Released in Japan only for the Nintendo Famicom in 1992, Moon Crystal is a scrolling platform game in the style of Zelda II. The game was developed by Hector (aka “Hect“), and fan translations into English, Spanish, Polish and Indonesian exist, making the game understandable to players who don’t speak or read Japanese.

You play a boy called Ricky Slater who is on a mission to rescue his kidnapped family from an evil necromancer, called Count Crimson. The Count has sent out a variety of enemies and dangerous creatures to stop you, but you have a small sword to defend yourself and can also pick up power-ups and ability boosters. Your health is depicted by a row of hearts on the bottom panel, and you can extend this by picking up special large hearts that are found inside treasure chests.

A key ability that you have is that you can grab the edge of platforms and pull yourself up (Flashback style), meaning that you don’t always have to land on top of a platform to make your way forward. At times, it can be challenging judging your jumps to be able to do this, though, but it is an effective mechanic in the game and makes Ricky feel more dynamic than your average platform hero.

As far as power-ups go, there are jump boots that make you jump farther (or do a double jump); swords that increase your attack power, and gems that make you temporarily invincible. Collecting small hearts will also partially re-fill your heart meter.

At certain points in the game, you will be faced with a variety of boss battles, and these are an attritional contest between you and a unique member of Crimson’s henchmen. Thankfully, these battles are short and not too difficult.

Moon Crystal begins fairly easy, but gradually becomes more and more difficult. There are some tricky rotating platform sections; some nefarious traps (collapsing platforms are particularly testing), and some really tight door/switch race situations that will test any player’s sanity. Thankfully, there are some cheats available on the internet, if you’re finding the game too difficult.

Overall, Moon Crystal is a well-presented and challenging platform adventure. It has some excellent animation (the player character is very well-animated), and is interesting enough to warrant playing now, if you’ve never seen it before.

From what I read, Moon Crystal has never been re-released outside its limited release in Japan in 1992, which makes original copies a much sought-after collector’s item. A planned North American release never materialised.

More: Hect on Wikipedia
More: Moon Crystal on romhacking.net