In the past couple of years, Namco has been synonymous with some of the best racing and fighting games available.  Developing some of the most attractive 3D games around, the company has made a name for itself as a cutting edge game developer.  Enter Mr. Driller, an old fashioned puzzle game complete with cute 2D graphics, happy theme music and bright colors.  This is not exactly a game that can be defined as "cutting edge," although it is a fun experience that perhaps most closely recalls one of Namco's earliest successes - the Pac-Man series.  

That's not to say that Mr. Driller is like Pac-Man or is a Pac-Man derivative.  But the game eschews pretty 3D graphics and a complex play mechanic in favor of a simple game, a notable absence of bump mapping, mip-mapping, texture mapping or whatever the 3D mapping flavor of the month is this month.  It's in this way that it evokes memories of the older Namco - Mr. Driller is an uncomplicated game that's fun, addicting, and easy-to-play.  It's just the kind of game that might hook anyone, from the most intense die-hard gamer to mothers who can't program the VCR and are too scared to touch a DVD player.

In large part, Mr. Driller's gameplay is based on a puzzle gaming staple: falling blocks that disappear when they hit other falling blocks.  Match up four blocks of the same color, and they disappear.  It throws a wrench into the typical puzzle mode, though, by putting the gamer in the middle of the falling blocks as Mr. Driller.  The cute mascot starts at street level and must drill downwards 2,500 or 5,000 feet, depending on the difficulty you choose.  Mr. Driller can break through most blocks one by one using his drill, although once combinations start, that's when he starts making real progress.  The challenge, if you're wondering where it's at, is that Mr. Driller has a limited air supply, and he's got to find pockets of air so his air doesn't run out, suffocating him.  With this fire under your feet, you need to make good time on your way to the center of the earth, which means you can't take complete care of what you leave above you. Further complicating the matter are "X-blocks," which require more drilling than an average block and suck away 20% of your air supply to boot.

All these challenges mean you often need to weave your way through the blocks, watching out for blocks that are about to come down on your head and taking risks to get to that next pocket of air.  It's harder than it sounds.  While there are no blocks directly overhead when you start, that soon changes and you'll often find yourself wondering if you're about to set off a chain reaction of falling blocks that will ultimately crush you. Beyond the arcade mode -- in which you have to reach a certain depth on your own terms -- there is also a time attack mode where you have to beat the clock to get to a certain level.  The survival mode, though, is likely where most people will spend most of their time after finishing the two arcade difficulties.  In this mode, you have one life to get as deep as you can.

Mr. Driller's graphics aren't award winners, but they're bright, colorful and cute.  They do the job nicely while avoiding the most frequent puzzle game pitfall of having similarly colored blocks that are easily confused.  A neat touch is the background, which reveals what kind of stuff is buried in the layer of ground you're currently digging through, sort of like a miniature trip through the ages.  The sound effects are functional - clear and sharp, but are typical puzzle game sounds.  The music, on the other hand, is an interesting element, ranging from tunes that sound like they might have come from an extra-long Mentos commercial to more ethnic-inspired ditties.  I found the music to be a welcome change from typical game music and, at worst, harmless.  I imagine some gamers may find it annoying.

While not the sort of production Namco has been known for lately, Mr. Driller scores in the one area that should matter to the company and gamers in general: It's fun.  This game is a no-brainer for gamers who enjoy a good puzzle game and otherwise it still merits some serious consideration.  But be forewarned, like Tetris and other good puzzle games, this may invade your dreams and innocently eat away at your time as you play "just one more game."

If the arcade mode isn't enough, the survival mode offers a lot of incentive to keep playing just for the sake of a high score.