Crack Down
Crack Down 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. 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.
Crack Down
- Date
- 1990
- Language
- English
- Genre
- shoot 'em up
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Documentary summary
Crack Down 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. 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.
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q2742747 · wikipedia · Crack Down
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Title — Crack Down • Developer — Sega Hot-B (Genesis) • Publisher — Sega Sage's Creation (Genesis) U.S. Gold (home computers) • Composer — Yasuhiro Kawakami • Released — Arcade 1989 Mega Drive/Genesis • Genre — Run and gun • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer • Platforms — Arcade, Mega Drive/Genesis, Atari ST, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum
Gameplay
Gameplay
• Illustration — Arcade screenshot 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.
History of the object
Dated record
History of the object
The full dated record · 1 entries
1990
Crack Down published.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- Japan
Named but not plotted · 1
Crack Down is associated with Japan.
Country
Reception
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. 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. MegaTech gave the Genesis version a review score of 65%. They praised the two player mode, but criticized the game's lack of challenge.
Context
Primary material
Context
The circumstances in which Crack Down stands. Composed by Yasuhiro Kawakami. Issued for Microsoft Windows. Issued for Commodore 64. Issued for ZX Spectrum. Issued for Amstrad CPC. Crack Down is recorded as video game. Issued for macOS.
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Crack Down”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q2742747: Crack Down
General reference · Wikidata
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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