Crack Down

{{About|the 1989 arcade game|the 2007 video game|Crackdown (video game)}}

{{Infobox video game

| title = Crack Down

| image = Crack Down (flier).png

| developer = Sega
Hot-B (Genesis)

| publisher = Sega
Sage's Creation (Genesis)
U.S. Gold (home computers)

| designer =

| composer = Yasuhiro Kawakami

| engine =

| released = Arcade
1989
Mega Drive/Genesis{{vgrelease|JP|December 20, 1990{{cite web |title=Software List (Sega Release) |url=https://www.sega.jp/history/hard/megadrive/software.html |website=Sega Hard Encyclopedia |publisher=Sega Corporation |access-date=May 15, 2023 |language=ja}}|NA|March 1991{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/game-pro-issue-22-may-1991/page/n39/mode/1up|author=The Bohemian|date=May 1991|title=Genesis ProView: Crack Down|magazine=GamePro|issue=22|page=36|accessdate=27 August 2021}}|EU|1991}}

| genre = Run and gun

| modes = Single-player, multiplayer

| platforms = Arcade, Mega Drive/Genesis, Atari ST, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum

}}

{{nihongo|Crack Down|クラックダウン}} is a run and gun arcade game released by Sega in 1989 and ported to the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis in 1990 in Japan and 1991 in North America and Europe by Sage's Creation and Sega respectively. It was also ported and released to a number of home computer platforms by U.S. Gold.

The Mega Drive version of Crack Down was re-released in 2007 on the Wii Virtual Console in Japan on August 7, and in PAL regions on September 7. It was also released on Steam on June 1, 2010.

Gameplay

File:Crack Down.png

Using a top-down perspective (akin to Gauntlet), the player controls either Ben or Andy, a pair of agents charged with stopping mad scientist Mr. X (Mr.K in the Sega Mega Drive version) from taking over the world, as they make their way through several timed levels, planting bombs and destroying cyborg enemies using guns (the "machine gun" and the "cannon" can be swapped back and forth) and smart bombs (which wipe out all enemies on screen). The goal of each stage is to plant all of the bombs and escape before their collective timer goes off.

Reception

{{Video game reviews

| rev1 = Console XS

| rev1Score = 82% (SMD){{Cite journal |date=June 1992 |title=A-Z Software |url=https://archive.org/details/console-xs-01/page/128/mode/2up |journal=Console XS |issue=1 |pages=128 |access-date=March 24, 2022}}

| rev2 = MegaTech

| rev2Score = 65% (SMD){{Cite journal |date=December 1991 |title=Game Index |url=https://archive.org/details/UneditedUK_marktrade/MegaTech_01/page/n75/mode/2up |journal=MegaTech |issue=1 |pages=77 |access-date=March 28, 2022}}

| Allgame = {{rating|3|5}} (SMD){{Cite web |last=Scott Alan Marriott |title=Crack Down Review |url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=12553&tab=review |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141116162603/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=12553&tab=review |archive-date=November 16, 2014 |access-date=May 31, 2022 |website=Allgame}}

| award1Pub = Computer and Video Games

| award1 = C+VG HitGame review, Computer & Video Games issue 100, March 1990, page 72

}}

In Japan, Game Machine listed Crack Down on their May 15, 1989 issue as being the third most popular arcade game during the previous two weeks.{{cite magazine|title=Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)|magazine=Game Machine|issue=356|publisher=Amusement Press, Inc.|date=15 May 1989|page=21|lang=ja}} Console XS gave a review score of 82%, commending its detailed graphics, "addictive" gameplay, and the two player mode. They concluded saying it is worth playing.{{Cite journal |date=June 1992 |title=A-Z Software |url=https://archive.org/details/console-xs-01/page/128/mode/2up |journal=Console XS |issue=1 |pages=128 |access-date=March 24, 2022}} MegaTech gave the Genesis version a review score of 65%. They praised the two player mode, but criticized the game's lack of challenge.{{Cite journal |date=December 1991 |title=Game Index |url=https://archive.org/details/UneditedUK_marktrade/MegaTech_01/page/n75/mode/2up |journal=MegaTech |issue=1 |pages=77 |access-date=March 28, 2022}}