Playing Every Game in the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality
PEGBRJE: ‘Crystal Towers 2’ and ‘Zepball Deluxe’
Retro time
Crystal Towers 2 (XL) is an adventurous platforming game created by DavidXN, a Scottish indie dev in the USA. Players will create their own character, then promptly abandon them for the story of Bernard, who must navigate through numerous lands of the kingdom in order to save music.
Originally, Crystal Towers came out in 2011 as a shareware-inspired 90s platformer. If that doesn’t explain the style perfectly than I don’t know what will.
Bernard has a hub world in which he can jump between the different regions, each with the initial goal of reaching the large crystal to end the level. In between are hostile enemies to ‘Goomba-stomp’, moving platforms of various difficulties, dozens of paths to take, and collectables galore.
The main collectable are tiny crystals which help gain extra points, but can be lost when Bernard takes damage (this can be turned off if one desires). Those that are more hidden range from spells to help navigate puzzles and level challenges, different gemstones, keys, and more. Once the big crystal is acquired, Bernard is sent back to the hub world, and this is when things start to get interesting.
Once back in the Music Castle, players will see that levels cannot be accessed without acquiring rainbow gems or keys. Levels just completed are still open, and hopping in to them will reveal that there is now another ‘mode’ to play it in for a gemstone; this is where the replayability begins.
For those that have played a relatively iconic platforming franchise over the years that still has entries to this day (to the chagrin of many), this concept of returning to the same level for different challenge rewards is instantly familiar. Crystal Towers takes the route that these ‘reruns’ of levels are extremely important, as not only are those crystals needed but the returns allow for players to use their new spells and find new paths, secrets, and more while still getting rewarded with progress.
When the word ‘shareware’ gets added to the mix of game descriptions, people can get mixed feelings about it depending on their age and experiences. Some remember them fondly, some not so much so, and both remember the viruses. Crystal Towers 2 sits comfortably in the fond memories as while I did not play the original Crystal Tower nor the 2011 version of CT2 it gives the warm feeling of nostalgia regardless. It’s that constant jumping around and revisiting levels for new challenges that brings a smile to my face, and to any fan of Sonic and other platforming titles it will definitely do the same. Also, the music slaps; always a helpful way to get people in the mood for some good old platforming.
Do be aware that if you turn the music off in the options menu, it may not turn back on if you switch it back to ‘on’. I didn’t realize this because I thought there was no music to fit the theme of ‘stealing the world’s music’. Woops. Just restart the game and you’ll be fine.
Zepball Deluxe is an arcade game created by blainekyle, a solo indie dev who made this game while still in high school. Players will be playing a strange version of Pong, where there is no opponent, somehow. Instead, the ball will bounce between the walls that one player controls in the hopes of getting as many points as possible.
Players will have four paddles, with the arrow keys controlling all of them at once; up and down will move those on the sides up and down, while the top and bottom paddle move sideways together. It creates a strange synergistic movement.
The ball will then bounce off these paddles, giving a nice sound to indicate it hit or a hollow sound if a miss happens. Each successful bounce gives a point, which is extremely important as these points are how players move to the next level. The levels have a ‘score cap’, and reaching that score will move on to the next level seen at the top.
Each level brings new layouts of the map to try your hand at, but the core remains the same; solo pong with all of the paddles in your hand. At first the levels are simple, but higher stages will bring strange layouts that involve layers of paddles, walls everywhere, and shapes galore. It’s a brilliant yet simple idea, and if that appeals to you then by all means jump on in.
