C&VG


Crystal Castles

Publisher: Atarisoft
Machine: Atari 2600

 
Published in Computer & Video Games #33

Crystal Castles

Bentley the Bear is the latest cuddly superstar to feature in his own video game. Our furry friend makes his debut in Atari's Crystal Castles for the Atari VCS - the latest of their arcade-to-home conversions.

Trapped inside castle number one, Bentley has to collect all the gems to score points and move on to the next castle. Several nasties haunt the corridors, though, intent on stopping Bentley making his fortune.

Temporary invincibility is granted to Bentley if he dons the magic hat. Once the hat is on, he can kill the nasties to score bonus points - nasties such as Berthilda the Witch who is worth 3,000 points, and the skeleton who haunts later screens.

Crystal Castles

As well as collecting the gems which are worth a multiplying number of points - 1 then 2 up to a maximum 99 - there are also some scrumptious pots of honey which Bentley just can't resist for 1,000 points.

The gameplay is a maze-strategy type in that you have to empty the screen before going on to the next level.

Some of the nasties are nicely drawn - resembling Treebeard in Tolkien's great adventure, The Lord Of The Rings, and some can be leapt over Kong-fashion, but you must leap in the direction in which you are travelling.

Crystal Castles is fun to play and will take you a reasonable number of plays before you can beat it. In the shops now at £24.95.

Verdict

If you liked the arcade game, you won't be disappointed with this home conversion.