Crystal Castles, 1983 Atari (20 From 1983 #5)
17Rather cool "trimetric" 3D-ish relief maze game in which you collect gems like Pac-Man collects dots. You move the hero "Bentley Bear" (a bear in a wizard costume) through a maze full of inclines, declines, doors (where you can only see a bit of a silhouette of yourself and enemies inside) and moving elevator platforms. Then there are the monster enemies, almost all of which will kill poor Bentley by touch. Luckily Bentley can jump over enemies (and stun some briefly while he does so), and can be briefly invincible when collecting the magic hat-- this also kills Berthilda the witch who appears on the fourth stage of each level. You use a trakball to control Bentley's movements, but it's often tough to go where you want to since Bentley only faces in diagonal directions! The gems can be collected not only by Bentley but also by most enemies. If you make sure you are the one to get the last gem you will get a nice bonus. Each maze has its own particular twists and turns in the maze, and some have a hidden warp that you can utilize to advance further in the game for a big bonus (and maybe some extra lives). Additional lives are also given at every 70,000 points. Each level has 4 stages (the last one has Berthilda in it) save for the last level-- level 10, which has only one stage. But man, it makes parts of the maze lie on different axises, which is SUPER confusing! But if you beat it that is the final level and you get a definitive ending, plus a bonus for remaining lives and how fast you beat it. Many cool features in this game include making your initials become part of the first maze's structure (!), the mentioned warps, and the superb graphics, music and sound effects. A must for many Atari classic compilation series.