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         'Driller Engine Grand Prix 2x2' (Japanese: ドリラーエンジングランドプリー2x2, Hepburn: 'Dorirā Enjin Gurando Purī Tsū Bai Tsū') (pronounced two by two) is a 2003 go-kart racing game developed by Drillimation Studios and published by Namco. It is the fourth game in the Driller Engine Grand Prix series of kart-racing games, and is the only title to have a mathematical problem in the title instead of a numeral. The game was released in the arcades in June 2003 followed by a release on the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, and home computers in November 2003. An enhanced, high definition remake was released on iOS, Android, and the Hycintho Sea in November 2015. The arcade version is also included in the 2016 compilation of Namco Museum: Drillimation Replay.

The game is primarily based on Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, but with the characters and tracks being from The Drillimation Series. Characters from the Super Mario universe also appear as guest characters on the Nintendo GameCube version. Although the game can be played with four players, every copy of the PlayStation 2 version of the game came packaged with the Multitap due to controller limitations. The game requires 8 blocks on the Nintendo GameCube and Xbox versions or 64KB/MB on the PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows to save data.

Driller Engine Grand Prix 2x2 became a critical and financial success in Drillimation's history, receiving universal acclaim and being regarded as one of the best video games of all time by numerous video game magazines. It broke numerous sales records when its home console port was released, grossing over $1 billion in the first three weeks of its release. The game received numerous game of the year awards and won the Game of the Year Award for Best Racing Game.

System Requirements[]

Microsoft Windows[]

  • Operating System: Windows 98 or higher
  • Hard Disk Space: 64MB
  • Video Card: DirectX 8 required to display 3D graphics
  • Sound Card: DirectSound (Windows XP required to play double-channel sound)
  • RAM: 4MB or higher
  • Resolution: 640x480 or higher

Mac OS[]

  • Operating System: Mac OS 9 or higher
  • Hard Disk Space: 64MB
  • Video Card: DirectX 8 required to display 3D graphics
  • Sound Card: DirectSound (Mac OS X 10.0 required to play double-channel sound)
  • RAM: 4MB or higher
  • Resolution: 640x480 or higher

Blurb[]

Double the fun - no quarters required!
~ Official attention grabber for the home console and PC versions

Take all the crazy actions the popular arcade game series has made, and multiply it by two! Welcome to the Double Dash Classic - a tournament that holds two switchable racers on one kart. Select your pair from a huge cast of heroes and villains from the popular animated Drillimation series and see how they fit!

  • It's either friends or foes. Make the experience like the arcade in Co-op Mode with new features such as item stealing and slide attacking.
  • All characters now get a more powerful, special item like a gigantic banana and the classic red shells and mushrooms.
  • Race your pals or duke it out in over 25 tracks and three new battle modes.
  • Get online via Drillimation Online! Link your PlayStation 2/Xbox/Nintendo GameCube to the internet for wild online races and battles!

Gameplay[]

Driller Engine Grand Prix 2x2 puts players in control of a driver, who drives the kart, and a co-driver, who uses all items and has one character item. There are tournaments which players must race a series of races and win with the most points. The karts have three stats: acceleration, speed, and weight (if chosen as the driver). If co-driver, they have one special item that can fall into one four categories: Shield, Attack, Boost, and Flight.

Every race is timed with three laps, and if the player does not complete a lap within the time limit, the race is lost. Every time a lap is completed, the player is awarded a time extension, allowing more time for the player to complete a lap.

At the end of the Driller Engine Grand Prix mode, there is a special part called Lucky Channel, similar to the one from Magical Girl Team Lucky Star. In this segment, both Akira and Minoru interview both winners of the grand prix, asking both of them a question about the race.

Controls[]

Single Player Controls[]

Action Arcade Gamecube PlayStation 2 Xbox Windows
Steer Steering Wheel Control Stick Left Analog Stick Left Thumbstick Arrow Keys
Accelerate Gas Petal A Button X Button A Button Z key
Brake/Reverse Brake Petal B Button Circle Button B Button X key
Use Item Item Button X/Y Button Triangle/Square Button X/Y Button Spacebar
Drift Gas Petal (push twice) L/R Button L1/R1 Button Left Trigger/Right Trigger Shift Key
Switch Switch Button Z Button L2/R2 Button Black/White Button Alt Key

Co-op Play Controls[]

Action Arcade Gamecube PlayStation 2 Xbox Windows
Driver
Steer Steering Wheel Control Stick Left Analog Stick Left Thumbstick Arrow Keys
Accelerate Gas Petal A Button X Button A Button Z key
Brake/Reverse Brake Petal B Button Circle Button B Button X key
Pass Item Item Button X/Y Button Triangle/Square Button X/Y Button Spacebar
Drift Gas Petal (push twice) L/R Button L1/R1 Button Left Trigger/Right Trigger Shift Key
Co-Driver
Use Item Item Button A/B/X/Y Button X/Circle/Triangle/Square Button A/B/X/Y Button Z/X/Space key(s)
Slide Attack Gas Petal (push twice) L/R Button L1/R1 Button Left Trigger/Right Trigger Shift Key

Plot[]

The game is introduced by a narrator (voiced by Susumu Takajima) who talks about the Double Dash Classic tournament and how the tournament is played out. During the narration, the scene depicts Kowars being hit by a spiny shell as soon as he's about to cross the finish line.

Meanwhile at Ryou Gakuen High School of Magic and Drilling in Kasukabe, Saitama, the school begins to lose popularity due to the other schools in Kasukabe taking the lead, and Konata tries to come up with an idea to find a way to increase popularity. Learning that the Driller Engine Grand Prix tournament is popular, she has the school host one in order to attract more. Konata then visits the Drill Institute in Edogawa, Tokyo to speak with Dr. Zett in hosting a Driller Engine Grand Prix in order to increase popularity at the school. The Drill Institute sends letters to everyone across Japan to join the Driller Engine Grand Prix, it even lands in the hands of Susumu Hori and two admins of the now-defunct Team Ankoku hacktivist group, being Keel Sark and Eguri Hatakeyama.

Meanwhile, while the three Team Ankoku admins are planning another cyber attack, Keel announces that he and Eguri have been invited, and Kowars comes up with an idea to sabotage the tournament, thus having Keel create a powerful item from Golden Dristone technology, making the Super Mecha Death Drill. When all the other entrants find out about Team Ankoku spoiling the tournament with their newly-developed shell, they fight back by making their own special items.

Characters[]

Key:

  • Lightweight characters provide great acceleration but a low top speed.
  • Middleweight characters provide normal acceleration and speed.
  • Heavyweight characters provide slow acceleration but great speed.
Character 1 Character 2 Kart
Lightweight Lightweight Lightweight
Lightweight Middleweight Middleweight
Middleweight Middleweight Middleweight
Lightweight Heavyweight Heavyweight
Middleweight Heavyweight Heavyweight
Heavyweight Heavyweight Heavyweight

Starting Teams[]

Driver Weight Class Accel Weight Speed Driver Weight Class Accel Weight Speed
Leopold Slikk Middleweight 3 3 4 Jake Randolf Middleweight 3 3 3
Leonard Slikk Lightweight 5 1 2 Leonidas Slikk Lightweight 4 2 3
Wataru Hoshi Middleweight 3 4 3 Chuta Bigbang Heavyweight 2 4 4
Keel Sark Heavyweight 1 5 5 Eguri Hatakeyama Lightweight 3 1 4
Konata Izumi Middleweight 4 3 2 Miyuki Takara Middleweight 3 2 3
Kagami Hiiragi Middleweight 4 3 2 Tsukasa Hiiragi Middleweight 3 4 3
Susumu Hori Middleweight 3 3 3 Anna Hottenmeyer Lightweight 5 2 1
Taizo Hori Heavyweight 2 5 4 Ataru Hori Heavyweight 2 3 4
James Rolfe Heavyweight 2 4 4 Mike Matei Heavyweight 3 4 3
B.S. Man Heavyweight 1 4 4 Kyle Justin Heavyweight 2 4 5
Kagami Ochiai Lightweight 4 2 2 Kumiko Uchida Lightweight 5 2 1
Shira Katsumoto Lightweight 4 2 2 Rikka Katsumoto Lightweight 5 2 1

Unlockable Teams[]

Team Unlocking Criteria
WIP WIP Win Keyboard Cup on Difficult
Harold Slikk Phegelnine
WIP WIP Win Trigon Cup on Difficult
Pachee Usagi
WIP Win Lucky Star Cup on Difficult
Yutaka Zhong Minami Iwasaki
WIP WIP Win Drill Cup on Difficult
Holinger-Z Puchi
WIP Win Nerd Cup on Difficult
Fred Fuchs Takumi Hearthcliffe
Win Crystal Cup on Difficult
Susumu Takajima Megumi Wasai

Console Exclusive Teams[]

These teams are exclusive to their respective consoles. They can be enabled in the PC version of the game with a legitimate mod. The first team is unlocked by completing all cups on Easy, and the other is unlocked by completing all cups on Normal.

GameCube exclusive teams:

  • Mario and Luigi
  • Peach and Toad

Xbox exclusive teams:

  • Banjo and Kazooie
  • Conker and Berri

PlayStation 2 exclusive teams:

  • Ratchet and Clank
  • Crash Bandicoot and Coco Bandicoot

DLC Teams[]

These teams are available for download on the iOS, Android, and Hyacintho versions of the game. They include:

Team Part of Release date
PC Guy and Eric Pearson Driller Engine Grand Prix X Comedy World February 2016
Chrome and Hope Driller Engine Grand Prix X Chrome's Show of Chromeyness March 2016
Frisk and Sans Driller Engine Grand Prix X Undertale April 2016
Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame Driller Engine Grand Prix X Touhou Project May 2016
Flandre Scarlet and Remilia Scarlet Driller Engine Grand Prix X Touhou Project 2 June 2016
Sooty and Sweep Driller Engine Grand Prix X Sooty June 2016
Honoka Kousaka and Nico Yazawa Driller Engine Grand Prix X Love Live! School Idol Project July 2016
Cirno and Daiyousei Driller Engine Grand Prix X Touhou Project 3 July 2016
Shinobu Omiya and Alice Cartelet Driller Engine Grand Prix X Kin-iro Mosiac August 2016
Haruhiko Ichijou and Mai Kawakami Driller Engine Grand Prix X Myriad Colors Phantom World September 2016

Rival Characters[]

In arcade mode, the player has two other characters for their rivals. Each character has two rival characters:

Character Rival 1 Rival 2
Leopold Slikk Konata Izumi Leonard Slikk
Wataru Hoshi Miyuki Takara Keel Sark
Konata Izumi Wataru Hoshi Eguri Hatakeyama
Susumu Hori Keel Sark Takumi Hearthcliffe
James Rolfe Fred Fuchs Susumu Hori
Kagami Ochiai Takumi Hearthcliffe Kyle Justin

Courses[]

Course Theme Genre Signature Character
Keyboard Cup
Driller Gardens Chuhou Project Circuit Susumu Takajima
Freakout Falls Angry German Kid Jungle Leonard Slikk
Megumi Hills Chuhou Project Highway/City Megumi Wakui
Guy City Speedway Star Trigon Stadium Chuta Bigbang
Trigon Cup
Wataru Circuit Star Trigon Circuit Wataru Hoshi
Passive Farm Angry Video Game Nerd Farm/Ranch B.S. Man
Musical Caverns Chuhou Project Music Kagami Ochiai
Yutaka Bazaar Lucky Star Park/Festival Yutaka Kobayakawa
Lucky Star Cup
Anna's Factory Mr. Driller Factory Anna Hottenmeyer
Konata Beach Lucky Star Vacation Resort Konata Izumi
Takanomiya Park Lucky Star Park Minami Iwasaki
Kumiko Desert Chuhou Project Desert Kumiko Uchida
Drill Cup
Kagami Bridge Lucky Star Highway/City Kagami Hiiragi
Susumu Circuit Mr. Driller Circuit Susumu Hori
Shira Cruiser Chuhou Project Vacation Resort Shira Katsumoto
Gangster Stadium Angry German Kid Stadium Jake Randolf
Nerd Cup
Miyuki's Ice World Lucky Star Snow/Winter Miyuki Takara
Tsukasa City Lucky Star Highway/City Tsukasa Hiiragi
James Circuit Angry Video Game Nerd Circuit James Rolfe
Taizo Mountain Mr. Driller Jungle Taizo Hori
Crystal Cup
Hacker Collosseum Angry German Kid Stadium Leopold Slikk
Wolf Rock Jungle Mr. Driller Jungle Ataru Hori
Dr. Manhole's Fortress Mr. Driller Castle/Fortress Keel Sark
Rainbow Road Driller Engine Grand Prix Space/Rainbow Nanako Kuroi

Modes[]

Arcade/Grand Prix[]

In the arcade mode, the player must race against eleven other karts. The speed of the karts vary depending on the difficulty:

  • Easy/50cc: All karts have a low top speed that reaches up to 50 mph/100 km/h and will rarely shoot red shells and spiny shells. Any kart can take the top positions.
  • Normal/100cc: All karts have a fairly average top speed that reaches up to 55 mph/110 km/h and red shells are more common. Racers will rarely shoot spiny shells. Usually the middleweight/heavyweight and/or the player's rival karts take the top positions.
  • Difficult/150cc: All karts have a high top speed that can reach up to 60 mph/120 km/h, and red shells and spiny shells are common. All characters race in mixed teams. Usually the heavyweight karts take the top positions.
  • Insane/200cc: All karts, including the player, have a high top speed that can reach up to 65 mph/130 km/h. Like Difficult, all characters race in mixed teams and the heavyweight karts usually take the top positions.

Time Trial[]

In time trial mode, item boxes are absent as the player races themself against the clock. The only items the player is given is one mushroom for each character. The engine the player uses is a 150cc engine.

Dream Grand Prix[]

Same as arcade, but allows the player to set their own rules. This mode is only available on the PC and home console versions.

Battle[]

Introduced in the November 2003 update, this is a traditional mode that has presented throughout all Driller Engine Grand Prix games. Two to four players can compete against themselves using a variety of items (including all the special items) on the new battle arenas found in the game. Unlike Driller Engine Grand Prix 2 and Driller Engine Grand Prix 3, the players no longer transform into Mini Bomb Karts and/or Bob-ombs after being taken out, and instead just explode.

Battle Stages[]

  • Cookie Land
  • Miki's Cityscape
  • Nintendo GameCube (GCN Only)
  • PlayStation 2 (PS2 Only)
  • Xbox (Xbox Only)
  • Bliss (PC Only)
  • Mac OS 9 (Mac Only)
  • Drill Town
  • Scarlet Devil Mansion (unlockable by completing Keyboard Cup on Difficult/150cc)
  • Tilt-a-Kart (unlockable by completing Drill Cup on Lunatic/200cc)

Items[]

Items are classified in five forms:

  • Blue Item Box: The co-driver gets an item.
  • Double Blue Item Box: Both drivers get items.
  • Green Item Box: The co-driver gets three of the same item.
  • Double Blue/Green Item Box: One character gets one item while the other gets three of the same item.
  • Double Green Item Box: Both drivers get three of the same item.

Normal Items[]

Item Image Type Description
Green Shell
557px-GreenShellMK8
Attack, Shield When shot, Green Shells go in a straight line, bouncing off the track walls and knocking into anything it touches, such as an item or another kart. It can be shot forwards or backwards. They come in groups of one or three.
Red Shell
557px-RedShellMK8

Attack, Shield

Red Shells home in on the nearest kart. It can be thrown backwards as well. However, when shot backwards, it acts like a Green Shell. Red Shells cannot bounce, however, and they break if they hit a wall. They come in groups of one or three.
Banana
507px-BananaMK8
Attack, Shield When placed, a Banana peel stays on the track until a kart touches it, causing it to spin out. Bananas can be used as shields to break homing items such as Red Shells; however, they cannot be dragged behind the kart like in past games, making this technique harder to execute than before. It can either be thrown forward or dropped backward.
Fake Item Box
465px-Fake Item Box - Mario Kart Wii
Attack At first sight, it looks like a normal Item Box, but upon closer inspection it is red with an inverted ? symbol. When used, it stays on the track until a kart hits it and spins out. The only way to get rid of these blocks is to run into it, so it can not be used to block homing items. Otherwise, this item eventually vanishes to avoid lag in online matches.
Mushroom
482px-MushroomMarioKart8
Boost, Flight A Mushroom gives the kart a brief boost of speed. If used properly, it can be used to take shortcuts and to steal (or drop) items from another kart. They come in groups of one or three.
Giant Banana
575px-Mkdd giant banana
Attack, Shield Giant Bananas can be littered either forward or backward, staying on the road until a kart collides with it. Drivers will lose control, while the Giant Banana splits into three normal Bananas scattered into a triangle in that area.

Special Items[]

Item Image Type Description
Spiny Shell SpinyShellMK8 Attack When shot, the Spiny Shell heads to the kart that is in first place. Once it hits the kart, it creates a blue explosion. The characters in the kart lose any items if hit and are sent flying directly upwards. Other karts can get hit if they are in the blast radius.
Lightning LightningBoltMK8 Attack When used, Lightning shrinks, slows, and removes the items of all rival karts. If shrunken, drivers hit by an item while holding an item will drop said item. Only the last place driver can obtain this item.
Lucky Star StarMK8 Attack, Boost, Flight When applied, the kart that used it becomes invincible against any item. It also boosts the speed and handling of the kart, and negates the effect of terrain that would otherwise slow the cart, for example, the shallow water on the Konata Beach track. The kart is also capable of knocking out any rival kart and stealing their items just by driving into them.
Golden Mushroom GoldenMushroomMK8 Boost, Flight Golden Mushrooms provide the drivers multiple boosts of speed in a row in a period of time. However, it seems to have a time limit; once the first boost is used, the subsequent boosts need to be used before the item disappears.

Character-Exclusive Items[]

Item Image Type Description Exclusive to
Yaribachi Attack Allows the co-driver to shoot a Yaribachi to any kart in the race, which will slow the victim's speed before stealing the co-driver's item. They will lose their item but not their place in the race. Leonard Slikk and Leonidas Slikk
Trigon Attack Allows the co-driver to shoot a spinning triangle towards another player, which transform into a banana, spinning out the victim. Wataru Hoshi and Chuta Bigbang
Super Mecha Death Shell Attack, Defense Allows the co-driver to shoot the most destructive shell in the game. When it impacts their victims they will flip out any karts it hits. Keel Sark and Eguri Hatakeyama
Lightning Rod Lightningrod Attack, Boost Allows the co-driver to summon an electric cloud on top of another kart. The kart will normally gain boosts of speed, but will eventually shrink the victim as if they were hit by normal lightning. They can be passed on by hitting another kart. Konata Izumi
Ice Shell Ice Shell Attack, Defense Allows the co-driver to shoot a shell similar to a green shell. They can be thrown forwards or backwards. When it hits a kart, it will freeze them for a small period of time. Miyuki Takara
Hiiragi Shell Attack, Defense They can be thrown forwards or backwards. If thrown backwards, it will go in a straight line until it either hits a kart or hits a wall. This allows the co-driver to throw a shell similar to a regular red shell, but explode on contact, setting the victim on fire, as well as dropping three random items such as a mushroom, green shell, Lucky Star, or even a creeper. Kagami's shell is purple, while Tsukasa's shell is pink. Kagami Hiiragi and Tsukasa Hiiragi
Yin-Yang Orb Spr yingyang 0 Attack Allows the co-driver to throw a yin-yang orb around the course, bouncing off the ground and walls. They can be thrown forwards or backwards. They will flip over any kart it hits. Yutaka Zhong and Minami Iwasaki
Barrage Drill Attack They can be thrown forwards or backwards. Allows the co-driver to throw a drill that splits into five and spin out any karts it hits. Susumu's Barrage Drill is pink, while Anna's is orange. Susumu Hori and Anna Hottenmeyer
Boulder Dig Dug rock Attack Allows the co-driver to throw a large boulder on the track which causes an earthquake and causes everyone in the range to spin out and lose their items. Any items on the ground are immediately destroyed upon usage. Taizo Hori and Ataru Hori
Game Genie File:Game-Genie-SNES.png Attack Allows the co-driver throw a cheat device to the kart in front of them. When impacted, it will copy any item the victim gets, and cause the co-driver to gain that item James Rolfe and Mike Matei
Super Guitar Attack Allows the co-driver to emit a shockwave that spins out all drivers, knocks out their items, and destroys any items caught in the radius. Kyle Justin
Poo Puddle Attack Allows the co-driver to drop a puddle of slimy feces on the ground, which will spin out anyone who hits it. It can be used up to three times. They are often more difficult to avoid due to the size of it. They cannot be used to block shells. Bulshman
Creeper Creeper Attack Allows the co-driver to drop a creeper on the ground, which will explode on contact. Anyone caught in the explosion will flip over and drop their items. This item became a special item that anyone in 4th place or lower can obtain in later games. If the item is held for more than a minute, it will become supercharged, which can result in a larger explosion and instantly destroy any kart in the explosion. Kagami Ochiai, Kumiko Uchida, Leopold Slikk, and Jake Randolf
Ender Dragon Egg Boost, Flight Allows the co-driver to fly on an Ender Dragon at high speeds, flipping over any karts it hits. Shira Katsumoto and Rikka Katsumoto

Harold Slikk and Fegelein, as well as Lord Brinks, Fred Fuchs, Susumu Takajima, and Megumi Wakui can obtain any special item listed above.

Item Rarity[]

Item Position
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th
Green Shell Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Banana Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Fake Item Box Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Giant Banana Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Banana Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ice Shell Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Barrage Drill Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Yin-Yang Orb Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Super Mecha Death Shell Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mushroom Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Hiiragi Shell Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Trigon Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Spiny Shell No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Lucky Star No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Golden Mushroom No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Lightning No No No No No No No No No No No Yes

Point Spread[]

Game Points
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th
Driller Engine Grand Prix 10 8 6 4 3 2 1 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Driller Engine Grand Prix 2 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Driller Engine Grand Prix 3 15 12 10 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Driller Engine Grand Prix 2x2
Driller Engine Grand Prix 5 20 17 15 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Gallery[]

The home console and Windows versions have four anime clips for each anime. They can be unlocked by completing each cup with the clip you want to unlock.

Anime Unlocked in Easy/50cc Unlocked in Normal/100cc Unlocked in Difficult/150cc Unlocked in Insane/200cc
Angry German Kid
Space Ninja Team Star Trigon
Magical Girl Team Lucky Star Efforts and Results That Feeling Ring A Distance From Here
Mr. Driller
Angry Video Game Nerd
Crystal Island Hearthcliffe's Out

Cast[]

This list is incomplete. If you know the actor/actresses to some of the characters mentioned, add them.

Character Japanese Version English Version
Wataru Hoshi Toshio Furukawa Charles Martinet
Chuta Bigbang Charles Martinet
Keel Sark Scott Burns
Eguri Hatakeyama Dolores Rogers
Konata Izumi Aya Hirano Wendee Lee
Kagami Hiiragi Emiri Katou Kari Wahlgren
Tsukasa Hiiragi Kaori Fukuhara Michelle Ruff
Miyuki Takara Aya Endou Karen Strassman
Yutaka Zhong Shizuka Hasegawa Hynden Walch
Minami Iwasaki Minori Chihara Michelle Ruff
Susumu Hori Mitsuko Horie Charles Martinet
Anna Hottenmeyer Mitsuko Horie Jen Taylor
Ataru Hori Toshio Furukawa
Taizo Hori Toshio Furukawa Grant Kirkhope

Development[]

Development for Driller Engine Grand Prix 2x2 started after the release of Driller Engine Grand Prix 3 in late 2001 as Driller Engine Grand Prix 4. A 15-second trailer for the game was unveiled on the Drillimation website in December 2001 showing Susumu and Wataru driving a basic, blue kart in single-person mode before the game was upgraded to two-person mode. Their models from Super Smash Keyboards 4 were used in the trailer and the gameplay used lacked a sky and a textured floor.

In May 2002, Drillimation announced that Driller Engine Grand Prix 4 began development. However, the team was having a difficult time trying to conceive gameplay that Drillimation fans would enjoy. Kenjirou Nasaya, one of the lead programmers, wanted to make the game enjoyable for children who never played Driller Engine Grand Prix before. To do this, he decided to make the game simplistic as possible. Susumu Takajima, the game's director, was also the game's producer, and he asked Drillimation programmers to implement features that were never seen from previous titles. The game was going to be ported to the Game Boy Advance and allow GameCube connectivity, but that concept was scrapped due to the Game Boy Advance's hardware limitations, as well as Sony and Microsoft not competing in the handheld market.

In January 2003, the game was renamed to its present name, Driller Engine Grand Prix 2x2, and implemented the driver and co-driver mechanic. The first screenshots of the game were also shown on the Drillimation website. The character mugshots were different from the final game, the lap counter below the time was missing, and the HUD was different.

A number of courses were different before the final game:

  • In Konata Beach, a Dasani advertisement was displayed, but was removed because Drillimation was denied the rights to use Dasani's logo. The pipe was also going to be an opening blocked by planks of wood. The course logo was different before the final game.
  • In Wataru Circuit, there were more sunflowers and larger mountains. The blimp from the final game was also absent too. Like Konata Beach, the course logo was different as well.
  • Taizo Mountain was going to be part of the Keyboard Cup, but ended up in the Nerd Cup in the final version. Whenever the player got shot out of the cannon, the speedometer peaked to 320 mph, rather than the standard 200 mph in the final game.
  • In Gangster Stadium, there were different ads promoting other Drillimation games, but was replaced with an alternating Namco and the console manufacturer's logo. The fireballs were smaller too.
  • Takanomiya Park originally started off as a circuit course named Kagami Circuit. However, the developers wanted it to be based on both Kagami and Tsukasa, and the name was changed to its present name, with the signature course for Kagami getting Kagami Bridge instead. The other circuit course planned ended up becoming James Circuit.

In April 2003, another gameplay trailer was shown with Taizo Mountain and Wataru Circuit, as well as a playable Windows demo. The course intro also had a different HUD, the blimp's logo was different, and the mountains from the final game were missing. The transition from the course intro and gameplay was just a cut instead of a flag pattern. The countdown was also different. The top speed was also around 80 mph rather than the standard 60 mph the game uses.

A month later, in May 2003, Drillimation released some updates to the game saying that the game is capable of having 24 players race via Drillimation Online on all of the platforms the game was being released on, introducing character items such as the Hiiragi Shell and Barrage Drill, and even sped up the game. The battle mode was also being introduced, but would not be seen until the November 2003 update.

In June 2003, about one month before the arcade release, the game was sped up again and those who said that Driller Engine Grand Prix 2x2 was going to be the worst ended up being the best. A month later, in July 2003, the game was released in the arcades. The game was instantly a smash hit, and more than 1.5 million machines were sold globally. Around hundreds of Chuck E. Cheese's locations across the United States had a Driller Engine Grand Prix 2x2 machine.

In late October 2003, advertisements for the home console version of the game started popping up, and animated commercials for the game were shown on Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and almost all the Saturday morning blocks for local channels. Around two weeks before the home console release, Weird Kid Cartoons sent a cease and desist letter to Drillimation Studios regarding the use of zoomaway.wav. Drillimation Studios apologized to Weird Kid Cartoons, and created a new version using sound effects from the game.

The game was released for the home consoles in November 2003. A large deal with the toy company Hot Wheels caused nearly 100,000 Hot Wheels cars to have special labels promoting the game. The two companies also held a sweepstakes where one family of four could win a 15-inch television with either their choice of a PlayStation 2, Xbox, or Nintendo GameCube with four controllers and a copy of the game.

Reception[]

While the arcade version of the game was expensive for its time, the PS2, GCN, Windows, and Xbox versions of the game were largely successful. The game received universal acclaim from critics and Famitsu scored the game a perfect score of 40. The game was ranked #1 on Drillimation's best selling game list, breaking the record of Mr. Driller with a total of 17.9 million copies sold on all three platforms in the first three weeks of its release. The game sold over 4 million copies in its first week of its release in Japan, which did over $200 million. The game earned an additional $800 million in worldwide sales during Black Friday sales. Metacritic also stated that "the sound bites are fun at first, but some of the character's voices can get annoying really fast".

In 2004, the game won the Game of the Year award for Best Racing Game. After its winning, Drillimation released a Game of the Year version exclusively for Windows and Macintosh computers along with a special figurine of Susumu and Anna in the Drill Master.

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