Crystal Castles
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| Crystal Castles | |
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| Developer(s) | Atari |
| Publisher(s) | Atari |
| Designer(s) | Franz X. Lanzinger |
| Release date(s) | 1983 |
| Genre(s) | Retro |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 players, alternating turns |
| Platform(s) | Arcade |
| Input | Trackball, 1 button |
| Arcade cabinet | Standard and cocktail |
| Arcade display | Raster, standard resolution (Used: 256 x 232), 19 inch, horizontal |
Crystal Castles is a 1983 arcade game by Atari. The game is somewhat inspired by Pac-Man, but takes place in an three-dimensional world with more varied opponents. The original Crystal Castles is a trimetric-projected game.
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[edit] Game play
The player controls the main character, Bentley Bear, who has to collect gems in three-dimensional castles. Crystal Castles uses a trackball for controlling the main character's movements. Gems are collected by simply walking over them. The jump button can be used to make Bentley jump over opponents, which will also serve to stun some of them. Crystal Castles makes good use of the three-dimensional setting. There are stairs, elevators and even tunnels that the player can use as shortcuts.
When all gems in a castle have been collected, the player moves on to the next castle. The game has 10 levels with 4 castles each, other than the final level, which features a single castle. After clearing this one, the game ends. The player can skip some castles — and also acquire additional lives, greater than the three otherwise allotted — by using secret warps, which require the player to jump at special locations (this can only be done if the last player to use the machine had successfully cleared at least one castle on that level, and only within a certain time frame). Unlike similar games, not only can the player collect gems, but the opponents can as well. The only difference is the lower score, as the player only gets points for the gems that he collected himself, plus an extra bonus for finishing a castle that will be granted if the player collects the last gem.
While collecting, there are a number of opponents that try to stop Bentley Bear. If he touches any of them (with two exceptions, detailed below), he will lose one of his lives. Slow-moving (crystal) balls roll slowly towards the player and eat all gems they roll over. Walking trees behave like the balls, but move faster. If the player jumps over one of them, they shrink and are temporarily stunned. Green gem eaters walk around the castle, trying to find gems that they can eat. They move relatively fast until they find their gems, and slow down to eat them; if Bentley Bear runs over a gem eater while it is in the act of eating a gem, the gem eater is destroyed and disappears from the board. Gem eaters can be stunned by jumping over them as well. Most castles have a honey pot that Bentley Bear can eat to gain an extra bonus, but if the honey is not consumed quickly a swarm of bees will appear and pursue him. The bees will also appear if the player takes too long to clear the board, even if the honey had been consumed. Ghosts and skeletons are moving obstacles in some levels. They ignore the player and move randomly, but touching them is still deadly. And finally there is the evil witch Berthilda, who appears on the fourth castle of each level. Berthilda can be killed by touching her while wearing the magic hat, which can be found in most castles and makes Bentley Bear invincible for approximately five seconds.
[edit] Trivia
- One of the more amusing features of the game is the fact that Bentley Bear 'cries out' in a distinctive manner when a life is lost, based upon how many lives remain. This is done by the use of word balloons similar to those used in cartoons published in newspapers. If three or more lives remain, he says "BYE"; if two lives still remain, the quotation is "OH NO"; if one life is left, it is "OUCH"; and finally, for the last lost life (which ends the game), he says "#?!", so as to imitate an obscenity.
- The 3-letter initials of the player with the highest score are visible as a part of the first level's structure when the play is restarted.
- Bentley Bear later made a cameo in the game Atari Karts for the Atari Jaguar, where he was a selectable racer.
- This very well might be the first arcade game with a true ending -- as in, a 'victory' condition.
- Bentley Bear's name was 'Braveheart Bear' in the game's early development.
[edit] Ports
Crystal Castles has been ported to the following home computers and video game consoles:
- Apple II - Simpler graphics, but the gameplay is quite close to the original.
- Atari 2600 - Because of the technical limitations of the Atari 2600, the game has been simplified.
- Atari 8-bit - Graphically better than the 2600, the mazes actually resemble the arcade. Was finally released as a XE cartridge. Very rare.
- Atari ST - Although the ST would have been capable of a graphically near-perfect port, all graphics have been repainted, making it look quite different from the arcade version. Gameplay is about the same as the original except for the difficulty level, which is lower than that of the arcade original.
- Commodore 64 - Simpler graphics, but the gameplay is quite close to the original.
- Acorn Electron - Good graphics, close to the original
- ZX Spectrum - two-colour graphics in the main gameplay area due to the Spectrum's attribute clash problems.
- Xbox and PlayStation 2 - (both in arcade and Atari 2600 format) as part of Atari Anthology (2005).
In addition, certain ports use dimetric projection, as opposed to the arcade version's original trimetric projection, to display environments.
 Atari 2600 port |
 Atari ST port |
 C64 port |
