Video Game Review #473: Vendetta

Vendetta

Arcade

Nostalgia Factor:

I remember coming across Vendetta while I was out with my family for dinner when I was a kid. I was immediately drawn to the game with its edgy graffiti artwork. The gameplay was like a mix of Final Fight and Ninja Turtles, and I loved how the game was filled with things to pick up or destroy in the environment. Weapons were plentiful as well. One thing I loved was how the game let you kick your enemies when they were down - which I hadn't encountered yet in a beat 'em up and I thought was a pretty awesome addition to the game.

I had such a fun time with this game, playing it with other random kids at the arcade. I remember popping in all of the quarters I had on hand - which was not enough to complete the game. Even still, I remember hovering around the game and watching whenever anyone else would play it. It was like all the other games in the arcade didn't exist. I only had eyes for Vendetta.

As luck would have it, I would never encounter Vendetta again. Here we are in the year 2023, probably a good 30 years since I last played it in the arcade. Would the game be as fun as I'd remembered? That is what I am here to find out!

Story:

The storyline of this game is very stereotypical for a beat 'em up from the 1990s. A gang of evil bad guys who are terrorizing the city decide to kidnap a good looking girl. Playing as one of four different good guys, you fight your way through a series of punk filled stages until you reach the final boss at the end of the game, the head honcho, and defeat him. You rescue the girl and everyone lives happily ever after.

This game makes absolutely zero attempt to do anything unique with its storyline. You've seen this "rescue the damsel in distress" trope in Double Dragon, Final Fight, and many other games of this genre. Even the aesthetic is similar.

Gameplay:

If you're familiar with the beat 'em up genre, absolutely nothing about this game will surprise you. Well, except for the lack of a jump button. That may surprise you. There are two buttons: one for kicking and one for punching. You aren't going to spend a whole lot of time kicking, as I found the attack to be somewhat useless except for when I was button mashing when I was surrounded. Punching is where it's at. You can string together some devastating combos with your punches. If you hit the punch and kick buttons together when you are moving towards an enemy, you perform a jump kick attack. That's all you got for jumping in this game, not that you really need it. There are no platforming sections to be found here. This game is all about the combat.

The main instance where kicking is useful is when your enemy is knocked to the ground. You can stomp on them while they are down, which as I mentioned before, I always found to be an awesome feature. The game is loaded with items in the background to either destroy or pick up and throw at your enemies. I always appreciated that too. It adds some much needed variety to the gameplay. Some enemies drop weapons like chains and knives for you to pick up when they are defeated. I always made it a point to pick these up if I could, because they are so powerful.

Aside from that, this is as typical of a 90s beat 'em up as you can find. It shares a lot of traits with games like Streets of Rage, Final Fight, and the Ninja Turtles. It follows the same formula: fight through a stage full of regular enemies. Fight the boss character at the end of the stage. Move onto the next stage. At the end of the game there is a boss rush of all the previously defeated bosses that you have to beat before you can move onto the main enemy.

The game is short, with only five regular stages to complete. Technically the sixth stage (the boss rush stage) is considered a bonus stage - but let's be real. No one is getting to this point and then NOT playing through this stage. It is a regular stage in everything but name.

Graphics:

This game looks like nothing special at first glance. It truly does look like every other beat 'em up out there at the time. But I like the sprite artwork. I like the level design. The bosses are all very unique looking, too. Visually, the game does nothing great, but that does not mean it looks bad by any means.

Sound:

Veterans of classic Konami games will recognize the "sound feel" of the game immediately. Ninja Turtles, Sunset Riders, Mystic Warriors, etc. Vendetta shares that instantly recognizable musical twang of these other games listed. It is that classic Konami music, which is hard to describe but instantly recognizable for people who know what I am talking about.

The sound effects are nothing that will be remembered in the long run. The sounds of punches and kicks connecting is very satisfying - which I've heard is an absolute necessity for making a good beat 'em up.

Overall:

It's so hard for me to judge games like this anymore. Vendetta is basically the same game as TMNT, Final Fight, and dozens of other games I've played in the genre - but in a different skin. I like all these other games, but there comes a point where I've played so many it is hard to get excited about them anymore. Plus, while I can admit this is a good game, what makes it any better or worse than the others?

Vendetta must do something right if I was able to remember it after 30 years. It has good gameplay. It does some innovative things - like the ability to kick enemies when they are down. And it has a ton of weapons to pick up and things in the background to smash. It is short, but for a quarter munching arcade game, you might say it is actually the perfect length. 

I really can't say anything bad about this game. It won't be remembered as fondly as the TMNT games, but Vendetta's gameplay is just as good as any of those titles. If this game had been released with a TMNT skin, would it have been heralded as one of the best beat 'em ups ever? I try not to let things like that cloud my judgement, but it does make me wonder. At the same time, with all the great beat 'em ups out there, do I ever see myself coming back to this one? Not really. And that means something. I don't know what it is, but it's something.

THE GRADE:

B-

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