Hey Arcaders!
The next Turbographix 16 game poses the question- what would happen if you put the movie “Alien” and a pinball machine in a blender- what would you get? Why- you would get Alien Crush, of course!
Imagine a LIVING pinball machine with aliens and outlandish worlds to throw at you. And turbo-charged, speed-of-light pinball action. You control the flippers and ball speed to defeat the Slime, the Tentacloid and Scorpion. Go for the eyes. This is full-tilt, out-of-this world action. Surrealistic graphics plus true-to-life, earsplitting arcade pinball sound.
This living machine features a science fiction theme reminiscent of the film Alien. Essentially, the player is “fighting” against the aliens with their pinball skills.
The playfield of Alien Crush consists of two main screens arranged vertically, with a pair of flippers at the bottom of each. The play stops momentarily as the ball shifts from one screen to the next. There are also several hidden/bonus rooms. These hidden rooms mainly involve destroying all the aliens (or several waves of aliens) for bonus points. Should the player achieve the maximum possible score of 10 less than 1 billion, the game ends with the destruction of the table and a congratulatory message.
The game was developed by Compile for the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16. It was released in 1988. The game is the first installment in the Crush Pinball series. It was followed by three sequels, Devil’s Crush (which we will get to soon), Jaki Crush, and Alien Crush Returns. Alien Crush was later rereleased on the Virtual Console and on the PlayStation Network.
Let’s take a look at this living alien pinball parasite…
I got to say it again- when it comes to music- the Turbographix 16 delivers! The Crush series games on the system were so good- they released a SOUNDTRACK ALBUM for them! Check this out!
Give it a listen… IF YOU DARE!
What do you think of Alien Crush? did you ever play this amazing game? Let me know in the comments!
Keep Playin’ Like It’s 1981!
The Arcade Archives! 
Very cool!
I remember seeing the gameplay footage on those big TV sets in some AV shop – I can’t remember what the name was – but the game stood out, especially since at that point my only pinball experience was NES Pinball.
I can’t remember if I bought it for my WiiU but either way I do hope it becomes available down the road.
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