The CERO rating board might be suspended, but Hamster doesn't appear to be showing any signs of slowing down on its weekly retro releases. This week's game might interest more than usual, as it's a Nintendo release.
Presenting the 1984 arcade title, VS. Wrecking Crew. If you haven't played the game itself, or the home console version (1985), you might have at least played the stage based on this game in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Here's a bit about this version of Wrecking Crew from the official press release, along with some screenshots:
Play as Mario or Luigi and break down designated walls to demolish buildings.
Be warned, however, the buildings are home to monsters, and they wander around the floors to bother player's mission. Watch out for monsters while quickly destroying the walls.
VS. Wrecking Crew joins existing Arcade Archive Nintendo releases such as VS. Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., and Punch-Out!!. As usual, this will set you back $7.99 / £6.29, supports 1-2 players, and includes the ability to change various game settings, and compete against other player scores online.
Will you be adding VS. Wrecking Crew to your digital library? Leave a comment down below.
[source nintendo.com]
Comments 44
wrecking crew has always been fun for me, looks great as usual
I feel compelled to hoard all of Nintendo's arcade releases as this is the first time they have ever been made available for purchase.
But I also ask myself why I bother buying all of these as I hardly ever play them and they're pretty expensive (AU$10.50 each).
When they're all done with them, I would LOVE a physical release though.
FINALLY! Feels like I have been waiting months for this to release, now all we need is Sunset Riders!
i beat it on NES, no reason to come back to it
About damn time.
@JayJ And Popeye.
I've been playing these with my Arcade Stick since Donkey Kong came out on the eShop a couple years ago.
I'm not skipping this one!
Looking forward to this one.
I remember playing this on a demo NES in Boots in the 80's! I loved it at the time, but have never played it since! I will have to give this a go, for old times sake. 😊 I loved those demo set-ups, where there would be a choice of games to play. You could actually play the entire game! I completed Super Mario Bros on that machine! 😆
@JayJ Me too. Give me Sunset Riders and I'll find another 4 Hamster games to use my 40€ credit with. But I'm afraid we won't see this gem just a week after Wrecking Crew. I wish, though.
I've never played Wrecking Crew outside the minigames in NES Remix, but it looks like the best VS title in its arcade version, with the two screen system really taken advantage of, something we will miss here, but I hope this is fun versus the CPU too.
I bought a lot of the Nintendo Arcade titles, but I will probably pass on this one. I am just not a big fan of the gameplay
Still, I am glad it is available. I’ll add it to my wishlist and see if there is ever a sale.
@Moroboshi876 : VS Balloon Fight had split-screen mode, so perhaps the same will be included here as well.
@Silly_G Not all of the Arcade Archive titles are worth the fixed price. I gladly paid the full price for many of the titles, but there are many that I wouldn’t pay more than half the price.
They need to have sales on Arcade Archive titles from time to time.
@Tandy255 They do go on sale, this week in fact, but never the Nintendo ones. And to be honest not usually the best ones. This week Metal Slug and Samurai Shodown are, but I already have them and SS will be included in Samurai Shodown Neogeo Collection anyway.
@Silly_G Really? Well, it's not like I have a Player 2 around (my wife isn't into games and my daughter is 2 yo), but it's nice to read this. It would be better if people could play in co-op with 2 consoles though. Is it even possible in Arcade Archives releases?
@Moroboshi876 Yeah I am right there with you, when Sunset Riders finally gets released I am getting this and 4 others. I also never really played Wrecking Crew much so I am looking forward to getting into it. Seems to be one of the best VS games for sure.
@Moroboshi876 : I don't believe they have ever implemented local wireless multiplayer, no.
@Tandy255 : I would say that none that I have played so far have been worth the price (relative to other games in that price range), but they are a nice little curiosity with what I suspect is mostly to appease a niche. The preservationist in me is happy to pay for these so long as Hamster keeps up the good work. Golf was surprisingly the most fun that I have had with the archive releases so far though.
@Moroboshi876 Your 2-year-old will grow up to become old enough to enjoy it soon enough though.
@Silly_G I'm their target too, but unfortunately there are very few of us, according to the eShop best sellers, full of games that exist in physical form too.
I also get them out of curiosity in many cases, they're games previously unavailable for purchase (and Sky Skipper was a nice surprise and a great effort of preservation on Hamster's part). But I don't just get all of them. For instance, Golf and Pinball seem too simple to me, and Urban Champion is generally considered very bad. What did you like about Golf so much?
@Moroboshi876 VS Golf is actually a great version of that classic game since it added music.
When it comes to these games I agree that it seems silly to buy all of them, especially when it comes to games that are already included in game collections for the Switch like the classic SNK games.
@JayJ Well, I think it's nice to have the choice, because I own and love a copy of SNK 40th Anniversary Collection, but there must be people who isn't interested in all 24 of them.
About Golf, is the gameplay satisfying enough, though? In NES Remix I found it a little simple. But I'm open to reconsider it, not as one of my priority next Hamster purchases though.
@Moroboshi876 I mean Golf Story is a much better game if you are into that style, but it's probably the best way to enjoy a golf game from that era if you are interested.
As far as the vs titles I’ve played I’d have to say my favorite has been excitebike. The vs version as 2player play and a track editor. It enhances a game I already loved a great deal.
Played many hours of this ... 30 years ago. Great and fun game. The level editor is cool as well.
@Cathousemaster the first time my brothers and I saw mario fly off the screen we nearly peed ourselves
I’ll be buying this! Fun game! Creating levels is awesome as well!
I try to get Nintendo Arcade Archive games when the arcade version is different from the home version like Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. I'll have to see if Wrecking Crew falls in that or not to determine if I get it. Sky Skipper I got for history sake so that's an exception for me.
@NatiaAdamo Ah, arcade Popeye!! I would buy that. I dont want the nes version.
@Moroboshi876 Sweet. I did buy Crazy Climber on sale, but a bunch of the Arcade Archives in my wishlist never appear to get discounted. I’ll check again this week. Thanks.
@Tandy255 I'm on the verge with Crazy Climber. It's never been on my wishlist, but at this price I'm considering it. The problem is it got a not so good review back when it was released on Switch.
By the way, does anybody here like Nintendo's Pinball to the point of recommending it?
Please give us Popeye, Nintendo...
@Moroboshi876 : I recommend Vs. Pinball. I love the fact that it has background music(which the nes version didn't), and the fact that it saves your top score.
@KnightRider666 But isn't it true that it has very few stages?
@Moroboshi876 : It's essentially identical to the nes one except for the 2 things I mentioned above.
@KnightRider666 Yes, I knew about that, but I haven't played the NES version outside NES Remix minigames.
@Moroboshi876 : It's a single multi screen table with bonus levels.
@KnightRider666 It's funny because I loved Pinball on the NES because I would use it as a calming game when I was a kid because it was slow paced and chill. The Arcade Archives version surprised me because the music is really intense and the ball zooms around the table. Still fun but a very different experience for me!
@Moroboshi876 : Yes, Sky Skipper was definitely a great surprise, and it reminded me of some of the really archaic DOS games from the 80s I used to play on PC (on our 286 in the early 90s). I was also surprised by how detailed the graphics and presentation were considering how long ago it was made.
As for Golf, I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did, and how to play the game was a tad cryptic to me (it still is) but I am also impressed by it from a technical perspective and how they managed to pull off such a game on such limited hardware (particularly in regard to the "3D" graphic that visualises the position of the ball relative to the hole.
Once I eased into the game and figured out (mostly) how to play it, I found myself enjoying it a lot. I wouldn't say that I am particularly fond of golf video games, but golf in Wii Sports Club (and Resort) was absolutely amazing, and a port/sequel is ridiculously overdue.
i haven't played Wrecking Crew in a while, but isn't it included in the NES games for Nintendo switch online or the Wii U/3DS virtual console service?
Nintendo should release an Arcade Archives app (optional to use) to keep all of our Arcade Archive games organized. that way we won't have 20 additional icons on our app screen...or dozens of Arcade Archive games filling up our game catalog.
I would love popeye and super punch out as well
Also bring out some old arcade wwe games too
@stevenw45 The Nintendo Vs. arcade games are always a bit different from the home versions. Here, the stages are single screens, and the swinging the hammer is a bit faster. If there was a player 2, they would see the flip side of what player 1 was seeing, since the arcade version had a dual-screen setup. When they ported Wrecking Crew to Famicom/NES, that's when they added new enemy types, support beams that drop whatever's on top of them, hidden items like the golden hammer and MARIO letters, vertical scrolling, etc.
But where is Sunset Riders!!
😭😭😭
Also, I would pay at least £15 for an arcade archives port of WWF Wrestlefest. Such a shame that game never got a home release.
@MeloMan The arcade version is VERY different from the home version, to the point where it's an entirely different game.
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