Wrecking Crew - What a smashing gameWrecking crew is a game I remember very faintly from years ago. I remember my brother playing it on a computer ROM once, but it turned out to be a different game entirely. Something about Santa Claws....But I remember the title screen and the game play (very roughly). Now I am here on Vizzed to replay it to see what it was really like. All I know of this games history is that it was a release game for the NES. So with out further ado, lets get out hammers out and put on our hard hats as we go to the construction site that is this game.
So your Mario Mario the plumber, only your not a plumber. This time, you ditched the plumber and got a hard hat and a hammer instead. Your goal is to destroy as much stuff as you can, but in an orderly fashion, no story needed. That's right, it's a puzzle game. Probably a unique one at it's time. You use the A and B button to use your hammer to smash doors and brick walls. Destroy all the breakable stuff to move on to the next stage (or "phrase" as they call it in this game) You can also destroy certain ladders, but then you can't use it again. So you need to think ahead in this game. I love these types of games ^^ You get points when you destroy things, and if you hit a bomb, and that bomb was next to something when it was set off, a chain reaction will happen, giving you bonus points. Also, if you are in the middle of an explosion, you don't die, but you do fall to the bottom floor. Handy for getting out of sticky situations. What sticky situations I hear you ask? Didn't I tell you? You have walking wrenches and eggplant wizards that want to kill you! Oh yeah, I should have mentioned that earlier....
They follow a pattern that is important to keep track of. The red (normal speed of walking) and purple (faster than the reds) wrenches follow you around. If you go up a ladder, they'll follow you. If you fall down, they'll follow you. If they are several floors higher than you and you are walking away from them, then they'll probably take the ladder and then follow you. the eggplant wizard things are more fixed. When ever there is a ladder, they must go up it. They continuously move in the same direction, and is considered an added bonus if you just happen to get in their way. When they reach the top, the pattern is the same, only they go down every ladder they come across. If any enemy is climbing a ladder, and you happen to destroy that ladder, they will plummet to the ground like lead balloons....only lead balloons can float, as proven by the Myth Busters....so lets just say.....um..... and they will plummet to the ground like wrenches and eggplants often do when dropped by careless shoppers not intending to train dodge ball or eat eggplant stew. Yeah, that's more accurate....
So every now and then a fireball will pop up out of the edge of the screen and wave along that floor, threatening to kill any Mario icon that would come in it's way. This can be very inconvenient, and they could appear either side of the Pac-Man walls (yes, you can do the "thing" that you can do in Pac-Man in this game: Go off one side of the screen and appear on the other), and could catch you by surprise. Although it is possible to dodge it on the same floor, as it sort of "jumps" every now and then, and you could just walk under that jump. What I don't get is that Mario is considered the jumping master. He was known as "jump man" in Donkey Kong. And this guy can't even jump three pixels (about a foot in real life in NES games) in this game. You could argue that the hammer is heavy enough to keep him from jumping. But in Donkey Kong, he had a hammer that was much bigger than the one you have now. You could agree further that the hammer is denser than the one in Donkey Kong and is required to break bricks and hammer, opposed to destroying wood, but I would say that's just silly, but I digress.
You have an arch-enemy here, he looks like you, but is different. His name is Spike, and he is annoying as hell. I think his full name is Forearm Spike, but I could be wrong. He hides behind the doors and walls that need to be destroyed, and BOO! He'll try and knock you off the building. But you can do the same thing to him! Always a fun thing to knock him to the bottom floor. He also destroys things where you would like to use them first, then destroy it. He is so annoying! In fact, I recently got a doppelganger builder that is called Spike and likes to destroy things without my permission. *shaming sound and then I look up* Damn you Spike! I'll get you fired! Anyway, there are these bonus stages which you must find this coin by smashing the doors and walls in the floor above. Better hurry, or that dastardly Spike might get it first! Also, you might come across some letters which might give you a one up if you the the rest, but I don't know how that works. You can also get this "golden hammer" which seems just as random. Also, it doesn't look like a hammer. Smash it for a point bonus.
So overall, I give this game a 8.2/10 It's a nice puzzle game that has a great combination of skill, forward thinking, and quick thinking that makes this a classic. You can even make your own level, up to four! Not many NES games offer a design option for their games. I think only three NES games ever supported it. Although the levels get a little linear around level 40 and very very challenging at that point, so you'll only be a true Wrecking Crew champion when you complete all 100 phrases. So with that in m-*another smashing sound in which the stairs are destroyed* DAMN IT SPIKE! That's it, you asked for it! Now where did I put that purple mallet that landed on my head from the Kid Icarus review? *looks around and finds a harp* *shrugs* Close enough. *picks up the harp and plays it, and the sofa turns into a purple mallet* Hey, I liked that sofa! But that doesn't matter now *picks up the purple mallet* SPIIIIIIIIIKKKE!
Graphics
7 Sound
5 Addictive
7 Depth
7 Difficulty
9
User Notice 
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