Devil's Crush

"Sympathy"

“UAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Another pinball wildly hurtles past your defenses, and from a nearby corner the loathsome countenance of a disembodied skull erupts into its all too familiar cackle of mocking glee. Naked bone but for the numerous oozing veins that snake across its cranium, this fleshless spectator is wont to track the ball’s every move with the aid of a single protruding eyeball, and all too happy to commemorate your frequent ineptitude. Such is the world of Devil Crash (Devil’s Crush in the States), easily one of the most addictive titles ever released for the woefully underrated PC Engine – or on any other console, for that matter. Granted, one might understandably question as to what might be so very exceptional about a mere pinball simulation; the rest of us are familiar with its predecessor: the highly regarded, noticeably creepy, and always frenetic Alien Crush. This even gloomier sequel more than upholds its sire’s reputation for decidedly realistic physics that feel surprisingly comparable to an actual table, right down to a desperate smacking of the II button hoping for a critical board-nudging tilt. Your ball may frantically rocket about, violently colliding with bumpers and careening on impact towards your flippers with all the reckless abandon of - well, a pinball - but even amidst such chaos it should be clear to all that its flight paths are behaving just as they should. Assuming one could find a real machine swarming with demons in miniature, that is.

Indeed, whereas the original delivered a scant yet imaginative set of spidery extraterrestrial menaces that bore a more than coincidental resemblance to those of H.R. Giger, Crash instead conjures up a veritable horde of undead horrors from the pits of the underworld. As befits a larger cast, the playfield has been enlarged to hold three screens which now immediately scroll to pursue your ball’s progress rather the Crush’s method of momentarily blacking out in order to switch the display. But the ultimate goal remains the same: to set all the multipliers alight through the rampant destruction of these plentiful monstrosities and rack up a dizzyingly high score nearly in excess of a billion points. Interestingly, Naxat saw fit to implement a password system enabling you to easily save at any time and subsequently recall your progress, making such an epic and seemingly impossible victory attainable as long as you have the fortitude of spirit to continue playing. And you’ll want to.

The reason for this desire should become apparent to the budding player almost at once. Upon forcefully launching that first ball into the thick of this fiend-infested plane, one is assaulted by a feverishly paced yet appropriately sinister tune of pulsating drums and wailing synthesizers – as well as an army of tiny skeletons in a diverse range of hues that protectively circle about the motionless visage of a slumbering lady. Should you maneuver past these unnaturally emaciated guardians and successfully lodge your ball within her crown for a handsome bonus, this demonic debutante will revive just enough to reveal a set of vacant eyes and sharp fangs. For each time you angle your way into one of the surrounding portals, however, the maid will begin to gradually undergo a startling transformation as her once lovely skin cracks apart to reveal the form of a repulsive serpent with leathery blue-green scales, slit red eyes, and a cruelly fanged maw that will quickly swallow your ball whole.

But you needn't fret, for it's merely been transported to one of the game's eight bonus rounds; an excellent way to rack up a hefty sum is to seek out these gripping diversions, their locations often found within the depths of a whirling dimensional gate or secured in the gaping jaws of some horrid beast. Each arena offers not only its own aggressively thrashing melody but also a unique objective as well: blasting apart a cabal of bearded wizards that conjure up a legion of minions from within a trio of rune-covered circles, perhaps, or shattering a bevy of clay vessels that sit behind the watchful eyes of indestructible corpses that quickly reform their ravaged husks after you shatter them into dust. Whether challenged by towering armored lizardmen as their spears hurl the ball backwards into oblivion or merely attempting to slay a ravenous five-headed dragon, should you successfully trounce one of these environs you’ll not only receive a sizable number of points but be temporarily awarded a cerulean ball doubling the point values of everything it hits. Lest you find it too simple, upon returning to a previously completed level, you’ll find the difficulty has increased thanks to the appearance of an additional pitfall that must be simultaneously defended using a second pair of flippers.

Regardless of the outcome, you’ll eventually be cast out of the bonus round, spurring your reptilian host to resume her innocuous human guise. Rather than disturb her again, you might instead try breaking down the oaken doors in the upper left corner; a troupe of massive skeletal knights proceed to march down the narrow tunnel within, weighty metal shields grasped prominently before them, and form a protective vanguard against your attempted intrusion, their forces grunting in pain with your every landed blow. Perhaps you’d be better served taking the front door – bounce against one the colorful blobs shuddering to and fro along the upper regions and you may at last fetch a glimpse of the screen above – a giant pentagram revolves uncontrollably as hooded sorcerers endlessly pace around its points. Yet another oversized skeletal creature sits at the very top of this cramped and thus incredibly volatile region, orbs of flame lighting its sockets and a magical portal clutched tightly in each of its ivory-jointed claws . . . unless you can halt the necromancers’ star at precisely the right time.

Inevitably, however, you will accidentally miss a step and drop downward, perhaps to plummet all the way down to the lowest screen and at last encounter the promised gargantuan skull that carefully inspects your progress with his remaining fleshy eye. A stone casket rests by the side of either flipper, silently inviting you to crack its draconic seal, that the lid might burst open to reveal a group of four-legged fiends that quickly scatter across the board - often scampering by the immense dragon that sleeps closely above. While it won’t appear to notice if you smash apart its cluster of spotted eggs, rouse this wyrm’s ire and it will spew waves of fireballs across the landscape. One should take care to maintain a rapt sense of concentration, for the corners of this bottom-most zone are exposed and thus vulnerable, and should the ball finally slip away on this last screen . . .

“UAHAHAUAHAHAUAHA . . . . .”

Seize the opportunity to saddle this dark horse and Devil Crash will prove to supply countless hours of strangely compelling yet unquestionably enduring entertainment quite independent of one’s favored genres or cherished series. Go on. Give the devil its due.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/30/03