Devil's Crush

 You know, I don't think I've quite lived up to my stated goal of reviewing obscure, old-school games from series that died out prematurely. So this week, I'm going to make sure I check all of those boxes.

What's more retro than pinball? You know, those giant tables that used to be at arcades before video games were a thing? And how about we check another console off the list too. Because, for the first time, I am going to talk about the TurboGrafx-16. Called the PC Engine outside of the Americas, this interesting little machine was born of a collaboration between Japanese home computer company NEC and software developer Hudson Soft. Believe it or not, the TurboGrafx was the console that kicked off the 4th generation, beating the Sega Genesis to market by a year in Japan. In its home country, this thing went toe to toe with the Genesis and Super Nintendo (I guess the Mega Drive and Super Famicom if we're getting all technical) and was actually the latter's primary competition. But here in the U.S.? Yeah, things did not go well. You see, NEC took their sweet time bringing this thing oversees, choosing to redesign the console for the new market. By the time the TurboGrafx-16 hit shelves in the States, the Genesis was already out and its focus on all things Ninten-don't was a much bigger success than it was in the East. The poor TurboGrafx found itself an afterthought to the two consoles we Americans associate with the console war, barely moving over a million units (about a fifth of what it sold in Japan). I can tell you I never, ever knew anyone who owned one of these and I don't think I laid eyes on one until I was an adult. I know they didn't sell them at any game stores, places would occasionally stock Jaguar, 3DO, Neo Geo, Sega CD, whatever secondary 90's console you could think of, but never TG16. I have been told it was far more popular on the west coast, but that's something I can neither confirm or deny. It wasn't for lack of being unique, the TG16 did a lot of things to differentiate itself. Its games were on what looked like giant SD cards, called TurboChips or HuCards, which was very unique at the time. It was one of the first consoles to add a CD drive expansion, doing so earlier and arguably more successfully than Sega. It didn't have a ton of licensed games and allegedly wasn't easy to develop for, but it did have some fairly standout titles, many of which were critically well acclaimed.

In theory, you could probably consider all of the TG16's library "obscure" in the United States. But Devil's Crush was actually one of the more popular titles for the console. The first time I heard of it was via EGM, who placed it quite high on their top 100 games of all-time list. Even from the single screenshot they showed, it instantly intrigued me. The art style looked awesome, and I had always had a kind of soft spot for pinball video games. The first one that always came to mind for me was Epic Pinball, a 1993 MS-DOS title I only recently learned the name of. Back in the day when everyone seemed to have random shareware games on their computers, one of my friends had the first few tables of that randomly installed. To this day, he has no idea where they came from. But I know we played the absolute hell out of all of them. I put an embarrassing amount of time into Pokémon Pinball for game boy, like, way more than it deserved. I unironically enjoyed Galactic Pinball on the Virtual Boy (the same friend who had the random DOS game on his computer also happened to own one of those) and of course, who could forget Space Cadet? I guess that's all to say that I've played a surprising amount of pinball video games, so it definitely piqued my interest when I heard Devil's Crush called one of the greatest of all time in that genre. After finally getting a chance to play it after all these years, I can say that's absolutely the case. This is one of the best pinball games I've ever played, it wasn't perfect but it's outstanding visuals, great physics and incredible design make it a standout example of a rare but fun genre done correctly.

First, let's start with the graphics. I've been told the TG16, despite the number in its name, actually had quite a few specs that were actually closer to those of the 8-bit 3rd generation consoles. You wouldn't know that looking at Devil's Crush though. There was absolutely no way the NES was going to produce something that looked this good and while I'm still new to the Master System, what I've seen wasn't matching this either. It manages to have an eerie, demonic aesthetic while also having plenty of color to balance it out. The contrast between the more extravagant pieces and the tan, brown and black table goes a long way in making the former pop and the latter seem even dingier. There is so much to look at here, from the spinning pentagrams (well, they were edited to be regular stars, but they are supposed to be pentagrams) to the grinning skeletons to the woman's face that slowly becomes more and more demonic, every screen is a feast for the eyes. The soundtrack is absolutely incredible as well, it's head and shoulders above what the 3rd gen consoles could do and as good or better as any sound from the 4th. This was my first experience with the TG16 and I must say I was quite impressed.

But the gameplay is what we're here for and fortunately, it's as good as you can get for video pinball. Anyone that's ever stepped up to a table knows exactly what to expect. You launch a big silver ball and you try to keep it in play with your flippers. You aim for a variety of targets, some easy to hit and some hard, in an effort to rack up points and try to see what kind of cool surprises each table has for you. All of this while you have super stimulating brightly colored lights flashing all over the place. Let the ball drop down between the flippers and you lose a life. Lose three and your game is over. It's as simple as simple gets. With something that simple, it's often a fine line between what provides a good and bad experience. One of the biggest things I've always found important is table design. If it isn't interesting, games tend to get boring quickly. There's only one table in Devil's Crush, one of my few knocks on the game, but boy is it a great one. It has three levels, which scroll seamlessly as you try to push your ball to the next level, with each offering greater rewards. Of course, it's not that easy to get to the top or stay there, but if you do your score is going to fly up. There are tons of targets to hit, some are more challenging to get to than others, but you always feel like you have something different to aim for. The table is also very fair, the layout is done in such a way that it actually feels like your own fault if you let your ball drop. Not going to lie, I thought I was going to get bored of the one table very quickly, but that most certainly did not happen.

A big part of what makes Devil's Crush so unique it its incorporation of video game elements. Rather than just try and create a one-to-one pinball experience, they chose to spice it up a little big by adding things like enemies and boss fights. As you play, little minions will start to invade the table, blocking paths and making it more challenging to climb to or stay at the higher levels. Of course, they also present an opportunity for more points, as taking them out will increase your score. I think this is really cool, it kind of makes it so each game feels different and it keeps you on your toes while ensuring you always have something to shoot for. Any good pinball table is going to reward you for hitting enough targets and this one is no exception. Hit them enough and they will allow you to access boss fights, which challenge you to take down huge enemies under some pretty tough conditions. Drop before you beat them and its back to square one, you have to access the area again. Beat the boss and you will get a huge score bonus. Devil's Crush took advantage of the medium far more than most other pinball titles, which often attempted to simply copy standalone tables straight up. It deviates just enough from your standard pinball table that it feels unique while also maintaining the integrity of a classic game of pinball.

All of this is tied together by some of the best ball physics I've seen in any pinball game. Look, I'm not enough of a technical expert to explain how the physics work or why. But I've played enough pinball and pinball video games to understand how the ball is supposed to move, bounce and ricochet off of targets and flippers. It's almost perfectly accurate here. There was the occasional weird animation if I caught the ball with the very end of the flippers, but that was really it. The ball bounces off objects exactly how you would expect it to and gains momentum as it should. This seems like a really, really small detail, but it's make or break in a game like this. Nonsensical ball physics have ruined many a video pinball title and it was good to see that it didn't happen here. Even with all of the deviations from actual tables, the general feel of the game makes Devil's Crush feel more like actual pinball than most more simulation-oriented titles.

The biggest issue here is probably that there isn't more to do. Even for 1990, one table still feels a little bit light. That didn't stop me from getting massively addicted to this game, but it was definitely noticeable. Sometimes the enemies cause what feel like cheap deaths, they do occasionally respawn at very inconvenient times and it makes some of your drops feel unfair. I really wish they had some more game modes; you just have one player and two player alternating. It would have been really cool to see a two-player simultaneous mode, though technical limitations probably prevented that. Even something as benign as a multi-ball mode would have been cool and very fitting for a game of Devil's Crush's nature. There isn't much to complain about, part of that is just down to the game being so simple but a bigger part of that is down to the game being so well designed.

While Devil's Crush and its predecessor Alien Crush are most associated with the TG16, they were far from stuck on the relatively obscure console. Devil's Crush was actually released on the Genesis as Dragon's Fury, though I've been told that version isn't quite as good. Dragon's Fury actually got a follow-up, Dragon's Revenge, which was also quite well received and the Super Famicom got a Japan exclusive title called Jaki Crush. After that though? Nothing until 2008, when Hudson Soft partnered with developers Tamsoft to bring Alien Crush Returns to the Wii Virtual Console to mixed reviews. Compile, the developers of most of the original series, went bankrupt in 2003 and the new game just didn't match the quality of the classics, at least I've been told it didn't. And that was it for the Crush series, though both Devil's Crush and Alien Crush are available on the Switch E-Shop. 2019 saw the release of Demon's Tilt, a title that's been called a spiritual successor to the Crush games. It also received some good reviews and now I feel like I have to check it out. Because while it may have been simple, Devil's Crush was an outstanding, addictive pinball title that I had a difficult time putting down. One need not own a TG16 to play it either. I highly recommend anyone that's a fan of pinball or video game pinball check this out immediately if you haven't already. Honestly, these games would probably appeal to just about anyone. Hardcore gamers, casual gamers and even non-gamers will find something to like here. Devil's Crush is a definite must play and a solid, old school great time.

9.5/10