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| No, Sun. Of course Moon. Gawd. |
Moon Crystal. Wow. Okay, let's do this. Hey everyone! Super excited about this game, playing it was a blast, and it just felt great to do it. Played through this in one sitting on my PC because that’s just how I do. That, and it is a really short game, only seven stages, and takes like an hour, hour and a half to complete. Granted I did die a lot more than intended while still learning the ropes, but after that, I decided to sit down and play from start to finish without giving up. By this time, I already became comfortable with the game, resulting in a pretty short run. If I had played it in one sitting from picking it up the first time, I probably would have quit, not really knowing how the game works and all.
Okay, I feel the need to apologise (for nothing really). I wanted to really get into this and share lots of screenshots, with videos too, but I played the game more than payed attention to taking screens. Okay? Cool. I'm sorry. if you must know, the ending looks dope, and I wanted to show it blowing up! So, yeah, I was able to grab screenshots for it by last minute reaction.
Only thing I can really insist is, if you've bothered to read this, it wouldn't kill you to at the very least consider playing the game. Besides just being visually pleasing to look at for a Famicom game, the actual gameplay is good, filled with well designed levels and classic (then current) platforming action! Who doesn't love a game filled with great platforming!?
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Natzis, that's who. Are you a Natzi? I sure hope not, because then we'd have conflicting views of the world, and I would feel really awkward continuing to write for a blog that will find only the blind and Nazis. Even a Grammar Nazi would be unacceptable, because my grammar is far from perfect, leaving you nit picking instead of reading. I don't want to write for that. I'd lose motivation.
Care to keep me motivated? I'd really appreciate it. The worst feeling for a writer/gamer who's just trying to share their story is nobody caring enough to even notice it. Sorry I got a bit side tracked there! Let's just get back to the topic. And also donations and ad clicking, I cannot stress that enough. Pretty please?
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Hanging on ledges get's more challenging as it
becomes more and more important for game
progression. It's your new best friend. |
Right? Okay, moving on. So, there's a bunch of cool things in Moon Crystal that I really feel would draw even a casual gamer to play the game. The visuals are fluid and colourful, which is more than enough incentive to actually look at the game. Plus, there's some rather interesting and borderline unique game mechanics.
You start every stage off the same, regardless of how you finished the previous stage. I feel like this is a way to keep you from crippling yourself while playing this game. All the power ups you previously collected just disappear. You start every stage as if you just started the game up, instead of just blasting through it without caring. This forced me to pay more attention to the game and what was going on. To really think about what I had to do next. To sit and ponder instead of blindly bum rushing the levels.
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| See! Complex double jump with enemies below. |
Starting from the very first level, I had to appreciate the game for what it is, and not treat it as some generic, unnamed, unimpressive generic game. Thoughts had to be formed, strategies forged, enemy attack patterns analyzed. I had to know how fast I moved, and how far I could jump, and what took priority when doing certain actions, like double jumps, falling, and taking damage.
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I don't blend in with earth tones while wearing
them. That's quite nice. See the treasure box!? |
There's also the seeking out of treasure chest in search of helpful power ups and level exploration. Which, by the way, feels a lot like a more fluid and tight Prince of Persia game. You can't just turn around on a dime if you are running at full speed. You have to slow down and pivot a hundred-eighty degrees, which is more challenging than I first thought. Countless times my timing was way off because I didn't consider how long it would take to turn around.
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Running the gauntlet is pretty tough, you're
stripped of all your power ups, and forced
to rely on what you learned throughout
the game without advantages. See, so you're
not crippled! |
All this fancy playing was set up to teach you how to play with ease and comfort, so you can take pleasure in completing the games final stage. The epic conclusion to all your platforming skills starts with you first being stripped of everything you've acquired, and then running though the complex final stage in reverse.
Like all great things, this game came to an end with dignity. Nothing felt drawn out or overdone. It feels good when you complete the game, because it wasn't too difficult, or too easy. It was hard enough to get you to pay attention, but laid back enough to not frustrate you.
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