Apple I-touch: Crystal Defenders

SquareEnix finally released an Apple I-phone/touch game for all of those with those devices to play. I have to say that I was really excited for the chance to play a SquareEnix creation, seeing as I don't own a Nano, so I can't play their other game. As soon as I actually got into the game, however, my heart was crushed. I had played this exact game on the PC and on the PS3. Have any of the readers out there ever heard of Desktop Defender, or PixelJunk Monsters? You can now view another exact replica of that type of game.

The graphics look like a cleaned up version of SNES characters. The battlefield, or paths aren't all that spectacular, but get the job done. The monster models are on par with the character models, and look good until you get into later waves and then you see the same model used with a different palette, or set of colors to them.

The music is once again on par with the SNES version of the music.

The controls are the following us the middle circle to confirm things, and either touch the screen or use the arrows (I recommend just touching the screen) to move a cursor around the field. You do have the option of pausing mid wave, which has saved my ass a couple of times, but there isn't any other huge features that stick out for me.

The gameplay is as follows select your unit, make sure you have enough money for it, place the unit, and repeat until you feel that the path is well enough defended that the monsters won't make it to the other end of the path. After each wave you will be given money to place more units on the path, or you can select a unit already placed and use some of the money to level them up so that they can deal more damage, or so that their attack area will increase.

This game isn't the best thing I've ever played. I have to say that it does eat up some time, and simply because it is made by Square Enix, I can't completely shove it to the side. I really wish that for all the wait there was something a bit more substantial to the game, but with the variety of troops, and the strategy involved I can see people enjoying it. For those who are looking for something on par to a Desktop Defender, or PixelJunk Monsters for the Apple platform, in the way of the I-phone or touch, I'd recommend that you pick this game up. I give this game a 7.2 out of 10.