Vendetta (Arcade) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
1,738A playthrough of Konami's 1991 arcade beat 'em up, Vendetta.
Played through as Boomer on the machine's default difficulty setting.
Vendetta, the sequel to Konami's 1989 Crime Fighters (https://youtu.be/UH5xiZuOZcY ), is a belt-scrolling brawler that follows the same style as games like X-Men (https://youtu.be/yvHVwj3bzJ8 ), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (https://youtu.be/Gj6KRiYRxPU ), and Metamorphic Force (https://youtu.be/d6qSfVutq6Y ). It was followed up by Violent Storm (https://youtu.be/9YA-Biul-Zo ) in 1993.
Vendetta marks a substantial improvement over Crime Fighters. The controls are a lot smoother, the difficulty feels fairer, the graphics and sound have been upgraded, and there are four new characters to take control of.
You can choose between Blood, Hawk, Boomer, and Sledge, who are all residents of Dead End City, a place that has been plagued by violence and death for many years. (Yeah, it's pretty much Metro City). They also happen to be members of The Cobras, a gang who is hunting down members of the rival Dead End Gang after their friend Kate was kidnapped. The Dead End Gang plans to unite all of the criminals in the city under their command, and as the player, it's your job to save Kate and the city.
Like The Warriors. And Final Fight. And Double Dragon... you get the point, I'm sure.
The gameplay feels virtually identical to Konami's X-Men game, sans license. You have the punch and kick attacks, an over the shoulder throw, jump kicks, and the ability to stomp on an enemy once they're on the ground.
The biggest difference comes from the variety of weapons: shotguns, leather whips, bricks, and beer bottles are available, alongside the particularly effective street lamps, burning oil drums, and trash cans.
The graphics are excellent for a 1991 game - though the sprites are a bit on the small side, the level of detail on display here, from the glow of the flickering neon lights to the graffiti scrawled on the walls, is impressive. I especially got a kick out of the guys in spiky shoulder pads who scream in fear whenever they see black cats.
The soundtrack is also fantastic - it's comparable in quality to Crime Fighters' outstanding music, but I suppose that was to be expected with a fearsome talent like Michiru Yamane filling the role of composer.
It's a shame that the Crime Fighters line of games never left arcades - they would've been great on the SNES or Genesis! - but any fan of the genre really owes it to themselves to play this. It's a great game.
_____________
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (http://www.nintendocomplete.com/) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!