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Wrecking Crew FAQ
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By Dan Giglio
Version: 1.3
Last Updated: February 26, 2001
This document was written by Dan Giglio, Copyright 2001.
E-mail:
[email protected]
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Version History
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1.3 - I added a few more e-mails from people.
See the end of "Playing the Game".
1.2 - Added more things about the Golden Hammer.
See the end of "Playing the Game".
1.1 - Added some things in "Playing the Game".
1.0 - First release of this FAQ.
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Contents
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1. Wrecking Crew...what's that?
2. Playing the Game
3. Using the Level Editor
4. Tips and Tricks
5. FAQ's
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1. Wrecking Crew...what's that?
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Believe it or not, there are people in this world who don't even know what Wrecking
Crew is (gasp)! It's hard to believe but it's true. Wrecking Crew is a game for the
Nintendo Entertainment System (obviously). It came out around the same time that
Super Mario Bros. did. In fact, Wrecking Crew features Mario and Luigi. There are 100
stages. The object of the game is to break down all the walls with your hammer. It's a
fun game and is worth the two bucks FuncoLand is charging for it.
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2. Playing the Game
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Once you blow in your game cart, put it in the NES, take it back out, and repeat this
process around two hundred times until the game actually works....your ready to play
Wrecking Crew! The first thing you will see is the title screen. You will have three
options:
1 PLAYER GAME - You play the game by yourself
2 PLAYER GAME - You play the game with someone else. When one person dies, the other
person gets to play.
DESIGN - This option allows you to design your own stages. See "Using the Level Editor"
later on in this FAQ.
Press select to choose an option then press start to execute it. You can also press A and
B to toggle through the phases.
When you begin the game, you will get a quick glimpse of the stage, then you'll start
playing. The main object in WC is to break down all the walls. You can control Mario
or Luigi by pressing Left or Right. To climb ladders, press Up and Down. To use your
mighty hammer, press A or B. Select returns to the title screen, and Start, of course,
Pauses the game (you can press Up or Down to view the stage while the game is paused).
If you move to the end of the screen and keep going, you will appear on the opposite
site of the screen.
You have five lives, and one hit by an enemy will kill you. You must destroy all the
walls while still avoiding the enemies. You will advance to the next level when you
knock down all the walls. Here is a list of the types of objects in the game:
Objects you have to destroy to finish the level:
NORMAL WALL - Takes one hit to knock down
BRICK WALL - Takes two hits to knock down
DARK BRICK WALL - Takes three hits to knock down
WHITE LADDER - Takes one hit to destroy
Objects you don't have to destroy:
BOMB - Takes one hit - quickly get out of the way after hitting it or else you'll fall
all the way to the bottom of the level. The bomb will also hit any wall near it.
DOORS - Takes one hit to open (see how to use doors later on)
STEEL BEAMS - Takes one hit to knock down - anything on top of it will also come down
(make sure a barrel is not above the beam or else the barrel will fall on you and you'll
be stuck INSIDE the barrel! If this does happen, press Select to go to the title screen,
and press Start to start the game. Don't worry, you'll be in the level you were in.)
Objects you can't destroy:
BROWN LADDERS
BARRELS
Here is a list of the enemies in the game:
--NOTE: I don't know the name of most the enemies, if anybody does, be sure to tell me.
*RED WRENCHBOY - He will walk towards you until it hits you - If these guys are on a white
ladder and you destroy the ladder, they will fall to the bottom and be stunned for a
second.
*PURPLE WRENCHBOY - Same as red only faster.
*PURPLE ROBOT - These guys are fast, and will usually climb a ladder if it is nearby.
FIREBALL - Even once in a while, a fireball will fire across the screen. Be sure to get
out of the way, because there is no ducking in WC.
SPIKE - In some stages, there will be a person on the other side of the building. I
believe his name is Spike. If Spike hits a wall and you're standing in front of it
when he hits it, you will fall to the bottom of the level. If you do the same to him,
He will fall to the bottom. You will learn to hate this guy.
Enemies with the * can be trapped inside the doors. Now is the moment you've been waiting
for...how to trap your foes into doors.....
It's actually really not much...all you have to do is lore the enemy towards an open door.
The doors will stay open for a couple of seconds, so time it right. Once your foes are on
the other side and the door closes, you won want anything to worry about anymore!
Every few stages, you'll arrive in a bonus stage. The object is to find the coin before
Spike does. The coin will randomly appear in one of the walls. The score on the top
will decrease every second. The faster you find the coin, the bigger the bonus you get.
Of course, if Spike gets the coin, you don't get a bonus.
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E-MAILS:
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-Someone named Knuckleball Lover e-mailed me telling me what the M-A-R-I-O letters meant:
"I believe the letters that show up are how you get extra lives in this game. I believe if
you find all the letters in a single stage, you'll get an extra life. I've never been able
to do it (or don't remember doing it), but I think that's what the instruction book said.
I think the letters will only show up if you hit the walls that have letters in the right
order. For example, if you hit a wall the exposes an M, then the M will show up. But if
you've already hit the wall with the O then you'll never find it on that stage. The best
you could do is MARI since the O wall was already wiped out."
-He (or she) also told me some other things:
"Also sometimes when you hit a bomb, you'll get little figurines, or even a golden hammer.
The figurines are worth points. The golden hammer will let you swing much faster as well
as destroy any wall with 1 hit, regardles of how many hits the wall normally takes. You
can, if you time it right, even hit the enemies (thought that's rather bad unless you're
in danger of dying or will complete the stage soon because they'll just move faster after
they recover from the stun). The golden hammer never wears off, until you die.
What triggers these things coming out of the bombs? I'm not sure. Maybe how many walls you
destroyed with that whack of the bomb? Maybe some random factor?"
-I got even more information about the Golden Hammer from
[email protected]:
"It's been a while since I've played WC, but as far as the Golden Hammers go, you get them
by hitting a certain sequence of Walls or bombs. For example, in Level 6 (I think), if you
hit the two bombs at the bottom, climb to the second level, and hit the bomb on the right,
the hammer will appear. Like I said, my memory's foggy, but I'm pretty certain the hammer
appears in level 4,6, and 75 at least. The sequence for level 4 is insanely hard to do,
while others are easy."
-Here's an e-mail from William Lukesh with more information:
"Dude,
I pulled out my wrecking crew cartridge and checked these things out again. (yes I do
have 6 game systems hooked up including the NES) a few things about the dolls and golden
hammers that sometimes appear under bombs.. Here's what I've been able to figure out. If
one is to ppear on a given screen, it will always appear under the same bomb and that
'prizebomb' needs to be the third one detonated. What I did notice is that when one
appears,
its possible to get a golden hammer on that screen. The 'prize' is not random, ie if you
blast the same walls and bombs in the same order, you'll always get the same prize,
However,
I haven't been able to figure out a sure system for every screen. Most of them seem to be
keyed off of the first two bombs(and their order) that are detonated before the
'prizebomb'.
If you keep trying the other bombs as one and two and then the 'prizebomb' you'll stumble
across it. Also the higher the doll the closer one is to getting the hammer. So when
there's a screen with lots of bombs. detonate each one third, and see if a prize appears,
if it does,
then just keep choosing a different 1 & 2 bombs and the golden hammer will come up sooner
or later. BTW I've finished the game, and there's just one phase (I think 94 or 95) that I
couldn't pass without a golden hammer. The screen before that does have one, but its one of
those ones where just the order of the bombs isn't enough."
-Here is an e-mail from Dean Siren (
[email protected]). He basically summed up everything I was
missing in this FAQ:
"Hey! I got Wrecking Crew right when it came out, like 1985! Here's some stuff
about it:
The wrench guys are called Gotcha-wrenches, at least in the U.S.
The purple robots are Eggplant Men. Kinda like Eggplant Wizard.
I believe this game was directed by Gunpei Yokoi and composed by Hip Tanaka, the
same people who did Metroid and Kid Icarus. I think they also did Gyromite and
Stack Up. They all have that feel.
If you have PERFECT timing, you can run under the fireball!
The fireball is timed to the music, so you can predict it.
You can trap everybody except the fireball in a barrel.
You're safe from the fireball if you're in the barrel.
The Golden Hammer (I always called it the Super Hammer, but whatever) lets you
fly! Walk up to a ledge, and while walking press A or B really fast (rapid fire
helps). You will float across the gap until you lose the rhythm.
I'm always able to get the Golden Hammer in level 10 by doing the following:
Hit one of the blocks near where you begin. Walk left, climb the white ladder, and
once you've climbed up two floors, fall off to the left. Climb back up, to the top.
Once on top, hit the bomb on the left, and run right before it knocks you down.
Once the walls on top are gone, run right, and while running, swing the hammer three
times before falling off. Hit the bomb in the top right, and fall left to dodge it.
The Golden Hammer should appear.
Don't do this pattern as fast as you can. Put about a one or two second delay
into it.
The Golden Hammer probably has nothing to do with falling and swinging into the
vacuum, and probably everything to do with having a certain number of points at
a certain time, but I've always been able to get it with that pattern, so I use
it.
I've gotten all five letters a few times, though I don't know how.
I beat level 100 once! But not 99 or 98."
***Many thanks to all you guys for helping me with this FAQ!
That's pretty much how to play the game. If anybody has anything to add to the
gameplay, please e-mail me at
[email protected]!
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3. Using the Level Editor
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When you select "DESIGN" on the main menu, you will be brought to the Design Menu.
Here is a list of the options and what they do:
1PLAYER GAME - Allows you to play through your created levels on one player mode.
2PLAYER GAME - Same as above, but with this two players can play (alternating).
DESIGN PHASEx - The x stands for the phase number you are going to design. Press
A to change the number. You can design up to 4 different phases.
SAVE - This command does not work.
LOAD - This command does not work.
RESET - Brings you back to the title screen - you phases will not be erased.
When you are ready to design a level, press A to select the phase you wish to design
then press Select to move to the DESIGN PHASE option. Press start and you will be
in the level editor.
Using the editor is easy: By pressing the direction buttons, you will move the box on
the screen. Press A and B to cycle through the different objects within the box.
If you press start, the cursor will move to the top of the stage. You will now be
able to name the stage. Press Up or Down to go through the letters, and press Left
or Right to move the cursor. When you are done naming your stage, press Start, and
you will return to the object editor.
When you are done creating your stage, press Select while you are in the object editor
(not the name editor). You will appear on the Design Menu. To play your level, go to
1PLAYER GAME or 2PLAYER GAME.
NOTE: You must put Mario in your level or else you will be stuck. If you create a level
without Mario, press Select to return to the Design Menu.
There are some shortcuts you can use on Controller 2 for the level editor. Here are a
list of the shortcuts:
UP + A - Creates all bombs on the screen
RIGHT + A - Clears the screen (this one is very helpful)
LEFT + A - Creates all white ladders on the screen
DOWN + A - Creates all brown ladders on the screen
UP + B - This will take the current phase you are on (in the main game) in put it into the
level editor.
RIGHT + B - Creates all normal walls on the screen
LEFT + B - Creates all dark brick walls on the screen
DOWN + B - Creates all brick walls on the screen
Other notes:
1. When using the UP + B shortcut, the name of the level will also change.
2. You are allowed to have 6 enemies on the screen. You can also have Spike on the screen,
which does not count as one of the 6 enemies.
If you think I left anything out, please tell me.
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4. Tips and Tricks
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1. WC is basically a trial and error type game. Press Start and use Up and Down to view
the stage. Find a good path and take it. Keep trying until you beat it. Remember, you
can always select the phase you begin on by pressing A and B on the title screen.
2. The enemies, without a doubt, are pretty dump. You must learn to trick them by trapping
them in a door, or trapping them on the bottom of the level.
3. If you really want to beat this game, make a checklist of a hundred levels. Each time
you beat a stage, check it off on the list.
4. Use the bombs carefully - make sure there are no white ladders around.
5. If you can, destroy the white ladders at the end of the stage because you might need
them
to climb with.
6. Remember, you can walk from one side of the screen to another. Use this to your
advantage.
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5. FAQ's
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Q. Why didn't you create a level walkthrough for this game?
A. I didn't create a walkthrough because not only will I go insane, but I don't think many
people will read it. It's more fun to figure out what to do by yourself than have me tell
you.
Q. Why doesn't SAVE and LOAD work on Design mode?
A. SAVE and LOAD were probably taken out of the game. I have no idea why they left them
on the menu. Maybe Nintendo was planning to create a device for the NES which would allow
you to save the level...but we'll never know.
Q. Where can I find Wrecking Crew?
A. FuncoLand will most likely have it. They normally charge less than two bucks for it.
Q. Have you even beaten all 100 phases?
A. Honestly, I've only beaten around 15 of the phases, and I've only played around 40 of
them. WC may seem small, but it is actually quite big. Just think: I've had this game
for years and I haven't even seen half of it!
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If you feel I left anything out, e-mail me at
[email protected]
