Product: The Crystal Maze 2|Developer: Dynamo Games|Publisher: Player X|Format: Mobile
|Genre: Action, Arcade, Film/TV tie-in, Puzzle
|Players: 1
|Format: J2ME
|File size: 497KB
|Reviewed on: K800i other handsets|Version: Europe
We've seen a lot of old gameshows return to mobile lately given the massive interest in retro gaming, gaming on the go, and retro gaming on the go. The Crystal Maze is probably one of the best suited shows to a quality gaming adaptation, but it was still quite a surprise to see it's not been gaudily contemporised and turned into something like 'The Crystal Maze Extreme to the Max'.
Instead, we've got everything that was familiar and wonderful about that treasure trove of TV awesomeness, complete with Richard O'Brien, rock hard mini-games, familiar theme tune, and Mumsy.
You begin by selecting a captain (not that it really matters who that is), then it's off to the Futuristic, Aztec, Ocean or Medieval zone to begin winning crystals. Richard guides you around the maze and allows you to choose a couple of games in the Mystery, Mental, Skill and Physical genres in each zone.
There appears to be a decent selection of games, too, with very few of the concepts repeated in any one game. True, you'll see familiar challenges each time you play, but each individual journey through The Crystal Maze is a diverse one.
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The games are immensely hard, however. Each fits its category well, requiring you to make cerebral calculations in the Mental games, perform complex actions in the Skill games, defeat obstacle courses in Physical and face unique challenges in the Mystery games.
All the time the clock is ticking, with the quality of these mini-games ensuring that your team will wind up locked-in much of the time as the seconds disappear and your attention is suitably hijacked.
Each crystal you win buys ten seconds in the Crystal Chamber at the end, which is just as gruelling as any game in the four zones. But as demanding as The Crystal Maze 2 is, the games and the beautifully recognisable production are of the highest quality, and provide plenty of longevity as you attempt to finally win a single gold ticket as you thrash around wildly in Richard's chamber.
A first class game for fans of the original TV show and action-addicted mobile gamers alike.
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