Vendetta (video game)

Infobox VG
title = Vendetta


caption=
developer = Konami
publisher = Konami
designer =
series = Crime Fighters
released = July 1991
genre = Beat 'em up
modes = Single player, 2-4 player Co-op
cabinet = Upright
arcade system =
display = Raster, 304 x 224 pixels (Horizontal), 2048 colors
input = 8-way Joystick, 2 Buttons
platforms = Arcade, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64

Vendetta is an arcade game released in 1991 by Konami. The game is a four-player scrolling beat 'em up with a big screen. As with the originators of the genre ("Renegade" and "Double Dragon"), it involves street gangs. This game is known in Japan as "Crime Fighters 2," implying that the game is a direct sequel to the 1989 game Crime Fighters. There are four characters (good guys depicted in the picture at right): Blood (red shirt, ex-prize fighter), Hawk (blue shirt, former professional wrestler), Boomer (yellow shirt, martial arts expert) and Sledge (light green shirt, ex-military convict).

toryline

The hero gang, called The Cobras, numbers five members: Blood (former prizefighter, with a passing resemblance to Mike Tyson), Hawk (former professional wrestler, with passing resemblance to Hulk Hogan), Boomer (a martial artist, possibly similar to Jean-Claude Van Damme), Sledge (a military ex-convict with passing resemblance to Mr. T), and Kate, the damsel in distress, described as Hawk's protegee and wearing a blue shirt similar to his.

One day, Kate is kidnapped by the Dead End Gang under the leadership of Faust. The four men go save her, fighting through the waves of enemies that are sent against them.

Dead End Gang Bosses

*Buzzsaw Bravado: A vicious mohawk punk in a black leather jacket wielding a huge buzzsaw.
*Joe Osuhgi: An American-Japanese man wielding a kusari-gama and star shuriken. His name is an obvious reference to martial arts star Sho Kosugi.
*Missing Link: A monstrous, animal-like hulk with a wild beard and dreadlocks hiding his face. His wrists and chest are decorated with iron chains. Appearance probably based on Bruiser Brody.
*The Rude Brothers: Two twin brothers and owners of a casino in a seedy part of Dead End City. The bigger of the two brothers is a brawler, while the smaller brother is a skillfull acrobat and knife-fighter. Both work as a team whenever possible.
*Kruel Kurt: A bald thug who lurks aboard a barque in the harbor district. His preferred weapon is a heavy iron anchor.
*Faust: The supreme leader of the Dead End Gang. He likes to blow a green dust into his enemies' eyes to incapacitate them, and in his hideout he has a submachine gun which he uses against intruders if he is allowed to reach it.

Gameplay

As with most beat-em-ups, the game featured primarily side-scrolling action, with the score dependent merely on number of opponents eliminated, regardless of strength--a faceless drone and an end boss would both score as one. Also standard are various weapons that can be found, whether from a fallen enemy, hidden in the environment, or lying out in the open. Weapons include maces, chains, whips, Molotov cocktails, and even a short shotgun that could eliminate almost all foes in one hit.

The game featured two differences in gameplay. One was that an enemy who had been knocked down could be subjected to further abuse; this feature also appeared in an X-Men beat-'em-up. This would be done with the kick button (see below), although the actual manoeuvre used was a punch, an elbow drop, a short kick/stomp, or a quick kneedrop, depending on the individual fighter.

The other difference was that instead of the conventional 'attack' and 'jump' buttons, this game used 'punch' and 'kick'. The only aerial manoeuvre was the special punch-plus-kick (P+K) manoeuvre, and only when the joystick was pointed forward.

Trivia

As was the case with Capcom's Final Fight game, and Sega's own Streets of Rage 3, "Vendetta" was censored when released outside of the Asian market to remove a homosexual character who dresses in leather and grabs hold of the playable character, proceeding to dry hump and lick him.

External links

*KLOV game|id=10300|name=Vendetta
*KLOV game|id=7438|name=Crime Fighters 2
* [http://www.gamefaqs.com/coinop/arcade/game/583961.html "Vendetta"] at GameFAQs
* [http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0005552 "Vendetta"] at World of Spectrum