A Smashing Good Time: Alien Crush Returns Reviewed

There are two schools of thought when it comes to bringing the game of pinball to our television screens. The first is to simulate a real world pinball machine, as skillfully shown in Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection. Recreating the physics, sounds, and tactility of flippers, bumpers, and drop targets is the developer’s aspiration. The second method, takes advantage of the medium, and allows designers to completely re-imagine the game of pinball. Titles like the original Alien Crush and Metroid Pinball have added multiple tables, and boss battles, while expanding the fundamental conventions of the game.

Mature and hard-core gamers might recall Alien Crush’s lineage. Originally released in 1989 on the TurboGraphix-16 console, the title was successful enough to spawn a sequel, Devil’s Crush, the following year. Technosoft ported the follow-up onto the Sega Genesis, where it was renamed Dragon’s Fury to avoid the ire of parent’s everywhere. Recently, the original Alien Crush was released to the Wii’s Virtual Console, where it had aged surprisingly well, losing little of its charm.

Now, nearly two decades later, Hudson was released Alien Crush Returns, a download-only title available on Nintendo’s blossoming Wiiware service. Thankfully, little has changed in the 19 year journey- at its core Alien Crush is still a still an enjoyable, diversion for quick play sessions. Although the title has upgraded its bit-mapped looks for textured polygons, and offered online high score tables, it is still astonishingly faithful to a simplistic physics model.

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