Though Mario is a character best known for platformer games, he's been represented in just about every genre. One of his earliest appearances was in Wrecking Crew, a little-known early NES puzzle game that turns out to be one of the true hidden gems on the Virtual Console.

Wrecking Crew has Mario or Luigi having the task of demolishing a building by using their handy-dandy oversized hammers to bring down the more fragile parts of the structure. Of course, this won't be an easy task, as not only do some of the targets take careful planning to get to, but you also must avoid a series of baddies.

Like most first-generation NES games, Wrecking Crew's graphics aren't anything to write home about, and the music just might drive you nutty after about ten minutes. But this is the sort of game that doesn't depend on a flash presentation. It's a great mix of puzzle and action that turns out to be enjoyably addictive once you get a hang of things.

If you ever do exhaust Wrecking Crew's 100 levels, there's a fairly robust level editing mode that'll keep you occupied. And unlike the original cart release, the VC handily saves your creations even after you've turned the power off.

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