There was once a time when {{Mac}}s were pretty well regarded for their games, and '''''Crystal Quest''''' was their ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' -- engrossing, addictive, and [[EndlessGame impossible to beat]].

You used the mouse to control a little spaceship that looked like a hockey puck, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin collecting all the crystals]] in each screen-sized level. Once you had all the crystals, a gate at the bottom of the screen would open up, permitting you to escape into... a slightly harder version of the level you just played, with more types of enemies, more SpaceMines to dodge, and more crystals you'd have to pick up. This masochistic treadmill of impending doom made the jump to several platforms, including the GameBoy, {{Amiga}}, and XboxLiveArcade.

A sequel, '''''Crystal Crazy''''', introduced more convoluted objectives such as assembling jigsaw puzzles and sinking pool balls in order. [[ContestedSequel Some considered it a quantum leap over its predecessor, but it never won enough popularity]] to be ported beyond the Mac.

!! Tropes found in ''Crystal Quest'':

* AntiGrinding -- From the [[http://www.stainlessgames.com/games/go/14 official tips page]]:
--> No more nasties come out if you stop collecting crystals, so don't try hunting.
* BlobMonster -- The Dumple.
* {{Bowdlerise}}d -- The original level completion fanfare, a woman making a suggestive gasping sound, was not carried over to the Xbox remake.
* BulletHell -- Zarklephasers "emit bullets like a hail storm".
* CartoonBomb -- Smart bombs.
* CollisionDamage / EverythingTryingToKillYou / OneHitPointWonder -- Touch ''anything'' not collectible, and you're dead.
* CoolGate -- The exit.
* DeadlyWalls -- The ''sides'' of the exit.
* DestroyableItems -- Bonus Crystals.
* EveryTenThousandPoints -- Extra lives are awarded "at depressingly rarer intervals."
* [[OneBulletAtATime Five Bullets At A Time]]
* FrickinLaserBeams -- Menaces employ "laser beams" that extend and retract like measuring tape.
* GottaCatchThemAll -- Each level's crystals.
* HarderThanHard -- Hold down Option to disable speed limiting and play as fast as your CPU can throw at you. [[ScoringPoints High scores]] achieved in "Super-Fast Mode" will be marked with an asterisk.
* KillerApp -- It was the first game on the market to use the Mac II's capacity for color graphics.
* LevelEditor -- The bundled Critter Editor.
* MadeOfExplodium -- The Shrapwarden.
--> Quite sweet little things these. Unless you shoot them...
* MadeOfIndestructium -- The Bane's "bouncing bombs". The ''constantly spammed bouncing bombs that will fill your screen within seconds.'' Prepare to ''weep.''
** In the [[SequelDifficultyDrop significantly more merciful]] Xbox remake, the bombs can be shot.
* MonsterCompendium -- ''The Crystal Quest Repertoire of Nasties.''
* MookMaker -- There's one on either side of the screen.
* {{Portmanteau}} -- Various creature names, such as the Tentawarble, Shipnapper, Rawpuscle, and Shrapwarden.
* ScoreScreen
* SillinessSwitch -- The included GameMod example, "Totally Silly", in which your ship is a baby's head and your foes include dung-shooting elephants.
* SmartBomb -- The instructions liken it to "using an anti-aircraft gun to kill a mosquito."
* SpiritualSuccessor -- ''VideoGame/XQuest''.
* StatusLine
* SuperPersistentPredator -- The inaptly named Parasite will pursue you relentlessly only to kill you with a single touch.
* SymbolSwearing -- The game refers to Zarklephasers as "little #!£$%s".

!! Tropes specific to ''Crystal Crazy'':

* BonusStage -- Every third level is a "bonus wave" with no mines or enemies, just goodies to collect...with the catch that TheWallsAreClosingIn.
* CouldSayItBut
--> Although it might be possible to think up some [[ExcusePlot contrived scenario]] like you're a ship raiding somebody else's crystals while some nasties try to stop you, it wouldn't really be worth it.
* HeavyMetalUmlaut / StealthPun -- That tranq-wielding ruffian, the Välïümlöüt.
* HairRaisingHare -- Fracturefluffies.
* InstantArmor -- In five varieties, including [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything a "Rubber Hat" made of latex.]]
* PowerUp -- Guns and armor.
* SamusIsAGirl -- Turns out your FlyingSaucer is piloted by a [[VertebrateWithExtraLimbs six-legged]] [[SpaceX Space]] [[EverythingsBetterWithCows Cow]]. (Who is, of course, a girl.)
* UnrealisticBlackHole -- {{Lampshade}}d.
--> Rifts in the space-time continuum that instantly transport you from one place to another. [[{{Dissimile}} Actually the time bit isn't really correct. Neither is the continuum bit. Or the rift.]] But it sounded good.

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