SUPPORT US ON KO-FI!
SEGA's done a pretty good job of supporting the Nintendo 3DS so far, with Super Monkey Ball, Sonic and even Shinobi making appearances on the platform in its first nine months on the shelves. CRUSH3D is their newest title for the 3DS and has had a fairly rough time of it so far: originally dated for September, it was later moved to February, then January, before receiving another delay in North America until March. No matter: it's out in Europe now and, to our puzzle-loving friends across the pond, we can safely say it'll be worth the extra wait.
The story of CRUSH3D focuses on Danny, a young boy who you'll control throughout the game, and his friend Doc, a scientist. Doc has created a machine called C.R.U.S.H. - Cognitive Regression Utilising pSychiatric Heuristics, in case you were wondering - which lets people enter into their own mind, accessing their dreams and fears. Danny has agreed to a trial run of the machine, letting Doc hook him up to it to access his own thoughts. There's one small problem: once C.R.U.S.H. has let Danny into his own mind, she (yes, Doc calls C.R.U.S.H. a 'she') doesn't seem to want to let him back out.
The concept of CRUSH3D is simple: each level takes place in a three-dimension setting which can be "crushed" into a 2D setting. This is because while the area's 3D, there'll be some parts of it you're unable to access for any number of reasons: they might be too far away or there might be something blocking your path. Crushing the area will move everything in sight onto a single 2D plane, meaning even if something's far away, crushing from the right angle will let you walk directly to it. You can crush a setting from five different angles (top-down or any of the four compass points) and each angle will result in a different setting when crushed.
There are a number of items you have to collect as well: each level includes some marbles, a trophy and a "memory" (in the form of a book). You'll have to collect a certain number of marbles before you can actually leave the level - C.R.U.S.H. will tell you how many - but if you collect them all, you'll unlock a new dressing gown design for Danny to wear. That's not the most exciting unlockable in the world, but the others are worth getting: collecting a trophy will unlock a harder bonus level for you to play, increasing the game's number of levels quite significantly; and collecting a memory will add a new piece of artwork to the game's gallery, which includes storyboards, concept designs and more. You can also leave gifts in levels, which can then be swapped and collected using StreetPass: collecting these gets you Gift Points, which unlock more dressing gown designs, although you can also buy Gift Points using Play Coins you've collected by walking.
More often than not, the level design is clever and will have you thinking about the different ways you can crush to get to those hard-to-reach collectibles. There are a few instances where it feels like the developers have tried to be a bit too clever and make progression even more difficult, so you'll likely find yourself getting to the exit not caring that you've only collected the bare minimum to pass the level. The game's difficulty doesn't necessarily rise too high too quickly, but every so often you'll come to a level which is far more difficult than the two or three before it, which can be a little off-putting at times. Each level also includes a number of checkpoints - if you fall off the stage, you'll get put back at the last checkpoint you hit - and on some levels these are few and far between, so you'll either find yourself going out of your way to hit one or risking it by not using them at all.
Graphically, CRUSH3D presents itself very well, which isn't surprising when you consider how helpful 3D could be in a game like this. Depth isn't as obvious as it is in other 3DS titles, and in some cases it's not clear exactly where platforms sit in the level, but if you want to know where you can go you can crush from different angles to have a look anyway. If you try to crush in an impossible place (such as in front of a solid block) the game will automatically uncrush, leaving you unharmed, so you might as well try. The game's levels aren't particularly colourful on the whole, though the city and funfair levels are markedly better than the dull beach and nursery levels, but it doesn't detract from the gameplay experience: you'll probably be too busy thinking about how to collect those hard-to-reach items to notice most of the time.
CRUSH3D is a fun little puzzler. It provides something new in the puzzle genre, so just because you're a dab hand at Professor Layton or Sudoku doesn't mean you'll take to it like a duck to water. Our main issue with the game is undoubtedly the harsh difficulty level, while we're also a little disappointed at the sometimes dullish visuals, but if you can look past that you've got a great game here, one which will certainly keep you occupied for a good number of hours. It'd be the perfect candidate for a bigger, better sequel, but to be honest it's pretty great as it is. If you find yourself up for something a little different, this is more than worth a try.
