Vigilante

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.