Crystal Castles

About

Crystal Castles from Atari drops you into 3D-like castles where you steer a bear named Bentley. Your goal is to grab all the gems while dodging enemies. The game's top-down, angled graphics give it a blocky, early 8-bit charm. You can team up or face off against another player in split-screen mode for added chaos. This 1983 title stood out for actually having a final level. Most arcade games of the era looped endlessly or crashed on a kill screen. Crystal Castles also included shortcut "warp zones" to skip sections, a neat trick back then. While it's a relic of early gaming, it's still a brisk, tricky run through pixelated mazes.