - will fly upwards. When that happens, you'll need to drill into it from below and shift to third gear as you do for maximum damage. This takes practice, and it can be particularly frustrating. Once you beat the second phase, you're mercifully done.

Afterwards, The Red Dozers will size up the situation, then realize that Detective Carrie is the only reasonable person on the police's side. They will also realize that the floating guy with the goggles who has been seen throughout the level is the Skullkers' professor, and they will have to go after him if they want to get the Red Diamond back. Since he said that you'll need wings to catch up with him: there's only one thing to do: flying up to the roof.

Saturday, April 27, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Drill Dozer - Part 7 of 28

In this video, we go underwater for the first (and only) time in the game, and it's different from moving around on land.

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Area 3-2: Sunken Ruins

The area will start with you drilling through a wall and fighting more skeletons. Afterwards, you'll find a body of water, which you won't be able to swim in...yet. Head to the right and go through the wall when you see it, then you'll face the Magnet Twins again.

The Magnet Twins will dive into the water, then pop back out either from the left or the right. When they shoot a bullet, block the bullets with your shield, then drill the screw when it pops out. Once you remove the screw, you'll get the propeller, which will allows you to swim.

Once you jump into the water, you'll be in underwater mode. Staying in place just makes you sink, and the only way to move around is to run your drill with the shoulder buttons while holding the D-Pad in the direction you want to go, and your drill works exactly like it did on land. This can be a bit cumbersome, but once you have second gear, it gets a little easier to get used to.

The fish take a little bit of damage from the first before you can get rid of them.

Once you transition from the background wall to the columns and more evident columns and ruins, you can get some extra chips if you choose.

The starfish enemies will produce electricity to shock you with if you get close as it tries to suck you in. When it gets tired, move in and drill the starfish enemy. For best results, use first gear to keep away from the starfish when it tries to suck you in, and use the second gear for fighting.

There will be spikes you'll want to avoid, as well as spiked balls moving back and forth that explode when you run into them.

The bubbles will knock you back if you drill into them. If you know what you're doing, you can use them to get through areas quickly. When you go left and then up where you first see the bubbles, you'll find a path off from where you need to go to a treasure: the Stardust.

The currents will push you around pretty well, and you can move against the slow ones by shifting up to second gear. The faster currents will require third gear, but at least you can stay in third gear indefinitely as long as you have the shoulder button held down.

Afterwards, you'll have a maze made out of the blocks with the sandy sides you have to destroy. The wrench block there contains some chips, and the blocks with the hieroglyphs can act as platforms that make it easier to get over the spikes.

Near the end, you'll deal with a simple, maze-like corridor where you will have to derail with spikes on the walls and ceilings. Coming in here with two (or three) energy tanks is recommended, especially when you'll have a hard time not running into things.

The boss is the flashing blue light, and this time around, it takes control of a huge school of fish to make one big one. Drill the rocks that the fish spits at you so that they go back into the fish. When the big fish turns into the smaller school of fish, and you'll need to use your drill to avoid getting hit by them. You'll then see the flashing blue light teleport in at a random spot. Drill into it and shift up to third gear as you do for a ton of damage. After that, drill away to avoid the fish vortex that tries to drag you in. The boss' attack pattern will then repeat itself.

Once you beat the flashing blue light, you'll get the Blue Diamond. Gearmo will come to the realization that the Blue Diamond was the flashing blue light we had to deal with during our time in the Kuru Ruins.

Friday, April 26, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Drill Dozer - Part 6 of 28

In this entry, we enter the Kuru Ruins. This is where the game starts getting a little more interesting.

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Area 3-1: Kuru Ruins

Unmarked Map (by Spannetone)

When you start the level, you'll drill some blocks and see Grutch get spooked before facing some skeletons, which act much like the normal enemies that run at you from earlier.

To get past the spear shooters, just jump from the top of one to the top of another.

The yellow skeletons produce purple gas clouds that can damage you.

The vine wall is a Level 2 self-repairing barrier, and you'll need second gear to break through it. Thankfully, second gear isn't very far.

The metal blocks with the sand on one side can be broken through with the drill if you drill through the sandy side.

The boulders make a rumbling sound when they advance. When the boulders hit flat ground as opposed to a slop, be ready to drill them, as the boulders will slow down enough for you to break through them.

The ghosts split into four fireballs that will float around and eventually hit you when you defeat them. Sliding back and forth is the best way to avoid them.

Remember the blocks that you have to go through third gear to get through. Rev up to third gear, then keep holding the D-Pad towards the next block. As long as you keep holding that direction and the drill button in third gear, you'll get past the bottomless pit.

The first spike trap will require to be fast, but also careful. Pay attention to the blocks with the sandy ends so you can figure out where you need to drill to get through it as quickly as possible. As for the second one, your gear shifting skills will be put to the test. If you get hit by the spikes on the traps, you'll be forced to start the section over at the cost of one hit point.

From here, the spikes don't kill you on contact. Slide to avoid the spear spitters on the floors and ceilings.

The boss is a statue that gets possessed by a floating blue sphere. For the first phase, stay away from the ball on the vine when it comes down, then drill into it. From there, you need to launch yourself backwards into the blue sphere inside the statue, and you'll need to drill into that to do damage to the boss. Sometimes the vine will move from one side to another, while other times the ball will hit the ground. You'll want to wait for the ball to hit the ground before drilling into it, then get to the blue sphere from there. If you know what you're doing, this battle is pretty quick.

After the boss battle, the Red Dozers question what the floating blue sphere actually was.

Thursday, April 25, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Drill Dozer - Part 5 of 28

Exploring the basement of the art museum to unlock the vault is a bit of an adventure. This stage is a little longer than what we've played so far, and it's a harbinger of what's to come - as far as stage length goes - later in the game.

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Area 2-2: Museum Vault

Unmarked Map (by Spannetone)

The level starts at the vault. You'll have to go through the entire basement level of the art museum just to open it.

When you enter the door, go right, as there will be three big self-repairing barriers in your way, forcing you to head in the other direction. As you go, you'll see enemies as well as chips, and you'll also be introduced to pink ghost-like enemies that move forward and chomp at you like some ethereal Pac-Man. You'll need to get away from them before they run into you, but at least they don't automatically kill you on contact. It also helps that they can only turn in a different direction via the drill ducts.

The steam that comes out of the pipes will damage you, so watch out for it.

You'll soon enter a guard station, and if you move to certain things in the room, you can read them. One of them is a card on the wall that tells you to turn the red dial two times to the right and four times to the left. Once you latch onto the machine in the room with the drill, you'll be able to turn the vault.

R will turn the dial right, and L will turn the dial left. Hold down the button you need to press to turn the dial the right way and keep it in first gear to make sure you get one complete revolution in that direction. When you turn a dial in any correct direction the correct number of times, the light will flash a different color (in this case, yellow), reminding you to turn the dial in the other direction. Keep that in mind. If you mess up, you can press Start to restart. When you get it right, you'll get the confirmation jingle, the lock will be released, and the machine to turn the dial will disappear. You can then continue on.

When you reach the fountain, you'll meet Detective Carrie, who will throw EMP bombs in your direction. Head to the right and latch on to the machine to move the jet of water that moves up and down to knock the bombs out of the air and destroy them. The aim is to take out as many EMP bombs as you can before Detective Carrie eventually runs out. L moves the water left, while R moves it right. Make sure to shift up to second gear to give yourself the ability to move the water more in one direction in case you need to take out a ton of bombs. After the detective runs out of bombs, she and her forces will head to the vault. Grutch will tell you that the Red Diamond is in the vault, while Gearmo will tell you to use the jet of water to continue on. Do just that to head to the right.

You'll soon find another office as well as a note saying that the Skullkers are paying the force well to focus exclusively on the Red Dozers, which more or less reveals that the police force here is easily corruptible. You'll also find a poster for a display for five diamonds, and below it is the combination for the machine that is in the room. To release the second lock, you'll need to latch onto the machine and turn the dial five times to the left and three times to the right. While turning the second dial, you'll get a light blue light when you turn the dial five times to the left, reminding you to switch directions. Once you release the second lock, you'll be able to get third gear.

You'll drop back to the fountain. This time, use the fountain to head left. There will be a self-repairing barrier that will block your path when you head up and to the left, forcing you to go right at first, but we have third gear now, so we can break it.

To get past the six lasers, move to the left, then slide when you reach the middle of the laser set.

You'll soon need to use both the socket lifts and the drill ducts together to get further up. There is a cracked wall to the right that I (very easily) miss, which leads to a treasure that I could have picked up at this point in the game. We'll pick it up later. To be fair, it is easy to miss that cracked wall.

After making our way back down (and sliding through a narrow corridor along the way), we'll find a painting we have to move to get some blocks out of our way. There will also be a bookcase above where the blocks are, and if you interact with the right half of it with the B button, you'll find out that there is something odd about the diamond that makes whoever holds it covet it. You'll also get the combination to the third lock, which is a bit more complex: six times to the left, one time to the right and twelve times to the left.

The third dial is bigger than the first two, and to ensure that you get one complete revolution, shift up to second gear, then hold down the button until second gear is over. You'll get a green light (which can be a bit difficult to see, but it's there) when you turn the correct direction the correct number of times. Once you release the third lock, you'll open the vault. Go down the nearby drill duct, then head left once you're back outside.

After some more drill duct crawling, you'll fight a mechanical crab inside of a duct, putting your drill duct skills to the test. The eye that flashes indicates which claw it will attack with, and you'll need to attack that claw to damage the boss (or avoid that claw if you're not in position to). If it's the left eye, it will be the left claw; if it's the right eye, it will be the right claw. When the crab lowers its eyes into the duct after you successfully avoid its attack, you'll want to attack the eyes with the drill.

You'll soon end up back where you started exploring the level, and you can return to the vault. Latch onto the machine and keep drilling with the R button to open up the vault and go inside. When you do, you'll find out that there is gold bars in the vault, but no Red Diamond. You'll then meet Detective Carrie, who produces a yellow diamond instead, which she uncharacteristically covets, much to the surprise of Gearmo. You'll then have to fight Detective Carrie.

For the first phase of the battle, avoid the handcuffs that Carrie throws. She can throw them high or low, and they can also return to her like a boomerang on occasion. If you get caught, you'll have to drill your way out of the handcuffs. The middle of the robot will then open up and flash. You'll want to drill into it and shift up to third gear to do as much damage as possible.

For the second phase, wait for Detective Carrie to dive. The undercarriage will flash, and when she dives and then drops down, you'll want to jump up and drill upwards into the robotic torso. All the while, guards will pop out of the gold bars to make things more difficult. They don't pose much of a threat if you stay focused on Detective Carrie, though.

Once you beat the second phase, Detective Carrie will come to her senses. Strangely, you'll take the Yellow Diamond. Meanwhile, in the trailer, Gearmo will bring up the five diamonds, and mention that there is a blue diamond in the Kuru Ruins. With this as our only clue to go on, we head to the Kuru Ruins to look for the Blue Diamond.

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Drill Dozer - Part 4 of 28

The next part of the story takes us to the art museum, and we'll have to head there to get the Red Diamond back...

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Area 2-1: Art Museum

The police officers fight much like the Skullker enemies that you've fought before. Also, don't worry about the treasure above where you start. You'll be getting it later. For now, just break the glass below you to break into the museum.

When you land in the art museum, you'll need to head to the left first. You'll need to do this to get to second gear and take care of the area on the right. As you go through here, you'll be re-introduced through the drill ducts. Remember to use R to go through the red ones and L to go through the blue ones. If you need to go in reverse, use the opposite button while in the ducts.

Watch out for lasers. They hurt. Also, destroy everything you see, including the security cameras, for chips.

You'll soon find a block hiding a red drill duct. This takes you to the second gear, which will allow you to continue on.

You'll soon find out that you can move a painting with B. Move it to the other end to get that big security wall out of your way.

The red and purple square blocks alternate. When one color disappears, the other reappears. You'll be seeing these in other stages, and they appear and disappear in very straightforward patterns

You'll also need to watch your head while using the socket lifts afterwards due to the walls and ceilings. Along the way, you'll soon find the third gear. The doorway at the top takes you to some treasure - and the start - but again, you'll have to come here later to get it. Drop back down to the museum, and head right. With both gears in your possession, you can easily get through here. Take out the officers and watch the lasers.

The guys with the shields can be taken out if you hit them with the drill from above and then drill them from behind. Some of the officers in the small robot suits don't have shields, and you can easily defeat them.

To take out the robot dogs, watch out for and avoid the jump, then drill the dog from behind. If the dog runs in place, jump after or run away from the charge attack. After enough damage, the armor will be removed, and damaging it again will help take it out for good.

You'll soon see a security robot suit with an exposed bolt. Drill the exposed bolt with R and get to third gear to remove the bolt and make that robotic armor suit fall apart. Also, keep this in mind for later.

In the room with all the statues, one of the statues will be facing the other direction. Move the statue that's directly above you all the way to the right and place it below the one that if facing right, and you'll clear the wall in front of you out of your way.

The battery replaces a lot of health, and you won't see it very often throughout the game.

When you reach the stage, watch where the enemies are standing so you don't take contact damage, then take them out like you usually have.

You'll soon face a guard in the armor suit from earlier. Block the punches with your drill, and when you see one of the fists turn red, jump. The giant screw will soon be exposed, and you'll want to jump up, drill it and shift up to third gear to do as much damage as possible. Once the armored guard is beaten, you'll soon find a vault. From here, the Red Dozers regroup and the level ends. You'll then find out that the vault has three locks, and you'll have to stake the place out further to find out how to open them.

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Drill Dozer - Part 3 of 28

Now that we've been exposed to things we'll see later in the game, let's head back to the main game and try to get the Red Diamond back.

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Area 1-2: Skullker Factory

At the beginning of every level, you will always be at one gear, and you'll have to find your second and third

Watch for cracks in the ceilings when you enter the factory; you'll find chips that way.

The yellow rubber blocks make their debut here. As mentioned before, drill into them with one shoulder button, then press the other while still drilling to launch yourself backwards. The higher the gear you're in, the more you'll be launched back, and you can also change direction mid-flight to latch onto something else, if need be.

You'll need to get second gear and launch off the left end of a rubber block to get your first treasure chest, which contains the Round Stone. There are 31 treasures that you can collect for the treasure room, and all of them are needed for 100% completion.

For the mini-boss, take out the enemies, then drill up into the mini-boss to damage it when it extends itself downwards. Don't forget to shift up to second gear to do more damage.

To power up the socket lift after the mini-boss, you'll have to enter the door to the left.

Hold B and move around with the D-Pad to look around. Doing it at the crack in the wall reveals the room below. Go down there, go up to the lever, press B when the game tells you, and you'll pull the lever and get the socket lift moving.

The flying enemies with the drills will drop down on you when you are near them. When they drop, be ready to back away and then hit them with the drill.

There is a set of socket lifts in the outside area, but until we can break the metal block, we can't go any further with it.

Back inside, you'll be drilling through a lot of desks and office equipment. Before the second mini-boss, there is a desk you can drill through for energy. You'll then fight two of the missile tanks from Area 1-1. Wait for one to shoot a missile, then drill into it. When the other one shoots a missile, you'll need to launch off yourself the first missile tank like you did with the rubber locks, then switch direction and drill into the other one. You'll have to keep switching between the two tanks as they shoot missiles to take them out as quickly as possible without taking damage and make quick work of them.

The spring enemies after the mini-boss produce electricity, and if you attack them as they do this, you'll take damage.

Hold Down and press A to slide across narrow passages. If you don't get through the passage, just slide again.

As always, pay attention to walls to find out where you can destroy them. For the wrench box you're forced to slide to, there is a part of the wall with a bandage on it, signaling that you can destroy it to open that part up.

You'll eventually face Croog, the mastermind of the Skullkers, with the Red Diamond. After he refuses to give the Red Diamond back and flies away, you'll have to face him. The spark plug you'll find on the way to Croog gives more health than the green stone.

To beat the Scorpion Drill, wait for the drill to hit the ground, then drill into it and get to third gear as you do. When Croog sends bombs at you, watch the bombs' movement and jump over them when they get close.

After you destroy the drill, Croog's tank will grow spider legs. When the mouth opens, drill into the mouth and get to third gear to do a bunch of damage. If it takes a while, Gearmo will give you a hint telling you to drill the mouth. You'll still have to watch for the bombs, so be careful. Also, don't hold Right while drilling into the mouth, or else you'll drop into the tank when you get knocked back.

After you beat Croog, Croog will fly away...for now. You'll find out that Croog is taking the Red Diamond to the Art Museum, and you'll find out that some strange guy is now running a shop at the trailer where you can buy things such as energy tanks that act as reserve tanks and give you more health with the chips that you've been picking up throughout the game.

Monday, April 22, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Drill Dozer - Part 2 of 28

Before heading back to the Skullkers' lair, we check out the Red Dozers' training course.

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At the main menu, you can see the equipment that is equipped on your Drill Dozer, you can see the treasures that you have collected, and you'll also be able to save and load games. You'll also be able to go to the map and play and re-play levels.

While we could go to Area 1-2 right now, we're going to the training course to see what the future of the game holds.

Red Dozers' Training Course

The chalkboards will contain notes on the things you have just interacted with, and you can read them with B.

The boxes with the hourglasses on are time blocks. They will re-appear after being destroyed. There will be a series of beeps, and after the third set of beeps, the block re-appears. If you're inside where the block is, the block will not re-appear until you move out of the way. The darker blocks take more abuse before getting destroyed than the lighter ones.

If you hold forward on the D-Pad while drilling through multiple blocks at third gear, you'll keep moving forward from block to block as long as you are holding forward and the button you are drilling with.

The drill ducts allow you to move forward with the drill. Hold R to go through the red ones, and L to go through the blue ones. If you shift to third gear, you can fly through gaps in the ducts.

The screw gates will open paths to areas and can also help you get to others. Experiment with the screw gates to figure out which button you need to screw them. By moving one screw in, another screw moves out. The screws will move back to their original positions after a few seconds.

Sometimes you can interact with things on the wall with B. By placing the jigsaw puzzle piece on the wall by walking up to it with B and placing it where you need to - which is the puzzle below - you can open up a wall. You'll be doing this to open up paths throughout the game.

The yellow square blocks are rubber blocks. If you drill into them with one shoulder button, then press the other shoulder button, you can launch yourself backwards. The higher the gear you're in, the further you'll launch yourself back. You can switch directions while launching yourself, allowing you to perform multiple rebounding jumps with multiple rubber blocks, and while this takes practice, it can be done and it will get your places.

There are socket lifts that can carry you from either side. Remember that they can only carry you for as long as your drill is spinning, and if you hit a ceiling or a wall, you will automatically let go of the socket lift. Thankfully, you can switch the side of the socket lift that you are on with the D-Pad.

You'll find a treasure chest with 150 chips at the end.

Sunday, April 21, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Drill Dozer - Part 1 of 28

A shame this came out shortly after the DS did. I never hear much about this game, but what I hear about it is good...even if there are things about it that frustrate me later on.

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Area 1-1: Skullker Hideout