BRIEFs: Black Crystal (1982), Creepers (1982), Chitei Tanken (1982)

A game of its era. Black Crystal United KingdomCarnell Software (developer and original publisher); Mastervision (later publisher)Released 1982 for ZX-81 and ZX Spectrum, 1985 for Commodore 64Rejected For: Insufficient character development For years, I've laughed at videos that show enraged computer users pounding at the monitors of their computers, as if (a) the monitor holds the CPU, and (b) beating at the CPU's casing would somehow fix whatever problem they're having with Microsoft Excel. Now I get it. If I had purchased Black Crystal back in 1982, not only would my television and ZX Spectrum keyboard have been in pieces by the end of the day, but I would have probably also smashed my Super Simon for good measure. Black Crystal is a teach-you-how-to-play-and-punish-you-for-getting-it-wrong game that occupies a weird space between adventure game and RPG. It progresses through several phases as the player tries to find seven magical rings. Each phase offers a slight change to the…