GAME OF THE MONTH COLLECTION!
ALIEN CRUSH
(Hudson Soft/Naxat Soft, 1989)

Introduction and Story:

When I got my Turbografx-16 game system way back in 1989 it was my cool little black machine that was basically my Nintendo Entertainment System on WWE-like steroids. What I'm getting at is when you get a super cool three hundred dollar like this the last thing your thinking about is getting some old pinball game. Well, that's what I thought at first of this game Alien Crush before until I decided pop it in and give it a chance. Surprisingly though, it was one damn fine game!

Alien Crush here is definitely truth in advertising because this is a cool looking pinball game on a unique all alien game table plus there are 4 secret bonus areas to find for even bigger points here so there are plenty of innocent but ugly aliens to viciously kill for no good reason. So yeah for story there are aliens on a pinball table and you have to smash them. That's pretty much it.

The game play and bottomline:
One thing that really stands out about AC here is the graphics are pretty damn awesome. All these well designed multi-coloured slimey creatures look like they were ripped out of a high budget Hollywood movie and you can even alter a lot of stuff on the boards the more you play. Even the music kicks a$$! Although there are only two different soundtracks in the game, they both sounded great since they had a cool eerie rock feel to them.

The game sounds damn sweet so far but it isn't perfect. Alien Crush may be superior to those NES pinball titles like Pinbot and Pinball Quest (anyone remember games?) but the awkward two split screen action here may drive some people crazy since you have to flip flop from them all the time and it doesn't feel very realistic. Devil's Crush was the semi sequel to this game by the way and many agree that it was the superior pinball game but this one is still pretty damn good and it was just one of those underrated games that just kept me coming back for more.

Conclusion:

 

*600 points on the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console

ALIEN CRUSH
overall rating: 72/10
Find Alien Crush on eBay here!

For 1 player only
Rated (E) for Everyone

graphics: 8/10
sound:7/10
gameplay: 6/10
replay: 7/10


-StarSoldier
(Ryan Genno) 2008

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