Crystal Quest Review (XBLA)

Crystal Quest tries hard to be the next Geometry Wars but they forgot to put in all of the fun and excitement. Unless you are desperate for achievement points, don't bother.

Crystal Quest uses the same control scheme as Geometry Wars and Robotron - left stick moves you and right stick shoots. You also can collect bombs to clear the screen.

The way this game plays is that there are a number of crystals spread around the play field and you have to collect them all and then fly through the base door at the bottom of the screen. Enemies will enter the play field through doors on the left and right and there will also be mines and other obstacles strewn around the field to block your progress.

It all sounds rather interesting, but in practice it is pretty boring. The enemies don't really pose much of a threat unless you allow so many onscreen that they just overwhelm you and it is easy enough to avoid the other onscreen obstacles. You just fly around and pick up all of the crystals as fast as possible and then head through the exit door and it never really becomes any more interesting or involved than that. Compared to other XBLA games, Crystal Quest just can't hold up.

Unless you are absolutely desperate for something to play or just want some relatively easy achievement points to add to your gamerscore, Crystal Quest should be avoided.