Back when belt-scrolling brawlers were the arcade genre of choice for millions of players worldwide, Capcom's output was considered by many to be the gold standard. Titles like Final Fight and Alien Vs. Predator pulled in an astonishing amount of revenue during this period, but the company didn't have the genre all to itself; Konami was one of several rivals who set out to challenge Capcom's dominance.
When you discuss Konami beat 'em ups, then the likes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Simpsons: The Arcade Game are obviously going to crop up, but when viewed without the assistance of rose-tinted spectacles, both of these games are actually quite simplistic in terms of gameplay mechanics. Vendetta (known in some parts of the world as Crime Fighters 2, linking it to Konami's earlier side-scrolling fighter), on the other hand, is Konami's attempt to genuinely inject some innovation into the genre, and it's a much more accomplished offering than the company's licenced efforts of the period.
While the storyline isn't groundbreaking for the era – you have to set out to rescue a kidnapped woman from a gang – Vendetta introduces a few wrinkles which set it apart from other examples of the genre (some of which are evolved from the mechanics seen in Crime Fighters). Unlike Final Fight, you have a punch and a kick command, but no jump button – instead, you press both punch and kick simultaneously to execute a leaping attack which has a low arc and is perfect for crowd control. When your enemies are on the deck, pressing kick will execute a ground attack. Add in grapples, throws, weapons and the ability to lash out when you're prone on the floor, and it quickly becomes obvious that Vendetta is quite a deep and nuanced game, even when working within the rigid confines of the belt-scrolling genre – and it's possible to play it with three other people, too, which makes things even more engaging and enjoyable.
Like so many arcade games, Vendetta is mostly concerned with getting the player to feed in as many coins as possible during a single session, so there are moments when it becomes a little unfair. This isn't a massive issue on a platform like the Switch, where unlimited continues are available, but unless you want to breeze through the game in a single sitting, you might want to limit the number of credits you use. Thankfully, even once you've finished it, Vendetta is appealing enough to encourage repeat play, especially if you've got a buddy (or three) nearby and willing to join in.
Visually, Vendetta is arguably Konami at its 2D coin-op zenith; the graphics are colourful, detailed and brilliantly animated, and the whole game is punctuated with humorous moments, such as when you hurl a bucket on an enemy's head and they walk around blind, or when you get kicked in the family jewels and are momentarily incapacitated. Mercifully, the moustachioed, leather-clad enemies which dry-hump the player in the Japanese version haven't made the transition from coin-op to Switch; this offensive stereotype was clearly less objectionable in the early '90s than in 2021, and Hamster has taken the wise decision to exclude it here (however, it should be noted that the large-chested S&M dominatrix enemies remain in place).
If you're a fan of belt-scrolling fighters then Vendetta is a must-buy, pure and simple. While its arcade origins do mean it's slightly unbalanced in terms of fairness, it has enough charm, gameplay and multiplayer appeal to be well worth a look, even decades after its initial release.
Comments 60
Wow, 9/10. And... Belt-scrolling? Maybe, just beat 'em up?
Has this been on any of the collections on the switch?!? Or this is the first appearance?
@Vyacheslav333
It's what you have to say to get into those gaming journalism secret societies that totally exist.
Never played this one but looks awesome , on the radar when that sweet cash is flowing again xx
Such awesome game, the only minor issue I had with the game was that the 4-player version assign each specific character to a specific player so you really can't choose the one you want unlike the 2-player version but other than that it's great fun.
Not as great as Violent Storm but still a great game.
Interesting. I've never played these games myself, but I always heard that Violent Storm was the best entry in the Crime Fighters trilogy.
Violent Storm is the pinnacle of Konami’s arcade games IMO, but this one is still a great time! Glad to see it finally available on a console!
Get off my lawn or I'll scroll my belt across your hide!
Damn, to think that all these years I could have insisted that people call me "Kruel Kurt". If only I had played this game in my youth.
@Vyacheslav333 First I've ever heard the term "belt scrolling". I've always said "side scrolling".
About the censorship, what's the point in keeping the option to select original version if the things that were different from the Western release are removed anyway?
@Faucet My mom was like that. Lol.
@Stocksy First time. Ever (on consoles), I would even say.
I still think peace keepers, with its hidden characters, special move sets(ie al's bazooka or Flynn's super saiyan special), multiple pathways, etc., is the best beat'em up/side scroller/belt-scroller(?!) out there. AND it's on the snes virtual console thing.
Yeah, it's a pity this never got ported to the likes of SNES and Genesis back in the day. It obviously wouldn't have been perfect but clearly they could have done a pretty solid job that would have been well worth it.
PS. Censorship of basically harmless content--I do not agree with. Virtue signalling--I'm talking 'bout you in this review, Damien (you know the comment I'm referring to)--I do not agree with.
No aggressive leather daddies no buy.
@PhhhCough The Japanese version(Rushing Beat Shura) is the superior version, as it has a better looking character select screen, actual music instead of the ambience(or singular song) from the US version, better character portraits, and some enemies that aren’t in the US version either. The fact you can’t select Japanese versions of games on SNES/NES online is inexcusable at this point IMO.
What’cha gonna dooo, Dead End Gang, when the 720p joy cons run wild on youuu?!?
@Vyacheslav333 The term "belt scrolling" is not something the author made up, but the name of the 2D scrolling concept behind games like this. It's called so because it's like looking at stuff on a conveyor belt, and you don't see it much outside Japan.
On a relevant note, the Capcom Beat-em-up Bundle is called the Capcom Belt Action Collection in Japan. https://asia.playstation.com/en-vn/games/2018/capcom-belt-action-collection/
@Moroboshi876 thank you. I knew there was a Japan only collection of beat em ups and I didn’t know if it made it on there by its other name or on some other random collection I didn’t know about.
Kinda a big deal then if console first!
Ok. I need this.
@farrgazer In the West they're not normally known as belt scrollers. Never heard this term in my life until now.
Was Vendetta this week's ACA game?
I thought I heard it was Vigilante (which I hear was basically IREM taking Kung Fu and turning it into a street gangs game). So many games with similar names?
Belt scroller? What was wrong with side scroller?
Belt scrolling social media. Because the content just scrolls and tries to take as many coins… er… likes as you can dish out.
we have Final Fight at home
‘Belt Scrolling’…….a term I loathe, only used over the last 2-3 years by youtubers and people who write for internet sites. It’s a scrolling beat-em-up.
Stick your made-up genres in the bin along with drivel like ‘Metroidvania’
It always puzzled me that Konami never ported this game to home consoles. It didn't have the licensing issues that say TMNT or The Simpsons Arcade had and I felt that if they were able to port games like Final Fight, Street Fighter II, Turtles in Time and many other arcade games to the SNES then they should have been able to port Vendetta.
Glad to see that this game finally got a home console realease.
@Stocksy You must be talking about Capcom Beat'em Up Bundle. It's not Japan exclusive, unless you mean physically. Then yes. Well, anyway it's a collection of 7 Capcom games only.
I have quite a few ACA/Hamster Games and still more on my Wishlist.
I buy the scrolling beat 'em ups mostly as it's my favourite genre.
Run & gun is another term that gets my goat.
Side scrolling shoot 'em up, please.
@Vyacheslav333 more like 7/10, or maybe even 6.5/10.
Folks sure narrow with language around here. Can’t use secondary terms or you’ll catch flak for not sounding like a Wikipedia page
@farrgazer Oh, thanks for the information.
Personally, I'm disappointed that they censored the Japanese version. I was buying this expecting arcade-perfect ports, and if they're gonna start taking stuff out, I'm gonna be far less interested in the Arcade Archives series. I hate censorship regardless of what is being censored... Okay, so I might not mind so much if they put some underwear on Kinta Kokuin in Power Instinct 2 if that game ever gets ported, but that's about it! I'd rather have covering his junk up as an option anyway. I'm sure HAMSTER could have made the gimps optional in Crime Fighters 2, but you know how some "gamers" are; they don't want anyone having access to certain content because it will apparently turn people into bigots. 🙄
"Back when belt-scrolling brawlers... "
Yeah, not in this dimension. Over here, on Earth Prime, they are simply called side-scrolling beat-em ups, seeing as that is what they do: they scroll from left to right.
It's also an insult to conveyor belts, seeing as they're SO much more versatile than just doing the simple scrolling from one side to the other thing...
Belt-scrolling beat em ups must then be a thing on one of those other Earths in the Multiverse. The same one were England rules the world and where they actually did bring football home...
@PoliticallyIncorrect Yup, my thoughts exactly. Which I elaborated on in the above comment...
I’d love to play this, but I want the more complete Japanese version. If I gotta drop $8, I want it all, like many ACA games usually offer. I loved the first Crime Fighters and all of its rough edges. I’m a rough edge, old school kind of guy. Games like this make me wanna crank up songs like Bloodstreets by Riot. The huggable bikers in the first Crime Fighters were annoying, but they were there, some old developer worked hard on them, and I beat them up just like everybody else. Heres to hoping it gets an update, I would love to add it to my big ACA collection!
Actually, the Japanese versions included in this ACA release are official revision rereleases from back in the day that replaced the bondage suit guys with different enemies. So I guess even Japanese gamers had a problem with it back in the day.
@Rambler No, a side-scrolling shoot 'em up would be this: https://youtu.be/MxTvuW1fsMo
This would be a run & gun (or run-and-gun, or run and gun, or run 'n' gun): https://youtu.be/6JpPZ-tQ0IM
Shoot 'em ups (both vertical and horizontal variations), or shmups as they are often referred to, almost always involve flying planes or ships of some kind firing at other flying enemies in auto-scrolling levels. Run 'n' guns almost always involve either humans or a biped of some kind making their way through levels on foot shooting stuff up with guns they are carrying in their hands, and they often involve a bit of light platforming too since the player can usually jump.
Two totally different genres.
"belt-scrolling brawlers", "belt-scrolling fighters", "side-scrolling fighter", "beat 'em ups" . . .
Christ, Damien, make your mind up!
You're trying way too hard: It's just plain old beat 'em up, or beat 'em ups plural--and I think you know it.
@Rambler Oof, side-scrolling shoot ‘em up, to me, is something like R-Type. I quite like run & gun as a description for Contra-likes. Though in my day we called them platform shooters. Maybe.
@impurekind he’s trying to get in with the cool kids from YouTube who use these stupid phrases…..it’s a side scrolling beat-em-up, no idea why he’s using these other nonsensical phrases that have seemingly popped up out of nowhere in the last couple of years.
Hopefully this comes to MiSTer FPGA, it looks great.
@HamatoYoshi I despise the term Metroidvania. They throw that word around way too much. And they use the term incorrectly.
Brilliant game, Konami at its best in the arcade golden age. Metamorphic force is another classic along with Sunset riders.
It's literally nowhere near a 9. Final Fight is a 9 and that's because there is no 10, this is a 7 at the absolute most. Now Metamorphic Force could be a 9.
I played the rom of this and thought it was mediocre. Very short as well. Boss battles very mundane. Not sure why it is rated this highly.
@impurekind it's funny how things change. For my childhood we were all taught everyone was equal & don't treat anyone differently because of immutable characteristics. These days, it's taught that it's entirety acceptable to dislike anyone who doesn't think like you, or has a specific skin tone (one that's acceptable to hate, apparently), yet that's supposed to be better? Society has done a 180 in the last 30+ years,, sadly. Regardless, censorship sucks in all it's forms, because otherwise, the people doing the censoring get to decide what is acceptable for each of. Each of us should make that decision for ourselves, and let the "art" speak for itself, in the form of the artist's complete vision (remember, we were told games were art forever, but i guess that's not hip anymore).
@HamatoYoshi
It really isn't made up though. Hence Capcom's 'Belt-Scrolling' Collection. Quite a common term among those who specialise in stuff like this and has been for years and years.
@YANDMAN
It's called personal opinion. Final Fight, despite being iconic, is nowhere near Capcom's best IMO - they've release games with more varied movesets, more depth, and more accessibility. Final Fight is definitely the best-known of the bunch, but it's certainly not the most fun to actually play. Vendetta plays just as well, if not better.
@SpringDivorce years and years is an overstatement, look back through gaming history and there’s literally no mention of the phrase prior to the Japanese Switch release of the Capcom games.
@SpringDivorce Weel that is as you say personal opinion.....But the facts are Final fight is the finest beat-em-up of all-time. still has the best characters, best scenarios, best overall game flow, mo0st fun, killer graphics, amazing music. Don't get me wrong they made a lot of other good games, but not Capcom or anybody else has made a better game to this very day and they never will.
Yeah, I'd have to agree with many here... I played through it last night and it was a decent enough time-waster but it doesn't come close to the three best beat-em-ups: Final Fight, Turtles in Time, and Streets of Rage 2.
@YANDMAN
Alien vs Predator smokes it. Final Fight is very limited in its move-set, and sections that repeat endlessly. It's fun to play with mates, but a slog for a serious 1CC attempt.
@HamatoYoshi
I checked my other board (shmups.com). First mention was 14/02/2012, and those boards had a massive crash and lots all the old posts somewhere around that time, otherwise I'm sure I'd be going a LOT further back.
It's a solid beat 'em up, if not a little on the short side. I like that you can still kick guys when you've been grabbed or knocked on the ground.
@SpringDivorce Incorrect. AVP is a fantastic game, but Final Fight is still better. either way let's hope the next batch of Stadium games contains AVP, cause I'd love to have it on the Switch.
@impurekind, @krull (great username btw!)
A pointless late response, but I just find run & gun incredibly twee.
I was thinking of games where the scrolling was not automatic, unlike horizontal and vertical shoot 'em ups, so yeah contra, mid Res, RoboCop, metal slug etc.
But then again, Commando is vertical, so what do I know?!?
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...