LGR - Checking out Crystal Caves HD!
Added 2020-10-07 20:39:32 +0000 UTChttps://youtu.be/_WQTGCBZ1FM
Greetings, folks! Got a simple LGR vid for you this week while I continue working on a new Oddware episode, among other more involved things.
But yeah, in the meantime here's a look at the upcoming "HD remaster" of the classic DOS platformer from Apogee, Crystal Caves! Yeah, this exists and it's awesome.
The game should hopefully be released on October 15th from what I'm told, and there's still no word on pricing. But I was given the go-ahead by Apogee to start sharing some preview coverage for y'all! It's really quite a pleasant update to one of my personal favorite DOS games, although honestly I'm impressed it's even a thing at all. Can't say that Crystal Caves, or its sibling Secret Agent, are very high on mainstream lists of best DOS games, haha. And the fact that a piece of fan-made pixel artwork shared on Twitter somehow turned into an official remake of Crystal Caves, complete with a full-blown level editor and a brand new episode to play? Yeah, this is just prime DOS gaming fan service, I'm pretty psyched :)
Anyway, back to work on obscure Japanese PC stuff. Stay tuned for that and have a good week!
Comments
This is a great video :) I loved the nerdy talk and the sound of "pc speaker"
Uncleawesome
2020-10-11 22:02:37 +0000 UTCIt’s our generations time to shine, the remakes we have all been waiting for.
2020-10-10 06:12:47 +0000 UTCThis remake is clearly a labor of love. I love the smooth animations that manage to retain the original retro look. But I was also thinking the exact same thing when I heard the music: a NES synth chiptune just doesn't fit with a DOS game. Adlib FM synth would indeed have been perfectly appropriate. I'm frankly susprised that the game developers didn't realize that, since they were so spot on with everything else, including the PC speaker sound effects.
Volkert
2020-10-09 19:17:07 +0000 UTCYou know what... I agree. The music would fit the game better if it was in the style of Adlib Soundblaster. I'm at least hoping that the flaw in episode 3 where there is a part of the map you can't escape unless you go there last, gets fixed in this version of the game. Also, here's hoping that Secret Agent will also get a remake in this style, along with other Apogee classics with much need improvements.
Caleb Bott
2020-10-09 08:13:26 +0000 UTCi can't believe you didn't shoot the air generator even once! that was my favourite thing to do in this game as a kid :D
Xaphania
2020-10-08 23:23:26 +0000 UTCBut where are the microtransactions???
Gary Leigh
2020-10-08 08:44:35 +0000 UTCYes! 100% this! As well as different sized pixels in the same scene! Completely ruins the effect for me.
ctrl.alt.rees
2020-10-08 08:32:10 +0000 UTCThis one passed me by "back in the day" but I've heard great things about it and this remake / remaster looks awesome! Looking forward to checking it out when it's released. 😊
ctrl.alt.rees
2020-10-08 08:23:17 +0000 UTCVeeGer is yet another Trek reference (V'ger from ST:TMP).
Daniel Baggett
2020-10-08 04:25:12 +0000 UTCProbably one of my favourite DOS games of all time, and my favourite Apogee release next to Duke Nukem 2. Can't wait for this!
Panos
2020-10-08 03:14:40 +0000 UTCOne of the enemy types in the original Crystal Caves was a sort of purple snake which popped out of the walls... are the brown snakes just those redone or do the purple wall snakes show up too? :o
Kris Asick
2020-10-08 02:13:29 +0000 UTCWait, did you not ever shoot the eggs to spell BONUS? Am I remembering that right?
John Covil
2020-10-08 00:24:26 +0000 UTCPublished on the same day it was recorded? There's nothing Lazy about that Lazy Game Review! This did feel like one of your old videos when you were super excited about DOS games. It was a treat. Thanks!
LJFox
2020-10-08 00:14:35 +0000 UTCJapanese PC stuff eh? Do I smell DOS/V? :D
RetroSwim
2020-10-07 23:59:42 +0000 UTCI never got to play this one back then, but man, if Secret Agent were to get the same treatment, I'd start dancing like Jean Claude Van Damme in that movie. Maybe I should try to do some pixel art recreation to get the attention of the developers. Can't say I have the talent for it, but well... Someone's gotta do it.
Pablo Rodriguez
2020-10-07 23:43:09 +0000 UTCI agree that the music should be adlib. Mixing old and new is one thing, but this is mixing old with different, incompatible old, which I think is less excusable. My big peeve though (and it's my personal crusade to make everybody else as annoyed by this as I am) is a problem I see with way too many pixelly indie games. The sprites move in a much too analogue and smooth way, not snapped to the actual pixel matrix of the virtual screen! You should not be able to move by fractions of a pixel! That's not how pixels work!
2020-10-07 23:11:29 +0000 UTCThese sound effects, enemies and animations. I'm having childhood flashbacks to a game I had completely forgotten.
Magnus Köhler
2020-10-07 23:04:48 +0000 UTCImagine HD Duke 1 and Duke 2
Hernando Heilbron
2020-10-07 22:43:50 +0000 UTCI haven't played Crystal Caves, but having played a ton of Cosmos' Cosmic Adventure as a kid the pink snake, blue ball, and green bouncy tadpole thing are uncanny to see here.
Dominic Renaud
2020-10-07 22:42:23 +0000 UTCThere's something oddly charming about these old DOS platformers, I played this when I got that one Apogee pack on Steam a few years ago and it's good simple fun, very similar to Secret Agent and Duke 1 though. I couldn't possibly see this remake being a smash hit but I'll check it out, hope they plan more!
Hazy
2020-10-07 22:25:47 +0000 UTCI never quite got into Crystal Caves as a kid, but loved Secret Agent. Go figure!
Peter Bridger
2020-10-07 21:51:55 +0000 UTCWow! Looks good. I only just remember the original. Don't think I ever got to play it back then. Nice one!
2020-10-07 21:36:14 +0000 UTCGetting this in before the inevitable wave of YouTube comments pointing it out. At 19:14, the "VeeGer" name seems to be another Star Trek reference, to the V'Ger space cloud thing that Kirk and co. have to find a way to stop.
Modren
2020-10-07 21:15:41 +0000 UTCOh man, I played the crap out of this waaaay back then.
John Covil
2020-10-07 21:00:49 +0000 UTCI sunk a lot of hours into this and Secret Agent as a kid. Definitely going to check out the remaster.
Doug McArthur
2020-10-07 20:46:25 +0000 UTCI'm intrigued with Japanese PC stuff.
Deckard Games
2020-10-07 20:45:00 +0000 UTC
