Most people will tell you that Devil's Crush wipes the floor with its awesome predecessor, Alien Crush. After all, DC boasts faster gameplay, more bonus rounds, a larger main playfield, and a higher level of challenge. Unlike AC, which requires players to put in marathon sessions to earn extremely high scores, DC allows for the saving of play data. Its main musical track is much longer and more intricate than any of AC's numbers. It stars charismatic creatures--including a fire-breathing dragon, a grinning skull with a creepy roving eyeball, and a monstrous face-shifting lizard woman--who certainly outdo AC's critters, brains, and mutants. There's just a lot more to be aware of, a lot more going on at any given moment, in DC. In fact, in comparison, AC's playfields seem vacuous, and its monsters, static.

All of that being said, I'm a bigger fan of AC, myself. My allegiance to DC's older, simpler sibling is no doubt buoyed by nostalgia and a personal preference for its tunes. But the scrolling playfield that so many players laud DC for is an "improvement" I could have lived without, as I like AC's "blinking" system for the simple fact that it allows me to see my flippers at all times. Of course, regardless of which Crush brother you end up devoting your loyalty and game time to, you'll likely consider both to be excellent pinball titles. I myself consider them TG-16 must-buys.

Demons, sorcerers, and other strange beings are constantly hustling and bustling about the playfield.

Witness the famous Lady Lizard transformation sequence.