Crush (video game)

Crush
The game's cover shows the word "CRUSH" with the main character, Danny, dressed in a bathrobe and wearing a strange helmet, amid floating blocks of various colors and sizes.
Developer(s)Zoë Mode
Publisher(s)Sega
Platform(s)PlayStation Portable, Nintendo 3DS[1]
ReleasePSP
  • EU: May 25, 2007
  • NA: May 29, 2007
  • AU: May 31, 2007
Nintendo 3DS
  • EU: January 13, 2012
  • AU: February 9, 2012
  • NA: March 6, 2012
Genre(s)Puzzle-platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Crush is a 2007 puzzle-platform game developed by Kuju Entertainment's Zoë Mode studio and published by Sega for the PlayStation Portable. Its protagonist is Danny, a young man suffering from insomnia, who uses an experimental device to explore his mind and discover the cause of his sleeplessness. Each level of the game, representing events from Danny's life and inspired by artists such as Tim Burton and M.C. Escher, requires the player to control Danny as he collects his "lost marbles" and other thoughts.

Crush's primary gameplay feature involves manipulating each game level between 3D and 2D views, allowing the player to reach platforms and locations inaccessible from within a different view. This element was noted by critics to be similar to one in Super Paper Mario, also released in 2007, though the Zoë Mode team had envisioned the concept five years prior. Crush received positive reviews upon release, with critics praising its incorporation of this dimension-shifting component alongside other aspects of the game presentation. Though Crush won several gaming awards, including PSP game of the month, it failed to meet the developer's sales expectations. A port of the game for the Nintendo 3DS called CRUSH3D was announced in January 2011 and was made available in January 2012 in Europe; in February 2012 in Australia; and in March 2012 in North America.

  1. ^ Caoili, Eric (January 19, 2011). "Sega Porting Crush To 3DS". Game Set Watch. Archived from the original on January 12, 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2011.