DS | Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits

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Mr. Driller Drill Spirits Guide (European Version) 
by KeeperBvK aka Burkhart von Klitzing (KeeperBvK@web.de)

Dedication: I dedicate this work to my beloved dad who passed away on the  
            07/13/2005.
            I always loved you and I always will. Thank you so much for the  
            time we had.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                               0.1 Legal Stuff
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This Guide may only be posted on these websites:
www.gamefaqs.com and its affiliates
www.cheatcc.com
www.neoseeker.com
www.supercheats.com
www.gamerstemple.com
www.ign.com
www.gamerhelp.com
and it may not be used commercially in any possible way.
If you want to post it on another site please contact me via E-Mail or via 
the Message Board.
Do not claim this guide or any part of it to be your creation.
If you find any mistakes (even regarding the language as I'm German) please 
let me know.
Copyright 2005 Burkhart von Klitzing

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                                0.2 Contents
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When searching for something specific just press Ctrl + F and type whatever 
you are looking for.

                                               | Latest Update | Search Key |
-----------------------------------------------|---------------|------------|
0.1 Legal Stuff                                |      1.15     |            |
0.2 Contents                                   |      1.15     |            |
-----------------------------------------------|---------------|------------|
1.0 About the Game                             |      0.2      |     AAA    |
2.0 Controls                                   |      0.2      |     BBB    |
3.0 Game Play                                  |      0.2      |     CCC    |
    3.1 Game Basics (standard blocks)          |      0.2      |     CC1    |
    3.2 Game Basics (special blocks)           |      0.45     |     CC2    |
    3.3 Game Basics (items)                    |      0.92     |     CC3    |
    3.4 Game Basics (further info and tactics) |      1.00     |     CC4    |
    3.5 Scoring System                         |      1.10     |     CC5    |
    3.6 Character List                         |      0.97     |     CC6    |
    3.7 Deleting the Save File                 |      1.13     |     CC7    |
-----------------------------------------------|---------------|------------|
4.0 1P Driller                                 |      0.2      |     DDD    |
                                               |               |            |
    4.1 Mission Driller                        |      0.2      |     DD1    |
    4.1.1 Walkthrough                          |      1.05     |     D11    |
    4.1.2 Ending Dialogues                     |      1.10     |     D12    |
    4.1.3 Records                              |      1.10     |     D13    |
                                               |               |            |
    4.2 Pressure Driller                       |      0.2      |     DD2    |
    4.2.1 Walkthrough                          |      0.8      |     D21    |
    4.2.2 Records                              |      0.8      |     D22    |
                                               |               |            |
    4.3 Time Attack Driller                    |      0.2      |     DD3    |
    4.3.1 Walkthrough                          |      0.9      |     D31    |
    4.3.2 Records                              |      0.9      |     D32    |
                                               |               |            |
    4.4 Dristone Driller                       |      0.2      |     DD4    |
    4.4.1 Walkthrough                          |      0.6      |     D41    |
    4.4.2 Dristone List                        |      0.6      |     D42    |
    4.4.3 Records                              |      0.6      |     D43    |
                                               |               |            |
    4.5 Driller Store                          |      0.2      |     DD5    |
    4.5.1 Mission Driller                      |      0.75     |     D51    |
    4.5.2 Pressure Driller                     |      0.75     |     D52    |
                                               |               |            |
    4.6 Unlockables                            |      1.00     |     DD6    |
-----------------------------------------------|---------------|------------|
5.0 Guide Ending                               |      0.2      |     EEE    |
    5.1 Version History                        |      1.15     |     EE1    |
    5.2 Final Comments                         |      1.14     |     EE2    |
    5.3 Experimental                           |      1.14     |     EE3    |
-----------------------------------------------|---------------|------------|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                             1.0 About the Game                           AAA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mr. Driller Drill Spirits is the newest addition to a not-that-popular 
action-puzzle series that debuted on the Dreamcast and on the Playstation. 
You control a driller-wielding guy (usually Susumu the son of Dig-Dug's main 
character) drilling his way through hundreds of differently-coloured blocks 
in order to reach the bottom of a tunnel.
The gameplay can get very action-paced and sometimes frantic maybe somewhat 
reminiscent of Tetris Plus (Game boy).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                                2.0 Controls                              BBB
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

         _______________________________________
        |      _                         _      |
        |     |_|  ___________________  |_|     |
        |         | _________________ |         |
        |         ||                 ||         |
        |         ||                 ||         |
        |         ||                 ||         |
        | ::::::: ||                 || ::::::: |
        | ::::::: ||_________________|| ::::::: |
      __|      _  |___________________|  _      |__
     /_L|     |_|                       |_|     |R_\
     || |_______________________________________| ||
     ||_________   ___________________            ||
     ||   ___   | ||                 ||  ___  ___ ||
     ||  |___|  | ||   Touchscreen   || |SEL||SRT|||
     ||    _    | ||                 ||           ||
     ||  _| |_  | ||                 ||     X     ||
     || |_ D _| | ||_________________||   Y   A   ||
     ||   |_|   | | |     NINTENDO  | |     B     ||
     ||         | |/_____________O_DS\|           ||
     ||_________|                                 ||
     ||____________|MIC____________||_____________||
     |_____________________________________________|

Start (SRT) : Pause the game.

Select (SEL): Not used in Mr. Driller DS.

L           : Not used in Mr. Driller DS.

R           : Not used in Mr. Driller DS.

A           : In-game: Drill.
              In-menu: Accept.

B           : In-game: Drill.
              In-menu: Abort.

Y           : In-game: Drill.
              In-menu: Accept.

X           : Shoot a fireball (only in Pressure Driller Mode).
              Open the Dristone-Menu.

D-Pad (D)   : In-game: Move your character.
              In-menu: Choose options.

Touchscreen : In-game: Move your character.
                       Drill.
              In-menu: Choose and accept options.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                                3.0 Game Play                             CCC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

----------------------3.1 Game Basics (standard blocks)-------------------CC1

Basically you just try to reach the bottom of a deep cave by digging or 
drilling through dozens of block layers.
A single drill usually destroys a single block leaving every block laying on 
top of it open to whatever gravity wants to do with it (let it fall down of 
course, d'oh) but of course it is not always that simple.
There are 4 different kinds of normal blocks (blue, green, red and yellow) 
each with the same characteristics:

- They are destroyed with a single drill.

           X
 ______  __\/___ ______        ______          ______
|red   ||green ||blue  |      |red   |        |blue  |
|      ||      ||      |  --> |      |        |      |
|______||______||______|      |______|   X    |______|

- If they happen to be in mid-air they start shaking for a brief moment 
  before falling straight down.

 ______
|yellow|
|      |
|______|        -->  ______
|red   |  O         |yellow| \O/
|      |<-Y         |      |  Y
|______| / \        |______| / \

- If two or three blocks of the same colour get in contact (no matter if  
  horizontally or vertically) they link to each other creating a bigger  
  block that can't be split up again but is still destroyed with a single 
  drill.

         ______
        |yellow|
        |      |
 ______ |______|           ______________
|yellow||red   |  O       |yellow        |  O       \O/
|      ||      |<-Y   --> |              |<-Y  -->   Y
|______||______| / \      |______________| / \      / \

- If four or more blocks of the same colour (or big blocks equal of 4 
  single blocks) connect they disappear. Should there be a big block  
  consisting of four or more single blocks from the beginning it must fall 
  down at least one row or get in contact with another block of the same 
  colour to disappear.

         ______
        |red   |        
        |      |        
 ______ |______| ______
|red   ||yellow||green |
|      ||      ||      |       
|      ||______||______|                ______________
|      ||green ||red   |  O       -->  |red           |         \O/
|      ||      ||      |<-Y            |              |          Y
|______||      ||______| /_\___        |        ______|         /_\___
|                      ||yellow|       |      ||yellow|        |yellow|
|                      ||      |       |      ||      |        |      |
|______________________||______|       |______||______|        |______|

----------------------3.2 Game Basics (special blocks)--------------------CC2

Besides the normal blocks Mr Driller also contains some special blocks:

- Brown X-blocks generally have the same characteristics as the normal  
  blocks with two exceptions: First of all they need to be drilled five 
  times to be desegregated and second you lose 20 percent points of air 
  every time you destroy one by drilling. (I'll talk about air in 3.3)
  Appears in every play mode.

- White blocks completely "act" just like coloured blocks minus the ability 
  of chaining up with other white blocks. (Only appears in Mission Driller,   
  Pressure Driller and Dristone Driller)

- Crystal blocks are the most unstable blocks by far: A few seconds after 
  they appear on-screen they stop flashing announcing their implosion, 
  sometimes starting a chain-reaction with blocks situated on top of it.
  Appears in every play mode.

- Metal blocks might be regarded the complete opposite of the crystal 
  blocks as they cannot be destroyed in any way. (Only appears in Time 
  Attack)

---------------------------3.3 Game Basics (items)------------------------CC3

- The most important item in every Mr Driller game is the oxygen tank:  
  These green capsules that can be found in every play mode except for the 
  Time Attack replenish your air meter by 20 percent points. As you lose 
  air automatically all the time and even fiercer when breaking an X-block 
  with an amount of 0% of air leading to a painful death this item can 
  definitely be regarded as essential. (Does not appear in Time Attack)
        __ 
       /  \
      /    \ 
     /  /\  )
    / \ \/_/
   /   \ \/
  / /\  \/
 (  \/\ /
  \  \ /
   \__/

- The red POW capsules only appear in Pressure Driller mode and providing  
  you with energy for your flamethrower which I'll cover later in this  
  guide (in 4.2 to be more precise).      
       __
      /  \
     //\  \
    (/\/   \
     \  /\  \
      \/ /   \
       \/ /   \
        \/ /   )
         \/ / /
          \/_/
 
- Dristones are coloured gems that can only be found in Dristone Driller 
  which is exclusive to the Japanese and the European version of Mr. 
  Driller DS. I'll cover them in detail in section 4.4.2.

- Flip blocks: These yellow blocks marked with an arrow turn the screen 
  upside-down. (Only appears in Time Attack)

- Turn blocks: These orange blocks marked with an arrow turn the screen 
  90 degrees. (Only appears in Time Attack)

- Crystals: These blue blocks marked with a star turn certain metal blocks  
  into crystal blocks.

- Clocks come with one of six different numbers on them: 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4 
  or 5 which indicates how many seconds will be subtracted from the time 
  taken so far. These items are essential to beating any records. (Only  
  appears in Time Attack Driller)
________
?-boxes:|
These yellow goodies resemble the boxes found in the 3D-Mario Kart-games as 
they contain randomly chosen items but here you cannot choose if and where to 
use them; instead they're used right when you pick them up. (Only appear in 
The Moon and Outer Space in Mission Driller)

- Good effects       : - Speed-Up    : A white shoe on a blue background.
(according to the game)                This speeds up your movement (not your  
                                       drilling) for a certain amount of time.
                       - Full Air    : A blue air capsule and the word "full" 
                                       on a blue background.
                                       This completely refills your air meter.
                       - Max Up      : A blue air capsule with a small 
                                       double-sided arrow over it on a blue 
                                       background.
                                       This adds five percentage points to 
                                       your maximum air capacity, even after 
                                       a death.
                       - Smart Bomb:   A few black lines on blue background; 
                                       looks like when something disappears 
                                       in a comic.
                                       Destroys all block son screen and a 
                                       little further (but leaves the items).
                       - Barrier     : A black man covered by a white shield 
                                       on a blue background.
                                       This temporarily gives you a shield 
                                       that protects you from a falling block. 
                                       Either disappears after a certain time 
                                       or after being hit once (or running 
                                       out of air).
                       - Low Gravity : A blue block with white lines over it, 
                                       indicating that it is falling, on blue 
                                       background.
                                       For a short amount of time every block  
                                       and every item will fall down 
                                       extremely slowly.

- Negative effects   : - Turn Block  : A black arrow and a "90" on an orange 
(according to the game)                background; just the same as the 
                                       normal Turn Block.
                       - Half Air    : A blue, half-filled air capsule and 
                                       the word "half" over it on an orange 
                                       background.
                       - Flip Block  : A black arrow on an orange background; 
                                       just the same as the normal Flip Block 
                                       except for the background.
                       - X Creator   : A pink cross on a red background.
                                       This changes a lot of blocks to X-
                                       blocks.
                       - W Creator   : A white block on a red background.
                                       This changes a lot of blocks to white 
                                       blocks.
                       - C Creator   : A white star on a red background.
                                       This changes a lot of blocks to 
                                       crystal blocks which might cause 
                                       dangerous chain-reactions over your 
                                       head but it can also assist you by 
                                       cleaning the screen a bit so in my 
                                       opinion this actually is not 
                                       necessarily a bad effect.

-----------------3.4 Game Basics (further info and tactics)---------------CC4

- When you're not aiming for any items or any other place you definitely want   
  to go to (like huge blocks in Dristone Driller) you should just drill   
  straight down instead of moving to a different column as alternating 
  between columns usually puts you in danger and it costs time

- X-blocks linking up have the same characteristics as normal blocks that 
  link up, except for one thing: When drilling through one of the segments of 
  the big X-block not the whole thing will be destroyed but only the sole 
  block you drilled at.
 
         O
         E--|
 _______/_\_|__________        ______          ______
|                      |      |      |  \O/   |      |
|                      |      |      |   Y    |      |
|          X           |      |      |__/_\___|      |
|                      |  --> |                      |
|                      |      |          X           |
|______________________|      |______________________|

- When collecting a falling oxygen-capsule or a POW-capsule before it lands 
  safely anything lying on top of it will continue its fall at full speed.  
  Hence you better wait for the tanks to land before you lay your greedy 
  little hands on them. ;)
 ______  ______  ______                       ______
|red   ||yellow||green |                     |green |
|      ||      ||      |                     |      |
|______||______||      |        ______       |      |
|green ||oxygen||      |       |red   |      |      |
|      ||      ||      |       |      |      |      |
|______||______||      |       |______|      |      |
|blue          ||      |  -->  |green |      |      |
|              ||      |       |      |      |      |
|______________||      |       |______|______|      |
|red   |   /_\  |      |       |red   |yellow|      |
|      |    |   |      |       |      |      |      |
|______|    X   |______|       |______|......|______|
          
- Sometimes you'll uncover a blue creature named undergrounder (or a yellow  
  space undergrounder in the levels The Moon and Outer Space) when 
  drilling a block. Usually they only give you a small point boost but 
  sometimes they even provide you with an additional life (only in Mission 
  Driller). To be honest I have absolutely no idea when they appear (in 
  certain randomly-chosen blocks or maybe after a accumulating certain 
  amount of points or after certain combo-sizes or whatever) and what 
  determines whether they give you an extra life or not so I'd really 
  appreciate it if anyone could tell me (of course I'd thank you in this 
  guide for any good info).
  Update: I think I've at least found out that those undergrounders giving 
          you an extra life appear when having met certain point 
          requirements.
          The amount of points necessary differs from level to level.

- You should drill straight down without moving to either side as long as 
  possible as you avoid being crushed by any falling blocks this way.
  If you have to move left or right (e.g. when you're low on air and need  
  to grab an oxygen tank or when you stand on an X-block) take a second to 
  check if the lowest block in the column you're going to move on will 
  securely chain up with any other block so you will not have to worry 
  about dodging any falling blocks.

- You can climb up one block to your left by pressing left or one block to 
  your right by pressing right on the D-pad (or by moving via Touchscreen).

                      \O/
                       Y
 ______             __/_\_
|blue  | \O/   --> |blue  |
|      |  Y        |      |
|______| / \       |______|

- You better forget about the Touchscreen-ability of the DS from the 
  scratch: Moving and drilling via stylus is way to imprecise if you want  
  to navigate through the later levels.

- Remember that drilling a block is quicker than destroying it via a chain-  
  reaction, so if you need to change columns quickly (e.g. when a block is 
  falling down from above) and you see that the block you need to destroy in 
  order to be able to move is about to become part of a chain-reaction, you 
  better destroy it yourself before that happens.

- When losing a life any block located above you in your column and the 
  adjacent column to your left and right will be destroyed (but will not 
  count towards the number of destroyed blocks and therefore won't grant 
  you any points) but items will stay unharmed meaning that when you 
  inevitably will die (e.g. when being low on air with no oxygen tank being 
  near) you should move to a place with lots of brick above you.
 ______
|oxygen|
|      |
|______| ______  ______         ______        ______
|red   ||yellow||green |       |oxygen|      |green |
|      ||      ||      |       |      |      |      |
|______||______||      |       |______|      |      |
|green ||oxygen||      |       |red   |      |      |
|      ||      ||      |       |      |      |      |
|______||______||      |       |______|      |      |
|blue          ||      |  -->  |green |      |      | -->
|              ||      |       |      |      |      |
|______________||      |       |______|______|      |      ______
|red   |   /_\  |      |       |red   |yellow|      |     |oxygen| \O/
|      |    |   |      |       |      |      |      |     |      |  Y
|______|    X   |______|       |______|......|______|     |______| / \

- When a chain-reaction has already begun (i.e. when four or more blocks of 
  the same colour have connected and start flashing) other blocks of the 
  same colour can still "join" the fading away if they reach the big block 
  before it's already disappeared.
         ______
        |green |
        |      |
 ______ |______|
|green ||yellow|
|      ||      |
|______||      |
|              |  O
|              |<-Y
|______________|_/_\___
|green                 |  -->   \O/
|                      |         Y
|______________________|        / \

  In this example you drill the big yellow block causing the left-most small   
  green block to fall on the big green block starting a fade away.
  As the other small green block reaches the big brick soon after the first  
  one it joins the reaction.
  The reaction is over just as soon as if the green block in the middle would 
  not exist so it does not set the reaction back to the original countdown.

- In later levels you should try to get directly below X-blocks when having 
  to move left or right on your way down: X-blocks are quite numerous but not 
  too numerous then, so the block above you should be stopped somewhere soon 
  by connecting to another brown block but without causing any chain-
  reactions, hence the avalanche is stopped in most cases.

- When standing directly under a column full of blocks that's about to fall 
  down destroy the block being directly over your head to set back the timer 
  for the whole column to crash down.

- When an air tank is kept within four non-adjacent X-blocks you should try 
  to clear out any blocks above the left-most or right-most brown block and 
  then destroy the block directly below it:

           O
           E--|
 _________/_\_|________
|green                 |
|                      |
|_______________       |   ______  ______             ______  ______
|red   ||      ||      |  |red   ||      |           |red   ||      |
|      ||  X   ||      |  |      ||  X   |           |      ||  X   |
|______||______||______|  |______||______| ______    |______||______|
|      ||oxygen||      |->|      ||oxygen||      |   |      ||oxygen|  \O/
|  X   ||      ||  X   |  |  X   ||      ||  X   |-->|  X   ||      |   Y
|______||______||______|  |______||______||______|   |______||______| _/_\__
|blue  ||      ||yellow|  |blue  ||      ||yellow| O |blue  ||      ||      |
|      ||  X   ||      |  |      ||  X   ||      ||      ||oxygen||      |  |red   |
|  X   ||      ||      |   |  X   ||      ||      |->|      |
|______||______||______|   |______||______||______|  |______| ______
|blue  ||      ||yellow| O |blue  ||      |    O     |blue  ||oxygen|
|      ||  X   ||      | |      |    Y   |      |
|______| ___X__ |______|      |______| __/_\_ |______|
|blue  ||green ||red   |      |blue  ||green ||red   |
|      ||      ||      |      |      ||      ||      |
|______||______||______|      |______||______||______|

 ______  ______________                ______________
|green ||yellow        |              |yellow        |
|      ||              |              |              |
|______||______________|              |______________|
|red   |   O    |green |                \O/   |green |
|      |<--Y    |      |  -->            Y    |      |
|______| _/_\__ |______|               _/_\__ |______|
|blue  ||green ||red   |              |green ||red   |
|      ||      ||      |              |      ||      |
|______||______||______|              |______||______|

Barrier:       Survive being crushed by a falling block once.
               This neat Dristone makes Dristone Driller mode even more 
               relaxed than it already is. Use it the instant you get it and 
               from now on you'll be protected by a shield only wearing off 
               when you're crushed by a block.
               If you get a second Barrier while still equipped with the 
               first one you can (and should) equip the second one, too, to 
               make the shield last two deaths.
               My personal rating: ***OO

Jump:          Able to climb up 2 blocks at once. (Duration: 30 turns)
               This gives you Puchi's special ability for thirty turns 
               (meaning thirty two-block-climbs).
               Can sometimes be pretty helpful when having to climb out of an 
               X-block dead-end or when you can reach a big block by climbing 
               up two blocks but most of the time you could very well do 
               without this.
               Use it when you get it and hope that you can make good use of 
               it.
               My personal rating: **OOO

Max Up:        Increase maximum air capacity by 10%.
               Increases the maximum capacity of your air storage by 10 
               percentage points (again not percent but percentage points). 
               In the early game this is a nice item to have but the later in 
               the game you get it the less important it is as you probably 
               won't reach the 100% air mark later on not to mention the 110% 
               mark.
               Note that Max Up does not give you a 10 percentage point boost 
               of air when you use it.
               Definitely use it the moment you get it as the effect lasts 
               the whole level.
               My personal rating: Early in the game: **OOO
                                   Later in the game: *OOOO

Mini-Drill:    Reduce Driller size and air consumption by 50%. (Duration: 30  
               turns)
               Shrinking Susumu is a nice effect but sadly this Dristone 
               basically is just as good as three Air + 5%-Dristones because 
               the shrunken Susumu simply loses a percentage point of air 
               only every second time he drills for the next thirty drillings.
               Being crushed still drains 20 percentage points of air.
               My personal rating: ***OO and a half

Speed:         Increase movement and drill speed. (Duration: 50 turns)
               This Dristone lasts 50 drilling actions, moving without 
               drilling doesn't count towards the 50 turns-limit.
               Actually this is one of the most useless items: This play mode 
               is nearly nothing about speed so you'll rarely ever benefit 
               from this gem.
               At least it can be used the second you get it so it doesn't 
               stuff your inventory and you don't have to throw it away.
               My personal rating: *OOOO

Stone Search:  Locate hidden Dristones. (Duration: 50 turns)
               When using this item you'll be able to see a sparkle around 
               blocks that contain a hidden Dristone making it a lot easier 
               to concentrate only on getting deeper and destroying blocks 
               granting you a new item instead of maybe looking around for 
               them but just wasting precious air.
               The effect lasts 50 drilling actions.
               Use it whenever you're in need of new Dristones. If your still 
               really good on air or when your inventory is full you 
               definitely want to save this precious item. Of course you also 
               shouldn't use it in the two-colours-stages as you'll probably 
               destroy almost every block there anyway automatically.
               The only downside is the effect's duration limit.
               My personal rating: *****

Super Barrier: Survive being crushed by falling block three times. Air 
               reduced 50%.
               This Dristone has the same effect as three Barrier-Dristones 
               have but it decreases your air reserves by 50 percent (real 
               percent this time, no percentage points).
               When being down to 0% air you don't lose any air.
               Best used when you're already low on air but are in possession 
               of at least an Air + 10% Dristone or have an air capsule in 
               direct reach as you'll want to refill your oxygen reserve as 
               soon as possible. You might also use this item when being 
               close to 100 % air and being really close to an air capsule in 
               order not to waste the tank.
               My personal rating: ***OO and a half

You can use any yellow Dristone twice to double the duration (or use it 
thrice to multiply it by three, etc.)

--------------------------------4.4.3 Records-----------------------------D43

My record for Tokyo: 2018m
This took me about one and a half hours and I could've gone on but sadly I 
got hit by a block when being down to 16% air although I still had a few 
green Dristones and a Super Barrier Dristone.
Probably I'll try to beat my highscore some day but for now I'm really fed up 
with Dristone Driller. ^^

------------------------------4.5 Driller Store---------------------------DD5

In the Driller Store you can invest miles traversed in Mission Driller and 
Pressure Driller to buy items for use in those two play modes.
While these can greatly increase your chance of simply beating a level they 
hinder you from saving high scores and from obtaining badges.
______________________________
4.5.1: Mission Driller (D51) :|
 __________________________________________________________________________
|Barrier 1:     |Survive being crushed by a falling  |costs 2.000 m-pts    |
|               |block once.                         |                     |
|_______________|____________________________________|_____________________|
|Barrier 2:     |Survive being crushed by a falling  |costs 4.500 m-pts    |
|               |block twice.                        |                     |
|_______________|____________________________________|_____________________|
|Barrier 3:     |Survive being crushed by a falling  |costs 6.500 m-pts    |
|               |block 3 times.                      |                     |
|_______________|____________________________________|_____________________|
|Life up 5:     |Start the game with 5 lives.        |costs 6.500 m-pts    |
|_______________|____________________________________|_____________________|
|Life up 7:     |Start the game with 7 lives.        |costs 8.500 m-pts    |
|_______________|____________________________________|_____________________|
|Life up 10:    |Start the game with 10 lives.       |costs 13.500 m-pts   |
|_______________|____________________________________|_____________________|
|Air capsule 5: |Receive 5x additional air for       |costs 4.000 m-pts    |
|               |every air capsule collected.        |                     |
|_______________|____________________________________|_____________________|
|Air capsule 15:|Receive 15x additional air for      |costs 6.500 m-pts    |
|               |every air capsule collected.        |                     |
|_______________|____________________________________|_____________________|
|Air capsule 25:|Receive 25x additional air for      |costs 10.000 m-pts   |
|               |every air capsule collected.        |                     |
|_______________|____________________________________|_____________________|
|Speed up:      |Increase movement and drill speed.  |costs 12.000 m-pts   |
|_______________|____________________________________|_____________________|
_______________________________
4.5.2: Pressure Driller (D52) :|
 __________________________________________________________________________
|Barrier 1:     |Survive being crushed by a falling  |costs 2.000 m-pts    |
|               |block once.                         |                     |
|_______________|____________________________________|_____________________|
|Barrier 2:     |Survive being crushed by a falling  |costs 3.000 m-pts    |
|               |block twice.                        |                     |
|_______________|____________________________________|_____________________|
|Barrier 3:     |Survive being crushed by a falling  |costs 5.500 m-pts    |
|               |block 3 times.                      |                     |
|_______________|____________________________________|_____________________|
|S. fireball 1: |Increase fireball speed.            |costs 4.500 m-pts    |
|_______________|____________________________________|_____________________|
|S. fireball 2: |Increase fireball speed even more.  |costs 7.000 m-pts    |
|_______________|____________________________________|_____________________|
|S. fireball 3: |Increase fireball speed to maximum. |costs 9.000 m-pts    |
|_______________|____________________________________|_____________________|
|EX. damage 1:  |Increase fireball power.            |costs 6.000 m-pts    |
|_______________|____________________________________|_____________________|
|EX. Damage 2:  |Increase fireball power even more.  |costs 11.000 m-pts   |
|_______________|____________________________________|_____________________|
|EX. damage 3:  |Increase fireball power to maximum. |costs 15.000 m-pts   |
|_______________|____________________________________|_____________________|
|Speed up:      |Increase movement and drill speed.  |costs 12.000 m-pts   |
|_______________|____________________________________|_____________________|

-------------------------------4.6 Unlockables----------------------------DD6

Secret Characters:
By simply beating a level in Mission Driller you unlock one out of five 
secret characters even if you're using any items.
Puchi:          Beat Japan.
Holinger-Z:     Beat China.
Anna:           Beat India.
Taizo:          Beat Egypt.
Ataru:          Beat America.
Rabbit (Usagi): Beat The Moon with Ataru. (JP/EU-version only)

Special levels:
-Reverse Time Attack levels: Beat Japan in Time Attack Driller to unlock the  
 mirrored versions of the Time Attack levels with a harder time limit.
-Tokyo in Dristone Driller: Beat every level in Dristone Driller. (JP/EU- 
 version only)
-South Pole in Mission Driller: Beat every level on the earth in Mission  
 Driller. (JP/EU-version only)
-Outer Space in Mission Driller: Beat the level The Moon in Mission Driller.

Mr. Driller Badges:
Beating a level in Mission Driller without dying once and without using any 
items will get you a Mr. Driller Badge.
Every character gets its own badges and there are different badges for every 
level in Mission Driller.
Actually I don't know if getting all badges unlocks anything or if it just 
acts as a motivation all by itself without any real reward.
I haven't played Mr. Driller DS for too long yet so please grant me some time 
and eventually I'll find out what's up with the badges. ^^
Update: I guess I just found out that getting badges does absolutely nothing: 
I just beat America in Mission Driller with Usagi without using any items and 
without losing a single life, hence I received a badge but as the score I had 
was lower than my old high score the score wasn't saved under records and the 
badge isn't shown when selecting the record for America with Usagi.
So as there is no possibility to see which badges you already got if your 
score isn't high enough I definitely doubt that the game keeps track of what 
badges you have earned so far and that they allow you to unlock anything.

Flowers on the Title Screen (counting from the left):
1st flower: Beat every earth level in Mission Driller.
2nd flower: Beat The Moon in Mission Driller.
3rd flower: Beat Japan in Time Attack Driller.
4th flower: Beat Reverse Japan in Time Attack Driller.
5th flower: Beat every level in Dristone Driller.
6th flower: Beat every level in Pressure Driller.
7th flower: Unlock the first six flowers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                              5.0 Guide Ending                            EEE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----------------------------5.1 Version History--------------------------EE1

0.2: Finished on 07/22/2005, 14 KB large
Completed parts 0.1 to 3.1, started parts 3.2, 3.3 and 4.0 to 4.5.2.

0.4: Finished on 07/23/2005, 19 KB large
Completed sections Game basics (items), Game basics (additional info) and 
Scoring System. Next thing will be the single player mode.

0.45: Finished on 07/24/2005, 23 KB large
Call me a liar if you want to: Added the clock in the items section and a few 
things in additional info, corrected a mistake dealing with the special 
blocks and added content to the characters list before moving on to the 
single player section. ^^

0.5: Finished on 07/25/2005, 31 KB large
Finally started the 1P-section: I added the introduction and explanation to 
the single player, to Mission Driller mode, Pressure Driller mode, Time 
Attack mode, Dristone Driller mode and to the Driller Store.
In addition I wrote down everything I know about unlockables so far and I 
added the Final Comment (maybe a bit early, I know ^^). Now finally the time 
for the real deal has come: Next update will include lots of single player 
info.

0.55: Finished on 07/26/2005, 48 KB large
Got a new record for Time Bonus.
Added Taizo as a character and some times to beat in Time Attack and found 
out that you can use items when unlocking characters.
Added a few items that can be bought in the shop.
Added the guide for Driller Lab in Mission Driller mode and a description for 
nearly every Dristone.

0.58: Finished on 07/28/05, 61 KB large
Added a lot of content to Dristone Driller and hopefully finally described 
the very last Dristone.

0.6: Finished on 08/02/2005, 70 KB large
Completed Dristone Driller (also added a new Dristone, so hopefully this one 
really is the last ^^).

0.75: Finished on 08/03/2005, 79 KB large
Completed the Driller Store-section.
Finished more than half of the Pressure Driller guide.

0.8: Finished on 08/04/2005, 84 KB large
Added a general hint.
Finished Pressure Driller.

0.85: Finished on 08/05/2005, 96 KB large
Added cheatcc.com as a site permitted to host this guide.
Finished more than half of Time Attack Driller.

0.9: Finished on 08/08/2005, 105 KB large
Finished Time Attack Driller and improved on some records in Time Attack.

0.92: Finished on 08/21/2005, 116 KB large
Added all ?-boxes to the item section.
Continued Mission Driller.
Added some content to a lot of sections and corrected a few mistakes.
Added neoseeker.com as a site permitted to host this guide.
Added the flowers as unlockables.

0.97: Finished on 08/25/2005, 142 KB large
Added www.supercheats.com.
Added Usagi as a playable character (hence unlockables and characters are 
complete now).
Added a few hints and two strategies on reaching air tanks.
Added some content to the Scoring System section.
Moved the Version History to the end of the guide as it simply grew too large.
Got a new highscore for the Time Bonus in Mission Driller.
Added a lot to the Mission Driller-section; only America and The Moon are 
missing now as well as a lot of ending dialogues.

1.00: Finished on 08/27/2005, 156 KB large
Added another hint.
Solved the "badge-mystery".
Added America and The Moon in Mission Driller.
The Walkthrough is completed by now; the only things missing are some ending 
dialogues, records for Outer Space and South Pole and guides for these two 
endless levels.

1.02: Finished on 08/29/2005, 161 KB large
Added www.gamerstemple.com.
Added all ending dialogues for China and India.

1.05: Finished on 08/31/2005, 166 KB large
The Ending dialogues got their own section so the Mission Driller walkthrough 
section is easier to read.
Completed the guides for South Pole and Outer Space as well as the records 
for these two levels, hence now the ending dialogues finally are really the 
only non-complete section.

1.10: Finished 09/01/2005, 181 KB, 56 pages large
Added all ending dialogues for Egypt, America and The Moon.
Got some new records in Mission Driller and for the Time Bonus.
This will probably be the last update ever or at least the last foreseeable 
update. Man, this guide sure took some time to write. ^^

1.11: Finished on 10/28/2005, 181 KB, 56 pages large
Hah, just made another update to include ign.com as legitimate to host this 
guide.

1.12: Finished on 01/06/2006, 182 KB, 57 pages large
Added the Experimental section and the section about deleting the save file.

1.13: Finished on 01/11/2006, 182 KB, 57 pages large
Oops, I just realized I created the section about deleting but I hadn't 
written anything in it, so I fixed that. ^^

1.14: Finished on 02/23/2006, 185 KB, 57 pages large
Experimental got its own section.
I added Search Keys.
Revamped the general layout and the contents section.

1.15: Finished on 05/13/2006, 185 KB, 57 pages large
Added www.gamerhelp.com.

-----------------------------5.2 Final Comments---------------------------EE2

That's it!
This here is the final section of this guide (being my first general guide).
I hope you enjoyed Mr. Driller DS (or still do just like I do) and of course 
I also hope you somewhat liked this guide and appreciate my work.
If you have anything to tell me (except for what an idiot I might be or that 
Germany suxxers!!11!!1 W00t!!!1! or anything similar... ^^) feel free to mail 
me at KeeperBvK@web.de.
...and if you're capable of the German language be more than welcome to visit 
gamecubex.net (a Cube-site supported by Nintendo, Capcom, EA, Ubi Soft, etc.) 
or if you're daring enough even if you don't know any German.^^

------------------------------5.3 Experimental----------------------------EE3

In some other guides I've seen the author implement the following and I 
thought "Why not give it a try for your own guides?":

If you really like this guide and you think it helped you or entertained you 
a bit or whatsoever and you feel like rewarding me not only by writing a nice 
e-mail, feel free to send some money to my paypal account at:

LH_Zerberus@web.de

Of course I don't want to make somebody send me money who doesn't really want 
to (even if I could, I wouldn't ;) ), but (also of course) I'd appreciate any 
contribution.

Thank you very much for reading this guide and hopefully some more of my 
stuff on gamefaqs.