Crystal Mines II

Crystal Mines II
DeveloperColor Dreams
PublisherAtari Corporation
DesignerKen Beckett
PlatformsAtari Lynx, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, iPhone
Release1992: Lynx
2010: Nintendo DS
2010: PlayStation Portable
2010: iPhone
GenrePuzzle
ModeSingle-player

Crystal Mines II is a puzzle video game designed and programmed by Ken Beckett for Color Dreams. It was licensed to Atari Corporation for the Lynx handheld system. The game is a sequel to Crystal Mines for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Both releases are similar to Boulder Dash, a genre which has since become known as "rocks and diamonds" games.

There are 150 levels and 31 bonus levels. The levels were designed by Scott Davis, Danny Sosebee, Lee Rider, Joel Byers, Jim Treadway, Gabriel Beckett and Ron Degen. Music was composed by Ken Calderone, and graphics were by Nina, Dan Burke and Ken Beckett.[1]

Crystal Mines II was released for the Nintendo DS, iPhone & PlayStation Portable in 2010 as Crystal Mines.

Gameplay

The player guides a robot down a series of mines to collect crystals of different colors (and worth different point values). Along the way, the robot encounters wooden blocks, which can be blown up or sawed through, boulders of different types, dirt, which can be shot away with the robot's blaster, and a variety of monsters. The robot can also discover shields, radioactivity protection, deposits of copper, silver and gold, and caches of TNT. The metal deposits become bonuses to the player's score, while the other items can be used to complete various levels of the game.

Release

In 2000, Songbird Productions produced a sequel, Crystal Mines II: Buried Treasure on CD-ROM for Microsoft Windows. This CD-ROM requires the original game and a Lynx-to-PC serial cable to run, allowing the editing and creation of all new levels. This was followed in 2003 by a cartridge release of Crystal Mines II: Buried Treasure with the original 181 levels and 125 new levels.

In 2010, Home Entertainment Suppliers released ports of Crystal Mines II for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable and iPhone under the title Crystal Mines.

In 2020, Crystal Mines II was re-released for the Evercade as part of the Atari Lynx Collection 1 cartridge. It features extra levels which were not part of the original Lynx cartridge.

Reception

Crystal Mines II garnered generally favorable reviews from critics.[17][18][19]

References

  1. ^ "Crystal Mines II (1992) Lynx credits". MobyGames. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
  2. ^ Knight, Kyle (1998). "Crystal Mines II - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 2014-11-14. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
  3. ^ Defrance, Laurent (May 1992). "Lynx Review: Crystal Mines II". Consoles + (in French). No. 9. Editions Mondiales S.A. p. 127.
  4. ^ Harris, Steve; Semrad, Ed; Alessi, Martin; Sushi-X (January 1992). "Review Crew: Crystal Mines 2". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Vol. 5, no. 1. Sendai Publishing. p. 28.
  5. ^ Ladoire, Frank (February 1992). "Console Test — Lynx's Games: Crystal Mines 2". Génération 4 (in French). No. 41. Pressimage. p. 159.
  6. ^ Jung, Robert A. (July 6, 1999). "Crystal Mines II Review". IGN. Snowball.com. Archived from the original on 2000-08-16. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
  7. ^ Nini, Nourdine (June 1992). "Lynx: Crystal Mines II". Joypad (in French). No. 9. Challenge SARL. p. 88.
  8. ^ Nini, Nourdine (May 1992). "Consoles News: Crystal Mines II". Joystick (in French). No. 27. Sipress. p. 203.
  9. ^ Weidner, Martin; Noak, Philipp (June 1992). "Spieletest: Crystal Mines II". Mega Fun (in German). No. 1. Computec. p. 20.
  10. ^ Jones, Darran (April 27, 2006). "Retro Rated: Crystal Mines 2". Retro Gamer. No. 24. Imagine Publishing. p. 87.
  11. ^ Hutchinson, Andy (November 1992). "Screenplay — Lynx Roundup (Lynx Reviews): Crystal Mines 2". ST Format. No. 40. Future plc. p. 126. Archived from the original on 2016-02-17. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
  12. ^ Gaksch, Martin (January 1992). "Test: Crystal Mines 2". Video Games (in German). No. 5. Markt & Technik. p. 94.
  13. ^ Sherwin, David (April 2004). "Lynx Reviews: Crystal Mines II — Having a blast with this earth digger". 2004 Compendium. The Atari Times. pp. 1–102. Archived from the original on 2016-08-05. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
  14. ^ Daldry, Jeremy (February 1992). "Handheld Review: Crystal Mines II". Game Zone. No. 4. Dennis Publishing. p. 54.
  15. ^ Rand, Paul (May 1992). "Review: Crystal Mines II". Go! Hand-Held Video Games (supplement). No. 7. EMAP. p. 20.
  16. ^ Szameitat, Thorsten (June 1992). "Konsolen: Crystal Mines 2". Play Time (in German). No. 13. Computec. p. 90.
  17. ^ Gideon (June 1991). "Lynx ProReview: Crystal Mines II". GamePro. No. 23. IDG. p. 58.
  18. ^ Morris, Evan (February 1996). "The Final Word game review - In a Nutshell... Mini-Reviews: Crystal Mines 2 -- Color Dreams". Game Zero Magazine. Game Zero. Archived from the original on 1998-01-21. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
  19. ^ Patting, Sebastian (2005). "Crystal Mines II im Test". neXGam (in German). Archived from the original on 2025-12-01. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
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