Drill Dozer

Jill ratchets a drill into higher gears and bores through walls in Drill Dozer. Game Freak developed the Game Boy Advance platformer, Nintendo published it in 2005, and the shell rumbles while the bit spins. The studio stepped outside its creature-collecting work: L and R spin the drill opposite ways.

The first gear is a short burst. Finding another gear lets her shift up, and the top gear keeps cutting until a hit breaks the spin. Screws, thick blocks, and enemies all meet the same rotating bit, and direction matters when a fitting must be turned rather than smashed.

That rumble motor kicks during a drill, so the hands can feel which gear she is in. Jill rides the machine through side-view stages and recoils off a surface when the other shoulder is tapped. Game Freak uses the kick to cross gaps a standing hop would miss.

Nintendo put out a platformer whose main verb is drilling. Maps and stronger bits turn up between areas, and a stolen Red Diamond gives the Red Dozers' daughter a reason to keep the bit against the next wall. The famous monster quests from this studio are a different job entirely.