How to play Crystal Castles online
- Move Bentley Bear: arrow keys
- Jump: Space bar (Bentley jumps in the direction you are pressing)
- Start a new game: F12 (the console’s Reset switch)
- Choose the starting level: F11 (the console’s Select switch)
- Easy or hard game: F4 toggles the left difficulty switch (A is hard, B is easy)
Gameplay
Bentley Bear has fallen asleep in a hollow tree and woken up inside the Crystal Castles, home of Berthilda the Witch. To escape her spell he has to collect the gems scattered along the halls, ramps and platforms of each castle. When the last gem is gone, you move on to the next castle. Each level has four castles, and Bentley starts with five lives.
Gems get more valuable as you go: the first one in a castle is worth 1 point, and each one after that is worth a point more, up to 99. Taking the last gem earns a bonus of 1,000 points in the first castle, and the bonus goes up by 100 in every castle after that. You get an extra life every 20,000 points.
Some enemies eat gems too, which leaves fewer points for you. Gem Eaters can be crushed for 500 points if you run into one just as it swallows a gem. Nasty Trees and rolling Crystal Balls chase Bentley directly, while Ghosts and Skeletons drift slowly at random. Berthilda the Witch kills with one touch, and the Witch’s Cauldron is deadly too, though you can jump over it.
The magic hat (500 points) makes Bentley briefly invincible and lets him knock out Berthilda for 3,000 points. The pot of honey (1,000 points) is guarded by a swarm of bees. Elevators offer a quick escape, but only one runs at a time.
Tips
- Trap the chasers. Lead Nasty Trees and Crystal Balls behind a wall or into a corner, then work on the other side of the castle.
- Jump the trees. Jumping over a Nasty Tree stuns it for a moment, but not while you wear the hat.
- Time your Gem Eater attacks. Wait until one stops on a gem, then run straight at it.
- Save the hat for the witch. It is the only way to beat Berthilda.
- Grab the honey and move on. If you hang around, the bees keep coming back.
From the arcade to the Atari 2600
The arcade Crystal Castles was released in 1983. It was the first game by Franz Lanzinger. The cabinet used a trackball, like Centipede and Millipede, and its sharp graphics were a big part of its appeal.
The 2600 had no trackball, so the home version uses the joystick instead, which some fans of the arcade game did not like. The console’s chunky background graphics also could not reproduce the arcade mazes, so Niday designed new ones that are more open and simpler. The game fits on a 16K cartridge. A prototype dated 4 January 1984, with the levels in a different order, has since been found. Reviewers at the time found the home versions true to the arcade game even if they could not match its graphics, and many 2600 fans today count it among the best games on the console.
Similar games to play next
- Ms. Pac-Man – the classic eat-everything maze game, done well on the 2600
- Mr. Do! – collect cherries and dodge monsters in a garden you dig yourself
- Lady Bug – a maze game with gates you can swing to block your enemies
- Centipede – another Atari arcade trackball game converted for the joystick
- Millipede – the follow-up to Centipede, with more creatures and bonuses