WelcometoExtremeGamer

Reviewed by Jimmy | 02.16.06

Introduction
Crystal Quest is the newest addition to the Xbox Live Arcade. Ironically Crystal Quest was developed for the Apple computer back in 1987 and is now getting another go in 2006 with Microsoft. It's not as visually as stunning as the other shooter options on XLA, but that doesn't mean it's lacking in substance. Back from the past, we have our review of Crystal Quest.

The Game
A landslide of shooters are beginning to show there face on Xbox Live Arcade and Crystal Quest is the newest of the bunch. Although designed like a shooter Crystal Quest is balanced between shooting and collecting. If you already own one of the many shooters like Geometry Wars you might just welcome Crystal Quests diversity.

In Crystal Quest you play a round silver sphere with a goal to collect all the crystals on a stage and then exit through a portal at the bottom of the screen. As the levels progress you will have enemies come out of warp gates on either side of the board to stop you from your mission. Crystal Quest is a breeze for the first while and you can actually get away with passing the first ten levels without even shooting anything, but of course like any game that only last momentary. It doesn't take long before you're in a panic jolting around the board searching for crystals while blasting away at anything that moves.

Crystal Quest also has other bonus points you can collect while hunting down crystals, and other objects like bombs, and power crystals. It took me a while to actually figure out what a power crystal is because they warp out of the side portals and can easily be mistaken for an enemy. Power Crystals give away the most point and look like a larger version of a crystal except that it floats around the board. Run into them and blamo. points!

The diversity of enemies in Crystal Quest helps make for a more entertaining experience because each one has a set of different properties and unique looks. There are around twelve different nasties in the game from the innocent mushroom "annoyer" to the more aggressive "worrier", or Yars Revenge wanna be "parasite". Different levels will spawn a new enemy in non sequential number, and some of these nasties will chase you down, others explode when destroyed, some lay mines, and then you have ones that temporaily quiver into a small cube when shot. Variety is part of the charm and the higher the level, the faster and deadlier they become. Save your bombs for the later levels, and like other shooters only drop them when it is absolutely necessary.

If achievements are your thing Crystal Quest has a balance of easy to hard ones. I find these Xbox Live Arcade games can be pretty challenging mirrored by its simple looking appearance. Most people will grab a few points achievements off the bat, and others like Treasure Hunt, Smart-Ass, and Marathon Man will come along quickly. If you like a challenge the Immortal Reach is the big daddy with the marker of hitting 1,000,000 points without loosing a life. Forget about it!

Crystal Quest although fun, can get a little old like most of the arcade styled games. Unfortunately there is no two player support, so you are stuck with the new mode, or the old school original mode. The achievements really make the goals, unless you want to rank high on the Leader boards. It's too bad they included a level high achievement at the 60th level because it is pretty easy to hit after a few runs. A lot of gamers might pack it in after hitting that mark, and I really think they should have included a higher level marker. I've been hearing a majority of addicts ranking into the hundreds.

New to Xbox Live is Crystal Quests additional content that is avaliable on the marketplace. In a first you can change the look and sound of the game by downloading a small add-on pack. It's pretty inventive and certainly a wave to come. From the five new downloads I'd have to mark the graphics pack as the best of the bunch, either the Sketch Graphics Pack which makes the game look hand drawn, or the Nano Graphics Pack which turns the game into a translucent type of style. These are just minor touches to the game, but it's nice to know that developers are keeping up on their Xbox Live games and giving us gamers options.

LOWDOWN
Crystal Quest by Stainless Games is worth the few bucks it demands. If you enjoy shooter styled games then you'll probably get something out of Crystal Quest. It is the perfect accompaniment along with other shooters like Mutant Storm, and Geometry Wars, only without the impossible factor attached. Crystal Quest is worth the download, check out the demo and enjoy questing for crystals purchase the full version.

Final Score: 7 / 10

ACHIEVEMENTS:

 
Points
Speed Freak - Collect all the crystals and exit the gateway of wave 1 in 5 seconds or less
20
Immortal - 1,000,000 on first life.
25
Navigator - Avoid mines etc for 20 levels.
20
Smart-ass - Have 30 smarts in hand.
15
Nerves of Steel - 1,000,000 points without smarting at standard difficulty level or higher.
25
Crystal Master - Score 1,000,000.
10
Crystal Rookie - Score 10,000 points.
5
Crystal Ninja - Score 10,000,000 or more in one game.
25
Life-saver - Have 30 lives in hand.
15
Apocalypse - Destroy 20 nasties with one smart bomb.
15
Marathon Man - Finish wave 60.
15
Treasure Hunt - Collect 30 bonus crystals.
10

FEATURES:

  • Classic gameplay: Sixty action-packed levels with extra bonuses and power-ups.
  • Next-gen arcade: Updated graphics enhanced special effects, and Dolby sound.


Crystal Quest
 
Publisher
Stainless
Games
 
Developer
Stainless
Games
 
Genre
Shooter
 
Released
Feb 2006
 
ESRB
Everyone


Details
Players 1
HDTV 720p