Crush3D Review: Marble Madness

Although sometimes wonky controls slow up the fun, “Crush3D” on the Nintendo 3DS is a puzzle game that will drive your brain crazy for hours on end.

In the best way possible.

Although it may not be remembered five years from now, it’s frugal price and amount of content will make any 3DS owner smirk. For the first time in a while, Sega has delivered a quality title that doesn’t feature a blue hedgehog or a baddie with a Ron Jeremy mustache.

On a system that already features Pushmo and a new Tetris, “Crush3D” finds itself with hearty competition. It is able to separate itself though and does so rather quickly. The platforming elements in “Crush3D” are silly, but create an environment few puzzlers can match. Switching between 2D and 3D, our main character has to crotch, jump and push things to find marbles (that he has “lost,” pun-intended) that allow him to escape to another level. If it sounds retro in approach, it is. But it works.

Still confused? Think of a 16-bit side scroller that can morph into a 3D one at will. Then mix in a bit of Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Pushmo and Marble Madness. Yes, it’s a weird concoction, but it’s awfully tasty.

There are problems though. Some easy jumps are made increasingly difficult due to controls that can be tightened up. Depth perception is tough at times especially when in a “crushed” view. Because of this, you may find yourself getting frustrated over routine walking and jumping.

The amount of text in the story can sometimes be annoying as well. The story itself is fun and weird, but can drag. The characters have a weird relationship and we never fall head over heels for them. At the same time, there’s a real pleasure at solving the visual riddles each level presents. It’s ultimately hard to explain why you’ll continue to play a game that has such a weird premise and is so simple, especially when the controls fight you at times, but that won’t stop you.

You’ll play through it anyway.

Much like other niche games such as “Warioware” and “WTF,” logic doesn’t mean anything. The core gameplay works and the main attraction, switching your dimensional view, works splendidly.

When combined with occasionally difficult puzzles and a wacky story, the game discovers a niche all its own.

The unlockables and Streetpass options add more depth to the game, but considering how long the main game takes to complete, possibly 15 hours for some, there’s plenty of things to see and do in “Crush3D.” Once it’s all over though, aside from replaying levels, there is much less to do.

At a time when reduced price usually means inferior quality, “Crush3D” offers a high quality game for half of what you’d pay for something else. Even if puzzles and platforming isn’t your thing, the sheer length of the game and visual premise are enough to warrant a play-through.

While Sega continues to milk its Sonic franchise on as many systems it can, “Crush3D” is a prime example that the publisher should add a few new pieces to their puzzle.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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