iPhone App: Crystal Quest

July 6th, 2009

Crystal Quest

= 3 stars

Port of an old-school computer game where you pick up as many crystals, avoiding an endless number of baddies trying to kill you.

The Good

I originally played this game on an SE/30 in several vivid shades of gray, so the color in the classic mode plus the modern mode are welcome, new enhancements.
Variety is achieved through a crazy amount of aliens (too many to list, but particularly scary are tentawarbles and parasites) with various death-dealing capabilities, and stuff to pick up (smart bombs, bonus points) or avoid (mines).
Sound effects: same as the original, including the strange gasp when you exit a level, plus the addition of background music.
A screen of options for music, sound effects, “swipe” (multitouch) control, and tilt control. Especially handy are volume / sensitivity options for all.

The Bad

Not very satisfying controls. The original game relied on the mouse for movement, so the iPhone uses the multitouch screen instead. Unfortunately, entire screen is sensitive, meaning it’s easy to get your fingers in the way of the action. Also annoying: firing is achieved through a screen tap, which means taking a finger off of the screen. So continuous movement with a left thumb and firing with right thumb taps is problematic, as you end up having to lift your left thumb in order to fire. The best solution I’ve found, is to have both tilt controls and multitouch active (with the mutitouch set to a high sensitivity), so you can tilt the iPhone for large, arcing moves across the screen while stroking with a left thumb for finer control, and the right thumb for firing. Yeah, that sounds complicated, and a D-pad on both left and right would be a simpler solution.
Price of $4.99 feels a bit high.

Conclusion

I have fond memories of Crystal Quest, but the slightly odd controls and the price put a damper on my nostalgia buzz. Recommended you loved the original, but if not, there are better games to spend your hard-earned five dollars on.

iTunes App Store Link: