Vigilante

aka: Arcade Archives: Vigilante
Moby ID: 10650

Description official descriptions

Vigilante is a side-scrolling beat-em-up. It features an anonymous tough hero that roams the streets to beat up The Rogues gang that kidnapped his girlfriend Maria. The game offers five distinct locations, such as city streets and a junkyard, with many different thugs with different strengths. You fight with your fists, feet and a chain, with a regular stance, crouched and jumping attacks. Each level features an end boss which requires a specific tactic in order to progress. Enemies keep spawning continuously from the left and the right side of the screen until the boss is reached, so a steady pace forward is required to reach the end of the level before time runs out. When enemies come too close they will grab the character and quick presses left and right are need to set him free, as he is then vulnerable to incoming attacks.

Spellings

  • アーケードアーカイブス ビジランテ - Japanese Nintendo Switch / PS4 spelling
  • ビジランテ - Japanese spelling

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Screenshots

Promos

Credits (Arcade version)

Music (uncredited)
Additional Music (uncredited)

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 59% (based on 31 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.1 out of 5 (based on 51 ratings with 1 reviews)

Save the madonna!

The Good
Vigilante is one of the perfect arcade ports that made its way onto the TurboGrafx-16 and features the usual plot that has done over a thousand times. You play a nameless character who, for some reason, pissed off a man known as Giant Devil. GD responded by sending his gang of skinheads to kidnap some broad named Madonna (who bears a striking resemblance to the singer) and now you need to get her back.

Vigilante features the same game mechanics as Irem’s earlier game Kung-Fu Master. Thugs come at you left, right, and center, getting a grip on you upon contact. But rather than giving you a hug, you will be placed in a headlock, and the only way to break free is to wiggle the joystick left and right until you shake them off. You can also choose to punch or drop-kick, depending on what works best for you. What’s different about the game is that you are not limited to these moves. Along the way, you can get some nun-chucks that will make things a lot easier. Get hit by an enemy, however, and you’ll lose them. For some reason, you can also go left, right back to where you started.

You’ll also fight a boss at the end of the stage. The van is right behind him, so you’d think Chuck could open the door and rescue her. But now, Chuck just defeats the boss and proceeds to the next stage. I like the way if you defeat the boss, you can still make the normal enemies respawn if you go left.

The level design is top notch. The Downtown stages are littered with advertisements of other Irem games and other humorous posters. I like the way that not all of the thugs wear the same outfit, and that there is some variation in them. The sound is also good. Out of all the effects, I like the one that is heard when you lose a life. Music-wise, I think the soundtracks are brilliantly composed, blending to the stage you’re on. Strangely, there is no such thing as boss music in this game.

The Bad
Most of the intermissions that are played between stages could have been different. As it is, it is always the inside of a van with Madonna face down.

The Bottom Line
Vigilante is only a few of the very faithful arcade conversions for the TG-16. The game has the same mechanics as Kung-Fu Master, and has the same amount of levels as well. The graphics and sound is good, and it beats the other 8-bit versions hands down.

TurboGrafx-16 · by Katakis | カタキス (43092) · 2020

Discussion

Subject By Date
MSX version is unofficial/clone Silvano Ciccioli (151) May 18, 2020

Trivia

Windows release

The game was one of the eighteen arcade games included in the compilation Irem Arcade Hits.

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Sciere.

Wii added by Corn Popper. Wii U added by Michael Cassidy. Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 added by Kam1Kaz3NL77. Amiga added by 80. TurboGrafx-16 added by RKL. ZX Spectrum added by Kabushi. MSX added by koffiepad. Amstrad CPC added by Katakis | カタキス. Arcade added by rcoltrane.

Additional contributors: Rik Hideto, Jo ST, Flapco.

Game added October 13, 2003. Last modified February 5, 2024.