Atari 8-bit Crystal Castles was originally slated for release in 1984, but like many of Atari's projects, the game was killed by the mid-1980s industry crash and company split. Players eventually did get to see what could have been when the nearly-finished prototype found its way into the wild. "Could have been" also became reality when the title was dusted off for Atari Corp.'s revival of the 8-bit computer line in the late '80s. To showcase the expanded capabilities of the company's new XE series of computers, Atari's developers not only completed the game, but also enhanced it to take advantage of extra memory offered by every XE system, but present only in some of the earlier 8-bit models.
When the Atari 5200 was on the market, games were often developed with both Atari 8-bit computer and Atari 5200 buyers in mind, due to the similar hardware of both platforms. Crystal Castles did not see such dual development, or at least no 5200-specific prototypes have been discovered. This doesn't stop 5200 owners from potentially enjoying the game, since hackers now know how to convert most 8-bit computer games for play on the 5200. However, conversion of the official 8-bit release of Crystal Castles is not so easy,, due to the higher memory requierments. What Atari 5200 owners have seen is a conversion of the 1984 prototype. This might seem to be a let-down for 5200 owners, but actually the smaller, unfinished prototype isn't all that different from the larger, polished release. Both versions play decently and sound pretty good, but darn if both don't look rather atrocious. The castles themselves look all right despite thick black outlines that the C-64 and Apple II developers wisely chose not to use. The characters are another matter, especially in the rougher prototype. Bentley Bear himself looks more like an abstract painting of a bear in the prototype, and only somewhat better in the final game. The enemies generally look better, but still leave a lot of room for improvementm, even in final form. Again, though, game play is solid despite the lacking graphics, and might even be a little better than on other 8-bit systems.
Given the 5200 version is an incomplete effort, giving it a grade might be unfair. But until someone finds a way to convert the more polished release, it's all 5200 players get. Graphics aside, it's good enough. 8-bit computer collectors take note: Crystal Castles is one of the rarest Atari 8-bit cartridges out there.
Atari 5200 version: B-.
Atari 8-bit version: B.