Mr. Driller 2

Mr. Driller 2 is the second game in the Mr. Driller series developed by Namco. It was released for the arcades in 2000, and was ported to the Game Boy Advance and Windows in 2001, and is available in emulated form via the Virtual Console on the Wii U. The game introduces two new characters to the series, Puchi (Susumu's dog), and Anna (Susumu's rival).

Plot
The story begins with Susumu and his pet dog Puchi drinking coffee, when suddenly on TV a news flash appeared. Colored Blocks have begun to appear from the depths of the earth and have appeared in India, America, Egypt, and many other cities. With the world in peril, Susumu is off to save the world, but as he was about to head out he is stopped by fellow driller Anna Hottenmayer; who also heard of the crisis. Anna then competes with Susumu to see who is the better driller with the winner decided by who stops the block problem first.

The drillers first stop is in India where, after reaching 2500 ft., they reach one of the bases producing the blocks. They find out that only the king can stop the machine and that currently, he is in America. After reaching 5000 ft. in America, the drillers find out that the king is on vacation in Egypt and there is no time frame in regards to when he will be back. Finally, after drilling to 10000 ft. in Egypt, the drillers find the king and get him to turn off the block producing machine.

Gameplay
The playing area consists of a large stack of colored blocks, as the Drillers (Susumu or Anna) the player must dig through these blocks to reach the end goal located at a certain depth, except in Endless Driller where there is an infinite amount of blocks. The player is given a limited number of lives and a limited supply of air to reach the goal. Throughout the playing area, the player can find air capsules to replenish 20% of their air supply. If the driller is either crushed by blocks or runs out of air, the player will lose a life.

When drilling into a Standard Block (Blocks of different shades of yellow, blue, red, or green), it will dissolve. Falling blocks will join with the first block it meets of the same color while it is falling. A block segment made up of 4 or more blocks will dissolve if it is created by a falling block joining onto the segment. There are also Crystal Blocks which eventually dissolve after flashing for a brief amount of time. Every 500 ft. there is a large green block that once drilled will clear all blocks above it. Brown X-Blocks require 5 drills to dissolve and consumes 20% of the player's Air Supply in Mission and Endless Driller, while it adds 5 seconds to the player's timer in Time Attack Driller. Exclusive to Time Attack Driller are the Silver X-Blocks which cannot be dissolved.

Single Player Modes

 * Mission Driller
 * Mission Driller, is the story mode of the game. The player selects one of three stages of varying difficulty to start. Each stage requires the player to reach the goal by drilling to a certain depth. The player is shown a story related cutscene upon completing a stage. The cutscene changes based on the character the player uses. Upon completing the starting three stages, a fourth extra stage is unlocked.
 * Endless Driller
 * In Endless Driller, the player chooses between three difficulty levels which determine the number of lives the player gets. Unlike Time Attack Driller and Mission Driller, Endless Driller does not have an end goal. Due to the lack of an end goal, the player keeps drilling until they are out of lives.
 * Time Attack Driller
 * In Time Attack Driller, the player must reach the goal of a certain depth within a certain time. Unlike Mission Driller and Endless Driller, the player is given an unlimited supply as there are no air capsules to be found. Small clocks replace air capsules in this mode; when collected the timer is reduced by the amount of time specified on the clock.

Two-Player Mode
The two-player mode is a versus between the two players to see who can drill the furthest. In the Game Boy Advance version of the game, the players must use a Link Cable to connect their systems, and both players require a copy of the game. In the Virtual Console release of the game, the two-player mode is unplayable due to the inability to connect with another system.

Playable characters

 * Susumu Hori - The highest-ranked Driller in the world. He is a kind, courageous young boy with a strong sense of justice. He has brown hair and eyes, and his outfit is a pink and light blue jumpsuit with a pink helmet. In game, Susumu has a normal walking speed and a normal air-consumption rate.
 * Anna Hottenmeyer - As Susumu's fierce rival, she is an elite driller who graduated from a German driller school. She has blue eyes, blonde hair, and her outfit consists of a white jumpsuit with pink sleeves and an orange star on the front. Anna does not wear a helmet but instead wears blue goggles. In game, Anna plays slightly different compared to Susumu as she has a faster walking speed and a faster air consumption rate.

Non-playable characters

 * Puchi - Puchi is a genius talking dog and is Susumu's sidekick. He has been Susumu's closest friend ever since Susumu found him abandoned as a little puppy and nursed him back to health. He is a white dog with brown spots. Puchi has the ability to discover metal underneath the ground.
 * Undergrounder King - The ruler of the underground empire and the game's antagonist. He enjoys traveling to various under-ground places. Though undergrounders are said to be smart, the king is more forgetful and careless than most of his subjects. The king's appearance is like that of a normal undergrounder, except he has a cape and a crown. The king orders his subjects to produce blocks, but upon meeting with Susumu or Anna, stops production of the blocks.
 * Undergrounders - Blue creatures that are citizens of the underground empire. They are said to be very smart and scientific, yet they are quite careless. In game, they appear behind drilled blocks and reward the player with bonus points. When the player hits a certain score, and drills another block, there will be an undergrounder rewarding the player with a bonus life. In Endless Driller, the undergrounders are purple.

Reception
Mr. Driller 2 for GBA has a Metascore of 62 on Metacritic based on 16 reviews, indicating "Mixed or average reviews". IGN rated the GBA port a 6/10, writing that "It looks great, sounds okay, and offers a nice package of gameplay options, but it's still the same old Mr. Driller design".