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CRYSTAL
RAIDER (1986) |
REVIEW
by Phoenix
Otaku 
The
name Crystal Raider alone is an exciting yet simple name for a game, and that's
the premise of the game itself - simple yet entertaining. The first thing that
strikes you about Crystal Raider is that it gives you a sense of adventure straight
away. Caves, treasure, monsters! You leap around each cave collecting crystals
whilst avoiding the cave denizens and trying to exit to the next cave before
your oxygen runs out!
The game controls are slightly unique to Crystal Raider.
Jump height is based on how much you hold the button in, and it is possible
to move mid jump allowing you to time your reach of a platform or your descent.
Levels
are well set out, and despite being the same cave motif the change of colour
and level designs keeps it from getting monotonous. Once you pass the first
cave, there are more paths open to you. You can take one route or another, with
some leading to dead ends and others offering more path options.
The
game can be a little hard sometimes, as timing jumps well can take a lot of
practice, and some jumps are difficult to make. This gets easier over time though
as once you figure out a jump then it isn't really a problem anymore. This can
make the game something of a trial and error. To add more difficulty, there
is an option to add "Night", which blacks out the screen, enabling
you to see only the crystals and dangers, and a small area around the player.
There is also a two-player option that allows for one
player to control the character's movement, whilst the other controls the character's
jumping. This adds further complexity to the game, but I feel it is not really
an adequate two- player option. A better one would have been to take turns completing
the level or seeing how far each player can get.
The
sound does not distract you too much from the main game, although the jumping
sound can get a little tedious after a while. I do feel that background music
may have added to the feel of it. Otherwise, the sound isn't too shabby.
To summarise, the game is a fairly good design, although
a little difficult. I think because of its difficulty it wouldn't have great
re-playability, probably just relief that you've finally finished the game!
 |
"Rough
Diamond"
(6/10) |
CLICK
HERE to Download an Unlimited Lives file for use in the Atari 800Win
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The Raider.net
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