Game:

Crystal Caves (1991)

Category:

Review

Duration: 9:50

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0:00 - first attempt
3:41 - second attempt
5:50 - third attempt
6:22 - fourth attempt - perfect health!

I'm trying something a bit different with this series: This is my first playthrough of this level, followed by enough attempts to finish with perfect health at least once. It's not a flawless playthrough, but that's the point - you can practically see my brain grinding to a halt as I'm confronted with puzzle after puzzle. Hopefully it's of interest not just to the original author, but also anyone looking for insight into how another player goes about learning a new level.

Review: This is a very clever little level from Adelion. A level designed around using glass blocks works best with bold colours and a dark background to contrast against - that can lead to a dull-looking level with few real points of interest, but there's enough varied terrain and set pieces to make this one feel different enough from place to place.

With the turrets, glass blocks and bats, this one actually feels a lot like a classic '90s level with newer puzzles and tighter crawlspaces to figure out. This is the first custom level I've played with the switchable yellow blocks, which made for an interesting challenge (and I'm just now realising probably hid one of the fruit pickups). I love that it's super obvious from the start that you're not meant to shoot every glass block - it's tough to strike a good balance with the volume of those vs regular terrain. This is a simply drawn but beautiful level - I especially love the colour scheme of the red terrain, yellow crystals and then the white glass blocks.

The flow gets a little interrupted in the bottom half of the level. Having such a long wait for platforms to go back and forth can bring a level to a grinding halt. Because the sideways moving platforms are restricted to a single space each, it can be hard to spot them and figure out how to get across - removing one glass block from each side to make them more visible, especially when you're higher up in the level, would be a neat tweak to them. Same goes for the flames, which you see me flick on and off a couple of times trying to figure out what's happening - with switches, it's best if what they activate is close enough to always be on-screen with the switch, like the switchable blocks on the left side of the level are.

I will note that I fully expected the switch in the top left of the map to start moving the turret back and forth, and getting siked out and seeing switchable blocks toggling in and out instead - I hadn't really noticed them yet, except out of the corner of my eye, and had assumed they were more glass blocks. I assume this wasn't intentional, but it was a great little moment in my playthrough.

There was plenty of ammo, but the zappy robots were more of a nuisance than a puzzle - once you dispatch the first, the other is a slam dunk to also kill, so it doesn't really matter. The bats are also fine, and the turrets - especially the early trick with the moving one - are great to keep a consistent theme of enemies in the level. I love the extra "step" of lava on the right side of the map, that's a great little set piece. I did repeatedly get stuck on the bottom island, in the middle where the standing platform goes into the ground; that was continually unexpected and a little irritating, but not a major issue.

The last crystal in the middle of the map is a bit tough to get at, not least because the platforms it's near are so high up and far away from the lava, so it's hard to judge a jump down. It's very easy to make a deadly mistake and plummet to your death there - especially given there's only one crystal in there, the risk/reward equation feels a little lopsided there. It feels I do like the concept of the layout and the flow of this level, but a few tweaks to enemies and some platforms would make it even better.

I only triggered one bit of fruit to appear, but it was relatively easy to collect; I didn't find the others, but I assume they were just as easy to collect, once you'd found them. I strongly prefer this to "you'll trigger them all in every playthrough, but they're terribly difficult to get at in time", it's more rewarding and less frustrating.

Conclusion: An easy 4/5 and brilliant level for only a third published attempt by Adelion. The themes and design are great, but a few little anti-frustration tweaks would make this an all-time classic.

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Come chat about Crystal Caves HD and Secret Agent HD on the Emberheart Games discord: https://discord.gg/pCdc9Wh5kv

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