Crystal Caves HD level review: "Crystal Cavern Crumble" by Vortale
Channel: timixretroplays
Date: 2022-08-26

Click "show more" to see the level review.
0:00 - scouting begins
1:39 - a second go
4:32 - a mistake kills this one early
4:49 - the 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: Well, it's a brown and grey level with falling rocks, a fair few tough enemies, and @Vortale made it. Of course it's fun!

It's tough to make a decent level with falling rocks - they're an ever-present hazard you can't defeat in any meaningful way, so a moment of carelessness will cost you some health points, so you can't make the rest of a level as difficult as usual, or you're just being mean. The reverse is also true - if you are skilled enough to avoid falling rocks no matter what's going on, that usually makes for a dull level as it can never present too big a challenge to you, lest it become too hard for others... and so on.

This level does a pretty good job of mashing those two conflicting factors together - because rocks don't fall in the top screen's worth of height in a level, Vortale put a fair bit of the action specifically up there, including some tougher bits, rather than just making the top third of the level just another place to pass through on your way to the door; this is having your cake and eating it, too, and it works well.

I'm normally not a super fan of the moon-rock-looking scenery, because it can blend in with other elements and make for a level that's confusing to navigate, but they're their own thing here, and contrast well enough with the rest of the scenery that it's obvious what you can and can't stand on or traverse. The dull colour scheme makes all other objects stand out, including the enemies, the bountiful harvest of crystals, and in fact the falling rocks themselves. I wouldn't call this level easy, but it's... not like other Vortale levels I've played, either.

I like the idea of combatting the eye monster from two different sides of the level - most classic levels just put it in the middle of an area and make it a tough but skippable boss fight, while here it's actually fun to dart around and attack. I also like the variety of enemies and the very organic feel to the level layout - and the fruit placements I would describe as becoming classic Vortale at this point. I don't think I followed the intended route - I think the P shot is meant for the walking rocks, and to allow you to 100% kill everything in the level, but in the end I used it against some of the other enemies (with varying results).

If I had one thing to criticise, it might actually be that the level looks a bit boring - there's plenty of pipework running around, but it just runs between the air pump and a vent on the wall, and doesn't tell much more of a story than that, and the walls are otherwise unadorned and uninteresting. A few more scenery bits here and there would make the level feel a little more lived-in.

Aside from that, though, this is a pretty good level, especially considering there are falling rocks. Definitely give this one a go!

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