Customer Reviews

Crystal Warriors

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Crystal Warriors / B00004R9GR

If you're one of the few who still own and play a Game Gear, this game deserves your attention. The game is a strategy, turn-based combat game, not unlike the more recent Final Fantasy Tactics or Tactics Ogre, although, of course, with more rudimentary (yet very bright and colorful!) graphics and a significantly smaller storyline. To wit, you play as the Princess Crystal who holds one of the elemental crystals of power of your kingdom. Your kingdom has been invaded and the other elemental crystals have been taken, and it is up to you to battle your way across the country in a series of linear fights, reclaiming the crystals and your kingdom.

The strategy element of the game is perfectly challenging without ever being impossibly difficult. Each character in your army is a unique person (hired from the inns you come across - and, strategically, you can't afford to hire every single one of them) with a fighting class and element (example, a Fire Warrior or a Wind Ranger, etc.), and these attributes must be handled throughout the battles. A fire warrior, for instance, will do a great deal of damage against a wind ranger; and an ice-spell will decimate the fire foes you face. Terrain plays a part in how quickly you can move across the battle fields, and the playing field can be evened somewhat by the acquisition of tamed monsters which can be captured and kept in check against certain emergencies. In other words, that helpless wind ranger may have a water siren to throw against your fire warrior, which will result in a very different skirmish outcome.

Strategy flourishes outside the battlefield, too - you may want to buy that new set of armor, but the money in the game is finite and certain high-level characters, such as mages and healers, can only be persuaded to join your party via a hefty payment. It is impossible to collect every character in a single game, forcing the player to pick and choose, but this enhances the strategy element greatly.

Lastly, the music and graphics, though now considered dated, were revolutionary and gorgeous at their heyday, and that's saying something for a hand-held game. Remember that the Game Gear was in color while the Game Boy was still black-and-white, and it was largely battery power that held the Game Gear back (which reminds me, if you plan to play this game, you *will* want a Game Gear power adapter to plug into the nearest outlet). Check this game out, the nostalgia factor is huge and the game is still extremely enjoyable, even for "new school" players.

~ Ana Mardoll