Crystal Caves HD level review: "Alien Mothership" by Adelion
Channel: timixretroplays
Date: 30/08/2022

Click "show more" to see the level review.
0:00 - scouting run
1:46 - quick reset to catch a bird
1:53 - final attempt

I'm trying something a bit different with this series: This is my first playthrough of this level, followed by enough attempts to finish with perfect health at least once. 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: I've never thought "It shouldn't be this fun to shoot fireballs at birds!" before.

I'm not sure if this level is meant to be as hard as it feels - despite the open spaces, it's easy to accidentally find yourself in the firing line of a turret, or a tap, or a zappy robot. I found the top room particularly tough to deal with - finding a line that let me fake out the turret and get to the blue switch without taking a hit was a little frustrating. I'm not sure if there's a switch somewhere that turns it off - this level's flow feels like it gives you switches when you need them, so I didn't feel like backtracking to see if any of them did.

I love the way some enemies seem to reappear, because you've opened a door and another's found its way into your area - I'm not sure if that was planned, or a side effect of the level's very symmetrical design. The number of different puzzles and rooms feels a bit limited by that design; especially the areas around the ship feel a bit empty - having taken out all the birds on one side, you get a P pickup to do the same to more birds on the other. If the plan was to make a relatively short level, then that's fine; but having to search small satellite ships for a switch to get into the main ship, or another adventure along those lines, would have been fun.

I like the idea of the last little area - more levels should make use of moving turrets, they're still a new and relatively under-used item in-game - but it feels a bit light for an end-of-level boss - but again, maybe that wasn't the intention here. There's enough crystals and enough pickups that it feels rewarding to play through, even if it doesn't feel like any of them particularly lead you anywhere - they're just sort of there, ornamentally. I don't think I encountered any fruit, and I totally expected to find some behind the exit door - that's a perfect little niche for a spawn point for something.

Conclusion: A cool concept level, but it's tough to make a mostly symmetrical level feel exciting the whole way through. I look forward to assaulting the alien battleship that must have been escorting this one!

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