Vigilante (USA)

Vigilante is a side-scrolling beat-em-up that originally hit arcades in 1988 before making its way to the NEC TurboGrafx-16 in North America. This home port arrived around 1990, bringing the arcade's straightforward brawling action to the console. The arcade original was developed by Irem, and while the developer of the TurboGrafx-16 port isn't widely documented, it's a faithful adaptation of the coin-op classic.

You play as a nameless martial artist whose girlfriend, Madonna, has been kidnapped by a street gang called the Creeps. The core loop is simple: walk from left to right across city streets, beating up every thug in your way using punches and kicks. You can also jump and attack from above. Each level ends with a boss fight, and you've only got one life to get through the whole game, though you can collect health pickups along the way. There's no two-player mode - this is strictly a solo affair.

Compared to other TurboGrafx-16 brawlers like Double Dragon or River City Ransom, Vigilante is more straightforward and a little less refined. It's a short, tough game that rewards mastery of enemy patterns. For fans of classic arcade beat-em-ups, it's worth checking out as a solid, no-nonsense example of the genre on the system. It's not a deep or revolutionary title, but it delivers exactly what it promises: arcade-style fisticuffs in your browser.