Thoughts on Mr. Driller

[@JimPanzeeEsq]

My wife loved this on DS but she would get offended everytime he said "Lucky!" because it was skill she says.

[@PressA2Die]

hahaha

[@MasterSpud]

It's luck, Jim, but not as we know it

[@tyler-xo3rb]

very cute

[@JPTQJR]

"There's just something addictive in trying to get deeper"

[@WaddleDee105]

OwO

[@cannonfodder4000]

"if theres a hole, it's a guy's job to thrust into it"

[@Chris-zs6fd]

Sounds like Matt's approach to criticism

[@SpeedStar1642]

That just screams Schezo Wegey levels of phrasing.

[@GeorgGreat_GameReviews]

You know, there's something special about having a notification: "Thoughts on Mr. Driller" pop up on you desktop. It's like: "Stop whatever it is you're doing. Now let's talk about mr. Driller."

[@GIR177]

I like that the player character in Mr. Driller is the son of the guy from Dig Dug, who you can unlock in the later games and digs like a complete speed demon. Fun times with this gem on the DS way back.

[@SaveliySakharov]

That moment when there is no “hello ladies gentlemen”...You know how it hurts our feelings, Matthew?..

[@cannonfodder4000]

He said on his second channel he doesnt want to say it anymoire

[@Ageleszly]

The reason surely is that there are no ladies to greet

[@cannonfodder4000]

@@normmcnormalson6952 Cause he didn't want to start every video the same way anymore, he said he'll still do it for commentaries though as can be seen in his Viewtiful Joe one

[@pirateray]

imagine giving a shit about whether he says the catchphrase or not

[@littleskatey577]

@@pirateray Don't take it too seriously pal

[@retractingblinds]

From my experience it's annoyingly hard to get people to give puzzle games a try. The flow state you talk about, where the logic in the game becomes pure instinct on your end is the most satisfying feeling a game has ever given me and only two genres, very simple ones, have ever gotten me to that point. Puzzle games and STGs. The moment where you lose that buffer for information processing is like this incredible high. Something like Tetris 99, Cotton 2, Twinkle Star Sprites, Money Idol Exchanger tap into it superbly. It's just a lot harder to sell people on than talking about how badass you can be.

[@Matthewmatosis]

I think this is at least partially to do with what I say at the start of the video. People like to have an avatar rather than manipulating things from afar, it makes the game more comprehensible I think. Mr. Driller might be a good gateway game for this reason.

[@L33PL4Y]

I've always loved this series even though I'm horrible at it, which I feel is a rare and unique opinion to have on a game. Usually people hate games they're not good at, but this one is different for me. I love the art style, the visuals, the simplicity of the concept, and as you said, the addicting drive to get deeper. It's very difficult to actually reach the very bottom of a stage, but it's also very fun to keep trying.

[@brianschraner]

Is there more to Matthew's seeming fascination with games focused on descent. Maybe it's just easier to program...

[@duffman18]

He really needs to play Downwell. It's a fantastic little game and is literally only descent further and further down a well to see how deep you can get

[@_rykos]

@@duffman18 He already made a video on it

[@wonderguardstalker]

Not only is there a video but I think it’s mentioned

[@duffman18]

@@_rykos oh damn you're right. I'm a dumb dumb Well let me suggest he play Exit the Gungeon. The sequel to Enter the Gungeon, obviously. It just came out, and it's not as deep a game as the first one, and it involves climbing up wells rather than going down them, but it seems like exactly the kinda thing he'd like.

[@PlentyofFodder]

Jacob geller has the perfect video for you lol

[@gardenhead92]

Finally a game that can reflect the constant downward spiral of my life

[@ListlessMask]

And the inevitable, crushing doom that awaits you at the end of every attempt at progress

[@oceansawayband]

😂 but the same time 😢

[@barryherbers6090]

Thank you for all these weekyl videos! It's lots of fun!

[@Furthermore26]

And now all we have to do is wait until June 25th before it arrives on steam. Too bad it's not on mobile platforms. It looks like a perfect game for a phone/tablet.

[@Matthewmatosis]

I didn't realize the new version was coming to Steam as well, that's nice.

[@Tardsmat]

the switch is kind of a mobile platform

[@jebbushu711]

Local arcade had a Mr. Driller 2, it was a lot of fun once you got to understand how it works. Sadly since it was in japanese and not a rhythm game no one played it and they took it off the floor to make space for other games.

[@CGoody564]

I never thought of it that way in regards to controlling a character. In Tetris, I thought that the character I controlled was the grid itself in which I could manipulate subparts to achieve my goal

[@liplepeoberty5815]

Mr. Driller G is an interesting follow up console release of the series, it’s Japanese only yea, but definitely has some intriguing gameplay twists in its story campaign.

[@SalameeQueijos]

I love this game! It's so addictive! About the commentary about controlling a character, I think that the ideia that in a videogame you control a character has become such a common place that it feels mandatory and I miss more abstract experiences like tetris where gameplay is not about controlling a character...

[@WaddleDee105]

I only played Mr. Driller once in my entire life and that was well over a decade ago... Yet when I saw that Mattewmastosis uploaded a video titled "Thoughts on Mr. Driller" I knew to make watching it my top priority.

[@cannonfodder4000]

This really makes me want to play Mr Driller again, looks like it's being released on Switch in June 25, i'll buy that one!

[@marsgreekgod]

it says that in japan but in the us it has no date. werid. oh well 2 days after my birthday!

[@duffman18]

Yeah I went on the US switch store (I'm in the UK) and it had a new Mr Driller, so I'm excited about that. Also I keep trying to find info on grhe new Space Invaders Invincible Collection which I really really want, and it's already out in Japan, but there's no news whatsoever about a western release. And I mean it can't need tons of translation to English, it's space invaders for christ sake. But yeah the newer modern space invaders games look so cool, much like the new Pacmans that were essentially the same gameplay but just everything looked much cooler Maybe I'll just go on the Japanese store and buy the Japanese version. And the Japanese release of the new Mr Driller. Because it'll come out first and it's not a text heavy game, you wouldn't need to know Japanese to play it, surely. Unless there's some kinda story mode

[@cannonfodder4000]

@@duffman18 other than the original the only one I played is space Invaders extreme which was so awesome. I hope that's in the new collection but I'll still buy the collection cause it sounds cool!

[@Aboveup]

I wasn't entirely feeling today, but a Matthewmatosis video on one of my favorite lesser known puzzle series sure changed my mind on that.

[@itsbrunhilda9704]

Aye, I know that feeling. Thanks for the Ys reviews by the way. I know that this isn't really the place to say that but you ended up getting me to marathon the series to completion over the last couple of months lol.

[@Aboveup]

@@itsbrunhilda9704 Thank you. Happy to hear you enjoyed the games!

[@irony8908]

"There's something addictive about just trying to get deeper." Ain't it the truth.

[@BoulderPunch]

What I always love about your videos is I have NO clue what game you're going to do, and they end up being REALLY interesting choices.

[@bonniethebunny4780]

Fun fact: Mr. Driller is actually Dig-Dug's son!

[@QF_Dan72]

and Baraduke's son as well

[@ST91111]

I smile whenever Matthew uploads

[@jordanedelman4628]

Played this at an arcade a lot when I was a kid, but i misremembered it as dig-dug. Thank you for making this video Matosis.

[@TankEngine75]

This game was originally gonna be called "Dig Dug 3" plus the main character of this game (Susumu Hori) is the son of Dig Dug who has a name (Taizo Hori) and is playable in the later titles

[@aurimasg9769]

There was a game with controllable character who 'drilled' the earth and collected diamonds, its called Boulder Dash and it was huge in previous century. It did spawn quite a few copycats and inspired whole bunch of games, probably Mr. driller included.

[@LPCandyCaney]

Thanks for talking about this game! I have a lot of nostalgia for it since I watched my brother play it a lot when I was younger. Something that I would like to add to the analysis of the game is that it is a lot of fun to watch imo. There's something strangely hypnotizing about watching someone dig deeper and deeper, which is an image I still remember to this day despite having never touched the game myself.

[@JayOfSpade]

I enjoyed your speculation on how controlling a character makes a puzzle game more interesting. Mr. Driller wasn't really the first puzzle game to do this, though. Wario's Woods released in 1994 and has you control a Toad at the bottom of the well of falling bombs and monsters to physically manipulate them. I first played the game as a kid, and it was far more instantly fascinating to me than other well based puzzle games just because you could control an actual character on the screen

[@Chris-zs6fd]

Another hidden gem uncovered! Love the smaller videos Matthew, they're more than enough to tide over between your larger projects. I hope these let you feel like you're allowed to take some time off!

[@Uderscore]

Not that genre distinction are all that important, but I wouldn't lump Mr. Driller in as a "puzzle game" in the family of Tetris, on the surface one might believe that, but really it's more like a simple action game in which the world you inhabit is the aftermath of a different puzzle game. If it were a puzzle game, it would far more resemble Wario's Woods.

[@RazorFringe2]

I adore Namco's output from this era. This game, Tekken 2 +3, Ridge Racer Type 4, even Anna Kournikova's Smash Court Tennis, they all had this fantastic sense of style and brilliant music.

[@juliofunes6778]

The avatar thing is probably a big contributing factor as to why guitar hero blew up. I know that I enjoyed unlocking new characters, guitars, and arenas to play in. If you were just strumming a plastic guitar with notes flying down with an abstract aesthetic like most rhythm games before it I don't think it would've been as popular.

[@ultimateblong]

I wasn't even paying attention. I was just watching the little guy drilling the entire time.

[@numberpi5473]

also, Mr. Driller is canon to Ace Combat. And Galaga. Yes, you read that right.

[@EdgardR.]

What

[@kramersergot]

These are great little bits of tribute to classic games

[@strategist9]

I always really liked the DS game, excited for the Switch game that's hitting soon! Simple can be good as long as they find a way to keep it satisfying and Mr. Driller really delivered on that for me.

[@AvasFangs]

green isn't a primary colour but I agree none the less

[@WestPictures]

I usually think I'm pretty good at some games until Matthew starts playing them

[@lilo19951995]

i remember there was a rip off of this on neopets. i think it was called like snow muncher or something, i could be pulling that out of my ass

[@Pusga2]

I remember this too, it was a polar bear eating snow blocks and instead of a timer it was a bloat meter, you also had to drink strange potions to burp

[@lilo19951995]

@@Pusga2 yaaa. the lil bears name was like dieter, if i remember

[@Paranuui]

Fuck I think you're right. Fuck both these games then

[@junichiroyamashita]

Yeah , i distinctly remember the theme.

[@peliukun8164]

webkinz too, tunnelling twigzy, literally a reskin with a caterpillar in a tree

[@masonb9351]

Lovely video! I enjoy the "stream of conscious" format of being able to get everything out that you want to say about the game all while being within the realm of just one playthrough. It might have been interesting from an editing point of view to have also ended the video right when the player character dies. Overall, great stuff. I'm always impressed at the amount of games that lie just beneath the surface of exposure, and I'm glad that you have such a passion for providing a bit of that exposure!

[@masonb9351]

@gibbdude _That's fair. I think I just meant it in a "continuous flow" kind of a way where he expresses points linking to one another without having a harsh break in between them. As well the video itself even fits within a larger flow of short videos elaborating on smaller details that would often be taken for granted. I didn't really consider the literary critique connotation. It's been quite a while since I've done anything like that, so I apologize for the confusion. I hope that clarifies things a bit. _I like your profile avatar by the way.

[@nullnull7089]

5:46 green is not a primary color, its a tertiary color

[@Koops2245]

Some of the entries in this game series have an outstanding presentation style to em!!

[@ShyGuyXXL]

If you wanna explore more block puzzle games with controllable characters, you might wanna take a look at Wario's Woods.

[@jonthedoors]

Hey Matt- would love to see tour thoughts on "a short hike". I played it recently and loved it so much. A very nice exploration game with some really nice bits of simple design thrown in

[@Ookamisieshin]

I could have watched you drill down aimlessly for hours

[@cantrip7]

Ever take a look at the Dig-Dug game on DS that uses the Mr. Driller version of the character? It has this map of hilariously low-poly kaiju to contextualize the arcadey screens. I enjoy seeing devs try to adapt arcadey gameplay to consoley context.

[@walkernintendofan]

Great video as always Matt! Excited for next Monday!

[@CrankyKidneys]

I'm glad your changing it up, doing something new. Not to say that you were getting stale or anything, far from it! It is just from what I hear in a lot of the streams this format is something you have been looking forward to. Stay happy Matthew, you deserve it!

[@Jaspertine]

Also, one of the most whimsical soundtracks in video games. I love it.

[@maxinecaulfield310]

You're awesome, Matthew.

[@MapleMilk]

Matthew is probably the one guy who wanted Mr. Driller on the PlayStation Classic and with this I'm inclined to agree

[@LeFrankist]

Thank you Mathewmatosis for still existing in my life.

[@Zephyrbal]

Now do Devil Dice, the most underrated puzzle series.

[@cannonfodder4000]

4:57 "Death Drive" No More Heroes review teaser???

[@hansnase364]

youtube comment for algorithm Keep doing your thing, Matt!

[@64UPAllGOD]

So, I never played this game, but I got so entranced by the descent that I felt really sad when I realized the video was ending. So, should prolly try this

[@ZombieATAT]

I saw the thumbnail and instantly thought of Rockman. It's weird how the old games keep being re-sold but not re-made. The last one you uploaded was reminiscent too.

[@thecolonel3496]

the sequels to this game get wild, g and drill land really pull a lot out of the simple core mechanics and experiment in tons of different ways without overburdening things too much

[@BrickBreakerXX]

What's your opinion on the DS game? I've been thinking of buying it but then there's the Switch port of the Japanese exclusive Gamecube game coming soon.

[@thecolonel3496]

i haven't really played the ds game but it came out after the initial team pretty much disbanded, so i don't think it adds very much? drill land is easily the best and pretty much the finale of the early mr. driller games, it adds tons of stuff, has some really flashy presentation and amazing music, and has a pretty charming story mode. i actually didn't know they were porting it to switch, but it's easily the one i'd recommend, though i'm sad g isn't getting much love cause that game does a lot of interesting stuff too.

[@BrickBreakerXX]

@@thecolonel3496 Cheers, I may emulate the DS game to test it out.

[@lowenergyvideos4658]

First time I ever saw this game. Love the music, reminds me of Metal Slug.

[@MisotheScot]

Looking back at this video, i think mr driller is the prototype for the "get the furthest you can" game type Games like jetpack joyride and flappy bird for example. The biggest score of these games is getting as far as possible while avoiding hazards, rather than an arbitrary points system.

[@Ultracity6060]

Neat. Can we expect Panel de Pon or Toki Toki Boom next? :p

[@VenomSnakeMGS]

I am liking these short more frequent videos you have been doing.

[@jockel9502]

I'll be honest, this video motivated me to buy the Mr Driller 2 Arcade PCB. Now I'll be off to practice.

[@mechasartre3694]

Damn. Me and my brother played this all night for a few nights before he first went to prison.

[@reghzmighz1393]

This Game Is Like Warios Woods As You Contorl A Charchter To Change The Grid

[@SportaChris]

I discovered this game a couple months ago and have been grinding it relentlessly. My KZbin recommended today: SOMEBODY JUST HAPPENED TO MAKE A VIDEO ABOUT THIS 20 MINUTES AGO. We really do live in a simulation...

[@DozyBinsh]

You mentioned the reactive controls and it randomly reminded me of--before the Roguelite boom was kicked off by Rogue Legacy--there was a small movement around 2005-06 to mainstream the roguelike genre on the DS with games like Izuma the Unemployed Ninja and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and their ilk. For some reason they always had movement animation that no matter how limited always made the games feel sooooooo sluggish compared to the more proper indie roguelikes I was playing e.g. Nethack and IVAN. Mr. Driller's movement might have been a good blueprint for how those games should have moved. After all, it's got a lot of the same snap that later entries like Necrodancer had, and we could have had a roguelike boom some five years earlier. That would have been neat to see.

[@SomeIdiota]

Truly a nitpick, but Binding of Isaac came out a year before Rogue Legacy and that was the Roguelite kickoff.

[@MissAshley42]

Every time I see a Mr. Driller game I think "That's it? Does it ever get any harder?"

[@alierk542]

Great video, as always!

[@salter429]

Keep up the good work man.

[@jockel9502]

That is some pretty damn skilled gameplay! Well done. Might have to bust out the ol' Dreamcast.

[@gtabro1337]

Not sure what's up with our belove Matthew recently, but I kind of miss his commentaries on bigger titles...

[@0xCAFEF00D]

Very impressive that you managed to script this around the game play.

[@josh440]

He gets better with every video honestly. Every video is creatively structured to mesh with the script

[@BinaryDood]

Always wanted to play Drill Spirits for the DS

[@TheVoiceCast]

Good god level 5 was satisfying to watch!

[@stanko8859]

Your a champion keep it up

[@rosiemurray2611]

he made this just so we could hear him say Driller a bunch of times in his accent

[@Ishmokin]

I am enjoying the remaster of Mr. Driller Drill Land on Switch very very much.

[@JakMarshall]

Never heard anybody name drop Magical Drop into conversation. I was thought I was the only weirdo who played it on an arcade emulator

[@EdgardR.]

Have you played on Fightcade? Matches can get crazy, that game makes my hands move so fast. For me it's one of "the controller disappears" games Matthew mentions every now and then. Not to mention some japanese people on Twitter who seem to understand the layouts that will come next so they destroy everything like it's nothing.

[@JakMarshall]

@@EdgardR. The setup I was using was (someone else's) Retro Pi in an arcade cab with two pads. There really is no spare time or brain space available if you want to remain competitive

[@juanarce4721]

Love your videos, keep it up!!!

[@Goosenip]

I've been trying to remember what this game was called for years

[@txwash2]

This video and comment is what made me purchase. Those are the best games lol

[@jordonvazquez7620]

For some reason I can hear Tara Strong as Susumu/Mr. Driller.

[@TheBiomedZed]

I’m going to make have to make a 5 part response to this now.

[@franciscobutte]

Well this put a smile in my face. You should consider a Puyo Puyo thoughts next. Cheers!

[@jockel9502]

I love Puyo, but do you think such a small format would do it justice? There's way more to unpack with Puyo.

[@enrymion9681]

Nice, one of my favorite DS games.

[@1gnore_me.]

loving these shorter videos

[@royalbandit8106]

A Kamakazi Spirit :D "Boo... M!!!"

[@TopMostFlavor]

While you’re doing PS1 games it would be funny to see Mr. Domino

[@vincently1995]

20th Anniversary of Mr. Driller (1999-2019) --> 21st Anniversary of Mr. Driller (1999-2020)

[@adamgoodone9161]

Played a similar type of game on Neopets and it was addictive as hell.

[@xvideogamegodxn77jak]

keep em coming Matt love this

[@LiquidSquidd]

Love these videos

[@masterspongebat2387]

Just caught a case of Epilepsy watching this

[@2000istheyear]

Big fan of the bite sized videos!

[@likessox92]

can you just post the video of you playing through this. It's so hypnotic

[@itz0re0time]

This video is just an excuse for Matthew to show off his Mr. Driller skills. Also not a whole lot of mention on accessibility. I'm colorblind and I'm having a hard time keeping track of all the colors on the screen. Something like this kinda needs an option where the colors are associated with a specific shape.

[@salsaespacial]

love these videos

[@AmanojakuPenguin]

Looks like a fun game, had the rom for the second game lying around for some reason for ages but haven't tried it yet. On the topic of blocky puzzle games, anything to say on Lumines? Definitely one of the harder puzzle games I've played but it's very rewarding to chain together huge block combos.

[@Matthewmatosis]

I'm not great at the likes of Tetris or Puyo Puyo but I've played a lot of these types of games at this point, including Lumines and I think it's strange you'd say it's one of the harder ones when I think it's one of the easiest. I could even loop all the way through the tracklist in the first game. Just goes to show that some of them worm their way into your mind easier than others. Anyway, I enjoyed my time with Lumines back in the day but I'd probably rather spend the time with Tetris or Puyo Puyo now. It's a nice little game but I think a single play can drag on too long. The way the music bar sweeps across the screen is interesting though.

[@cantrip7]

To butt in cuz I love the game: Lumines is one of the first games I cared about scoring in, but it frustrated me. You can get locked out of perfect clears/one color clears past a certain point (or at least, cleaning up the board becomes very inefficient in comparison to combos). Maybe it's on purpose for the game to have that arc from slow to manic, but sometimes I'm only in the mood for one or the other and they don't weave together. Lumines is one of the hardest puzzle games just for what it asks the player to do to unlock all the avatars, like getting a perfect run of the Vs. CPU mode (brutal!).

[@DeoMachina]

In the PS1 days I wanted this game so bad (I had a demo) and by fuck was it as rare as hen's teeth

[@TOASTEngineer]

Funny, that was my nickname in high school.

[@thefebo8987]

this guy is on fire

[@YouOpaOpa]

This is peak Namco.