Crystal Portal 2, as I will abbreviate the title, is more than your average hidden object game.  As a sequel to a release that I had not played yet, I was expecting something along the lines of find X number of items on a screen only to be taken to the next screen and repeat the process.  Frankly, those don’t hold my attention too long.

Crystal Portal 2 has more to it though.  It has a little bit of a puzzle aspect to it as your goal is to locate “containers” on the screen (they are highlighted and easy to spot).  Once you select them, you are presented with a wheel that shows one item at a time that you need to locate to place in the container.  Once you complete the wheel, solving the puzzle generally causes something else to occur.  In this sense, the game has a bit more of a linear adventure feel to it.  But it isn’t linear in any kind of boring way.  You see, the containers also contain the occasional mini-game that must be completed or items needed elsewhere, and there are also these “key items” that popup little challenges.  As game play continues, you also have situations where you have to revisit one location to complete something in another.  The spokes that are found to complete a “wheel” puzzle in one location, for example, result in a completed wheel that is used in another location to unlock a totally different third location.

The game is comprised of 34 levels across 8 different locations and has a more relaxing casual game mode as well as a more challenging and timed advanced mode.  The retina-level graphics on this 75MB game are impressive.  The music is very rich sounding as well and adds a lot to the game.  While the first episode in this series is available for $2.99, this sequel is priced at $4.99.

The game controls are very intuitive.  You can pinch to zoom in or out and tap an item to pick it up or drag it to puzzle you are trying to complete.  Hints are available, as well as in-game direction in the way of notes  that can be turned on when you start the game.  My biggest issue the game had to do with the controls.  My old eyes often required me zooming into a part of the screen to find things.  Once I grabbed them though, the screen would not scroll to the puzzle as I “drug” the item to the side of the screen.  I wish the screen would scroll as you did that.

This is another great release from the G5 Entertainment folks and I can recommend it to anyone that is a fan of this genre.