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