Mr. Driller G (Arcade)

Mr. Driller G was initially released as an arcade game back in early 2001! As the console version was released at the end of that year, there was a lot of time for things to change between the two. In fact, they may as well be completely different games!

This page details some of the differences the arcade version of G has from its better-known console counterpart. After all, its recent support in MAME 0.254 is what got the site admin back into the series!

Opening Attract

Much like any arcade game, Mr. Driller G has an opening attract if you let the title screen run for a while. Interestingly, it's nearly exact to the opening attract of Mr. Driller 2, but it seems the voice acting was redone? The voice acting is slightly sped up as emulation in MAME is not perfect, but below is a video of the opening attract in action.

Audio Differences

The original soundtrack for Mr. Driller G wasn't included in the arcade version, so the arcade version reuses previous tracks from the first two games. This includes Holy Dream AC.

Graphical Differences

There's a lot of these. The arcade version pulls a lot from Mr. Driller 2's art direction, rather than the transitional artstyle used by the console release. Below are some the site admin noted during their own playthrough:

• The UI is recycled from Mr. Driller 2, both in menus and in-game.

• White blocks have a different appearance than in the console release, akin to sugar cookies.

• The credits sequence reuses the inserts from Mr. Driller 2.

• In the endless Space level, the powerup you obtain when activated is shown at the bottom of the screen.

Other Differences

In addition to the above, Usagi is NOT playable, even if the player has completed the North Pole.