"Wrecking Crew" - NES/Famicom

----- Introduction -----

Please listen to this the entire time you read this article for full effect.

Oh boy! A return to the Famicom Mario legacy. This time, after having tried being a construction worker in Donkey Kong, and a plumber in Mario Bros., Mario has decided to try his hand at being on the Wrecking Crew.

Once again, Yoshio Sakamoto handled the design. We saw him previously on Balloon Fight and Donkey Kong Jr. "Chip" Tanaka makes another reappearance for the OST in this one too, and if you followed my instructions, you're listening to his work right now. Isn't it fun? This is probably the most memorable song out of any Famicom game that I've reviewed so far for me.

So, let's talk about the actual game:

I hope you brought your boys, 'cause you're gonna need a whole crew this time.

----- Playthrough -----

Wrecking Crew's premise is pretty straightforward: there's a bunch of doors and various other destructible objects located around on every level, and Mario (or Luigi in 2 player)'s job is to destroy all of those objects without getting his butt handed to him by the various enemies walking around.

To do this, he has his trusty hammer which he can swing overhead to destroy the object directly behind him, or he can use bombs placed around the level to create chain reactions which destroy any objects touching one another.

And it pretty much never stops being awesome to watch.

Wrecking Crew varies back and forth between trying to decide whether it wants to be an action game or a puzzle game. There are some levels that purely have you twitch-dodging enemies while predicting their path, a la something like Pac-Man, like this level that's just a thousand ladders and a bunch of guys chasing you around:

Uh, hello.

And then there's levels that require a particular order and strategy to avoid screwing yourself into a corner where you can't reach necessary parts of the stage anymore:

It might not be obvious that there's a particular order here, but just take for my word for it.

Wrecking Crew makes things a little harder on you too by giving you a variety of enemy types. The most basic is the eggplant man (I have no idea what they're called), which will simply run right-to-left across the screen climbing ladders that they encounter. Then you have the slinky-bois who will just generally chase Mario around on the map, climbing ladders as necessary to get where he is.

Lastly you have Nega-Mario, who will run around on the back area of the screen. If he destroys something with his hammer while you're standing infront of it, you'll be knocked to the bottom of the stage. Luckily, you can do the same thing to him.

Every handful of levels you'll also be treated to a bonus level wherein a coin is hidden inside one of the destructible objects, and you and Nega-Mario have to race to see who can find it first. I imagine you do this against the second player in 2 player mode.

Times must be rough in construction if a single coin is worth this much competition.

There are a whopping 100 levels in this game, as tends to happen when these NES games use the magic of level editors. It may not allow for as much graphical variety, but if you're enjoying the game, it really gives you a lot more content.

The other good news is that Wrecking Crew offers a level select feature on the main screen! Wowee! So, you can put the game down one afternoon and pick it right back up from where you left off. Your points will be erased if you go back to the main menu (which can also be done at any time with the Select button) but at least you can have another try right away if you've messed up.

----- Review -----

Innovation:

Does the game show anything not yet seen on this system/ever before?

Actually, not really. We've seen all this platforming and climbing stuff before in Donkey Kong. One could argue the concept is derivative of something like Pac-Man, where the goal is to collect (in this case, destroy) objects located around the screen in a maze while avoiding enemies. It just so happens that this game combines the two concepts into one, which is a bit fresh.
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Intuitive Design: 

How easy is it to intuitively understand the game?

I understood it as a kid pretty easily based simply on the name, and I think most people would now as well after experimenting with it for a few moments. Both A and B swing your hammer, and some simple experimentation would teach you what can be destroyed. It wouldn't be a huge logical leap after dying to an enemy a few times to realize you destroy everything without getting hit by an enemy.

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Gameplay / Difficulty: 

How rewarding does playing the game feel?

Pretty good! Avoiding enemies as always isn't terribly satisfying, but this game does something good by giving you the option of getting clever revenge on them! It's really satisfying when you hit something and cause Nega-Mario to fall, or trick a slinky enemy into climbing a ladder, only to destroy it out from under them. And did I mention that it never stops being fun destroying huge chains of objects?

Then again I think I just like wanton destruction. It's probably all the video-games that have done this to me.

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Depth: 

How deep/long is the game?

100 levels is a lot! You'll probably get tired of the game before you complete 100 levels, but it's good to have that much content, when you are enjoying it.

As far as the concept of the game, it's not that deep as a whole, but the developers put it to some interesting use devising puzzle-y tricks to make you accidentally get yourself stuck in a lot of levels. There are some times you'll definitely have to pause and think. Overall though, it's worth remembering all you can do as a character is walk and swing your hammer. It's the level design that can be a bit more complex.

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Design: 

How's the sound? How are the graphics?

I love the music in this game; it's really nostalgic for me. I think the sounds also are pretty nice, and very NES-y. You'll definitely find yourself humming along to the walking baseline of the main tune while you try a level for the fourteenth time.

The graphics are also pretty nice for what they are-- the black background thing makes its umpteenth return on the Famicom, but the character sprites are cute and have interesting, memorable designs (even the eggplant guy). Mario is rendered in all his mustachioed glory as well, about as detailed as you'll see him until Super Mario Bros. 3.

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Personal Chord: 

Does the game have that undefinable "something" for me?

It feels like it's been a long time since I said this, but yeah. Wrecking Crew is one of those games that has music I like, gameplay I like, and design I like, too. It's the whole aesthetic and gameplay package, so it's going on my Favorite Games list for sure (check the sidebar)!

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Should You Play: 

Is there a reason to even bother with this one?

I think this is one of the NES classics you wouldn't want to miss. Puzzle-type games may not be your kind of thing (they often aren't mine, either) but I think this one has earned its place in the library's history as a great one. Definitely worth checking out.

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