I have been both lucky, and fortunate, to have had the foresight (unlike a lot of classic gamers) to both video, and photograph, a few of the games that I play.  Of course, I did so then for the purpose of being able to study, and learn from, the captured imagery.  Now, I merely enjoy looking at the fruits of those efforts, and likewise, you can now also get a chance to see some incredible evidence of a number of high-scoring Crystal Castles games, both from my machine, and from Frank Seay's...

The 'stacked and packed' HOF:

Mark Alpiger's machine, circa 1987

    I was very lucky to have had my camera set up for this shot, which includes my former world record score.  Frank was over at my place to play some Crystal, as we usually did a couple of times a week, and the machine had been left on for two or three months.  Together, he and I had gotten so many great scores that the lowest one was over 880,000 !  Frank still hadn't gotten in the top three on my machine... until this shot.  He made a great 898,414 score, and before the bonuses screen appeared, I was very concerned that he had possibly topped my score.  Fortunately, he didn't, and I was ready with the camera for the score entry sequence.  Neither of us had, before or since, such a great main HOF screen.  This is one shot that may never be topped...

The 'world record' HOF:

Frank Seay's machine, circa 1988-2004+

    Here you can see 'yours truly' in the reflection of the monitor overlay glass of Frank's machine.  Well, at least, his former machine.  I had known for quite some time, in the years after Frank made his score, that he didn't really care that much about the game, or gaming in general.  Of course, to each their own, but I don't get attitudes like that myself, and, fortunately, most serious classic gamers (at least, those with world records) still value the games they played, and, playing games in general.

    Well, the reason I just went through that little speech is to let you, the reader, understand Frank's mindset.  A gaming friend of mine, Kelly Tharp (pictured here) had come upon a place near where we lived that was interested in buying used arcade games.  So, Kelly bargained with Frank, bought his machine, and sold it to this amusement location, a place called Kart Kountry.  Kelly joked with me about clearing the high score table, but, I hoped he wasn't serious, and I even half-threatened him.  Still, there wasn't much I could do, except check the game out the next time I was near KK.

    It was probably 6-8 months later that we went down to check out the game, and at that time (around the summer of 1999), the game wasn't even set up - it was in storage in the back of the arcade game room.  I returned once more, about a year later, and was met yet again with no Crystal Castles to be seen.

    Finally, in the Fall of 2002, I went again, and saw that the game was set up just inside the main doorway.  I went over, and the game attract mode was already at the high score table - and Frank's top scores were still there !  Needless to say, I was relieved.  But, just like I had never taken a snapshot when I was (occasionally) over at Frank's to play, I still didn't have a camera with me, as I was on more of a fun journey with a friend, rather than a photographic 'mission'.  Well, I knew I shouldn't let much more time pass, and, indeed, I was back in the very early summer of 2003, armed with a digicam.  And above, you see the shot.  Just as Frank had related them to me years ago (when I wrote up the page about how he beat me), the top three scores were all there, and accurate to the decimal.

    It was kind of a shame, though.  The owner of the place didn't know about the score, and wasn't too enthusiastic when I told him about it.  Plus, the trak-ball was all chewed up, probably because the roller bars that it rests on are worn out, and deeply grooved, which makes a game nearly unplayable.  Hopefully, though, the fact that it's a world record machine will entice the place to fix it up, and promote it.  Like the pursuit of a high score, only time will tell...

Click above to go back to the Crystal Castles page...