Crush and Burn! - Playing Alien Crush For TurboGrafx-16

Ok, I have a confession.

Unlike most of the games for the TurboGrafx-16, I HAVE actually played Alien Crush before...a long time ago and very briefly. 

It's one of the more celebrated games for the TurboGrafx, so I decided to check it out when I first got into retrogaming, but honestly other it being an alien-themed pinball game, I couldn't remember much about it when I went to play it again for this article. 

Also, just for context, I really suck at pinball, whether physical tables or digital games, so with that in mind... 

I fired up Alien Crush and was immediately hit with the cool looking title screen and my first sampling of the game's great music.

When I pushed the Run button (the TurboGrafx's variation on the Start button) I was offered to either play in Fast or Slow mode (of course I chose Fast) and either of the game's two primary music tracks:

• Lunar Eclipse
• Demon's Undulate

Being the consummate heavy metal fan that I am, I had to choose Demon's Undulate.

Once the game began, it was clear that a lot of attention went into the graphics for the game, with parts of the board all animating as you play, really making it seem like the environment is an organic alien landscape. Alien tentacles and heads make up many parts of the game board.

There are bonus levels, like the green bordered level with the long centipede-like alien in the screenshot above, that you can earn extra points in, but with a few exceptions, I generally scratched pretty early in each one.

While pinball games aren't really my thing typically, I can see why this game is so well regarded. Other than the fact that it could use a few more boards, or other changes to the gameplay, it is much more fun to play than other video pinball games I've played.

I ended up getting over 7 million points in my first run, but less and less in each consecutive run. The worst was when I switched from Fast to Slow gameplay. Apparently I like Fast a lot better and my reaction time is better when the ball is moving quickly. 

You can watch my first three runs on YouTube:

I don't know how much more of Alien Crush I'll play, but I did enjoy it and I can see how people hold it in pretty high regard.

For my next game, I'll tackle another August 1989 launch title: Victory Run.

 

Until next time...