Magical Crystals (ARC, 1991)
Graphics-7.5 Sound-7.5 Control-7.5 Challenge-7.5 Story-4?
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-8 Fun-7.5 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-7.5
+
2-player co-op
Good mid-air jump control
Some alternate paths through levels
Very good bosses overall (two phases each)
Charge shot which you can use the charge of to attack enemies with by jumping over them
Some large sprites
Decent art direction
Can cling to a platform's edge and climb back up if you accidentally walked off a ledge
Temporary shield power up (collect more fairies in quick succession for a better shield)
Your shots ricochet for a bit after firing
Temporary giant power up (gain speed, become invincible to hits),
+/-
Level timers
Mini-games after bosses (first one is a very hard button masher, second one is a decent whack-a-mole clone, third one is an easy gallery shooter; after that the latter two repeat and become harder) - win 1-ups
One hit deaths
Charge shot takes pretty long to charge and it's binary - you either fully charge it or you'll fire a standard shot
Respawn on the spot even after using a credit
Temporary shot upgrades (triple shot and heavy shot)
AY-3 PSG+PCM for the music (odd combo but still sounds pretty good)
Collectathon
-
Some control issues (no jump height control, can't shoot in mid-air except for charge shots which'll stay at ground level, no strafing, can't stand still and aim)
No block or slide moves
Some trial & error (boss patterns, some cheap enemy spawning points (blobs appearing very close to your avatar)
No auto-fire
Some garish backgrounds
A bit short
Lame ending and no intro
Notes:
-Instruction messages are in Japanese
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-8 Fun-7.5 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-7.5
+
2-player co-op
Good mid-air jump control
Some alternate paths through levels
Very good bosses overall (two phases each)
Charge shot which you can use the charge of to attack enemies with by jumping over them
Some large sprites
Decent art direction
Can cling to a platform's edge and climb back up if you accidentally walked off a ledge
Temporary shield power up (collect more fairies in quick succession for a better shield)
Your shots ricochet for a bit after firing
Temporary giant power up (gain speed, become invincible to hits),
+/-
Level timers
Mini-games after bosses (first one is a very hard button masher, second one is a decent whack-a-mole clone, third one is an easy gallery shooter; after that the latter two repeat and become harder) - win 1-ups
One hit deaths
Charge shot takes pretty long to charge and it's binary - you either fully charge it or you'll fire a standard shot
Respawn on the spot even after using a credit
Temporary shot upgrades (triple shot and heavy shot)
AY-3 PSG+PCM for the music (odd combo but still sounds pretty good)
Collectathon
-
Some control issues (no jump height control, can't shoot in mid-air except for charge shots which'll stay at ground level, no strafing, can't stand still and aim)
No block or slide moves
Some trial & error (boss patterns, some cheap enemy spawning points (blobs appearing very close to your avatar)
No auto-fire
Some garish backgrounds
A bit short
Lame ending and no intro
Notes:
-Instruction messages are in Japanese