Crack Down
From Sega Retro
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System(s): Sega System 24, Sega Mega Drive, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, IBM PC, ZX Spectrum, Virtual Console, Steam | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Publisher: Sega Sega (EU/JP) Sage's Creation (US) U.S. Gold (UK) Erbe Software (ES) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Developer: Esco Boueki, Sega R&D 1[1] HOT-B[2] Arc Developments M2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distributor: Ecofilmes (PT) Hent Gruppen (SE rental) Tec Toy (BR) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Genre: Action[3][4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of players: 1-2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Crack Down (クラックダウン) is a top-down arcade shoot-'em-up title developed by Sega for their Sega System 24 arcade board.
Contents
Gameplay
The game features two heroes, Ben Breaker and Andy Attacker, who have to get through a series of levels as quickly as possible by placing bombs on marked X spots scattered around the levels. The levels are heavily defended, but the player has an array of weaponry including a cannon, machine gun, and superbombs at their disposal in order to stay alive. The gameplay was designed by Yutaka Sugano, who had previously designed Shinobi, and it has been described as "Shinobi but top-down".[23][24][25][26]
Crack Down is unusual in that its System 24 roots mean that the screen is always split into two. As a result, one of the main complaints for weaker systems (with lower screen resolutions) is that the majority of the screen is not used when playing a one-player game.
History
Legacy
Crack Down' has subsequently been ported to a variety of systems, including the Sega Mega Drive, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS and ZX Spectrum. The Mega Drive version is a common choice for compilations, and has therefore seen several re-releases among other early Mega Drive titles. It has also been brought to the Wii's Virtual Console service.
For whatever reason, Sega had Sage's Creation publish the Mega Drive port in North America (it may have had to do with HOT-B making the port).
Versions
Amiga and Atari ST versions
The Amiga and Atari ST versions were created simultaneously by Arc Developments, following their home computer conversions of Forgotten Worlds.
While an arcade machine was obtained to help with the conversions, the lack of any sort of pause button or tile viewer on the unit meant initially the team were forced to copy the graphics by eye in Deluxe Paint III[27]. Attempts were made to reverse engineer the System 24 hardware (or more specifically the internal floppy disk format)[27], but this proved unsuccessful and Sega of Japan refused to give the team any technical details[28]. Sega did provide a black and white copy of some of the game's graphics, however[28].
Graphics were drawn on Amigas, before being transferred over to IBM PC compatibles (using the Amiga-to-IBM file utility Dos2Dos) for the main development of the game[28]. Once on the PC, a bespoke program would be run to strip the graphics files of unnecessary data prior to use. During development the graphics spanned at least 36 floppy disks[28].
The Amiga and Atari ST versions omit the intermission screens to save space.
There is a known glitch in the Amiga version of the game which causes the final level to crash. While more recent patches by fans have fixed the problem, it was never addressed during the game's original production run.
Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum versions
The Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum versions were also created by Arc Developments, and also used a similar system of drawing the graphics on an Amiga with Deluxe Paint III, while writing the code on an IBM PC[29]. Two weeks were spent bringing the game to the Amstrad CPC[30], after which a further two weeks were spent converting the CPC code to the Spectrum[30].
Using a technique developed in the Spectrum ports of Forgotten Worlds and X-Out, graphics scroll two pixels at a time[30]. This technique does not affect the way the Spectrum draws graphics on-screen however, so in order to overcome colour clash all in-game graphics share the same two colours[30].
Production credits
- Main article: Crack Down/Production credits.
Digital manuals
Magazine articles
- Main article: Crack Down/Magazine articles.
Promotional material
- Main article: Crack Down/Promotional material.
Artwork
Physical scans
System 24 version
Sega Retro Average | ||||||||||||||
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|
73 | |
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Based on 2 reviews |
System 24, US | ||||
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Mega-Tech version
Mega Drive version
70 | |
---|---|
Based on 32 reviews |
Mega Drive, SE (rental; Hent; black) |
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Amiga version
Sega Retro Average | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
77 | |
---|---|
Based on 8 reviews |
Amiga, UK |
---|
|
Amiga, UK (Kixx) |
---|
Amstrad CPC version
Sega Retro Average | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
75 | |
---|---|
Based on 4 reviews |
Amstrad CPC, UK (cassette) |
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|
Amstrad CPC, UK (Kixx) |
---|
Atari ST version
Sega Retro Average | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
78 | |
---|---|
Based on 6 reviews |
Atari ST, UK |
---|
|
Atari ST, UK (Kixx) |
---|
|
Commodore 64 version
Sega Retro Average | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
76 | |
---|---|
Based on 11 reviews |
Commodore 64, UK |
---|
|
Commodore 64, UK (Kixx) |
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Commodore 64, ES |
---|
|
IBM PC version
ZX Spectrum version
Sega Retro Average | |||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
72 | |
---|---|
Based on 3 reviews |
ZX Spectrum, UK |
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|
ZX Spectrum, UK (Kixx) |
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Technical information
- Main article: Crack Down/Technical information.
External links
- Sega of Japan Virtual Console pages: Mega Drive
- Nintenod catalogue pages: UK, AU
- Crack Down on Steam
References
- ↑ @tsurumy on Twitter (Wayback Machine: 2020-09-04 15:45)
- ↑ http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Interview:Kimihiro_Endou
- ↑ File:CrackDown MD JP Box.jpg
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://sega.jp/history/hard/megadrive/software.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-07-20 09:51)
- ↑ Game Machine Daikenkyuu (JP; 1989-10-15), page 80
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 GamePro, "May 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 38
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Raze, "August 1991" (UK; 1991-06-27), page 51
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Sega Power, "June 1991" (UK; 1991-05-02), page 12
- ↑ Supergame, "Janeiro 1992" (BR; 1992-01-xx), page 38
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Génération 4, "Avril 1990" (FR; 1990-0x-xx), page 11
- ↑ File:CGW US 080.pdf, page 8
- ↑ Computer & Video Games, "April 1990" (UK; 1990-03-16), page 8
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Commodore Format, "July 1992" (UK; 1992-06-18), page 48
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 http://www.nintendolife.com/games/megadrive/crack_down (Wayback Machine: 2017-06-13 19:14)
- ↑ https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Virtual-Console-Wii-/Crack-Down--276753.html (archive.today)
- ↑ https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/vc/software/04.html (Wayback Machine: 2018-03-05 23:40)
- ↑ http://vc.sega.jp:80/vc_crackdown/ (Wayback Machine: 2007-08-13 07:59)
- ↑ http://www.nintendo.com.au/index.php?action=catalogue&prodcat_id=41&prod_id=19733&pageID=4 (Wayback Machine: 2012-04-03 03:13)
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 https://steamdb.info/app/34273/ (Wayback Machine: 2016-07-30 05:19)
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 http://steamdb.info/app/34273/ (Wayback Machine: 2013-05-22 19:33)
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 21.5 21.6 21.7 21.8 21.9 https://steamdb.info/app/34273/history/?changeid=5755312
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 22.6 22.7 22.8 22.9 http://steamdb.info/app/34273/ (Wayback Machine: 2019-09-08 00:06)
- ↑ @okunari on Twitter (Wayback Machine: 2021-02-12 02:50)
- ↑ @okunari on Twitter (Wayback Machine: 2023-10-25 08:31)
- ↑ @gosokkyu on Twitter (Wayback Machine: 2019-10-29 23:45)
- ↑ https://www.hardcoregaming101.net/crack-down/
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 The One, "December 1989" (UK; 1989-11-xx), page 51
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 The One, "December 1989" (UK; 1989-11-xx), page 52
- ↑ Sinclair User, "January 1990" (UK; 1989-12-18), page 64
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 Sinclair User, "January 1990" (UK; 1989-12-18), page 65
- ↑ Computer & Video Games, "June 1989" (UK; 1989-05-16), page 78
- ↑ Power Play, "2/90" (DE; 1990-01-25), page 69
- ↑ Hobby Consolas, "Marzo 1992" (ES; 1992-0x-xx), page 29
- ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 52
- ↑ Ação Games, "Junho 1991" (BR; 1991-06-19), page 31
- ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "January 1991" (JP; 1990-12-08), page 35
- ↑ The Complete Guide to Sega, "" (UK; 1991-05-xx), page 110
- ↑ Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 128
- ↑ Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 34
- ↑ Famitsu, "" (JP; 1990-1x-xx), page 1
- ↑ Games-X, "14th-20th June 1991" (UK; 1991-06-14), page 20
- ↑ Génération 4, "Février 1991" (FR; 1991-xx-xx), page 102
- ↑ Hippon Super, "January 1991" (JP; 1990-12-04), page 42
- ↑ Joystick, "Mars 1991" (FR; 1991-0x-xx), page 118
- ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 91
- ↑ Mega Drive Fan, "March 1991" (JP; 1991-02-08), page 99
- ↑ Mega, "August 1994" (UK; 1994-07-21), page 79
- ↑ MegaTech, "Xmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-06), page 77
- ↑ Micromanía (segunda época), "Agosto 1991" (ES; 1991-0x-xx), page 37
- ↑ Mean Machines, "February 1991" (UK; 1991-02-01), page 66
- ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 138
- ↑ Player One, "Juin 1991" (FR; 1991-xx-xx), page 37
- ↑ Power Play, "4/91" (DE; 1991-03-15), page 135
- ↑ Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 53
- ↑ Sega Pro, "December 1991" (UK; 1991-11-21), page 21
- ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 64
- ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 87
- ↑ Tilt, "Mai 1991" (FR; 1991-0x-xx), page 80
- ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 11
- ↑ User, "Ioúnios 1991" (GR; 1991-0x-xx), page 66
- ↑ VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, "March 1991" (US; 1991-0x-xx), page 40
- ↑ Video Games, "1/91" (DE; 1991-03-27), page 79
- ↑ The Australian Commodore Review, "Vol. 7 No. 9: September 1990" (AU; 1990-0x-xx), page 79
- ↑ Amiga Joker, "Juni/Juli '90" (DE; 1990-05-25), page 52
- ↑ Aktueller Software Markt, "August/September 1990" (DE; 1990-07-27), page 69
- ↑ CU Amiga, "April 1990" (UK; 1990-03-26), page 33
- ↑ 67.0 67.1 Joystick, "Juin 1990" (FR; 1990-05-xx), page 128
- ↑ 68.0 68.1 Power Play, "5/90" (DE; 1990-04-12), page 40
- ↑ User, "Ioúlios-Ávgoustos 1990" (GR; 1990-0x-xx), page 52
- ↑ 70.0 70.1 Zzap!64, "April 1990" (UK; 1990-03-15), page 10
- ↑ 71.0 71.1 71.2 Aktueller Software Markt, "Juni/Juli 1990" (DE; 1990-05-25), page 18
- ↑ CPC Attack!, "August 1992" (UK; 1992-07-04), page 30
- ↑ 73.0 73.1 Zzap!, "Giugno 1990" (IT; 1990-xx-xx), page 32
- ↑ The Games Machine, "April 1990" (UK; 1990-03-15), page 43
- ↑ Génération 4, "Avril 1990" (FR; 1990-0x-xx), page 10
- ↑ Joystick, "Avril 1990" (FR; 1990-03-20), page 116
- ↑ ST Action, "April 1990" (UK; 1990-0x-xx), page 36
- ↑ C-Lehti, "4/90" (FI; 1990-09-13), page 61
- ↑ Computer & Video Games, "March 1990" (UK; 1990-02-16), page 72
- ↑ 80.0 80.1 The Games Machine, "May 1990" (UK; 1990-04-05), page 61
- ↑ Power Play, "7/90" (DE; 1990-06-15), page 116
- ↑ Svet Kompjutera, "Oktobar 1990" (YU; 1990-xx-xx), page 58
- ↑ Your Commodore, "May 1990" (UK; 1990-04-06), page 17
- ↑ Zzap!64, "August 1992" (UK; 1992-07-xx), page 44
- ↑ Micromanía (segunda época), "Junio 1990" (ES; 1990-0x-xx), page 24
- ↑ Sinclair User, "July 1992" (UK; 1992-06-18), page 42
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