Crystal Castles
1983 · Action · Arcade
Overview
Crystal Castles is a 1983 maze video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. for arcades. The player controls Bentley Bear, who must collect gems located throughout trimetric-projected rendered castles while avoiding enemies, some of whom are after the gems as well.
Deep Dive
Crystal Castles is a 1983 maze video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. for arcades. The player controls Bentley Bear, who must collect gems located throughout trimetric-projected rendered castles while avoiding enemies, some of whom are after the gems as well.
Developer Story
Crystal Castles was developed by Atari in 1983. Bentley Bear collected gems while avoiding witches, trees, skeletons, and a giant bee. The trackball controller gave fast, fluid movement. The game was notable for having an actual ending — a witch captured Bentley Bear in a cutscene after level 9, with players who completed it seeing a "THE END" screen. Most arcade games of the era looped indefinitely.
Did You Know?
- Crystal Castles had a genuine ending — completing all nine castles triggered a cutscene and showed "THE END," unusual for 1983 arcade games.
- The trackball gave Bentley Bear's movement a smooth, analogue quality that joystick controls couldn't replicate.
- The Gem Eater — a large mouth that appeared and consumed gems — forced players to work efficiently rather than linger.
- A hat power-up temporarily made Bentley invincible — the source of that hat was later acknowledged by Atari as an internal joke about company politics.
