Killer List of Videogames Logo  
Home | News | Message Boards | Library | Events | Bookstore | Search | Contribute | VAPS / Census | About Us

4,440 machines: 0-9   A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M  N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   X   Y   Z  

Manufacturers | Top 100 Videogames | Visit The International Arcade Museum for 13297 coin-operated listings.

Crystal Castles

Crystal Castles - Japanese Title

Crystal Castles - marquee

Manufacturer: Atari
Year: 1983
Class: Wide Release
Genre: Platform
Type: Videogame

Monitor:

  • Orientation: Horizontal
  • Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
  • CRT: Color
  • 19-inch Electrohome G07
Conversion Class: unique
Number of Simultaneous Players: 1
Maximum number of Players: 2
Gameplay: Alternating
Control Panel Layout: Single Player Ambidextrous
Controls:
  • Backlit Trackball: Optical
  • Buttons: 1 [Jump]

Sound: Unamplified Stereo (requires two-channel amp)

Crystal Castles


Click here to contribute another image.


Crystal Castles Control Panel Image
Crystal Castles Side Art Image


Crystal Castles Description

Bentley Bear gathers gems found along the paths of many three-quarters-view castles. Wear the magic hat to kill the witch, Berthilda, and eliminate the gem eaters while they are eating. Secret warps take you to higher levels.

Know anything more about this game?
Click here to contribute a description or other text information.
Thanks!

Cheats, Tricks and Bugs

You can warp from level one to level five by moving Bentley around to a specific spot at about the center of the back of the castle and pressing Jump. This trick also works on later levels in different locations.

Game Introduction

One of the few games out there that actually ends. Also the fact that the game has no attract sound is made up by the fact that the game has one of the best looking cabinets ever produced. The machine also sports a red lighted trackball that blinks.

On this game, the player controls Bentley Bear, the teddy bear who must go to each of the Crystal Castles and harvest the magic gems while avoiding evil creatures that lurk about.

Game Play

Use the trackball to move Bentley Bear around the paths of the various "castles" and pick up gems. A level is completed when all the gems are picked up either by you or the gem eaters. If you get the last gem, you will receive extra bonus points.

Kill the gem eaters only when you can see them swallowing a gem. Jumping over the trees will shrink and disable them temporarily. Wearing Berthilda's hat temporarily grants you invincibility and allows you to kill the witch if you can catch her. Other creatures such as the balls, skeletons, and ghosts must be avoided. The pot of honey can be eaten for extra points, but watch out for the swarm of bees.

VAPS Arcade Census

GAMES OWNED, WANTED, or FOR SALE BY MEMBERS OF THE VIDEO ARCADE PRESERVATION SOCIETY

Very Common - There are 127 known instances of Crystal Castles owned by one of our 900 members. Of these, 108 of them are original dedicated machines, 5 of them are conversions in which game circuit boards (and possibly cabinet graphics) have been placed in (and on) another game cabinet, and 14 of them are only circuit boards which a collector could put into a generic case if desired.

Of the 57,113 video games (3,420 unique) tracked by the Video Game Preservation Society, this game ranks a 61 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most commonly seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on ownership records.

Wanted - Very Popular - There are 14 VAPS members currently looking for Crystal Castles.

For Sale - There are 10 VAPS members with Crystal Castles machines for sale. VAPS members are totally independent of VAPS and the International Arcade Museum, and we are unable to recommend, endorce, or guarantee any person or company selling games or game parts.

Rarity is NOT necessarily an indication of value. Some common games show up as very rare here because collectors don't want them (they are common because arcade operators might be sitting on tons of them in warehouses), while some fairly scarce games are grabbed by collectors every time they show up. Additionally, some games made in the last 5 years are still making money for operators and are thus not yet affordable to the typical collector. For a clue to value, compare how many people have this game vs. how many people want this game and then click on the eBay links to help determine an accurate price range.

Technical

The game uses a 6502 microprocessor and two Atari Pokey sound chips.

Trivia

One unique feature of this game is that the initials entered after obtaining a high score are used as part of one of the levels of the next game played. (See the initials FXL in the top screenshot. These letters change based the ones entered from the last high score.)

eBay Listings

Click here to automatically search eBay's Arcade, Jukebox, and Pinball categories for the Crystal Castles Videogame machine and items related to it.

Click here to automatically search
eBay's Arcade, Jukebox, and Pinball categories for machines and parts made by Atari.

Alternatively, check out the IAM/KLOV custom report of the hottest coin-op machines on eBay, powered by Ace.com (updated throughoutthe day).

TODAY'S PICKS FOR:

Crystal Castles

1. 1983 ATARI CRYSTAL CASTLES FLYER NOS

Auction ends in: 21 hours, 55 minutes

 0 bids
 
$5.00
 
2. CRYSTAL CASTLES arcade game by ATARI ~ COCKTAIL TABLE ~

Auction ends in: 3 days, 22 hours

 BuyItNow:
 
$695.00
 
3. CRYSTAL CASTLES ATARI arcade game flyer

Auction ends in: 1 week, 3 days

 BuyItNow:
 
$9.99
 
4. Atari Crystal Castles Video Arcade Game

Auction ends in: 23 hours, 57 minutes

 0 bids
 
$99.00
 
5. Crystal Castles **SUPER NICE**

Auction ends in: 3 weeks, 3 days

 BuyItNow:
 
$895.00
 
6. Arcade Video Game – “Crystal Castles” - Very Good Cond

Auction ends in: 3 weeks, 6 days

 BuyItNow:
 
$500.00
 
7. ATARI CRYSTAL CASTLES ARCADE GAME PCB BOARD

Auction ends in: 2 days, 18 hours

 3 bids
 
$9.50
 
8. Atari Crystal Castles pcb board WORKING 100%

Auction ends in: 3 weeks, 6 days

 BuyItNow:
 
$175.00
 
9. CRYSTAL CASTLE ARCADE MANUAL ORIGINAL

Auction ends in: 21 hours, 21 minutes

 eBay Stores (Fixed Price):
 
$9.99
 
10. 2 CRYSTAL CASTLES arcade game PCB boards ATARI board

Auction ends in: 4 days, 2 hours

 1 bid
 
$0.99
 
Additional Results Available
Click Here To Browse This Category on eBay!
(exits this site)
Powered by Ace.com

Manuals

  1. Operator's Manual  47 Pages, 2769 KB File.
  2. Operator's Manual with illustrated parts lists  85 Pages, 8008 KB File.

Foto-Finder™

  1. The Encyclpedia of Arcade Video Games, Kurtz (ISBN 0764319256): Page: 152; Color photo;
Crystal Castles - Cabinet Image

Crystal Castles - Cabinet Image

Crystal Castles - Cabinet Image


Crystal Castles - Title screen image


Crystal Castles - Title screen image

Crystal Castles - Title screen image


Click here to contribute another image.






Return to the index | Return to the Main Page

© 1995-2009 by The International Arcade Museum®. Portions (c) 2009 by The International Arcade Museum Library, Inc. All rights reserved.

If you wish to use material from our web sites, please take a look at our Acceptable Use, Copyright, and Trademark Page. Except as described on that page, any use of the information found here may not be copied or reprinted on any medium, either physical or electronic, without the express written permission of The International Arcade Museum.