Page 8 - OSG Presents Video Game Trader Magazine #14

Everyone knows that when the NES first dropped into zlers, Mario has no ability to jump!
stores in 1985, Super Mario Bros. was the game that
convinced the world that a Nintendo was worth buying. Features: Stage Designer
Ever since, Mario has been the unquestioned mascot of
Nintendo. But prior to 1985, as any arcade junkie could As mentioned earlier in the review, this game has a level
tell you, Donkey Kong was the king of Nintendo. One designer. I always loved those when I was a young
would have thought that Donkey Kong and Mario both gamer.
would have been given star treatment with the release of
the NES, but that was not the case. The only game that Fun?: Yes, but tedious
starred DK at launch was, the educational game, Don-
key Kong Jr. Math. Mario, on the other hand, was fea- You will probably enjoy this game at first, but give up on
tured in six games! He is the referee in Tennis, the it before you‘ve beaten all 100 stages. The good news
golfer in Golf and he saves Pauline, in the bonus game, is you will probably pick it up again some time later and
in Pinball. Of course, he is also the star of Super Mario have plenty more stages to play. If you love puzzle
Bros. and the star in the little played, and long forgotten, games, though, you will enjoy working your way through
Wrecking Crew. all 100 stages.
Wrecking Crew is one of the few non-educational Mario Challenge: Hard
games released on the Nintendo that no one ever talks first try. There are also some hidden secrets to discover
about. The main reason for that is because it is com- in this game, which gives it great replay value. I like how There are two different challenges to this game. First,
pletely different from Super Mario Bros. and therefore you can choose what stage to start on, there‘s nothing can you beat all 100 stages? Then, can you beat them
probably disappointed many gamers back in 1985. more frustrating then having to replay 20 or 30 stages all in one sitting? With patience and determination any-
Looking back at this title, almost 25 years later, it is that you‘ve already mastered just to get to where you left one can accomplish the first challenge. If you can mas-
much easier to appreciate. The first change you will off at. Of course having Mario as your main character is ter the second challenge then you are a better gamer
notice right off the bat is that Mario is not a plumber in always a benefit. This game also benefits from having a than I.
this game; instead he appears to be some kind of con- Wario-prototype character, named Spike, who looks
struction worker. The next major difference, in Wrecking suspiciously like Mario but is his mortal enemy. The level Replay: Yes
Crew, is that the game is not a side-scroller. It‘s a one- designer is also real fun because you can take turns with
screen puzzle game. Here‘s how it works. On each a friend making stages and then try solving them. Unfor- This game definitely has replay value because it‘s diffi-
stage you control Mario who is equipped with a hammer. tunately you can‘t save the stages you design but that is culty. However, since you can skip to whatever stage
Your goal is to destroy all of the walls and ladders on the standard procedure on the NES. you want, there isn‘t much frustration since you can
stage in order for the ―building‖ to be properly destroyed. always skip past a stage that is frustrating you.
Of course it‘s not that easy when you have strange alien If you also destroy the walls on a stage in the correct 2 Player: Yes
creatures walking around that want to kill you, and you secret order you will spell out the letters of Mario. If you
inexplicably cannot use your hammer to hurt them. This can spell out his whole name you win a prize, which in Wrecking Crew offers the standard alternating two-
means that you have to completely avoid contact with some levels is a special hammer that allows you to player mode that the NES was famous for. You star as
any baddies while trying to demolish all of the walls and smash the bad guys and smash walls at a quicker pace. Luigi, but, he isn‘t wearing a green outfit. The best two-
ladders on each stage. Overall there are 100 stages to I‘ve never actually gotten one myself but I‘ve seen peo- player mode, though, is to create level and then chal-
play, and like many of the early puzzle games on the ple do it using save states on-line. lenge your buddy to beat it.
NES, you can skip around to any stage and even design
your own impossible stage to completely frustrate your Glaring Negatives: Bottom Line: Typical LJN fare
brother.
For some reason, Mario looks quite different from the While certainly not on par with Mario‘s Super entries,
Wrecking Crew is actually one of the better games that Mario featured in Super Mario Bros. If you took a glance
came out among the initial launch titles, but was com- at him you would assume that this game was made a Wrecking Crew is an enjoyable puzzle game that offers
pletely missed by everyone noticing Super Mario Bros., couple years prior because of how primitive he looks. up just enough features to make it genuinely fun. There
Duck Hunt and Kung Fu. Unfortunately no sequels were The graphics overall are weak. It‘s also disappointing is some serious challenge to the game since there are
ever made for this game on the NES, and it quickly that none of the bad guys from the Mushroom Kingdom 100 stages but since you can skip around you won‘t get
disappeared into that giant stack of NES games that nor any of Mario‘s attacks from SMB are featured in this
never existed in most people‘s minds. game. Wrecking Crew’s gameplay has a lot more in too frustrated. Also, you‘ve got to love any game with a
common with Mario Bros., although it doesn‘t share any stage design feature.
Positives: of the enemies of that game either.
Wrecking Crew provides a great challenge with 100 Graphics and Sound: Primitive
stages, many of which are impossible to solve on your
This game is an early NES title and it looks like it. Mario
has one giant schnoz, wears a red helmet and looks like
he was lifted straight from an Atari game. The back- Reviewer: Agent J Rarity: (Average) C+
grounds are always the same black building, and there
are only a handful of enemies that repeat on every Company: Nintendo Expertise: Beat it!
stage. Each stage is only one screen wide but two
screens tall. The music gets really repetitive as it‘s the
same on all 100 stages. Released: 1985
Gameplay and Controls: Basic Tips and Tricks will appear.

Wrecking Crew is one of those standard old school   Lure bad guys to
puzzlers where you can‘t touch the enemy at all or you You can wrap
will die. Because of this, the real puzzle to the game is around from one side of walk towards you away
not how to destroy all of the walls, it‘s how to avoid the the screen to the other. from ladders and then
bad guys. The controls are fine. Mario slowly walks just pop out on the other
around the screen, you can press either button to smash  side of the screen to
walls with your hammer, and you can fall from any dis- If you stay on one
tance without dying. Of course, like many early puz- level too long, fireballs climb the ladder.
8 • Video Game Trader Magazine • Issue #14 • Winter 2009/2010 • www.VideoGameTrader.com