Vigilante (video game)

{{Infobox video game

|title = Vigilante

|image = Vigilante arcadeflyer.png

|caption = North American arcade flyer

|developer = Irem
Sega/Arc System Works (SMS){{cite book |title=Arc System Works 25th Anniversary Character Collection |publisher=ASCII Media Works |date=October 22, 2013 |page=246 |url=https://archive.org/details/akushisutemu25shnenki/246.jpg}}

|publisher = {{vgrelease|JP/EU|Irem (arcade)|NA|Data East (arcade)|EU|U.S. Gold (computers)|EU|Virgin Mastertronic (console)}}

|designer =

|composer = Masato Ishizaki{{Cite web|url=https://shmuplations.com/rtypesound/|title=R-Type – 2014 Composer Interview - shmuplations.com|date=January 6, 2022}}

|released = {{vgrelease|NA|February 1988{{cite book |last1=Akagi |first1=Masumi |title=アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) |trans-title=Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005) |date=13 October 2006 |publisher=Amusement News Agency |language=ja |location=Japan |isbn=978-4990251215 |pages=114–5 |url=https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n115/mode/2up}}|JP/EU|March 1988{{cite book |last1=Akagi |first1=Masumi |title=アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) |trans-title=Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005) |date=13 October 2006 |publisher=Amusement News Agency |language=ja |location=Japan |isbn=978-4990251215 |page=13 |url=https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n14}}}}

|genre = Beat 'em up

|modes = Single-player

|platforms = Arcade, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Master System, Commodore 64, MSX, TurboGrafx-16, ZX Spectrum, Virtual Console, PlayStation 4

}}

{{nihongo|Vigilante|ビジランテ}} is a 1988 beat 'em up arcade video game developed and published by Irem in Japan and Europe, and published in North America by Data East. It is considered as a spiritual sequel to Irem's earlier Kung-Fu Master (1984).

Plot

The game takes place in downtown New York City. The game's plot involves a lone, professional martial artist who became a vigilante to fight an evil gang called the Skinheads ruled by a man known as the Giant Devil, in order to protect his "turf" and save a female hostage named Madonna, who was kidnapped by them.

Gameplay

Image:Vigilante1.png

Players control the titular character using punches and kicks to defeat the Skinheads in a 2D platform manner, while sometimes picking up and using nunchaku against them. If players get hurt while holding nunchuku, they become unarmed. There are five stages in order of appearance: a street, a junkyard, the Brooklyn Bridge, a back street scene and on top of a building that is under construction. Skinheads with Mohawk or spiked hairdo attack the vigilante with knives, chains, motorbikes, guns and other kinds of weapons. They will also choke him if he lets them get too close.

Development

An arcade sequel to Kung-Fu Master called Beyond Kung-Fu: Return of the Master was developed by Irem and underwent location testing in 1987, but was shelved after it underperformed. The Kung-Fu sequel was then revamped into Vigilante, after Irem decided to give the game a more Americanized setting, which was released in 1988.{{cite web|url=https://www.retrogamer.net/blog_post/long-lost-kung-fu-master-sequel-found//|title=Long Lost Kung-Fu Master Sequel Found|date=29 April 2015}}

Ports

The arcade game was later ported to several different home computers and consoles. The Master System version was published exclusively in North America and Europe by Sega, and is one of several games in the console to include an FM sound switch for enhanced music quality. In the Master System version, Madonna was renamed "Maria" and the Skinheads were called the "Rogues".{{cite web| url=https://segaretro.org/images/9/9e/Vigilante_sms_us_manual.pdf | title=Vigilante | publisher=SEGA | website=segaretro.org}}

The ones for Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, Amiga and the Amstrad CPC were reprogrammed by Emerald Software and published by U.S. Gold mostly in Europe. The MSX version was ported and published by Korean company Clover.[http://www.generation-msx.nl/index.php?url=/msxdb/index?publisher_select=629&op=search Clover at Generation MSX - Software Database.] Date retrieved October 31, 2009.

The TurboGrafx-16 version was ported and published in Japan on January 14, 1989 by Irem and published in North America by NEC the same year. This port matches the arcade more than other ports. The TurboGrafx-16 version was later re-released globally for Nintendo's Virtual Console for the Wii in February 2007 for North America,{{Cite web|url=http://www.nintendo.com:80/games/gameGuide?download=classic&age=18&page=17&view=grid&sort=&source=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111204214244/http://www.nintendo.com:80/games/gameGuide?download=classic&age=18&page=17&view=grid&sort=&source=|archive-date=2011-12-04|title=Game Guide - Nintendo Game Store}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/v0KnrVb9sI9p1kuJzlCTOd5EnCF3O-7i#game-info|title = Nintendo - Official Site - Video Game Consoles, Games - Nintendo - Official Site}} Japan,{{Cite web|url=https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/vc/software/02.html|title = Wii | Virtual Console バーチャルコンソール}} and Europe, with the exception of Australia on July 6, but was delisted in March 2012 before it returned in September 2013. It was also released for the Wii U Virtual Console in Japan on February 10, 2015,{{Cite web|url=https://www.nintendo.co.jp/titles/20010000012907|title=ビジランテ | Wii U | 任天堂|website=任天堂ホームページ}} in North America on September 14, 2017{{Cite web|url=https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/ninja-spirit-wii-u|title = Ninja Spirit for Wii U - Nintendo Game Details}} and in Europe on October 5. An arcade version of the game was released in December 2019 as part of the Arcade Archives series.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/TurboGrafx/Vigilante-280053.html|title = Vigilante}}{{Cite web |title=Arcade Archives VIGILANTE |url=https://store.playstation.com/en-gb/product/EP8908-CUSA16552_00-HAMPRDC000000001 |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=store.playstation.com}}

Reception

{{Video game reviews

| CVG = 80% (Master System){{cite journal |title=Guide: Sega |journal=Computer and Video Games |date=November 1990 |issue=Complete Guide to Consoles: Volume IV |pages=108–10 |url=https://archive.org/details/Complete_Guide_to_Consoles_Volume_IV_1990_EMAP_Publishing_GB/page/n107/mode/2up}}
80% (PC Engine){{cite magazine |last1=Glancey |first1=Paul |title=Mean Machines: Vigilante (PC Engine) |magazine=Computer and Video Games |date=16 March 1989 |issue=90 (April 1989) |page=109 |url=https://archive.org/details/cvg-magazine-090/page/n107/mode/2up?view=theater}}

| YSinclair = 8/10 (Arcade){{cite magazine |title=Vigilante |magazine=Your Sinclair |date=10 March 1988 |issue=28 (April 1988) |page=79 |url=https://www.solvalou.com/arcade/reviews/56/386}}
69% (ZX Spectrum){{cite web |url=http://ysrnry.co.uk/articles/vigilante.htm |title=Vigilante |website=ysrnry.co.uk |access-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314223748/http://ysrnry.co.uk/articles/vigilante.htm |archive-date=14 March 2016 |url-status=dead}}

| CRASH = 8/10 (ZX Spectrum)

| PCEF = 19.32/30 (PC Engine){{cite magazine |title=PC Engine All Catalog '92 - PC Engine Fan Appendix |magazine=PC Engine Fan |date=August 1992 |lang=ja |pages=24–5 |url=https://archive.org/details/pc-engine-all-catalog-92-pc-engine-fan-appendix-august-1992/PC%20Engine%20All%20Catalog%20%2792%20-%20PC%20Engine%20Fan%20Appendix%20%28August%201992%29/page/24/mode/2up}}

| SUser = 6/10 (ZX Spectrum)

| Zero = 84% (Master System){{cite magazine |title=Reviews |magazine=Zero |date=12 October 1989 |issue=1 (November 1989) |page=63 |url=https://archive.org/details/zero-magazine-01/page/n62}}

}}

In Japan, Game Machine listed Vigilante on their April 15, 1988 issue as being the second most-successful table arcade unit of the month.{{cite magazine|title=Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)|magazine=Game Machine|issue=330|publisher=Amusement Press, Inc.|date=15 April 1988|page=21|lang=ja}}

Your Sinclair gave the arcade game a positive review, stating it was "a pretty good game" with "loads" of enemies, "crunchingly realistic" sound effects, "beautifully detailed" sprite graphics and "really smooth" movement animation. They later described the ZX Spectrum version as a "pretty standard beat 'em up" that "you've probably seen" before, saying players should "only buy if you're addicted to the genre and you've already got the better ones".

Computer and Video Games gave the PC Engine version a positive review, stating it was "a good game, even second time" around, the graphics are "perfectly defined and beautifully" animated, and that "any beat 'em up fan should check out Vigilante without delay".