Squad Challenge - Wrecking Crew (NES)

[Justin]

 

 

 

Wrecking Crew
Nintendo Entertainment System
Controller: CONTROL PAD / KEYBOARD / PLAYER'S CHOICE
Difficulty Level: Phase 1
Play on: Real Hardware / Dedicated Console / MAME / Emulation OK! ✔
Squad Challenge ends 11:59 pm PST October 14, 2020

 

 

Objective

Play for the highest possible score using the difficulty settings defined in the challenge. Post a photo or YouTube video of your score in this thread. Scores must be achieved between October 1st through October 14th, 2020. Screen captures are not allowed as they are more easily manipulated for falsified scores. Multiple submissions are permitted. The player with the highest score at the end of the competition is the victor!

 

Eligibility

Anyone can join in. All players are welcome!

 

Play Rules

Games may be played on real hardware, Flashback / Mini console, or emulation, using any controller or keyboard, following all rules and game settings defined in the challenge. Choosing between real hardware or emulation, and choosing which controller to play on is part of formulating your strategy. Enhancements, rewinds and hacked versions of this game are not allowed.

 

Difficulty Level

Phase 1. This is the default level.

 

Fair Play

Your integrity is everything. Players should play fairly, be honest, and have fun! Falsified scores will result in your immediate removal from the site. It goes without saying that we will not allow cheats, hacks, cartridge frying, enhancements, rewinds, deceitful photo manipulation, subterfuge, or any other unfair advantage. Everybody hates a cheater.

 

More

To review detailed rules on how to play, please visit the High Score Squad page here: 

 

 

Message

Welcome to our 89th Squad Challenge! We just wrapped up a rare Atari Lynx Squad Challenge, and now we're jumping back into the World of Nintendo with Wrecking Crew for the NES! I've never understood this game. That's why we're playing it for this challenge and give it another look. Is that Mario? Is it just a construction worker? What's with all the lockers? What the heck is going on with this game? Wrecking Crew is an early "Black Box" release for the Nintendo Entertainment System and has a ton of that "early NES" charm. Do you think Wrecking Crew a good game? I'd love to hear your thoughts! The jury is out on this game for me, I'll let you know what I think after the Squad Challenge. PDF Instructions are provided below. And a special WELCOME to all our new Members playing in this Squad Challenge! Good luck to everybody participating! 

 

NOTE: Another great Squad Challenge is right around the corner! We'll be playing an excellent game for the Atari 2600 

 

 

 

 

 

Wrecking Crew.pdf

[HDN]

9 minutes ago, Justin said:

We'll be playing an excellent game for the Atari 2600 

Fingers crossed!

 

I love Wrecking Crew! My friends and I used to play this one all the time in the school. There was an online NES emulator that wasn't blocked by the school's network that we wasted loads of time on. My buddy Nick and I were the official ROM dealers. Wrecking Crew was always a popular one, along with Kung Fu. But nothing compared to our high school's Yo! Noid craze back in January and February.

I'm hyped to play this game. I don't have my stuff back yet, but I can use the aforementioned online JS emulator. It worked very well from what I remember.

[HDN]

Here's the first score. Not great; I'm a bit rustier than I thought I was. Just need some NES WD-40 and I'll be able to go pretty far. I'm tired. It's been a long day. More time and energy tomorrow for Wrecking Crew. Played on my school-issued Chromebook.

Oh, and I forgot to say this last time in Galaxian, but Hey, @btbfilms76! Enter me to win!

[Justin]

GREAT to get us started!

[Atari Creep]

This is a game I am not too familiar with, my fav kind of HSSC! I should have more time to get in on this one for sure. 🙂

[HDN]

Did you know? In Japan, the Famicom had a tape drive sold seperately. This allowed you to save your level creations in games like Lode Runner, Excitebike, and yes, Wrecking Crew. That's why you see save and load features in these games. Nintendo planned to release the tape drive here (and it was even shown alongside their Atari branded system) but ultimately didn't. Battery saves may have killed it off, or perhaps it was just not worth the risk in the US as it only supported a handful of titles.

[Justin]

49 minutes ago, HDN said:

(and it was even shown alongside their Atari branded system)

When was their Atari branded system shown?

[HDN]

20 minutes ago, Justin said:

When was their Atari branded system shown?

Nevermind, I got my facts wrong! Silly me, this isn't the Atari system, I don't think at least. The Nintendo Advance Video System was shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in early 1984. It was just a Famicom, really, but it looked more like a computer. I believe a keyboard was a thing in Japan for the Famicom. Has the Nintendo logo on it, so not Atari.

 

Here's a Jeremy Parish video for anyone interested in this topic. He explains it much better than I. By the way, he's starting to cover some Lynx and 7800 games as well. Might want to check those out.

 

Edited October 2, 2020 by HDN

[HDN]

Hopefully my daily post limit isn't going to be reached with all of the posts I'm making here today.

82,200. Better than last time, but I can go farther I feel. I just need to get a handle on Phase 9. I need to come up with a good strategy. That quickly drained all of my lives from last run, too. Once I get past it, I can go much farther. I might just practice on that difficulty level for a while.

 

Edit: 108,100. Third attempt. Still dead at level 9.

Edited October 2, 2020 by HDN

[RickR]

2 hours ago, Atari Creep said:

This is a game I am not too familiar with, my fav kind of HSSC! I should have more time to get in on this one for sure. 🙂

Same here.  I've never even heard of it.  I'm looking forward to trying something "new". 

When you mention "Wrecking Crew", I think of those awesome studio musicians from the 60's/70's.  They played a lot of the music on most classic rock from that era (Beach Boys - Good Vibrations, for example -- just one of hundreds).  Hal Blaine, Carol Kaye, Glenn Campbell, etc. 

 

Edited October 2, 2020 by RickR

[Sabertooth]

I haven't played this before now either. It definitely feels like a progression from Donkey Kong and Mario Bros.

First score 72,400 at level 9. Played on an AVS with a retroUSB wireless pad. 

[Justin]

3 hours ago, RickR said:

Same here.  I've never even heard of it.  I'm looking forward to trying something "new". 

When you mention "Wrecking Crew", I think of those awesome studio musicians from the 60's/70's.  They played a lot of the music on most classic rock from that era (Beach Boys - Good Vibrations, for example -- just one of hundreds).  Hal Blaine, Carol Kaye, Glenn Campbell, etc. 

Me too!

[Sabertooth]

105,000 at Phase 11. This pretty fun once you get the hang of it. I hope everyone can give it a shot! 

[btbfilms76]

DO NOT PUSH SELECT!  It resets the game, at least it did with mine. 
116200

[Sabertooth]

119,000 at Phase 13. 

They really should have a way to kill yourself if you get stuck. I also also hit Select and was returned to the start screen. You can restart the level but lose your score. 

[Sabertooth]

Here's a tip: With the game paused, use the d-pad to scroll up and down for a view of the phase layout. This gives you some time to sort out your strategy ahead of time. 🙌🕹️

[btbfilms76]

141600

[MaliciousCarp]

I have not played this one before!  Apparently it is on my 150in1 multi cart though... so here is my initial score.

I will need to read up and figure out what the heck is going on in this game before I try again 🙂 

97,400

[TrekMD]

I'm not familiar with this one.  I'll see if I can participate on this one!  🙂

[TrekMD]

OK, here is my first score.  This is a fun game!  I made it to Level 7.

 

[Dinobot711]

First time joining one of these challenges! 121100 is my best score so far. Playing on an nes with standard controller

[Justin]

18 minutes ago, Dinobot711 said:

First time joining one of these challenges! 121100 is my best score so far. Playing on an nes with standard controller

Welcome to High Score Squad @Dinobot711‼️

[HDN]

5 hours ago, Sabertooth said:

They really should have a way to kill yourself if you get stuck. I also also hit Select and was returned to the start screen. You can restart the level but lose your score.

If you didn't notice already, there is a fireball in the game like in Mario Brothers. Wait a while and it will come and kill you. Life lost, but score kept.

I got past level 9. I didn't get that much bigger of a score as I didn't do as well on the earlier levels as I did that one time.

Having fun. Good choice @Justin.

[TrekMD]

Improving...

 

[Sabertooth]

13 hours ago, HDN said:

If you didn't notice already, there is a fireball in the game like in Mario Brothers. Wait a while and it will come and kill you. Life lost, but score kept.

I got past level 9. I didn't get that much bigger of a score as I didn't do as well on the earlier levels as I did that one time.

Having fun. Good choice @Justin.

I did notice the fireball but they won't kill you in a barrel. 🙄