Virtual Console Reviews

No, this game is not related to the Xbox 360's Crackdown! Hardly anybody seems to know this game, despite it being a port of an arcade game (Arcade games are usually quite well-known!). In the game you play as one or two (If a friend helps) men going into various buildings to place time bombs in order to blow them up. Obviously, the hallways and passages are loaded with enemies to make your life more difficult. The gameplay is distantly remniscent of games such as Gauntlet and Dungeon Explorer, both in the way your character moves and the level layouts.

You start off unarmed, and thankfully the basic soldiers are also unarmed. You can knock them out with one punch. Soon you will, thankfully, find ammo, allowing you to carefully snipe down guards from a distance with your gun. Later you will also find weapons like rocket launchers. Be careful though, as obviously armed soldiers will fire back at you too (Note that enemies can kill their fellow men too if they're in the way!).

To evade these attacks, the game features some Metal Gear Solid-esque stealth moves, such as pressing against walls (Allowing shots to go straight past you) and opening doors without actually going through (The doors won't "magically disappear", they'll stay open and act as makeshift shield until you leave the vicinty, then they'll automatically close). If you're playing solo, the second player's screen will display all present enemy types in a stage and the weapons they carry so that you know what to look out for.

After planting all bombs in a stage (The locations are marked by big red Xes) you must exit the stage, usually somewhere on the right. After this the time bombs will explode and you will go on to the next stage.

Don't think the game's that simple though. Soldiers aren't the only hazards - There's bottomless pits, kamikaze robots that explode in your face and more. The game gets tough very quickly and provides you with a nice challenge.

One final thing worth mentioning is the music. The main theme (Which can be heard in our video below) is very catchy, and has a somewhat "epic" feel to it as it builds up the pace, which fits in nicely with the theme of the game.

All in all, Crack Down's a great port of an already great arcade game. Shame people seem to have forgotten this game, as it's really good!