Mr. Driller A, or Mr. Driller Ace: Wonderful Pacteria, never made it outside of Japan, and it's a real shame, as it's my favorite title in the series (but I don't claim to be much of an authority). Though the manual isn't particularly outstanding, it does feature the series' iconic art style in the form of some character illustrations and screenshots.
This manual is surprisingly large for a puzzler, but most of the pages really aren't all that exciting. The first, and arguably my favorite, features a silly illustration of Susumu and his sidekick dog Puchi looking bewildered at a "Pacteria," the weird black blob thing that makes an appearance in the game's subtitle. Gotta love the professor urging Susumu to uncover the mysteries of the Pacteria, and the words "New Essence" splashed across the top left page.
Character pages are usually pretty fun, and this one's no different. Anyone familiar with Dig Dug should recognize the fellow down in the bottom-left corner! That's Taizou, Suzumu's father and main character of the iconic Dig Dug series. His birthdate, 1982, is the year Dig Dug was first released in arcades.
The subsequent pages are all relatively standard "how to play" fare. I wonder what's so wonderful about those Pacteria?
