Vendetta

Vendetta, known in Japan as, is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up arcade game developed and published by Konami. It is the sequel to the 1989 Konami game Crime Fighters.

Storyline
The hero gang, called The Cobras, numbers five members: Blood (former prizefighter, with a passing resemblance to Mike Tyson), Hawk (former professional wrestler, with passing resemblance to Hulk Hogan), Boomer (a martial artist, possibly based on Jean-Claude Van Damme), Sledge (a military ex-convict with passing resemblance to Mr. T), and Kate, the damsel in distress, described as Hawk's protegee and wearing a blue shirt similar to his.

One day, Kate is kidnapped by the Dead End Gang under the leadership of Faust. The four men go save her, fighting through the waves of enemies that are sent against them.

Dead End Gang Bosses

 * Buzzsaw Bravado: A vicious mohawk punk in a black leather jacket wielding a huge buzzsaw. Fight occurs on board a speeding semi-truck bed.
 * Joe Ohsugi: An American-Japanese man wielding a kusari-gama and star shuriken. His name is a reference to martial arts star Sho Kosugi. Fight occurs on the construction site uptown.
 * Missing Link: A monstrous, animal-like hulk with a wild beard and dreadlocks hiding his face. His wrists and chest are adorned with iron chains. Appearance probably based on Bruiser Brody.
 * The Rude Brothers: Two twin brothers and owners of an underworld casino in a seedy part of Dead End City. The bigger of the two brothers is a brawler, while the smaller brother is a skillful acrobat and knife-fighter. Both work as a team whenever possible.
 * Kruel Kurt: A bald thug who lurks aboard a barque in the harbor district. His preferred weapon is a heavy iron anchor.
 * Faust: The supreme leader of the Dead End Gang. He likes to blow a green dust into his enemies' eyes to incapacitate them, and in his hideout he has a submachine gun which he uses against intruders if he is allowed to reach it.

Gameplay
As with most beat-em-ups, the game featured primarily side-scrolling action, with the score dependent merely on number of opponents eliminated, regardless of strength—a faceless drone and an end boss would both score as one. This characteristic was present in most arcade beat 'em ups by Konami. Also standard are various weapons that can be found, whether from a fallen enemy, hidden in the environment, or lying out in the open. Weapons include maces, motorcycle chains, bricks, whips, Molotov cocktails, and even a short shotgun that could eliminate almost all foes in one hit.

The game featured some differences in gameplay. One was that an enemy who had been knocked down could be subjected to further abuse; this feature also appeared in an X-Men beat-'em-up. This would be done with the kick button (see below), although the actual manoeuvre used was a punch, an elbow drop, a short kick/stomp, or a quick kneedrop, depending on the individual fighter.

The other difference was that instead of the conventional 'attack' and 'jump' buttons, this game used 'punch' and 'kick'. The only aerial manoeuvre was the special punch-plus-kick (P+K) manoeuvre, and only when the joystick was pointed forward. This also rules out the beat-'em-up standard desperation attack (an attack during which all enemies in a small radius around the player are knocked away and down, at the cost of player's health), forcing the player to be even more cautios.

Another difference is the possibility to team up, both for the players and enemies. With two or more players involved, one can grab an enemy from behind, rendering them motionless. Another player then could exert quick and brutal punishment on the helpless victim. This also works the other way - a careless player can be grabbed from behind and suffer a similar fate.

Censorship
Vendetta was censored when released outside of the Asian market to remove an enemy character who dresses in leather and grabs hold of the playable character, proceeding to dry hump and lick him. The enemy would continue if a character is down.