Project NeXt - Mobile Gaming

Game Title: The Crystal Maze
Developer: Dynamo Games
Publisher: Player X
Game Platform: J2ME
Tested Version: 1.0.0
Phone Reviewed: Sony Ericsson K610i




Story:
"The Crystal Maze" was a game show, produced by Chatsworth Television and shown on "Channel 4" in the United Kingdom from February 15, 1990 to August 10, 1995. Repeated episodes are often shown on digital television channels, most recently FTN and Challenge, since January 2007. There was one season per year, with the first four seasons presented by Richard O'Brien (of "Rocky Horror" Fame) and the final two by Ed Tudor-Pole. Each show was one hour long, including commercial breaks. It is also honored as one of the "Best Loved TV Game Shows".

The game, "The Crystal Maze", has been nominated in the Best Licensed Game category of the IMGA (International Mobile Gaming Awards) 2007. During the game, you must fulfill many tasks and challenges guided by Richard O'Brien. Now let's begin our adventure!



Design:
"The Crystal Maze" is a self-contained world divided into 4 distinctive zones: "Medieval", "Futuristic", "Aztec" and "Industrial". Each of them is with different rooms of varying dimensions. Each room contains a minigame with its own specific time period for completion. The game has two modes: "Full Play" and "Quick Play". In "Full Play", the player is working with an adventure team, which is composed of 6 people, aged between 16 and 40, each having their own skills, talents and attributes to attempt to win as many "crystals" as possible in each of the zones. The gaming rooms are divided into 4 categories: "Physical", "Skill", "Mental" and "Mystery". The core goal of the game is to collect more crystals to buy gaming time in the "Crystal Dome". After you enter the Dome, you must do your best to catch and retain as many "tokens" as possible within the allotted time. Supreme rewards are awaiting if your team collects a positive total of 100 "golden tickets". (What a tough task. ) The "Quick Play" is just a pick-up from "Full Play", in which you can choose from all the rooms.

The graphics of the game can't be said to be first-class. But the gameplay and design is really great! You exercise your brain here, and challenge your limitations.



Gameplay:
When you start your journey, you must first choose your profile; "Name", "Occupation", "Age" and "Image" are provided. What's more, you can see a triangle which displays three attributes: "physical game ability" (a running man icon), "skill game ability" (a jigsaw piece icon) and "mental game ability" (a light bulb icon). Different persons are with different attributes. In the game, you play as team captain for the show. As captain, you have the power to choose what games to play and who will play them. It's very important for you to learn about your team members' attributes. According to the players' unique skills and talent, you can arrange them to play in proper zones to be successful.

We are now ready to begin our adventure through "The Crystal Maze". First, you must choose a starting point from four available zones: the forward looking "Futuristic Zone", the scorching "Aztec Zone", the hard working "Industrial Zone" or the very old dungeon in "Medieval Zone". Just like traveling in time, but in the game space. As mentioned earlier, you, as Captain, must make the right choice, by deciding who will play, and which type of game will be played. You can learn the game instructions by pressing the right soft key for "Help", in which Richard O'Brien will tell you the controls and goals, in detail. Every game has its limited time. If you can't finish the puzzles before the time reaches zero, you will be locked in the room, and naturally gain no crystal. In the game room, you can also give up, which appears as an icon of a man is running to an exit. Can we save the locked-in member? Yes, but it will cost you one crystal and may effect the time in the Crystal Dome. What will you do, Captain? However, every time the player wins a game, he will gain a crystal, by which 5 seconds will be added to the time in the Crystal Dome. Sometimes, automatic lock-ins also appear in certain games, usually occurring if the contestants use all 3 chances in that game. (To time I haven't experienced this, so I can't say more about it. )

The Dome is located at the center of the Crystal Maze. It contains the prizes which are represented by golden tokens mixed in among silver tokens. When you have enough qualification to enter the Dome, you must grasp every second to get golden tokens instead of silver ones. Upon exiting the dome, if the number of golden tokens, 'minus' the number of silver tokens, is greater than 100, your team wins the prize.



Conclusion:
The first time I played this game, I skipped the "Help" option, so now I am puzzled in every challenge. You must learn the idea of every room and then finish it in the given time. It's really an extreme. But after you figure it out, you will be proud of yourself. I have never seen this TV show in my country, but I will keep an eye out if it becomes available.

Scores:
Story: 80
Design: 91
Gameplay: 88

Total: 86



Trailer:
Coming soon...

Link to Preview Thread in "Mobile Game Previews"