Crystal Quest Classic

Crystal Quest Classic

82% Positive / 23 Ratings

RELEASE DATE

Nov 23, 2016

DEVELOPER / PUBLISHER

Game Mechanics LLC / Game Mechanics LLC

TAGS

    ActionStrategy
When you start the game you find yourself on a field sprinkled with crystals and other goodies. Your job is to collect all the crystals while avoiding the mines – not to mention the 12 breeds of nasties and their bullets that soon turn up to try and stop you. Once you collect all the crystals, an exit at the bottom of the screen opens up so you can escape. Sounds simple? All the best games are – the depth of gameplay emerges from the simplest of pretexts.

Crystal Quest Classic is a revival of the 1987 award winning video game. The original was played on almost every Macintosh computer in existence before being ported to the Apple IIgs, Amiga and the Game Boy – followed many years later by a reawakening on the Xbox360. It had so many firsts including being the very first color game on the Macintosh. Crystal Quest was one of 5 titles included in Macworld Magazine’s “Game Hall of Fame” and got 5 out of 5 mice from MacUser Magazine.

“Crystal Quest cost me some of the best hours of my life. Nice to see it back and nice conversion. It looks, feels, and sounds just the way I remember it.”

– Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus

There are bonuses, smart bombs and mines. There are also 12 achievements that you can earn. Some are harder than others.

This is an early game designed by Carmageddon creator Patrick Buckland, with all the art and sound effects just as he created them. And yes, the level exit sound is Patrick.

Crystal Quest Classic pc price

Crystal Quest Classic

Crystal Quest Classic pc price

82% Positive / 23 Ratings

Nov 23, 2016 / Game Mechanics LLC / Game Mechanics LLC

    ActionStrategy

Reviews

  • Legato Bluesummers

    Nov 1, 2021

    Had to request refund since you can't adjust the screen size and achievements do not work. The game also requires super precision mouse skills, my walmart special just isn't up to the task.
  • dahveed311

    Mar 20, 2022

    Please update this to work on 64-bit Macs.
  • alexmorgan56

    Nov 24, 2022

    Classic just like the original which is a classic.
  • Trench Knight

    Nov 24, 2016

    Crystal Quest! I used to play this ALL the time as a kid. Well, the original one. And let me say that I got MUCH better than I did when I was a child. Because. You know. I was a child. Anyway, as soon as I saw this in the Steam store, I had to get it. And I wasn't disappointed. Yeah it gets pretty nuts in the harder levels, but I did well, and I'm really loving throwing it on for a quick time-killer. You don't expect to survive long, and it's a blast. Nostalgia out the wazoo!
  • Draco

    Nov 25, 2016

    Brings back fond memories for me when I was a child. My Dad and I use to play this on his Quadra and B&W monitor. Very fun! I thought I would be mucher better now, but the game is still very challenging.
  • jtron

    Nov 26, 2016

    Couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this pop up on Steam - I spent so many hours in the late 80s and early 90s playing this on a variety of old-school Macs. This seems to be pretty much a perfect recreation of the classic, down to the amazing sound effects. Blem. Blem. Blem. AaaAAAaah!
  • Jennyverse

    Jun 11, 2017

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMnqdu-7GwI I just love this. It's a faithful reproduction of Crystal Quest (Crystal Raider for those who only had the shareware version) which I used to play on a black-and-white Macintosh Classic when I was a kid. Maybe it's because it's such a nostalgia trip for me, but I find it a horrifyingly addictive experience. Guide your inertia-powered spherical spaceship around and collect all the crystals, and if you manage to avoid all manner of crazy monsters you might be lucky enough to get out of the opening at the bottom of the screen. If you're REALLY lucky you might get a huge crystal and loads of points and feel like an 11-year-old again* (*last part probably exclusive to me). 'Hash Monsters', 'Sandbags' and the 'Blim Thingies' - might not be their real names - will spawn from both ends to try to stop you, and stop you they will unless you use a lot of bombs to clear them out. It gets very difficult, very quickly in a very entertaining way - you'll be yelling at the screen with a smile on your face. For this price you cannot argue with its arcade madness.
  • point & click

    Nov 3, 2017

    classic os
  • DeadStanley

    Jan 24, 2018

    I'll give the game points for being a faithful recreation, but those rose-tinted glasses better have some insanely thick lenses because this is ultimately a rough experience. I liked the version on the Xbox 360, which included both a remastered and classic mode, oh and also joystick support. I understand this is the "classic" version, but the option to deviate slightly from the norm would have been nice.
  • BrainJitsu

    Jan 25, 2018

    Ouch. Right in the childhoods.
  • KrudlerTheHorse

    Jan 28, 2018

    I was a little hesitant because of the "from my childhood" reviews. But then I considered that people regardless of age hate fundamentally bad games, so people wouldn't remember this game so fondly if it sucked. Then I remembered that games like this existed to teach basic I/O skills on computer and waving the mouse around was one of the styles... and on that basis I feared it really MIGHT suck. Well after giving it a go I'm happy to say it doesn't suck. In fact the gameplay is well-tuned and very skill-based, and overall this game is charming and compelling. I have the hand cramp of a life time, but it was worth it and I plan to play a lot more when it un-seizes. What you see in the previews in the Steam Store is what you get here. But it is the kind of game that keeps calling you to play more because you know you can hone your skill "just a bit more" as you click to play again. Worth it! Edit: I came back after about 3 hours of play to say I'm done with this game. It was a fun diversion and worth what I paid for the fun I got back. Sure it wasn't AAA gaming but the core gameplay is fun enough.
  • Dr. Smashmove

    Jun 12, 2019

    Timeless, mouse-based, hand-eye coordination training game.. Old school Mac game.
  • CaptainWez

    Jun 30, 2019

    This is a faithful recreation of a classic. It is one of the first few video games I ever played on the family Mac. The sound effects are amazing (almost all vocal noises done by the creator). Simple but challenging, the levels quickly become chaotic in a good way. If you want to go back in time to when video games were just plain fun, get this game.
  • thehumandictionary

    Mar 9, 2020

    The only traumatic experience from my childhood for which I am nostalgic. I played this on my old Mac LCIII when I was a kid, and loved it. Those old mouses were garbage so it was a pain in the neck to control the ship, and the difficulty level was extremely punishing, but it was beautiful, funny, and fun, so I stuck with it. All these years later, this super-polished port runs like a dream and I find that, wow, it's still beautiful, still funny, still fun, and still goddamned impossible. It just takes me longer to hit the wall, now. The graphics are brilliant, sparkly and neon-drenched. The sound effects are hilarious and memorable (I've been muttering "Mledn" to myself apropos of nothing for decades now) except for a few which are intolerable - especially in bulk. The Menace makes a laser beam sound specifically designed to make you hate the concept of lasers and, eventually, the concept of sound. But that level-ending notification noise is easily the finest hour of audio design in video gaming history, so all is forgiven. The controls are simple, and early on they work great; later on the game uses them to punish you, as in the case of the Parasites which make a beeline for you - you can only shoot forwards, so you have to run away then swing back and hope they aren't already too close, and also hope that your incredibly specific firing stream actually hits them before they hit you. The Dumples take a billion shots to kill, and you can't spare the time when there's a screenfull of nasties in the way, the Banes send countless indestructible bouncing balls across the screen, the Shrapwardens explode and probably kill you when they're hit and the Trimpets rocket along linear paths; all of this combines to make the play area essentially uninhabitable after a certain point. Yeah, the difficulty... spikes. The first few levels are fun, and people born without mutated brains can figure them out. By about the dozenth level the game starts getting nasty, and by about Wave 30 the game locks out ninety-nine percent of humanity from further progress... and that's the halfway point. Luckily, by the time the game becomes impossible it also becomes no fun. It puts crystals next to the spawn points, and enemies blast out of them at such a rate of speed that it is impossible - meaning not possible - to collect them without dying. The mines littering the field become unavoidable; a favourite trick is to put one immediately beside the player's spawn point, so that the slightest twitch of the mouse kills you instantly. Even the smart bombs which clear the level get shrugged off by the game in later waves - it basically goes "Yeah whatever" and immediately fills the screen with nasties like nothing happened. The exit starts to move back and forth, the game randomly selects enemies from the entire roster with no regard for survivability, and eventually the term "bullet hell" doesn't begin to do the situation justice. By the time you hit your personal limit you won't be sorry to lose, you'll just be pissed off and ready to go do something else. I wish more games had this manual ejector seat function; if I'm on Wave 30 and I only have a few lives left I just plow myself into the mines, enter my high score and quit. All that and it's still adorable, entertaining, and fun. Just don't have any illusions about its intentions towards you - even with your fancy new two-button mouse and adult reaction times, you're still in for a world of hurt. If you like a quick, flashy challenge and you know when you're beat, buy Crystal Quest. If you think most games are too easy and you're mad about it, wow, buy Crystal Quest right this instant... and try not to type the words "too easy" in your review, because it's not nice to lie, and you will be lying.
  • Spacejack_2084

    May 3, 2020

    I never played this on the Mac and have not encountered previous versions of the game, but I am a tremendous fan of Williams' classic arcader ROBOTRON 2084. Robotron has had many, many descendants to its twin-stick gameplay mechanic, but this game adapts the OTHER elements of Robotron into a different gameplay mode. It works great in terms of gameplay. Currently playing this with a desktop trackball but I will soon try this on an arcade cabinet using a full-size trackball and arcade buttons and expect the experience to be rewarding. For weirdos like me who hunt down Steam games for use on an arcade cabinet, this is a winner.
  • deeann.fujioka

    May 15, 2020

    Just like the original!
  • GUMMY

    Jun 9, 2020

    Classic game - one of the original mac games that was any good as well. Pay attention or your game will not last long, and sometimes you need to spend a few lives to finish a level.
  • Flickstiq

    Jun 17, 2020

    I remember playing this back on my old Mac II in the 80's and 90's. I was actually thinking about installing a MacOS 7 emulator on my PC to try it out again. To my surprise it showed up as being available on Steam when I was searching for it! I can happily report that this is faithful to the original classic game. It's been updated to accommodate large widescreen displays and modern laser mouse controls. Outside of that it's just as you remember it. The sound effects definitely bring back memories! Highly recommended for anyone that enjoyed the original back in the day.
  • Pikachu_922

    May 5, 2021

    yes it's like you remember it.
  • CorvusRex

    Jul 23, 2021

    PROS: If you played this game on Mac back in the day, your brain will melt from nostalgia. It plays and sounds exactly like what you remember. CONS: As noted by others, the achievements do not work. Based on the fact that the game is still being sold at full price despite being no longer being supported by the devs, I can't really promote the game. If the devs decide to reappear and fix the achievements and maybe make some minor updates, then I'll change my review. As it stands, the brief nostalgia trip isn't worth the five bucks.
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Game Description

When you start the game you find yourself on a field sprinkled with crystals and other goodies. Your job is to collect all the crystals while avoiding the mines – not to mention the 12 breeds of nasties and their bullets that soon turn up to try and stop you. Once you collect all the crystals, an exit at the bottom of the screen opens up so you can escape. Sounds simple? All the best games are – the depth of gameplay emerges from the simplest of pretexts.

Crystal Quest Classic is a revival of the 1987 award winning video game. The original was played on almost every Macintosh computer in existence before being ported to the Apple IIgs, Amiga and the Game Boy – followed many years later by a reawakening on the Xbox360. It had so many firsts including being the very first color game on the Macintosh. Crystal Quest was one of 5 titles included in Macworld Magazine’s “Game Hall of Fame” and got 5 out of 5 mice from MacUser Magazine.

“Crystal Quest cost me some of the best hours of my life. Nice to see it back and nice conversion. It looks, feels, and sounds just the way I remember it.”

– Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus

There are bonuses, smart bombs and mines. There are also 12 achievements that you can earn. Some are harder than others.

This is an early game designed by Carmageddon creator Patrick Buckland, with all the art and sound effects just as he created them. And yes, the level exit sound is Patrick.

FAQ

Buy Crystal Quest Classic For the Best Price

Gamedeal compares prices across all the major retailers on the internet to find the best game deals for you. We include occasional game discounts, seasons sale, and more to help you spend less and buy more. Check out all the best deals available for Crystal Quest Classic on different platforms right now and find the one that suits you the best! 

Is Crystal Quest Classic Available to Download Instantly After Purchase?

We include game deals from reputable and trustworthy game retailers from around the world to ensure smooth and instant purchasing. You will be able to download or activate the game right away depending on the store of choice. However, some stores have manual checks in place to avoid any kind of fraud, which could some time.

Can I Buy Crystal Quest Classic for Free?

Game retailers come up with Steam deals that allow players to buy games at very cheap prices and sometimes even for free as giveaways. We keep an eye out on special giveaways like these to let you buy your favorite video games for completely free. Looking to buy Crystal Quest Classic for free? Many stores including Steam Games offer giveaways like this all the time. 

Look for these offers, participate and you might just get luckily enough to win your favorite title for free. However, if you don’t, you can always grab it for the lowest price on Gamedeal!

Crystal Quest Classic

Crystal Quest Classic

82% Positive / 23 Ratings

RELEASE DATE

Nov 23, 2016

DEVELOPER / PUBLISHER

Game Mechanics LLC / Game Mechanics LLC

TAGS

    ActionStrategy
When you start the game you find yourself on a field sprinkled with crystals and other goodies. Your job is to collect all the crystals while avoiding the mines – not to mention the 12 breeds of nasties and their bullets that soon turn up to try and stop you. Once you collect all the crystals, an exit at the bottom of the screen opens up so you can escape. Sounds simple? All the best games are – the depth of gameplay emerges from the simplest of pretexts.

Crystal Quest Classic is a revival of the 1987 award winning video game. The original was played on almost every Macintosh computer in existence before being ported to the Apple IIgs, Amiga and the Game Boy – followed many years later by a reawakening on the Xbox360. It had so many firsts including being the very first color game on the Macintosh. Crystal Quest was one of 5 titles included in Macworld Magazine’s “Game Hall of Fame” and got 5 out of 5 mice from MacUser Magazine.

“Crystal Quest cost me some of the best hours of my life. Nice to see it back and nice conversion. It looks, feels, and sounds just the way I remember it.”

– Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus

There are bonuses, smart bombs and mines. There are also 12 achievements that you can earn. Some are harder than others.

This is an early game designed by Carmageddon creator Patrick Buckland, with all the art and sound effects just as he created them. And yes, the level exit sound is Patrick.

Crystal Quest Classic pc price

Crystal Quest Classic

Crystal Quest Classic pc price

82% Positive / 23 Ratings

Nov 23, 2016 / Game Mechanics LLC / Game Mechanics LLC

    ActionStrategy

Reviews

  • Legato Bluesummers

    Nov 1, 2021

    Had to request refund since you can't adjust the screen size and achievements do not work. The game also requires super precision mouse skills, my walmart special just isn't up to the task.
  • dahveed311

    Mar 20, 2022

    Please update this to work on 64-bit Macs.
  • alexmorgan56

    Nov 24, 2022

    Classic just like the original which is a classic.
  • Trench Knight

    Nov 24, 2016

    Crystal Quest! I used to play this ALL the time as a kid. Well, the original one. And let me say that I got MUCH better than I did when I was a child. Because. You know. I was a child. Anyway, as soon as I saw this in the Steam store, I had to get it. And I wasn't disappointed. Yeah it gets pretty nuts in the harder levels, but I did well, and I'm really loving throwing it on for a quick time-killer. You don't expect to survive long, and it's a blast. Nostalgia out the wazoo!
  • Draco

    Nov 25, 2016

    Brings back fond memories for me when I was a child. My Dad and I use to play this on his Quadra and B&W monitor. Very fun! I thought I would be mucher better now, but the game is still very challenging.
  • jtron

    Nov 26, 2016

    Couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this pop up on Steam - I spent so many hours in the late 80s and early 90s playing this on a variety of old-school Macs. This seems to be pretty much a perfect recreation of the classic, down to the amazing sound effects. Blem. Blem. Blem. AaaAAAaah!
  • Jennyverse

    Jun 11, 2017

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMnqdu-7GwI I just love this. It's a faithful reproduction of Crystal Quest (Crystal Raider for those who only had the shareware version) which I used to play on a black-and-white Macintosh Classic when I was a kid. Maybe it's because it's such a nostalgia trip for me, but I find it a horrifyingly addictive experience. Guide your inertia-powered spherical spaceship around and collect all the crystals, and if you manage to avoid all manner of crazy monsters you might be lucky enough to get out of the opening at the bottom of the screen. If you're REALLY lucky you might get a huge crystal and loads of points and feel like an 11-year-old again* (*last part probably exclusive to me). 'Hash Monsters', 'Sandbags' and the 'Blim Thingies' - might not be their real names - will spawn from both ends to try to stop you, and stop you they will unless you use a lot of bombs to clear them out. It gets very difficult, very quickly in a very entertaining way - you'll be yelling at the screen with a smile on your face. For this price you cannot argue with its arcade madness.
  • point & click

    Nov 3, 2017

    classic os
  • DeadStanley

    Jan 24, 2018

    I'll give the game points for being a faithful recreation, but those rose-tinted glasses better have some insanely thick lenses because this is ultimately a rough experience. I liked the version on the Xbox 360, which included both a remastered and classic mode, oh and also joystick support. I understand this is the "classic" version, but the option to deviate slightly from the norm would have been nice.
  • BrainJitsu

    Jan 25, 2018

    Ouch. Right in the childhoods.
  • KrudlerTheHorse

    Jan 28, 2018

    I was a little hesitant because of the "from my childhood" reviews. But then I considered that people regardless of age hate fundamentally bad games, so people wouldn't remember this game so fondly if it sucked. Then I remembered that games like this existed to teach basic I/O skills on computer and waving the mouse around was one of the styles... and on that basis I feared it really MIGHT suck. Well after giving it a go I'm happy to say it doesn't suck. In fact the gameplay is well-tuned and very skill-based, and overall this game is charming and compelling. I have the hand cramp of a life time, but it was worth it and I plan to play a lot more when it un-seizes. What you see in the previews in the Steam Store is what you get here. But it is the kind of game that keeps calling you to play more because you know you can hone your skill "just a bit more" as you click to play again. Worth it! Edit: I came back after about 3 hours of play to say I'm done with this game. It was a fun diversion and worth what I paid for the fun I got back. Sure it wasn't AAA gaming but the core gameplay is fun enough.
  • Dr. Smashmove

    Jun 12, 2019

    Timeless, mouse-based, hand-eye coordination training game.. Old school Mac game.
  • CaptainWez

    Jun 30, 2019

    This is a faithful recreation of a classic. It is one of the first few video games I ever played on the family Mac. The sound effects are amazing (almost all vocal noises done by the creator). Simple but challenging, the levels quickly become chaotic in a good way. If you want to go back in time to when video games were just plain fun, get this game.
  • thehumandictionary

    Mar 9, 2020

    The only traumatic experience from my childhood for which I am nostalgic. I played this on my old Mac LCIII when I was a kid, and loved it. Those old mouses were garbage so it was a pain in the neck to control the ship, and the difficulty level was extremely punishing, but it was beautiful, funny, and fun, so I stuck with it. All these years later, this super-polished port runs like a dream and I find that, wow, it's still beautiful, still funny, still fun, and still goddamned impossible. It just takes me longer to hit the wall, now. The graphics are brilliant, sparkly and neon-drenched. The sound effects are hilarious and memorable (I've been muttering "Mledn" to myself apropos of nothing for decades now) except for a few which are intolerable - especially in bulk. The Menace makes a laser beam sound specifically designed to make you hate the concept of lasers and, eventually, the concept of sound. But that level-ending notification noise is easily the finest hour of audio design in video gaming history, so all is forgiven. The controls are simple, and early on they work great; later on the game uses them to punish you, as in the case of the Parasites which make a beeline for you - you can only shoot forwards, so you have to run away then swing back and hope they aren't already too close, and also hope that your incredibly specific firing stream actually hits them before they hit you. The Dumples take a billion shots to kill, and you can't spare the time when there's a screenfull of nasties in the way, the Banes send countless indestructible bouncing balls across the screen, the Shrapwardens explode and probably kill you when they're hit and the Trimpets rocket along linear paths; all of this combines to make the play area essentially uninhabitable after a certain point. Yeah, the difficulty... spikes. The first few levels are fun, and people born without mutated brains can figure them out. By about the dozenth level the game starts getting nasty, and by about Wave 30 the game locks out ninety-nine percent of humanity from further progress... and that's the halfway point. Luckily, by the time the game becomes impossible it also becomes no fun. It puts crystals next to the spawn points, and enemies blast out of them at such a rate of speed that it is impossible - meaning not possible - to collect them without dying. The mines littering the field become unavoidable; a favourite trick is to put one immediately beside the player's spawn point, so that the slightest twitch of the mouse kills you instantly. Even the smart bombs which clear the level get shrugged off by the game in later waves - it basically goes "Yeah whatever" and immediately fills the screen with nasties like nothing happened. The exit starts to move back and forth, the game randomly selects enemies from the entire roster with no regard for survivability, and eventually the term "bullet hell" doesn't begin to do the situation justice. By the time you hit your personal limit you won't be sorry to lose, you'll just be pissed off and ready to go do something else. I wish more games had this manual ejector seat function; if I'm on Wave 30 and I only have a few lives left I just plow myself into the mines, enter my high score and quit. All that and it's still adorable, entertaining, and fun. Just don't have any illusions about its intentions towards you - even with your fancy new two-button mouse and adult reaction times, you're still in for a world of hurt. If you like a quick, flashy challenge and you know when you're beat, buy Crystal Quest. If you think most games are too easy and you're mad about it, wow, buy Crystal Quest right this instant... and try not to type the words "too easy" in your review, because it's not nice to lie, and you will be lying.
  • Spacejack_2084

    May 3, 2020

    I never played this on the Mac and have not encountered previous versions of the game, but I am a tremendous fan of Williams' classic arcader ROBOTRON 2084. Robotron has had many, many descendants to its twin-stick gameplay mechanic, but this game adapts the OTHER elements of Robotron into a different gameplay mode. It works great in terms of gameplay. Currently playing this with a desktop trackball but I will soon try this on an arcade cabinet using a full-size trackball and arcade buttons and expect the experience to be rewarding. For weirdos like me who hunt down Steam games for use on an arcade cabinet, this is a winner.
  • deeann.fujioka

    May 15, 2020

    Just like the original!
  • GUMMY

    Jun 9, 2020

    Classic game - one of the original mac games that was any good as well. Pay attention or your game will not last long, and sometimes you need to spend a few lives to finish a level.
  • Flickstiq

    Jun 17, 2020

    I remember playing this back on my old Mac II in the 80's and 90's. I was actually thinking about installing a MacOS 7 emulator on my PC to try it out again. To my surprise it showed up as being available on Steam when I was searching for it! I can happily report that this is faithful to the original classic game. It's been updated to accommodate large widescreen displays and modern laser mouse controls. Outside of that it's just as you remember it. The sound effects definitely bring back memories! Highly recommended for anyone that enjoyed the original back in the day.
  • Pikachu_922

    May 5, 2021

    yes it's like you remember it.
  • CorvusRex

    Jul 23, 2021

    PROS: If you played this game on Mac back in the day, your brain will melt from nostalgia. It plays and sounds exactly like what you remember. CONS: As noted by others, the achievements do not work. Based on the fact that the game is still being sold at full price despite being no longer being supported by the devs, I can't really promote the game. If the devs decide to reappear and fix the achievements and maybe make some minor updates, then I'll change my review. As it stands, the brief nostalgia trip isn't worth the five bucks.
Load More

FAQ

Buy Crystal Quest Classic For the Best Price

Gamedeal compares prices across all the major retailers on the internet to find the best game deals for you. We include occasional game discounts, seasons sale, and more to help you spend less and buy more. Check out all the best deals available for Crystal Quest Classic on different platforms right now and find the one that suits you the best! 

Is Crystal Quest Classic Available to Download Instantly After Purchase?

We include game deals from reputable and trustworthy game retailers from around the world to ensure smooth and instant purchasing. You will be able to download or activate the game right away depending on the store of choice. However, some stores have manual checks in place to avoid any kind of fraud, which could some time.

Can I Buy Crystal Quest Classic for Free?

Game retailers come up with Steam deals that allow players to buy games at very cheap prices and sometimes even for free as giveaways. We keep an eye out on special giveaways like these to let you buy your favorite video games for completely free. Looking to buy Crystal Quest Classic for free? Many stores including Steam Games offer giveaways like this all the time. 

Look for these offers, participate and you might just get luckily enough to win your favorite title for free. However, if you don’t, you can always grab it for the lowest price on Gamedeal!