VS. Wrecking Crew

VS. Wrecking Crew is a 1984 arcade game for the VS. System and is the first game of the Wrecking Crew series. Unlike its 1985 console sequel Wrecking Crew, this game is focused more on competitive play and is less puzzle oriented. It features a simultaneous two-player mode in which the opposing player is seen on the other side of the construction wall.

A port of VS. Wrecking Crew for the Arcade Archives series was released for Nintendo Switch on May 1, 2020.

Gameplay
Gameplay takes place on a single wraparound screen split into five floors. In the single player mode, Luigi is an opponent that hinders Mario. In the two-player mode, both players compete against each other.

The game was designed specifically for the VS. DualSystem, and thus featured mechanics that were only possible with multiple screens. On each screen, each player will see the enemies that can harm them in the foreground, while the ones dangerous to their opponent are blue silhouettes. If an enemy walks into a door (which are opened by swinging at them with hammers), they will switch the side of the playfield that they are on. This allows both players to compete by luring enemies on their opponent's side, while simultaneously competing for score by demolishing as much of the building as possible before the time runs out. If both players are at the same wall piece, whichever swings first will knock the other down to the bottom of the playfield, as can be done with enemies that are on the other side compared to where the player is. In addition, they will have to dodge Fireballs that spawn from the edge of their platform.

After every even numbered phase, there will be a bonus stage. In a single player game, Mario has to find a coin hidden behind a row of walls before the time runs out. With two players, both compete against each other for the coin. There are 10,000 bonus points for finding the coin in the first wall that is smashed.

While a lot of this is possible in single player, Luigi is much less aggressive than an actual second player would most likely be and thus a lot of what can happen in multiplayer may not happen in single player.

Playable

 * Mario
 * Luigi

Enemies

 * Gotchawrench - a dinosaur wrench that moves around the stage. Red ones move slowly while the faster purple ones make their first appearance in Phase 3.
 * Unnamed hatchet monsters that behave identically to the red Gotchawrenches which they replace starting in Phase 11.
 * Fireball - Spend too long in a particular area and a fireball will appear.
 * Luigi - In one player mode, the CPU-controlled Luigi will constantly try to stop Mario from completing his job by hitting him off the beams.

Development
VS. Wrecking Crew was Yoshio Sakamoto's first job as a game designer following a brief stint as a pixel artist. The idea was to create a "puzzle action game" centered around breaking walls.

The game originally had no tie to the Mario franchise, the protagonist being an unnamed overalls-wearing man with no mustache as seen in earlier Japanese flyers and ads. The early screenshots in both sets of flyers also have differences compared to the released version. Notably, the HUD has the text "I UP" and "IIUP" instead of "MARIO" and "LUIGI". Additionally, the second player is green or blue-clothed, whereas Luigi wears a lighter shade of Mario's red in the final. During development, Shigeru Miyamoto was shown the game and suggested Mario to be the player character as "he's really easy to draw, and people recognize him."

References to other games

 * Donkey Kong: Mario cannot jump because of the weight of his hammer, but he can now climb ladders with it.
 * Mario Bros.: The fireball appears in levels if the player takes too long to complete the level.