Category:

Review

Duration: 9:29

22 views

0

Click "show more" to see the level review.
0:00 - first attempt/sighting lap
5:32 - second attempt, going for perfect health

I'm trying something a bit different with this series: This is my first playthrough of this level, followed by my "good enough" attempt with perfect health. 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 great level from @Vortale. The layout is organic and easy enough to navigate once you're familiar with it (I'm a huge fan of "difficult to learn, easy to master" as a level design philosophy), and even though the light platforms tripped me up repeatedly (and were a bit meanly positioned in places), I had a lot of fun figuring it out. I wasn't expecting it to have only a single door, and for it to be the new yellow one; seeing a yellow light switch in the dark for the first time threw me for a moment ("what the heck is that!?").

It's a relatively easy level to finish, a bit harder to finish with perfect health, and the fruit pickups are about as tough as you can make them, and clearly intended to be hunted down through multiple playthroughs - which is a bit at odds with how easy it is to get the BONUS letters. The enemies are intelligently chosen, and there's not too many of them; the light bridge + mine cart combination is a brilliant little puzzle. The purple wall worms are a bit mean to put in a lights-off level, but once you learn where they are they stop being a huge threat.

The points pickups, crystals and treasure chests are all well-placed, and clearly guide you where to go. Some levels make it oddly tough to open all the treasure chests, but in this level it felt more like a victory lap (very satisfying). I feel like there weren't as many crystals as there usually are, leading to long stretches of not collecting anything. I've heard this game described as a "collectathon" a lot recently, though, so maybe this is a reaction to that. There's ample ammo, which is a great choice, since this level's theme is the light puzzles, not accurate shooting. The P shot feels a bit wasted - the only thing I really felt like killing with it was the mine cart, as the purple worms aren't much of a threat after the first time, and I was on my way to collect treasure, not shoot things.

The scenery is great, giving this level a pretty distinct design language - it definitely feels like a cave. There's even a few set pieces that you rarely see in custom levels, making it stand out just a little more. The location of the air pump is a little wasted as a hazard IMHO and serves 100% as decoration. The lava traps - which you see me try my best to avoid falling into - mainly threaten the clumsy or the forgetful, and aren't themselves major challenges, which is great. I'm glad the spikes above the snake's platform don't fall down, even though I was expecting them to - that section is already a hazard to get through if you're not paying attention.

The worst criticism I can think of to aim at this one is the fact that light switches don't sync up across a level if there's more than one - but this is the game's fault, not Vortale's. It's possible but a bit boring to make a level where every light switch is sectioned off from the others, forcing them to be in sync by the level's very nature, but I love that Vortale just said "f**k it" and went for it anyway.

Conclusion: This is an easy 5/5 level for me. The design, flow, puzzles and difficulty level are all great for a custom level. Go play it, and collect the fruit I couldn't reach!

Say hi on Twitter if you've made a level and would like to see it reviewed: https://twitter.com/timixretroplays

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