View source for Crack Down

{{Bob
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}}
'''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' (クラックダウン) is a top-down arcade shoot-'em-up title developed by [[Sega AM1]] for the [[Sega System 24]] arcade board.

==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".{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20210212025035/https://twitter.com/okunari/status/1360057929164988424}}{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20231025083105/https://twitter.com/okunari/status/990602149179441152}}{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20191029234541/https://twitter.com/gosokkyu/status/1189314159520964608}}{{ref|https://www.hardcoregaming101.net/crack-down/}}

''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]]''{{magref|one|15|51}}. Attempts were made to reverse engineer the System 24 hardware (or more specifically the internal floppy disk format){{magref|one|15|51}}, but this proved unsuccessful and [[Sega of Japan]] refused to give the team any technical details{{magref|one|15|52}}. Sega did provide a black and white copy of some of the game's graphics, however{{magref|one|15|52}}.

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{{magref|one|15|52}}. 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{{magref|one|15|52}}.

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{{magref|suser|94|64}}. Two weeks were spent bringing the game to the Amstrad CPC{{magref|suser|94|65}}, after which a further two weeks were spent converting the CPC code to the Spectrum{{magref|suser|94|65}}.

Using a technique developed in the Spectrum ports of ''Forgotten Worlds'' and ''X-Out'', graphics scroll two pixels at a time{{magref|suser|94|65}}. 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{{magref|suser|94|65}}.

==Production credits==
{{mainArticle|{{PAGENAME}}/Production credits}}

==Digital manuals==
<gallery>
CrackDown Steam manual.pdf|Steam manual
</gallery>

==Magazine articles==
{{mainArticle|{{PAGENAME}}/Magazine articles}}

==Promotional material==
{{mainArticle|{{PAGENAME}}/Promotional material}}

==Artwork==
<gallery>
CrackDown MD Art 01.jpg
</gallery>

==Physical scans==
===System 24 version===
{{ratings|SYS24}}
{{ScanArcade
| type=upright
| console=System 24
| region=US
}}
{{ScanArcade
| console=System 24
| region=JP
| instructioncard1=Notavailable.svg
| instructioncard2=Notavailable.svg
}}

===Mega-Tech version===
{{Scanbox
| console=Mega-Tech
| front=CrackDown MT cover.jpg
}}

===Mega Drive version===
{{ratings
| icon=MD
| hobbyconsolas=65
| hobbyconsolas_source={{magref|hobbyconsolas|6|29}}
}}
{{Scanbox
| console=Mega Drive
| region=JP
| cover=CrackDown MD JP Box.jpg
| cart=CrackDown MD JP Cart.jpg
| carttop=CrackDown MD JP CartTop.jpg
| manual=Crackdown md jp manual.pdf
}}{{Scanbox
| console=Mega Drive
| region=US
| cover=CrackDown MD US Box.jpg
| cart=CrackDown MD US Cart.jpg
| manual=CrackDown MD US manual.pdf
}}{{Scanbox
| console=Mega Drive
| region=EU
| cover=CrackDown MD EU Box.jpg
| cart=CrackDown MD EU Cart.jpg
| manual=Crackdown MD EU Manual.jpg
| item1=CrackDown MD EU pcb.jpg
| item1name=PCB
}}{{Scanbox
| console=Mega Drive
| region=PT
| front=CrackDown MD PT Box.jpg
| back=CrackDown MD PT Box Back.jpg
| spinemissing=yes
}}{{Scanbox
| console=Mega Drive
| region=SE (rental; [[Hent Gruppen|Hent]]; black)
| cover=CrackDown MD SE rental cover.jpg
}}{{Scanbox
| console=Mega Drive
| region=AU
| front=CrackDown MD AU cover.jpg
| back=CrackDown MD AU back.jpg
| spinemissing=yes
| cart=
}}{{Scanbox
| console=Mega Drive
| region=BR
| cover=CrackDown MD BR Box.jpg
| cart=
}}

===Amiga version===
{{ratings|Amiga}}
{{Scanbox
| console=Amiga
| region=UK
| front=
| square=yes
}}{{Scanbox
| console=Amiga
| region=UK ([[Kixx]])
| front=CrackDown Amiga EU Box Front Kixx.jpg
| square=yes
}}

===Amstrad CPC version===
{{ratings|CPC}}
{{Scanbox
| console=Amstrad CPC
| region=UK (cassette)
| front=
| square=yes
}}{{Scanbox
| console=Amstrad CPC
| region=UK (disk)
| front=
| disk=CrackDown CPC EU Disk Front.jpg
| diskback=CrackDown CPC EU Disk Back.jpg
}}{{Scanbox
| console=Amstrad CPC
| region=UK ([[Kixx]])
| cover=CrackDown CPC UK Box Kixx.jpg
}}{{Scanbox
| console=Amstrad CPC
| region=ES (cassette)
| cover=CrackDown CPC ES Box Cassette Erbe.jpg
| cassette=CrackDown CPC ES Cassette Erbe.jpg
}}

===Atari ST version===
{{ratings|ST}}
{{Scanbox
| console=Atari ST
| region=UK
| front=
| cart=
}}
{{Scanbox
| console=Atari ST
| region=UK ([[Kixx]])
| front=
| square=yes
}}

===Commodore 64 version===
{{ratings|C64}}
{{Scanbox
| console=Commodore 64
| region=US
| front=CrackDown C64 US Box Front.jpg
| back=CrackDown C64 US Box Back.jpg
| spinemissing=yes
}}{{Scanbox
| console=Commodore 64
| region=UK
| front=
| cart=
}}{{Scanbox
| console=Commodore 64
| region=UK ([[Kixx]])
| cover=CrackDown C64 UK Box Kixx.jpg
| cassette=CrackDown C64 UK Cassette Kixx.jpg
}}{{Scanbox
| console=Commodore 64
| region=ES
| front=
| cart=
}}

===IBM PC version===
{{Scanbox
| console=IBM PC
| region=US
| front=CrackDown DOS US Box Front.jpg
| back=CrackDown DOS US Box Back.jpg
| spinemissing=yes
| disk=CrackDown DOS US Disk.jpg
}}

===ZX Spectrum version===
{{ratings|Spectrum}}
{{Scanbox
| console=ZX Spectrum
| region=UK
| front=
}}{{Scanbox
| console=ZX Spectrum
| region=UK ([[Kixx]])
| front=CrackDown Spectrum EU Box Kixx.jpg
}}{{Scanbox
| console=ZX Spectrum
| region=ES
| cover=CrackDown Spectrum EU Erbe Box.jpg
}}{{Scanbox
| console=ZX Spectrum
| region=ES (Especial 8 Bits)
| cover=CrackDown Spectrum ES Box Especial.jpg
}}

==Technical information==
{{mainArticle|{{PAGENAME}}/Technical information}}

==External links==
* Sega of Japan Virtual Console pages: [http://vc.sega.jp/vc_crackdown/ Mega Drive]
* Nintenod catalogue pages: [https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Virtual-Console-Wii-/Crack-Down--276753.html UK], [http://web.archive.org/web/20120403031342/http://www.nintendo.com.au/index.php?action=catalogue&prodcat_id=41&prod_id=19733&pageID=4 AU]
* [http://store.steampowered.com/app/34273/ ''{{PAGENAME}}'' on Steam]

==References==
<references/>

{{CrackDownOmni}}
[[Category:Mega-Tech games]]