Virgin/Mastertronic/£24.99/Sega
With an "eeeeeekkk" Maria is mauled by the merciless muggers known as the Rogues and carted off to the seedy side of the city. Putting on your Charlie Bronson cap you take it upon yourself to rescue this fair damsel from the dirty dozen (well, perhaps several hundred dozen).
First stop is the main street where you meet a grisly selection of sleeze balls like Chokehold, Mo-Head and Wild Wacko who are out for blood. Only way to win is to hit them hard and fast before they kick, punch, stab, slash, throttle, or shoot you. With only your fists and feet as weapons things are definitely not looking up for you. As you progress through the levels, you can pick up nunchakus which are very effective against any opponent. But they're easily lost if you're attacked by several thugs at once.
After wading through a plethora of unpleasants, you get to the end-of-level boss. Dispose of him and you're through to the next round, only to be told that Maria has been whisked off elsewhere.
In all there are shady areas of the city to visit: main street, junkyard, Brooklyn bridge, downtown and a construction site. Naturally, as you progress, the nefarious rogues get more prolific and much nastier.
Three lives and an energy bar that depletes faster than hot air balloons in Adelaide are not enough to guarantee you a safe journey through the scum-infested streets. So, thank you Sega, for including a continue-from-last-position option. It means you'll get to see all of Vigilante - eventually.
Visually, the beat 'em up is excellent. Still screens display a tormented Maria between each level and this adds a great sense of purpose to the game. Backdrops throughout are detailed without being overbearing and each of the characters has a personality of its own. The only real grumble is the animation; many of your opponents look as though they're skating.
Get out there and give the rogues a rough time. You'll not regret it.
Plenty of action, plenty of screens, plenty to do!
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