Journey through a post-apocalyptic world in Crystalis
Nintendo Entertainment System
This game is awesome! Article over. Just kidding. It is awesome but before we get into why it is such a great game, let us get a bit of background information.
The original NES game was developed by SNK and released in both the US and Japan in 1990. However, in Japan it was titled God Slayer: Haruka Tenkū no Sonata or God Slayer: Sonata of the Far Away Sky. I mean, how awesome is that? That would not have faired well with conservative American audience, so the decision was made to rename the game.
Plot
The hero wakes up 100 years after the END DAY (October 1, 1997) with no memory. This END DAY was marked by a global thermonuclear war which resulted in civilization regressing to a more primitive and medieval existence and the land was populated by mutant creatures.
Science and technology are no more, opting for magic instead. To prevent future cataclysms, the survivors build a floating tower (with a weapons system) where its occupants are to govern the world. However, a man named Draygon revived the forbidden use of science and by coupling it with magic seeks to conquer the world by attempting to enter the tower.
Guided by four wise sages and working with another survivor of your time, Mesia, you learn the required skills and collect the four elemental swords to fight the Draygonian Empire. And when combined, the four swords (Wind, Fire, Water and Thunder) form the legendary sword, Crystalis.
Mini-Review
If you enjoyed and appreciated games like the original The Legend of Zelda for the NES, then this is the one for you. Crystalis provides players with a top-down adventure game as you navigate a post-apocalyptic landscape battling mutant monsters and learning new skills along the way. Those new skills unlock new areas of the game.
It has RPG-like elements such as the ability to Save / Load your progress. There is also a leveling system (managed via your earned experience points) to increase your characterâs vitality and strength.
The controls are smooth and rock solid. The visuals are pretty darn good for the 8-bit console and pair well with the excellent plot. The music is great, as well. I must admit though, that often, the scenery does look a bit repetitive which does make it difficult to navigate through the caves and fortresses.
Now, there is a port of the NES game for the Game Boy Color. It was re-released by Nintendo (with licensing from SNK) in 2000. This port was received with mixed responses. Many changes were made. Some made sense while others, not so much. For instance, to adapt to the smaller screen size resolution, scenes and sprites were resized but that wasnât the bad part. The worst parts were the complete rewrite of general story elements (including dialogue and game scenes) which I will not get into to avoid spoilers. The game was made to be less challenging where they removed elemental immunities of various enemies. The music was overhauled as well.
The reason why I am so critical of the GBC port is primarily because I grew up playing the original and have an emotional attachment to it. Had I played the games in reverse order, I would probably feel differently.
My MemoriesâŠ
I received this title as a Christmas gift in 1991 and before that, I had never heard of it. In fact, no one did. It was one of those games that most fans didnât get the opportunity to enjoy until much later in life. Either way, I now owned a copy and didnât know what to expect. It didnât have your typical trademark heroes. No Mario. No Simon Belmont or Pac-Man. No nothing. Just some weird long-haired looking dude in a tunic and wielding his sword towards what appears to be monsters. Also, the name didnât sound âcool.â Again, I didnât know what to expect.
Anyway, I played the game and wasnât immediately impressed. Sure, it felt like a Zelda game (with more RPG elements) but there was a lot going on and the game mechanics were a bit complicated for an 8-year-old. I tried a couple more times to play it but it just didnât click with me.
Fast forward to 1992 and I started to get into RPG games for the consoles. Final Fantasy was at the top of my list. I am not sure why but at some point I decided to go back to this game. The best decision made. I fell in love with it. Now that I understood it better, the game just seemed too perfect. A great plot. Great balance of both action and adventure. And a challenge. I couldnât put it down.
I was not kidding about the challenging part either. On multiple occasions, I had written to Nintendo Powerâs Counselorâs Corner for assistance in get past various areas of this game. This was an era before the Internet was easily accessible to your average American households. The irony: by the time a response came (via snail mail) I had already moved on to the next challenge.
I will never forget beating the game for the first time and how excited I was but at the same time, disappointed. Why? Well, as the years passed, it became apparent that there was never going to be a sequel to this excellent title.
If you are looking for a Zelda-styled game but with better visuals, plot, controls, music, etc.? Look no further. Crystalis will fill that void and keep you busy for quite some time.