Vs. Wrecking Crew is Nintendo’s 1984 arcade release for the Vs. System, built around the same demolition puzzle that would appear on the NES the following year but redesigned for head-to-head arcade play. You control Mario (Luigi in two-player mode) with a hammer, smashing designated walls, ladders, and other structures across a level while a construction foreman named Spike tries to trap you by knocking objects down around you.
How to Play
The hammer is heavy enough that Mario can’t jump, so ladders are your only way up and down — destroy the wrong one too early and you can strand yourself with objects still left to break. Bombs found in some levels chain-destroy every connected object they touch for bonus points. Contact with Spike, roaming enemies, or a fireball costs a life; you start with five. In the two-player arcade mode, Mario and Luigi work through mirrored versions of the same structure at once, each visible to the other player, turning the puzzle into a race.
- Movement: Arrow keys (Up/Down to climb ladders)
- Swing hammer: Z
- Insert coin: Shift
- Start: Enter
Tips
- Plan the order you break things in before you start swinging — clearing a ladder you still need to reach an upper wall can make the level impossible to finish.
- Look for bomb objects and try to line up several destructible pieces near them; setting one off destroys everything it’s connected to in one hit for extra points.
- Keep track of where Spike is relative to the ladders you need; he can’t be attacked, so avoiding him is entirely about controlling your route, not reflexes.

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