Vigilante

"It's a 16-bit Kung Fu. Which isn't necessarily bad...."

Vigilante, as mentioned in the Synopsis, is essentially a 16-bit Kung Fu. You play as a Vigilante whose girlfriend Madonna has been kidnapped by the punks of the city. You have to get her back.

Graphics: 7/10- The Graphics are pretty nice. In the junkyard level the cars are nicely detailed, and it's basically the same for most of the graphics in the game. You and your enemies are decently animated, though it's a bit choppy. In between levels, you watch a cinema (It's the same for Levels 1-4) that shows where the punks are going with Madonna.

Sound: 6/10- The sound is decent. The bosses talk, but they all they the same thing, and it's tough to understand (It sounds like "I am Goemon!" or something along those lines). They also grunt when you hit them, and the bosses scream when you defeat them. The music is also pretty nice, but unexceptional. There aren't any really memorable tunes, but at the same time it's not really annoying either.

Control: 5/10- I don't like the control in this game. Your character responds decently enough, but it's strange that your foot would do more damage than a pair of nunchukus. Also, hitting the bosses is kind of hit-and-miss, as one time you'll hit a boss with a given technique from a given distance, and you'll miss with it the next tim. This is especially true of the last boss. I guess you could call this a hit detection problem, which is compounded by the fact that it's not even consistently bad.

Story: 2/10- "Save the damsel in distress from the Evil Meanie(tm)". Let's just move on.

Challenge: 3/10- Even with the hit detection problems, I beat the game on my second try. It's the same as Kung Fu, with the guys that grab you, except there are a few more weapon-carrying villains (And they carry different weapons too). All in all, not very difficult.

Replay Value: 4/10- About the only reason to go back and play it is to try to beat your high score. There arent any secrets or anything like that. Not a whole lot to keep you entertained unfortunately.

Overall: 7/10- It's essentially a 16-bit Kung Fu, as I said earlier, from the plot, to the 5 levels, to the guys that grab your energy away. If you like mindless games and don't already own Kung Fu then this game may be worth a purchase, but it's basically worthless to buy if you do own Kung Fu.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99