LaunchBox Logo Back to Home Page
Illustration of Vindicators

Vindicators

Overview

The game begins by asking the player(s) to choose a difficulty level, not only making the enemies more difficult and the players weaker, but higher difficulties start the players in a later set of levels (called "galaxies") and with some powerups. The easiest difficulty level starts the player(s) in the first level with no bonuses. The player controls a tank with constantly draining fuel, and must navigate through multiple levels (14 stations in the arcade version) from bottom to top, encountering obstacles and enemies. Along the way, a player may find powerups including tank fuel, stars (currency), shields, and two types of sub-weapons: smart shots (homing missiles) and bombs (powerful rockets). Each level has a key that will open a door at the top of the level, which will either take the player to the next level or to a special hub with multiple powerups that must be escaped in 10 seconds or less. (15 for the NES version, though the timer stays stuck at 10 for five seconds before counting) If the player is unable to escape, the tank will lose half its fuel. After escaping the hub, the player(s) then proceeds to the next station.

Occasionally, the player(s) will face a boss that must be defeated to advance. Normal shots are ineffective however, and the player must decide/guess the appropriate time to buy sub-weapons to greatly raise the chance of victory. After destroying a boss, the player(s) can continue to the end of the level.

Between levels, the player is taken to a shop where items and upgrades to tank speed, power, etc. may be purchased with stars. Any damage caused to the player's tank will decrease the shield level. Purchasing a shield drastically reduces damage down to a mere pixel worth of the fuel gauge per hit. When the fuel depletes, the speed of the tank is reduced to a crawl and a countdown begins from 10. If no fuel is gained before the timer reaches zero, or if the player is shot during the countdown, the tank explodes and a life is lost.

The arcade version, in addition to having special two-joystick controls for each player, contained three special contest levels, with one contest star in each. With three contest stars and nine normal stars, the player(s) could compete in a special time-limited contest level in which the player could win a T-shirt. A later version of the game was released which eliminated the contest levels and stars.

(Above Right): The Box Art for Tengen's Vindicator, created by Game Illustrator Marc Ericksen, focusses on futuristic armored vehicles in action.

Publishers
TengenDomark
Platform
Atari ST
Genre
Shooter
Alternate Names
No information available

Media

Box - 3D

Vindicators - Box - 3D (null) - 236x434
236 x 434

Box - Back

Vindicators - Box - Back (null) - 800x837
800 x 837
Vindicators - Box - Back (Europe) - 770x800
Europe -  770 x 800

Box - Front

Vindicators - Box - Front (null) - 800x837
800 x 837

Box - Front - Reconstructed

Vindicators - Box - Front - Reconstructed (Europe) - 2347x2500
Europe -  2347 x 2500

Box - Spine

Vindicators - Box - Spine (Europe) - 87x800
Europe -  87 x 800

Clear Logo

Vindicators - Clear Logo (null) - 1200x262
1200 x 262

Disc

Vindicators - Disc (null) - 441x453
441 x 453

Fanart - Disc

Vindicators - Fanart - Disc (null) - 575x600
575 x 600

Screenshot - Game Title

Vindicators - Screenshot - Game Title (null) - 320x200
320 x 200

Screenshot - Gameplay

Vindicators - Screenshot - Gameplay (null) - 320x200
320 x 200