Basic Strategies[edit]
- In general, it is best to work from the top of the screen down to the bottom. This is only because once you destroy breakable ladders, you are sometimes left without a route to the top, rendering a stage unbeatable.
- Likewise, be sure to note all of the bricks and walls that must be destroyed before breakable ladders are destroyed. Make sure you know what objects will be affected by bombs before you hit them so that you don't end up stranding yourself at the bottom of the screen.
- Trap Spike and the other enemies in barrels if its safe to do so. Stand in front of a pillar that holds a barrel and wait for an enemy to approach you. Hit the pillar at the last moment and move away to trap the enemy in the barrel.
- When fireballs appear, wrapping around to the other side is the safest way to avoid the fireball without interrupting your progress too much. Sometimes it's not possible to do this, so always know how to escape if you need to.
- Study each level well enough to know how the enemies will move through them. Once you have their pattern down, you can progress through the level without getting in their way. If Spike is on the board, try to knock him down to the ground before he knocks you down so he will leave you alone for a while.
1-Up Letters[edit]
Many stages contain a set of bricks and walls that hide the letters M, A, R, I, and O for player 1, and L, U, I, G, and I for player 2. If the player manages to make all of these letters appear, that player will be awarded with an extra life. It is very difficult to find all of these letters. In order to find them, you must:
- be on a stage that contains letters,
- and find each letter in the proper order
For example, if you happen to break a wall where R, I, or O is located before you find the A, no more letters will appear.
Golden Hammers[edit]
Some stages contain a prize bomb. In order to obtain the prize, this particular bomb must be the third bomb destroyed during that stage. One of the prizes is the Golden Hammer. The Golden Hammer is a very valuable prize for Mario or Luigi to obtain. It allows the brothers to swing the hammer much faster, and destroy every wall in one single blow. It also allows the brothers to strike enemies that are closing in on them, something which the ordinary hammer cannot do. Despite knowing which bomb is the prize bomb, the golden hammer can still be tricky to obtain. The trick to getting the golden hammer relies on two numbers:
- the number of the stage,
- and the number of times you have swung your hammer since you started the stage.
Add these two numbers together, and divide the number by 8. The remainder determines what your prize will be. Use the following chart to determine your prize:
| Remainder | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prize | Pig | Hammer | Santa | Pig | Cat | Santa | Pig | Cat |
| Image | 
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| Points | 800 | 3200 | 1600 | 800 | 3200 | 1600 | 800 | 3200 |
For example, if you are on stage 9, and you hit the prize bomb with your 8th swing, 9 + 8 = 17, and 17 divided by 8 gives you a remainder of 1, so you would earn the golden hammer. However, if you were on stage 9, and you hit the prize bomb with only your 7th swing, 9 + 7 = 16, and 16 divided by 8 gives you a remainder of 0, so you would only earn the Pig. Pay attention to the number of times you swing your hammer before you strike the prize bomb.
Vs. Wrecking Crew differences[edit]
- Vs. Wrecking Crew was the arcade adaptation of the home Famicom/NES version.
- Vs. Wrecking Crew features both Mario and Luigi at all times. If only one player plays, Luigi is controlled by the computer.
- Luigi and Mario are always on opposite layers from one another. If a player control's Luigi, his view is the mirror image of the same play field as Mario's.
- The computer will not necessarily control Luigi to play cooperatively.
- The entire building can be seen on one screen. The screen does not scroll.
- The layout of building elements is almost entirely random. In this sense, no two games play the same.
- Everything else is basically the same. Players can still cross from one side of the screen to the other.