Crush VG

Crush is a platformer-puzzle video game for the PlayStation Portable developed by Kuju Entertainment's Zoë Mode studio and published by Sega, notable for game mechanics involving switching from 2D and 3D views.

Story

The protagonist of the game, a young man named Danny, suffers from insomnia caused by worry, stress and repressed memories from his past. He obviously wants to be rid of it, but also wants to avoid being stuck in a hospital getting treated for it. Therefore, he seeks the help of one Dr. Reuben, a mad scientist. Reuben thinks one of his new inventions will be able to help Danny: a large, heavy helmet by the name of C.R.U.S.H. (Cognitive Regression Utilizing pSychiatric Heuristics). The helmet places Danny under hypnosis, during which time he is able to unclutter his mind and hopefully get his life together, curing his insomnia.


Gameplay
A level in Crush shown in the 3D perspective.
The same level in Crush, with the level "crushed" to 2D. A crushed trophy symbol (left), a collectible puzzle piece (top right), and a continue point (middle) are also shown.

The player controls a representation of Danny, wearing a dressing gown and slippers. The general look of the levels in the game represent Danny's mind; a dark city landscape in the background with many skyscrapers and other tall buildings with the occasional streetlamp. The levels themselves "float" and are mostly composed of platforms formed from green/yellow blocks of different shapes and sizes. Danny, within the virtual worlds, has a limited jumping ability and can crawl into narrow areas, as well as push round objects around.

The crux of the game is the ability to switch the layout of the area between 2D and 3D at any time (a similar concept to one used in the recent Super Paper Mario), which is the key to solving puzzles. The player can also switch the camera to three different perspectives to use together with the dimension-switching. For example, if an object had to be reached from the top of a tall pillar that couldn't be reached any other way, Danny can switch the camera to a top-down view and then "crush" to 2D. This causes all multiple planes in 3D to become one flat plane, meaning the object can be reached easily via a top-down maze. "Crushing" from a side-view will result in a 2D platformer-like view. The player can also "uncrush" the level at any time. Certain blocks, when crushed, become impassible, either becoming obstacles for Danny to work through, or ledges that Danny can use to reach other parts of the level If the player attempts to "crush" the level in a manner that would harm Danny (either embedded in an impassible block, or left over the edge of the level), the "crush" is canceled. However, Danny can be left in a helpless state upon "uncrushing". Should Danny fall off the level, he "wakes up" but is immediately reinserted into the level at either the starting point or at the last checkpoint that he touched.

Monsters may inhabit the levels, but the player can "crush" the monsters by flattening the impassable blocks against them. The player may also encounter timers that will immediately start to countdown when they are crushed the first time and can only be stopped by Danny by jumping on top of them; failure to do so will kick Danny out of the virtual world just as if he fell off the level.

Scattered throughout the level are the quintessential pickups of platform games. Danny's goal on each level is to collect a certain number of marbles of three colors (blue, purple, and red, each valued as 1, 3, or 10, respectively) to open the exit point on the level, and then to make it safely to the exit point. In addition, there are optional jigsaw pieces that can be collected to open up extra artwork in the game menus, and trophies that can only be found in the crushed versions of the levels. When the player completes the level, he's given a rating for how long he spent on the level, how many times he was "woken up", and points for collecting all the marbles, the jigsaw piece, and the trophy hidden on the level. Collecting a trophy for a level opens the "trophy mode" for that level, in which both time and the number of "crushes" that can be performed are limited.

The game contains 40 levels within four different "worlds", each based on an event in Danny's past.

Development

An interview with Zoe Mode executive producer Paul Mottram revealed that the game concept was born in 2002, but work did not actually begin until 2006. The initial game concept was built on the crushing mechanism between 2D and 3D, and they only had to put up appropriate obstacles to prevent players from simply "crushing" across the level. Mottram noted that at the time during the development of Crush, the gameplay of Super Paper Mario had not yet been revealed, and thus were surprised to learn that the two games shared a similar mechanic.

Mottram continues to note that the game mechanic had been developed and refined for 6 months prior to developing the story and characters; they wanted to have "a normal person in an impossible situation". The art and level design were inspired by Tim Burton, Mike Mignola, and M.C. Escher. The plot was original more morbid than in the final product, with Danny dying and the rest of the game told as flashbacks.

The game's levels were developed on a level editor on the PlayStation Portable, but they were not able to refine the editor in time for shipping. Mottram said "It would be great to see user generated content and this is something we have been seriously thinking about for the future" and that downloadable content "would work perfectly with the Crush level structure and I am sure that fans of the game would be eager to see more levels." Mottram has stated they would like to bring a sequel to market based on the highly positive feedback they've gotten.


Reception

Reviews for Crush are generally very positive. As of July 26, 2007, the game has an aggregate score of 84 out of 100 from Metacritic and 84% from GameRankings

Reviewers praised the unique game mechanics and the pacing of the introduction of new game mechanics to the player, while noting that controls and some jumping puzzles are awkward using the PlayStation Portable controls. IGN awarded the game its PSP Game of the Month for May 2007.

Crush won the 2007 Develop Conference Industry Award for "Best New Handheld IP".