Crystal Mines II

Crystal Mines II is a puzzle video game designed and programmed by Ken Beckett for Color Dreams and licensed to Atari, who published it as a cartridge for their Lynx handheld system. The game was also released on the Nintendo DS. The game is a sequel to Crystal Mines for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Both releases are similar to Boulder Dash, a genre which has since become known as "rocks and diamonds" games.

Crystal Mines II
Cover art
Developer(s)Color Dreams
Publisher(s)Atari Corporation
Designer(s)Ken Beckett
Platform(s)Atari Lynx
ReleaseAtari Lynx 1992
Game Boy 1992
Genre(s)Puzzle
Mode(s)Single player

The Lynx game features 150 levels and 31 bonus levels. The levels were designed by Scott Davis, Danny Sosebee, Lee Rider, Joel Byers, Jim Treadway, Gabriel Beckett and Ron Degen. Music was designed by Ken Calderone, and graphics were by Nina, Dan Burke and Ken Beckett.

Gameplay
Gameplay screenshot.

The player guides a robot down a series of mines to collect crystals of different colors (and worth different point values). Along the way, the robot encounters wooden blocks, which can be blown up or sawed through, boulders of different types, dirt, which can be shot away with the robot's blaster, and a variety of monsters. The robot can also discover shields, radioactivity protection, deposits of copper, silver and gold, and caches of TNT. The metal deposits become bonuses to the player's score, while the other items can be used to complete various levels of the game.

Reception

CVG Magazine reviewed the game on the Game Boy in their November 1992 issue, giving it a rating of 83 out of 100.[1]

Re-releases

In 2000, Songbird Productions produced a sequel, Crystal Mines II: Buried Treasure on CD-ROM for Microsoft Windows. This CD-ROM required the original game and a Lynx to PC serial cable to run, allowing the editing and creation of all new levels. This was followed in 2003 by a cartridge release of Crystal Mines II: Buried Treasure with the original 181 levels and 125 new levels.

In 2010, Home Entertainment Suppliers released ports of Crystal Mines II for the Nintendo DS and iPhone under the title Crystal Mines.

References
  1. "Computer and Videogames". November 1992. p. 20. supplement: "Hand-Held Go!". Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.