Crystal Caves HD level review: "Boiling Point" by Fragrant Flaaffy
Channel: timixretroplays
Date: 2022-08-22

Click "show more" to see the level review.
0:00 - first exploration
7:28 - reset and perfect health run

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: Another Fragrant Flaaffy level, Boiling Point's name implies a relatively high-pressure environment, but I found it quite a stress-free little adventure. I really like the anti-gravity hammer section - that's a fun new look at an old puzzle. Having to run back for the cherries, then through again once the anti-gravity wore off for the treasure chest, made it a sweet little action section. I'm not totally sure I played the ceiling-turret section as intended - in CCHD, they're not as laser-accurate as they were in the original game, so it's easy to fake one out and hide next to a bit of tall scenery to avoid the bacon.

Around the 1:15 mark you can see me struggle a bit to figure out where to go next - having lots of scenery in a level that's all the same colour, but where some of it is passable, can make for a bit of navigation confusion. It also takes me a little while to realise I needed the G pickup to advance, and a couple of attempts to make the jump to it, but that's mainly my own clumsiness - as is walking into the fire. Without that mistake, I'd probably have finished this level with perfect health in one attempt.

Enemy placement doesn't feel particularly challenging - every case seems to be "get into a safe position to shoot, and then shoot" - but maybe that's fitting for a casual level. I do like the consistency of each lever opening two doors, one to advance through the level and one to further unlock the exit. Brown and grey doesn't sound like it should make for a particularly pretty level, but there's enough variation and asymmetry in the scenery to make it last.

I spent a fair bit of time walking back and forth in this one, but there's a lot of areas to explore, and the author said it's designed with multiple ways through different areas. I do like the concept of opening up paths to make returning to certain places faster, but for some reason I keep missing the significance of these and just end up looping back around the long way without accomplishing anything new. It's pretty easy to spot what each switch actually does, either due to apparent connections or a short process of elimination - you're never left wondering "what did that do?".

In conclusion: A relatively casual level with a lot of things to do and a lot of places to go. Really creative use of scenery while maintaining a consistent theme through the level.

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