Two Crude Dudes

About Two Crude Dudes

Two Crude (1990), Crude Buster in Japan and Two Crude Dudes on Genesis, is Data East's comic beat 'em up in which mercenaries Biff and Spike hurl cars and enemies to retake a ruined New York.

Two Crude Dudes in Depth

Biff and Spike are mercenaries hired by the American government to stop the terrorist organisation Big Valley and retake a New York City ruined by a nuclear explosion the group caused. Players jump, dodge and fight through legions of enemies, and since the duo are muscle-bound brawlers they can lift objects far heavier than themselves, such as cars and traffic lights, to use as weapons, and do the same with most enemies. In co-op, one player can even pick up the other and throw him.

Each player has a life bar that falls with every hit, and some enemies grab on and drain it; a player killed by an explosion or flames slumps to the ground burnt. Between stages a cut-scene shows Biff and Spike punching a "Power Cola" vending machine until sodas fall out and drinking them to refill their life, and the same machines serve as top-up points in most stages. Computer and Video Games' Julian Rignall gave the arcade game 95 per cent, calling it "one of the best beat'em ups I've seen in years", and Sinclair User likened it to an interactive cartoon and called it a classic, better than its predecessor.

Making Two Crude Dudes

Data East developed and published it for arcades in 1990, and Game Machine listed it as Japan's seventh most successful table arcade unit in its 15 April 1990 issue. The Mega Drive/Genesis port kept the Japanese title in Japan but became Two Crude Dudes in North America and Europe, and it was well received too. After Data East's bankruptcy, G-Mode included the arcade game in Data East Arcade Classics.