Crystal Castles 1983

About

Crystal Castles is an arcade game released by Atari, Inc. in 1983. The player controls a cartoon bear by the name of Bentley Bear, who has to collect gems located throughout trimetric-projected rendered castles while avoiding enemies out to get him as well as the gems. Crystal Castles is notable for being one of the first arcade action games with an actual ending, whereas most games of the time either continued indefinitely, ended in what was termed a "kill screen" or simply just restarted from the first level, and to contain advance warp zones.

What is happening now

Crystal Castles is a classic arcade puzzle-platformer originally released in 1983 that has since been ported across numerous systems spanning four decades, from the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum to modern platforms like Xbox 360 and PC. The game remains recognizable enough to gaming audiences that it continues to appear in modern licensing efforts - most recently as part of a collaboration between Atari and Vice Beer, which has created an Atari-themed beer line inspired by several classic titles including Crystal Castles, with shipments expected in September 2026. The continued presence of the decades-old arcade game in contemporary partnerships underscores its enduring status within retro gaming culture.