I had never even heard of Moon Crystal until I got it as a "thanks for running such a badass NES site." Some quick research had showed me that Moon Crystal had been released in Japan by Hector, and announced for release in American by DTMC (the same guys who put out Adventures of Dr. Franken for the SNES in America). The American release was canceled and Moon Crystal was left to collect dust in the bowels of a dumpster outside of Tokyo. Well maybe that isn't exactly true... Anyway, the game sat idle until AWJ translated the game into English (thanks dude) and finally I got try this game.

By all means, Moon Crystal should have been released internationally. The game features a thought-provoking storyline. The graphics are also amazing (today my screen capture device was acting poorly, sorry) for a NES game. If this wasn't enough to make one squeal in delight, what would you do if I mentioned the cut scenes? Yes, Moon Crystal has several cut scenes comparable to the ones in the popular Ninja Gaiden series.

So TRM, what type of game is Moon Crystal? Moon Crystal reminds me of Ninja Gaiden or Vice: Project Doom. You control Ricky, a green-haired dude who is out to save his family and friends. Ricky has to slash his way through six stages of blood and tears, featuring such evils as zombies, gargoyles, and eventually the evil Dr. Crimson. But wait, that's not all. Once Doc's evil plans have been stopped, you have to escape from the secret laboratory before it crumbles.

Moon Crystal's music is quite mediocre. Some of the tunes are memorable; others are too gloomy and melancholy for my tastes. The difficulty factor is also quite average. I've had the game for three days now and I've already played through the entire thing. At times the game can be tricky, but nothing is too insane. For example, most of the bosses easily crumble using the "hack and slash" method of gaming. On the other end of the scale, some of the areas feature tricky jumps. Moon Crystal will put up a challenge the first few times you play through it, though it doesn't take long to get the hang of it.

Overall, I see no reason why this game was left as a Japanese only release. Everything about the game is great. What's that I hear? You want me to write some more on Moon Crystal? I'm sorry, I can't at this time, I have to get back to playing it ;)