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Crystal Castles

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Bentley Bear is trapped in the Crystal Castles! To get out, he will need to collect all of the gems located throughout the castle. The game is played with an isometric view of the multi platformed castle. When Bentley collects all of the gems on the current castle, he will move on to the next, mo...

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Developer
Atari

Released on
1983

Size
1–2 Players

Version
Arcade

Requirements
Arcade

Downloads
Action

ESRB Rating
Not Rated

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Description

Bentley Bear is trapped in the Crystal Castles! To get out, he will need to collect all of the gems located throughout the castle. The game is played with an isometric view of the multi platformed castle. When Bentley collects all of the gems on the current castle, he will move on to the next, more difficult castle. Wandering throughout the castles are a wide variety of dangerous creatures, which Bentley should avoid. From time to time, a magic hat will appear. If Bentley collects the hat, he will temporarily be invincible to the castles inhabitants.

Crystal Castles

Overview & History

Released by Atari, Inc. in 1983 and designed by Wendy Deutsch and Mary Fujihara, Crystal Castles holds a distinct place in arcade history as one of the very first scrolling, pseudo-3D platform games. Players step into the tiny shoes of Bentley Bear, a courageous ursine adventurer navigating through multi-layered, isometric labyrinths. Unlike the static single-screen mazes of its contemporaries, Atari's custom hardware rendered fluid scaling and rotation effects, making the ten distinct castles—each divided into four intricate levels—feel remarkably immersive. The game concludes uniquely with a personalized congratulatory message screen after conquering the tenth castle's boss arena, a rare narrative touch for the era that cemented Bentley Bear as an early mascot for the golden age of arcade gaming.

Gameplay Features & Mechanics

Bentley’s primary objective across all forty stages is to collect every single white crystal scattered throughout the pseudo-3D pathways before time expires. Standing in his way is a colorful menagerie of antagonists, including Nasty Trees, Gem-Eating Snouts, and Berthilda the Witch, alongside flying swarms of bees. While Bentley cannot directly attack enemies with a weapon, he can jump to evade them or consume special magic hats to gain temporary invulnerability and the power to crush foes. Pacing is crucial; lingering too long on a single level summons a relentless, floating crystal ball that pursues Bentley relentlessly until he either clears the screen or loses a precious life.

Keyboard Controls

Arrow Keys / D-Pad: Move Bentley Bear in eight isometric directions across the pathways
Action Keys: Press the button to make Bentley jump over obstacles, enemies, and gaps
Enter: Start a new game or pause the action