Crystal Caves HD

At first, it might not seem obvious what changed in this "HD" remaster. Playing through, you will get the same feeling and experience that you had when booting up cc1.exe for the first time. Therein lies the magic: Emberheart Games managed to capture the spirit perfectly while subtly improving the entire presentation. This is the gold standard for pixel remasters or 8-bitish work. Comparing side-by-side to the EGA original, you will see much improved colors and animation all around. But until then, you would swear to anything that this is exactly how the original felt. Besides visuals, the gameplay and sounds are as identical as they can be within Unity3D. Very rarely, sprites will be offset from the blocky pixel grid. This never hurt gameplay for me per se, but I have extremely rarely taken damage when I would not in the original DOS game. That may be caused by floating point imprecision in Unity, whereas I assume the original was all fixed point math. The game's original three episodes are here plus a bonus fourth. The original game can be quite challenging. Some levels require careful planning to progress or you can actually get stuck and need to restart. The goal of the game is to collect every crystal in every level. You can take up to three hits of damage, but you get a sizeable bonus for finishing a level without taking a hit. This version also offers different difficulty options, which can change the way you approach the game. Going through the game with less ammo than usual is a fun and interesting challenge. This version also adds achievements, online leaderboards, and a level editor. Personally, I could do without achievements but I suppose it is the modern trend. The online leaderboards never seem to load for me, so it is almost a moot addition. The level editor is interesting, but I did not see any way to share levels across the internet. That would really make this the perfect package. Still, if you loved crystal caves, you can't go wrong here.

Crystal Caves HD remains a nice challenge for platformer fans, regardless of whether they have prior experience with the original release or not. However, to fully appreciate the game, players must be subject to difficult level design and generally repetitious gameplay. Its gameplay follows a standard 90's platformer formula. What sets this title apart is the ever-present requirement to collect every crystal, in every level, to finish the game. This design choice mainly appeals to completionist players but is less daunting on the newly added 'easy' difficulty. However, playing on a higher difficulty mode (and maximizing points earned) offers the most engrossing experience. Cautiously conserving ammunition, learning the specific patterns of each enemy, memorizing each level layout, and mastering the controls are all required to have the full experience of this game. Thankfully, the controls are solid in this release, allowing the player to master them quickly. Yet, its level designs are not always creative, and there are only a handful of enemy types and other level components, so the game can get a bit dry before the halfway point. A few hitboxes also remain a bit questionable. The graphics and animation are basic but offer enough retro charm to be visually engaging. The added music, while not period-correct, is catchy and rounds out the overall package. The story is a fun little time and hosts a load of Star Trek references. Having the generic 'points' of the game be rephrased as 'dollars' for the character to use in the plot is a nice choice. The 'original' story wrapped up rather nicely in Episode 3; but in the added Episode 4, there is a good starting premise, but it leaves the player without a satisfying conclusion. The episode does add a neat secret level, though. Overall, the game remains a bit stale, but it is still a good romp for retro platformer lovers.

Crystal Caves was one of my first games. Unfortunately, most of "old" games these days for me are nothing but a small nostalgia pill: you pop it for an hour or two and then forget about it for another eternity. Time goes by, games change, mechanics change, tastes in games change, e.t.c. I very rarely can find an old game that I really enjoy and have the patience to play it. So I was pleasantly surprised when I fired up this one. I do like that the devs added "easy" mode and "save game" feature. Those two things make the game more accessible and enjoyable, in my opinion. I hope they will restore more classic games in the same fashion. Maybe Paganitzu, Duke Nukem or something else. P.S. The price is especially great too.

Emberheart have managed to touch my heart with both these remasters. I was always a bit more of a Crystal Caves fan as well. Just like Secret Agent, you get a fresh new palette, higher native rendering resolution, smoother animations, optional music, a level editor, a whole new episode (shall we call it Ultimate Crystal Caves?) and even achievements (meh). All while keeping the core experience firmly intact and faithful to origin. If you enjoyed the originals, I believe you'll love this. And enhancement and solid port to modern gaming platforms, and a great game for both kids and adults. Jut remember, do not shoot the air generators.

I love how the game combines platforming with puzzle elements. If you complete a level without taking any damage, you get a bonus. You start asking yourself: how can I finish these levels without taking damage? It involves moving around in a certain order or using power-ups in specific ways. This game challenged my reflexes as much as it challenged my intellect. That said, it can be unforgiving. One simple mistake is all it takes to cost you that bonus. And it was easy to mess up. It was frustrating and stressful. Granted, I'm a completionist, so this is my own fault. If I had cared less about the points, I would've had a less stressful experience. Eventually, I did give up on getting those bonuses. It wasn't worth the frustration. This is the type of game you play for a challenge, not for fun. And that challenge is intense. There were some minor annoyances. They weren't as bad as the difficulty and stress. Elevators are slow. If you miss them, you have to wait for them to come back to you. Usually, it's not even for a time-based challenge. The elevators are slow, so you have to wait. That was boring. Sometimes, you need to drop down, but you can't see where you're landing. Leaps of faith are unsatisfying, even when you succeed. I enjoyed this game. It was challenging, sometimes harshly so. But it was satisfying working out the levels in my head.