Vengeance Hunters is a game that wears its inspiration on its sleeves with an intentionally cliche plot to get the action going and we are then introduced to our three protagonists,Candy, Golem, and Loony, who are an athletic female, a bulky robot, and part-cyborg male, respectively.
Vengeance Hunters has a fantastic combat system that is combo heavy and draws on modern brawlers is a good way. All of the characters have a weak attack and a hard attack, a jump and a signature move that can be used infinitely. Of course there is the staple of arcade brawlers, pressing both attack buttons to do a breakout move that takes off a portion of your life bar, but things work a bit differently here. You do not completely lose that life, but rather that portion is greyed out and you can recover it by attacking enemies without being interrupted, which opens up a lot of different options for you to use the move strategically..
All three characters have a decent amount of combo option and there is juggling that calls to mind many fighting games. Each characters plays in a unique way, from Golem’s muscle power and speed to Loony’s projectile signature move and each gives them advantages and disadvantages to balance things out.In addition, there are also charged special moves, which can be added to strings or juggles, and the ability to double-tap forward to dash and attack.
Each character has a unique story dialogue that plays out, which makes it almost a necessity to go back and play the game over again with each character. Another nice touch is how the game changes things up every so often, such as giving a driving section, a shmup section, and even a 1 v 1 fighting game section against a boss on an arcade cabinet. Of course, it helps that the game has some amazing beautifully detailed artwork that takes full advantage of the Neo Geo tech to create something truly amazing that looks incredible in motion. The music is also great and while not the most unique soundtrack it does a great job getting you into the action.
I wish I could say it was all good, but there are some issues with Vengeance Hunters and that includes the game introducing cheap difficulty at certain sections. This is done through many of the explosives and while it would make sense in an arcade game, there are not infinite continues via credits ( at least on the modern consoles, I cannot speak for the Neo Geo version) and so it can get unfair. Additionally, the secondary weapons are handled in a strange way that takes the place of your signature move and while they can be helpful, they are placed awkwardly which can make them a hassle to use. Worst of all is that there are no grabs in the game, aside from Golem using one as his signature move, this is an odd choice and goes against the standard for side scrolling beat em ups.
Separately, I wanted to note that while the local co op works great, there is no online play. This can be a deal breaker for some, but others may not mind so I needed to set this one issue apart. Vengeance Hunters is still a good game even with the issues and I did enjoy my time with it, but I had to acknowledge what stood out in a bad way.
Overall, I do think Vengeance Hunters is worth playing for beat ’em up fans and fans of the Neo Geo. It is an old school experimental brawler and there is still a lot to love with it. I suggest giving it a playthrough with a friend at your side and just learning the game and having some fun.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
