Vendetta (1990). Play online

Summary

Vendetta hits the screen with a tight isometric layout that feels straight out of the Last Ninja games, but it cranks the action up to a full‑on beat‑’em‑up. I roam through four distinct zones—Docklands, an Army Base, an Airport and even Central Park—picking up everything from flickering knives to AK‑47s and Uzi bursts; any evidence I snatch flashes on a little film‑reel HUD.

Once a level’s evidence is fully gathered, the world shifts to a rear‑view driving segment. My car, bristling with a cannon and missiles, weaves between traffic, dodges dropping bombs from helicopters, and stays clear of nosy police cruisers that demand to see the stash. Completing that chase lands me in the next isometric arena. The engine powering all this was a rewired version of the one behind The Last Ninja, a fact that earned the title high scores like Zzap!64’s 93% "Sizzler" and the Crash Smash accolade.

Storyline

Vendetta (arcade) follows an ex‑military veteran whose brother, a professor and military scientist working on a top‑secret bomb, is kidnapped along with the scientist’s daughter. A terrorist group demands the formula for the weapon and threatens to detonate a miniature nuclear device if their impossible terms aren’t met. Armed only with a knife at the start, the hero fights his way through an army base, a booby‑trapped airplane and finally Central Park, gathering weapons and evidence to persuade police to let him continue. Along the way he collects firepower and proof of the terrorists’ plans, turning each encounter into a chance to press forward. The climax pits him against the terrorists’ last stand in Central Park, where he must stop the nuclear threat and rescue his family.