Devil’s Crush
System: TG-16
Release Date: September 1990
Developer: Compile
Publisher: NEC
Genre: Pinball
It’s a face-off between you and the devil in Devil’s Crush! Your goal is to defeat the devil and his followers in this video pinball machine. Rack up the highest score to show off to all of your friends and family. This is the sequel to Alien Crush, which was the first TurboGrafx game I played on this list.
You can choose between slow and fast once again and I think I preferred slow this time around. There are three distinct areas on this board. The bottom area has a few points of interest. A dragon sits atop six eggs that you destroy as you run into them. Once they are all gone, you can enter the dragon’s maw to go to a bonus round. There’s a castle in the middle that gives you a protection post past the flippers if you go through it. The skull on the upper right side needs to get blasted in the soft spots before you can go in its mouth for a bonus. The two bumpers can be destroyed if you hit them enough and they spawn into many enemies that are easily killed.
The middle section has a face that you slowly transform from a lady to a lizard by entering portals on the sides. Once you reveal the lizard, entering its mouth sends you to a bonus round. Skeletons spawn and walk around in circles. There’s a gate that you can destroy, releasing a series of knights. Little blobs can be hit to change their color. I had a lot of trouble controlling my ball and moving to the top level because the shot angles seem off.
The top section has a roulette of floating apparitions in the center that can be destroyed for special points. The blobs from below sometimes block your descent to the middle section, but stop if you enter a bonus. Around top are more things to destroy. The four corners are launchers that you can use to your advantage. I spent the least amount of time up here and realize I missed a lot.
You can build up your multiplier, though I couldn’t tell you exactly how. It takes me awhile to figure out the nuances of pinball machines. There are a number of bonus stages I stumbled into. Walking demons that must be hit to light up the floor. Two giant lizard knights throwing spears into the ground to block you. Skulls with respawning flying head guardians. A five headed fire breathing dragon. Three skeleton knights guarding pots of treasure for you to destroy.
Graphics: 3.0
There’s a lot going on and everything looks good enough.
Sound: 2.5
It all sounds fine. Not spectacular, but nothing offensive.
Gameplay: 2.5
The ball physics are floatier than I would like. It took me most of my play time to get used to it, but would take a lot longer to be comfortable with it.
Difficulty: 2.5
The physics make lining up your shots a lot more chance based than I would like.
Fun Factor: 2.5
It’s still an enjoyable table with a lot to do.
Overall Rating: 2.6
Devil’s Crush earns a B-. I probably won’t ever see the end game, but it would be worth coming back to this one here and there.