Software:Vigilante (video game)

From HandWiki
Short description: 1988 video game
Vigilante
North American arcade flyer
Developer(s)Irem
Publisher(s)
Composer(s)Masato Ishizaki[1]
Platform(s)Arcade, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Master System, Commodore 64, MSX, TurboGrafx-16, ZX Spectrum, Virtual Console
Release
Genre(s)Beat 'em up
Mode(s)Single-player

Vigilante (ビジランテ) is a 1988 beat 'em up arcade video game developed and published by Irem in Japan and Europe, and published in North America by Data East. It is considered as a spiritual sequel to Irem's earlier Kung-Fu Master (1984).

Plot

The game takes place in downtown New York City . The game's plot involves a lone, professional martial artist who became a vigilante to fight an evil gang called the Skinheads ruled by a man known as the Giant Devil, in order to protect his "turf" and save a female hostage named Madonna, who was kidnapped by them.

Gameplay

Arcade version

Players control the titular character using punches and kicks to defeat the Skinheads in a 2D platform manner, while sometimes picking up and using nunchaku against them. If players get hurt while holding nunchuku, they become unarmed. There are five stages in order of appearance: a street, a junkyard, the Brooklyn Bridge, a back street scene and on top of a building that is under construction. Skinheads with Mohawk or spiked hairdo attack the vigilante with knives, chains, motorbikes, guns and other kinds of weapons. They will also choke him if he lets them get too close.

Development

An arcade sequel to Kung-Fu Master called Beyond Kung-Fu: Return of the Master was developed by Irem and underwent location testing in 1987, but was shelved after it underperformed. The Kung-Fu sequel was then revamped into Vigilante, after Irem decided to give the game a more Americanized setting, which was released in 1988.[5]

Ports

The arcade game was later ported to several different home computers and consoles. The Master System version was published exclusively in North America and Europe by Sega, and is one of several games in the console to include an FM sound switch for enhanced music quality. In the Master System version, Madonna was renamed "Maria" and the Skinheads were called the "Rogues".[6]

The ones for Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, Amiga and the Amstrad CPC were reprogrammed by Emerald Software and published by U.S. Gold mostly in Europe. The MSX version was ported and published by Korean company Clover.[7]

The TurboGrafx-16 version was ported and published in Japan on January 14, 1989 by Irem and published in North America by NEC the same year. This port matches the arcade more than other ports. The TurboGrafx-16 version was later re-released globally for Nintendo's Virtual Console for the Wii in February 2007 for North America,[8][9] Japan,[10] and Europe,[11] with the exception of Australia on July 6, but was delisted in March 2012 before it returned in September 2013. It was also released for the Wii U Virtual Console in Japan on February 10, 2015,[12] in North America on September 14, 2017[13] and in Europe on October 5.[11]

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
Crash8/10 (ZX Spectrum)
CVG80% (Master System)[14]
80% (PC Engine)[15]
Sinclair User6/10 (ZX Spectrum)
Your Sinclair8/10 (Arcade)[3]
69% (ZX Spectrum)[16]

In Japan, Game Machine listed Vigilante on their April 15, 1988 issue as being the second most-successful table arcade unit of the month.[19]

Your Sinclair gave the arcade game a positive review, stating it was "a pretty good game" with "loads" of enemies, "crunchingly realistic" sound effects, "beautifully detailed" sprite graphics and "really smooth" movement animation.[3] They later described the ZX Spectrum version as a "pretty standard beat 'em up" that "you've probably seen" before, saying players should "only buy if you're addicted to the genre and you've already got the better ones".[16]

Computer and Video Games gave the PC Engine version a positive review, stating it was "a good game, even second time" around, the graphics are "perfectly defined and beautifully" animated, and that "any beat 'em up fan should check out Vigilante without delay".[15]

References

  1. ↑ "R-Type – 2014 Composer Interview - shmuplations.com". January 6, 2022. https://shmuplations.com/rtypesound/. 
  2. ↑ Akagi, Masumi (13 October 2006) (in ja). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005). Japan: Amusement News Agency. p. 13. ISBN 978-4990251215. https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n14. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Vigilante". Your Sinclair (28 (April 1988)): 79. 10 March 1988. https://www.solvalou.com/arcade/reviews/56/386. 
  4. ↑ Akagi, Masumi (13 October 2006) (in ja). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005). Japan: Amusement News Agency. pp. 114–5. ISBN 978-4990251215. https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n115/mode/2up. 
  5. ↑ "Long Lost Kung-Fu Master Sequel Found". 29 April 2015. https://www.retrogamer.net/blog_post/long-lost-kung-fu-master-sequel-found//. 
  6. ↑ http://segaretro.org/images/9/9e/Vigilante_sms_us_manual.pdf
  7. ↑ Clover at Generation MSX - Software Database. Date retrieved October 31, 2009.
  8. ↑ "Game Guide - Nintendo Game Store". http://www.nintendo.com:80/games/gameGuide?download=classic&age=18&page=17&view=grid&sort=&source=. 
  9. ↑ "Nintendo - Official Site - Video Game Consoles, Games - Nintendo - Official Site". https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/v0KnrVb9sI9p1kuJzlCTOd5EnCF3O-7i#game-info. 
  10. ↑ "Wii | Virtual Console バーチャルコンソール". https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/vc/software/02.html. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Vigilante". https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/TurboGrafx/Vigilante-280053.html. 
  12. ↑ "ビジランテ | Wii U | 任天堂". https://www.nintendo.co.jp/titles/20010000012907. 
  13. ↑ "Ninja Spirit for Wii U - Nintendo Game Details". https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/ninja-spirit-wii-u. 
  14. ↑ "Guide: Sega". Computer and Video Games (Complete Guide to Consoles: Volume IV): 108–10. November 1990. https://archive.org/details/Complete_Guide_to_Consoles_Volume_IV_1990_EMAP_Publishing_GB/page/n107/mode/2up. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Glancey, Paul (16 March 1989). "Mean Machines: Vigilante (PC Engine)". Computer and Video Games (90 (April 1989)): 109. https://archive.org/details/cvg-magazine-090/page/n107/mode/2up?view=theater. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Archived copy". http://ysrnry.co.uk/articles/vigilante.htm. 
  17. ↑ "PC Engine All Catalog '92 - PC Engine Fan Appendix". PC Engine Fan: 24–5. August 1992. https://archive.org/details/pc-engine-all-catalog-92-pc-engine-fan-appendix-august-1992/PC%20Engine%20All%20Catalog%20%2792%20-%20PC%20Engine%20Fan%20Appendix%20%28August%201992%29/page/24/mode/2up. 
  18. ↑ "Reviews". Zero (1 (November 1989)): 63. 12 October 1989. https://archive.org/details/zero-magazine-01/page/n62. 
  19. ↑ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)". Game Machine (Amusement Press, Inc.) (330): 21. 15 April 1988. 
Arcade version
Home versions
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
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