Crystal Castles: a top player's guide

by Mark Alpiger, for Top Score magazine (1986)

     Crystal Castles was released by the Atari coin-op division in late 1983, around the same time as Atari's Star Wars, a big hit in the arcades.  Still, Crystal (as I call it) managed to do quite well with its generally non-violent theme, and still makes quite respectable collections in the arcades even today.

     The character that you must control, with a trak-ball and jump button, is Bentley Bear.  Bentley's goal is to collect gems laid out on each three-dimensional maze in the game, while avoiding a number of tricky opponents.  There are basically two different types of enemies in the game: those that track Bentley, and those that do not.

     Of the enemies that track Bentley, the most difficult is probably the tree, which tries to move towards Bentley in a straight line.  The crystal balls are a bit more flexible, and can sometimes work their way around obstacles because of their momentum.  Finally, the bees move in the same way as the tree, but only land on the maze periodically, mainly to protect the honey.

     Although the rest of Bentley's foes in the game don't go after him directly, they still pose problems, mainly by getting in the way.  One of the most troublesome of this type of opponent are the gemeaters, who not only block the way, but can take away gems, and therefore points, by eating gems they happen upon.  Note that the tree and the balls can also eliminate any gems they touch.

     One effective way to rid yourself of the gemeaters is to simply touch them while they are eating a gem.  This will eliminate the gemeater from that board, and award you 500 points.  This is easy to do in the lower levels, but hard on level 7 and above, as the enemies move much more quickly.

     Bentley has less of a threat from the ghost, and the skeleton, both of which move about randomly.  However, they differ in that the movements of the ghost are somewhat faster than the skeleton.  Finally, there is a non-moving obstacle in the game in the form of a cauldron.  Bentley will die if he touches it, so all that is needed is to jump over any cauldrons placed in the way.

     To complete a maze, all the gems must be picked up.  There is a bonus if Bentley can collect the last gem on a maze, so be sure none of the enemies gets it first.  The main way to earn points is to collect the gems themselves, which start out at 1 point each, and increase up to 99 points each.  It is important to move quickly in the game, and collect the most gems possible, as this is the key to high scores.

     On most mazes, a hat, and a honeypot, appear.  The hat is worth 500 points if Bentley picks it up, and, more importantly, it will make him invulnerable for a few seconds.  Note that Berthilda the witch, who appears on every fourth maze, can be eliminated if Bentley touches her while wearing the hat.  3,000 points are also awarded for killing her, so make sure you time it correctly.  Finally, the honeypot is worth 1,000 points.  Picking it up can delay the bees landing, but when they return, they will land at the spot where the honey was.

     In addition to playing the game starting at the beginning, and going through the 10 levels one at a time, there are warps that exist to allow you to skip certain levels.  This is how you should begin your game, if you are wanting a high score.  First you must use three secret warp spots to help take you into level 8.  Once you are there, all subsequent games may begin starting at level 8 by using a warp tunnel which will appear on level 1 maze 1 (1/1).  This allows the highest possible time bonus in the game, which is important for a good score.

     The first warp is on 1/1.  Go around behind the maze's castle and jump Bentley in the back left corner.  You will then warp to 3/1, on which the next warp appears.  To perform it you MUST wear the hat while jumping at the middle bottom of the hidden ramp.  You will warp to 5/1, but you must then get to 5/3, where the last warp is.  Like 1/1, simply jump in the back left corner of the maze.

     The final warp takes you to 7/1, and you must complete 5 more screens to set up the level 8 warp on your next game.  Use some of my advice on 8/1, 9/3, and 9/4 to complete 7/1, 7/3, and 7/4, respectfully.  Once you are past 8/1 you may stop your game, and start another, or play on for practice.

     On your next game, send Bentley in the warp tunnel, and wait for the balls to land.  As they do, press jump, and then bring Bentley out of the tunnel, along the left wall, and then towards the front.  When done right, you can get 1,683 points in gems in addition to the 490,000 awarded for warping.  You will be taken to 8/1 to begin your game.  The advice for each board that follows will take some practice, but will give a lot of points while minimizing deaths for Bentley.  This is important, since a life bonus is given at the end of the game.

     8/1: Staircase (Gemeater Wave)  Start by clearing the entire square of gems Bentley is facing.  Next, clear the lines and the square to the left, and get the hat.  Use it to move across the lower stairs, and then go down and clear the right side of the maze.  Move back up the stairs to the top, and go to the dead end section on the left, and then the right.  Try to get all of the gems on the middle walkways in between.  Now, being careful of the gemeaters, take the elevator up to the final back section, and clear it.

     8/2: Cross Maze  First, get the line of gems to the left of Bentley, and then go inside the cross maze section, and quickly pick up the four lines of gems not in the actual cross section.  You will end up where you went in.  Now move to the left stairway, pausing at the bottom to bring the tree towards you.  Go up the stairs, and move one gem space to the right, so the tree will be trapped.  Now get the gems down the other stairway, and come back to the top, being careful not to let the bees down.  When the elevator that leads to the honey has come down, get on and get the honey.  Now, get off and clear the gems in the top cross maze quickly.  Now move right and down to the remaining cross maze, clearing these gems while avoiding gemeaters, and while not moving out, so the tree will stay trapped.  At the end of this maze, you should have around 535,000 points.

     8/3: Hidden Ramp  Start by quickly clearing the square of gems Bentley is facing.  Now, go up the zigzag staircase just to the left.  Move through the honey from right to left, and clear the gems around the elevator.  The tree will come towards you, but be blocked by the 1,000 point indicator from the honey.  Take the elevator up to the top, and clear it in a counterclockwise fashion.  Take the left elevator down and get the hat, using it to clear the remaining gems.  Great care must be taken to avoid a tree or a gemeater getting the last gem.

     8/4: Berthilda's Fortress  Move Bentley to the gem on which the hat lands, and stand there to get the hat.  The gem is the third one from the front.  As soon as you get the hat, move towards the back of the maze, then left, then forward, stopping against the wall to the left, and adjacent to the honey.  Timing the elevator, quickly get on, and get the witch while Bentley still has the hat.  Now, swing out into the gem section, and then back against the wall, to the right of where the honey was.  To avoid the balls (which have the tree blocked) from swinging out, collect the gems on this section by moving quickly to the front, and then back.  Now get on the elevator just as it's about ready to go down, and move quickly towards the back of the maze wall that faces the remaining gems.  Again, this is to avoid releasing the balls.  As before, clear the gems here by moving back and forth, while avoiding the gemeaters.  If you have the opportunity, eliminate one as it's eating around the inside perimeter of the maze.  This should net a few hundred more points.  At this point, you should have almost 570,000.

     9/1: Impossible Staircase  This maze affords you a break in difficulty in the middle of your trying to complete these 9 mazes.  It is the easiest maze of the 9.  Start by quickly moving Bentley up the stairway and then left, collecting two gem lines.  Now, jump the ball and the tree to get the hat.  (Note that if you don't collect the hat during the first few seconds of the mazes in level 9, it will turn into a ball.)  Move to the position BETWEEN the rightmost V and E in the word LEVEL, shown at the top right onscreen.  Wait here until right as the 500 in the hat's place disappears.  At this time, quickly move left and down to the bottom of the maze.  Clear the back rectangle of gems next to the honey, being careful of the bees.  When they leave, get the honey, and the gems at the end of the staircase.  Pause here to trap the enemies, and have them get the two gems in the dead-end.  Now clear the rest of the maze.  Done correctly, the enemies will be trapped the entire time you clear the maze.

     9/2: Nasty Tree  This maze is one of the most difficult, because of the many gemeaters, and the fast tree.  Begin by moving Bentley to the gem on which the hat lands, which is the third one from the rear.  Once you've got it, move Bentley in small circles to collect gems, while moving towards the honey.  Get the honey, and then quickly circle onto the short stairway, to avoid bringing the tree up.  Now, clear the gems at the end of this stairway, and the one next to it, and continue by clearing the section in between the elevators.  Now, move to a position such that the tree will ride the right elevator up.  When it gets on, clear the gems around the other two stairways, while not bringing the tree out.  Now, clear the large flat section of the remaining gems.  Then, move up the short left stairway again, and jump the tree.  The timing for this is tricky!  If all gems but the top ones are cleared, go up and finish by clearing those.  Your score at the end should be almost 620,000.

     9/3: Hidden Spiral  This maze affords an easy opportunity to eliminate a line of gemeaters right at the start of the maze.  Move up to the third gem from the back of the top right corner.  Right when the gemeaters land, move into them.  Now, quickly move down to get the hat, and then quickly up to the letter with the ghost.  Clear this, and if you were lucky, the ball followed Bentley up, and is now trapped.  Move out before the hat disappears, and clear the other parts of the maze, in a clockwise fashion, before the gemeater and/or ball can.  Finally, go up the hidden spiral, and complete the maze, timing the bees to avoid getting Bentley killed.

     9/4: Berthilda's Dungeon  This maze is probably the most difficult to execute well, but timing and correct anticipation help.  As on 9/3, you will want to eliminate the gemeaters at the start of the board.  Because there is a line of three, and not two like on the previous maze, timing is critical.  Move Bentley to the sixth gem from the back.  Move through the gemeaters right when they land, and get the hat.  Then, move up to the witch's 'tower'.  If it's one of the shorter heights, go up and kill the witch.  But if it's one of the taller ones, don't, since the hat will be gone by the time you reach the top.  Now, if you're at top, clear it while avoiding the ball, and time riding the elevator down.  Get the honey, and then clear the gems at the middle and bottom, trying to avoid letting the balls out.  Once they are out, avoid using the stairways, as the balls move very fast, and can trick you as far as where they are moving to.  If you couldn't go up the elevator earlier in the maze, simply follow the steps outlined after that portion, and then go up the elevator last, to complete the maze.  If you were able to eliminate the witch, your score should now be around 665,000.

     10/1: The End  The last maze of the game looks different from the others, but it isn't that difficult, if all goes well.  Start by rolling the trak-ball in a north-west direction.  This will put you in the left quarter of the maze.  Now, get the line of gems, jump the gemeater, and jump over the tree and onto the back section.  Get the honey, and clear the back, while avoiding the skeleton.  During this time, the balls and the tree should be trapped.  Now, move to the top right portion of this section so that the tree will be let out, and it will pick up any gems left on this last row.  Jump the tree, and then go to the top left part of the section you landed on.  Jump from there to the front section.  Move to the left side, and then back to where you landed, moving around the top perimeter.  Move down to the cauldron, and then get the remaining gems.  Now, jump down to the last section of gems, and quickly get them to end the maze.

     At this point, your score before bonuses should fall in the 670,000 - 680,000 range.  To that, there are two bonuses that are added in, the aforementioned life and time bonuses.  You get 10,000 points for every life left, so it's important that you don't die more than once in the game, or you won't be able to achieve the maximum life bonus of 60,000.  The time bonus should range from 124,000 - 132,000, depending on how quickly you play.  Try to get a 130,000 time bonus after you've practiced these patterns.  These patterns are designed to produce scores of at least 860,000 points.  Using these exact patterns, I've achieved the low 870,000's.  If you want to score higher, simply practice eating gemeaters on the other boards, as this one thing is the key to getting scores of 880,000 and beyond.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

     Mark Alpiger, 24, is a resident of Louisville, Kentucky.  He currently holds the world's record on Crystal Castles, at 891,652 points.  He also came in first in the 1986 Video Game Masters Tournament, with a score of 881,306.  He's played the game over 4,000 times (!), and owns his own machine.  While Crystal Castles is the only game he holds a record on, he's good at a variety of other games, especially those with trak-ball controllers.

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