Nightmare Puzzle Crush 3D Japan

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.

Plot – Nightmare Puzzle Crush 3D Japan

While Crush and its Nintendo 3DS port CRUSH3D retain the same gameplay mechanics and premise, the two versions feature different plots.

3DS version

Doctor ‘Doc’ Doccerson (instead of Reubens in the PSP version), is infuriated that all of his inventions failed, but today he ‘shall surpass them all’ with his latest invention, C.R.U.S.H. He uses a tape recorder for his scientific narrative on the experiment. With the help of his best friend and protégé, Danny (who recurrently corrects Doc throughout the game), he enters his mind as his subject to C.R.U.S.H., but after a few tests, Danny is trapped inside C.R.U.S.H., where he can collect his lost marbles (which will unlock new dressing gowns/robe designs) and facing his fears in the form of monsters (i.e. cockroaches, slugs). At one point, Doc tells Danny that C.R.U.S.H. will not let Danny out due to “unresolved feelings.”

Gameplay – Nightmare Puzzle Crush 3D Japan

Crush contains ten levels in each of the four locations, all based on an event in Danny’s past.^[4][5] The levels represent Danny’s mind: a dark city landscape with many tall buildings and the occasional street lamp, a hotel resting aside a seaside location, a dark and mysterious funfair, and a haunted childhood bedroom. Levels are mostly composed of platforms formed by blocks. The player’s goal in each level is to collect marbles, which give the player points based on their color. The exit from the level is opened once a predetermined number of points have been collected. Danny can crawl into narrow areas and jump a small height.

Reception – Nightmare Puzzle Crush 3D Japan

Publication	Score
	3DS	PSP
Destructoid	6/10[10]	N/A
Edge	7/10[11]	7/10[12]
Electronic Gaming Monthly	N/A	8.67/10[13]
Eurogamer	7/10[14]	8/10[6]
Famitsu	27/40[15]	N/A
GamePro	N/A	4.25/5[16]
GameRevolution	[17]	B[18]
GameSpot	N/A	8.5/10[3]
GameSpy	N/A	[19]
GameTrailers	N/A	8.9/10[20]
GameZone	N/A	9/10[21]
IGN	N/A	(US) 8.9/10[4] (UK) 8/10[22]
Nintendo Power	7/10[23]	N/A
PlayStation: The Official Magazine	N/A	8.5/10[24]
The A.V. Club	N/A	A−[25]
Digital Spy	[26]	N/A

Crush received “favorable” reviews, while CRUSH3D received “average” reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.^[27][28] The PSP version was highly praised for its innovative approach to gameplay. Ryan Davis of GameSpot appreciated Crush for owing “very little of its novel concept to games that preceded it”.^[3]