Portal:Video games/Featured article/98

Crush is a platformer-puzzle video game developed by Kuju Entertainment's  Zoë Mode studio and published by Sega in 2007 for the PlayStation Portable. The game's protagonist is Danny, a teenager suffering from insomnia, who uses an experimental device to explore his mind and discover the cause for 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.

Crush's primary gameplay feature involves manipulating each game level between 3D and 2D views, allowing the player to reach platforms and locations inaccessible from within a different view. This element was noted by critics to be similar to one in Super Paper Mario, also released in 2007, though the Zoë Mode team had envisioned the concept five years prior. Crush received positive reviews upon release, with critics praising Crush's incorporation of this dimension-shifting component alongside other aspects of the game presentation. Though Crush won several gaming awards, including PSP game of the month, it failed to meet the developer's sales expectations. The protagonist of the game, a young man named Danny, suffers from insomnia caused by worry, stress, and repressed memories. (more...