Curse of the Crescent Isle DX

8/10 Great fun for both your inner child & your actual children
Due to Steam's character limit, the full review can be found at Gao Li Occasionally Reviews
On the day of the arranged marriage of their daughter, the princess of the Crescent Isle, to the prince of the Northern Isle, a warlock swoops in & turns all islanders into hideous monsters. Now it is up to the king & queen of the Crescent Isle to return peace & prosperity to their plagued people, but not without a little help from said accursed subjects.
Gameplay
The game is a remake of The Curse of the Crescent Isle (2010) that was released for Xbox Live. Now in The Curse of the Crescent Isle DX, the graphics have been vamped up & players can choose between playing as the queen or the king & either venture into the perilous kingdom by themselves or with a friend via local co-op. What’s even better is that this indie game can not only be played with a keyboard, but also automatically recognizes one’s controller without issues. However, co-op buddies should keep in mind that the camera follows player 1 & doesn't prevent player 2 from wandering off-screen. The controls are very crisp, completely rebindable, & for the most part, deaths don’t feel like the game’s fault, but rather that the player messed up.
But it isn’t just the controls that make a good game; no jump’n’run would be complete without great enemy designs, & Curse DX has some very creative ideas. Jumping on monsters won’t kill them, but instead, players can ride & pick them up; similar to Doki Doki Panic (1987) or Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988). The twist this time around is that, after the introduction stage, the whimsy monarchs can use the monsters’ abilities by holding on to them.
Since most of the monsters, save for the boss enemies, are citizens of the Crescent Isle, throwing them against one another won’t kill, but merely stun them. The bosses, however take just the right amount of analytical thought to figure out how to defeat them. I really miss having to think in video games.
Bugs
Since Curse DX is an independent production made by a small team & with all programming done by one man, Adam Mowery, it is only natural to have some charming flaws. I played this on a 32-bit, Windows Vista Home Premium, Intel Core 2 CPU, Nvidia GeForce 9500 GT, 3070 MB RAM, DirectX 11 & had an overall great experience with some minor issues here & there, but generally nothing that I hadn’t seen on old Nintendo machines either.
When carrying the icicle shaped enemy on one’s head & falling into water, players should be pushed above the water surface, but it did happen twice that the game thought that I was still underwater, despite standing on ice, which caused the character to die from drowning. During one occasion, I threw a stalactite shaped enemy at a bunch of rocks, & upon its return, it catapulted me back into the ground at the beginning of the stage, which also caused the character to die. Then, one time, I encountered an amusing error. During co-op play, both players were playing as the king, when instead one should be the king, the other the queen. Finally, I suggest playing in the game in fullscreen, as I had some screen tearing & missing frames in windowed mode. Despite these smaller bugs, I had a great time playing.
A minor Dent
The entire game is child friendly, cutesy, & if your little ones are in grade school The Curse of the Crescent Isle DX will be just the right balance between tricky/challenging, fun, & length. In short: They’ll have a great time with this game. Still, as Curse comes with achievements, there is one thing that puts a minor dent into things, at least for me. The “Give it Up – Find one of the special messages in the password screen” requires players to enter a four letter expletive on the screen to acquire it. Now, I don’t mind cussing in video games, but it is still a minor nuisance that an otherwise family oriented game requires one to do this to get an achievement.
Conclusion
The Curse of the Crescent Isle DX is a refreshing sight in the indie game market. It is still a bit unpolished around the edges, but wow, it’s a great game. Just a few tweaks & it’d be perfect. I am 100% certain that, save for that minor dent with the cussword & the occasional bug, families & jump’n’run enthusiasts throughout will enjoy this game. Mr. Mowery & associates, bring out a sequel, if you find the time.
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Back when Super Mario Bros. 2 came out, there was no such thing as "the Mario formula." Sure, SMB2 was much different from the previous game, but SMB was much different from Mario Bros., which was much different from Donkey Kong. We didn't know what to expect from a Mario game, so we didn't know just how much of an aberration SMB2 would turn out to be. Only later did we realize that SMB2 had strayed pretty far from the blueprint of a traditional Mario game, and although some elements of SMB2 turned up in subsequent games, the Mario series has never really gone back to that well.
Curse of the Crescent Isle does, though. It expands on SMB2's primary mechanics -- riding, lifting, and throwing enemies -- by allowing you to hold enemies over your head or under your feet, and also by giving enemies unique powers you can activate. These new wrinkles lend themselves to some interesting puzzles.
And the graphics? Completely adorbs.

While only an hour long and some other minor enemy issues, I can recommend this game for a quick nosalgia trip to NES platformer games (especially Super Mario Bros. 2).

TL;DR: Short, but great, "Curse of the Crescent Isle DX" is the combination of Monster World IV and Super Mario Bros. 2 you never knew you wanted. It's just not as polished as a true 16-bit classic, though it certainly has as much charm as the real McCoy. Absolutely worth it for $5 or less!
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"Curse of Crescent Isle DX" seems like it came straight from the Genesis/Mega-Drive. With it's closest cousins probably being Monster World IV and Super Mario 2 (with some Alex Kidd and Shantae resemblances to boot), and it's theme being a fresh take on some kind of loose Hindu-esque fantasy world, it absolutely demands attention from any fan of sidescrollers. Does it have the gameplay chops to back it up?
There are a few rough edges here or there and it sure is short, even with added modes like Boss Rush and Speed Run, but the answer is "Yes!"
Your main character - you can choose between a guy and a gal - isn't armed with a weapon and doesn't find new items. All they can do initially is jump, and talk to people (there's not a lot of story in the game, but the dialogue on some of the townspeople is very fun), but they soon gain the ability to pick up & toss enemies, and then shortly after that gain the ability to "flip" whatever they picked up and ride them. It's very similar to Super Mario Bros. 2, except with added depth in the form of elemental abilities on the enemies you're manhandling.
For example, one enemy is a frosty element guy - toss him into another enemy (or water) and you'll freeze them in place to use as a platform. Even fireballs, in classic video game logic fashion. There's a few kinds of elements here - drills, frosties, gravity switchers, size changers, etc. - so for the playtime, they provide good variety throughout. There's also great variety from the level designs, with many areas themed around different gimmicks. Areas with loads of stalactites and stalagmites are designed to be navigated by gravity flippers, for example. There are classic gimmicks like wind blowing sections and ice sections too. It's classic through-and-through. The boss fights are also classically styled, 3-hit, pattern recognition stuff that shouldn't test your patience, but are well made nonetheless.
The only problem is that the game just lacks some polish. It's not mechanically unpolished at all though. This game *feels* right - the character control is great (which is expected since they can't do a lot). However, the design of some areas tends to break things a bit - you'll throw enemies around and they'll get stuck on collision. Sometimes you won't take damage by slamming into something hurtful from the right angle. Or sometimes you'll get an enemy stuck somewhere and need to restart the current room from the pause menu. It's all tiny things, but they can be annoying nonetheless (especially, I would imagine, during the "Speed Run Mode")
Finally, for a game with good verticality to its levels, there's no way to look up or down. That's just obnoxious throughout. Blind jumps are always annoying, even if the game is super easy.
Overall, "Curse of Crescent Isle DX" is well-made and fun to play; it's just not perfect. Still, it's soooo cheap! Buy it if you like classic action games and sidescrollers. And lets hope that the developer Adam Mowery here gets to make a "Crescent Isle 2" or something someday that's a little more polished and a whole lot bigger :)

This game is a lot like Mario 2/Doki Doki Panic, but instead of picking up enemies to kill other enemies, you pick them up to move around the levels. It took some time to get used to the movement, but it works really, really nicely once you get the hang of it. Now, there are some glitches, but nothing major. I flew off the screen twice, but by picking up the enemy that put me up there I fell back into the world again.
It also has a password system (you get the passwords for each level by opening the pause menu) for easy access to levels you want to play around with.
Two characters to play with, one male and one female. I'm fairly certain they are identical gameplay wise, I didn't notice any difference at least.
All in all, this is a really fun (albeit pretty short) platformer that probably anyone who likes platformers can enjoy. Give it a try, why don't you?

It's about time to release a fully fledged version, Aye?
Nothing against this, it's an interesting concept, it was fun while it lasted. But, really, cmon... It would be a missed opportunity not to release a more complete Switch version while there is a handheld around
With Crescent Isle DX, you will get more than what you paid for, But will end leaving you wanting more, due to its short length and lack of enemy variety.
It's a good puzzle platformer for what it is.
Its influenced by Mario Bros. 2 and its predecessor Doki Doki Panic. The main difference being, the grab ability works exclusively on enemies. You grab and throw them and use their own abilities in order to pass through a few obstacles.
There's a push towards multiple playthroughs, but there is obvious a lack of content and even character variety. It really doesnt matter that much, because the levels are always the same, the characters control the same.
Some levels are more interesting than others, the puzzle like areas are more interesting when you use 2 different enemies to accomplish a goal. One level you can go above the screen, which could be intentional, some Mario games let you do that aswell.
There are a few bosses and the patterns are alright. Just don't expect a challenge.
It's not a hard game and that probably for the best, because there are no checkpoints.

Curse of the Crescent Isle DX caught my eyes almost instantly. The art design of the game pops reminding you of the glory days of the 16 bit era.
At first glance the game plays homage to such game series as Wonderboy and Shantae, but on closer inspection the game is way closer to Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Kirby and Super Mario 2. Why? Gameplay is linear and doesn't have any rpg elements like Wonderboy or Shantae, it is simple but it evokes a sense of adventure and being on a journey. By picking up enemies you gain that monster’s ability while you hold on to it and they can be used as stepping stones for more efficient platforming.
The music sounds like a classic Sega soundtrack, even the opening stage music reminds of the opening tunes from Wonderboy in Monster World and Sonic the Hedgehog. The sound effects are very effective, from the fire to the coins.
The story is generic but expected in the genre and the type of game it is. The plot is about a cursed kingdom and a stolen princess so you know what to expect. You get to choose from a male and female protagonist.
This game can be finished under 2 hours, but it has different modes to keep you interested in the game. The game is well worth its price, and aside from some minor and sometimes fun glitches the game runs perfectly.