PrinceWatercress plays Drill Dozer - Part 15 of 28

It's time for the final battle with Croog! Compared to the rest of the second half of the game, this is mercifully easier.

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Area 6-2: Croom's Doom Dozer

Unmarked Map (by Spannettone)

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!

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

Marked Map (by TerraEsperZ)

Unmarked Map (by Spannettone)

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.

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

Marked Map (by TerraEsperZ)

Unmarked Map (by Spannettone)

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!

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

Unmarked Map (by Spannettone)

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.

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

Unmarked Map (by Spannettone)

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.

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

Marked Map (by TerraEsperZ)

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.

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

Unmarked Map (by Spannettone)

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.