{"id":125031,"date":"2022-05-21T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-21T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/#article-131490"},"modified":"2022-05-21T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-05-21T13:00:00","slug":"hands-on-final-vendetta-the-ultimate-love-letter-to-final-fight-and-streets-of-rage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2022\/05\/21\/hands-on-final-vendetta-the-ultimate-love-letter-to-final-fight-and-streets-of-rage\/","title":{"rendered":"Hands On: Final Vendetta &#8211; The Ultimate Love Letter To Final Fight And Streets Of Rage?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/e765b1f82acb9\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/e765b1f82acb9\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<figure class=\"picture ptris\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/e765b1f82acb9\/final-vendetta.900x.jpg\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" alt=\"Final Vendetta\"><figcaption class=\"caption\"><em class=\"credit\">Image: Numskull Games<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/guides\/best-nintendo-switch-beat-em-ups\">Beat-em-up<\/a> fans are like addicts cluttering up the mean streets of an &#8217;80s New York, willing to shoot themselves up with almost anything resembling the belt-scrolling boom that swept arcades in the early &#8217;90s.<\/p>\n<p>Whether pink-mohawked punk or run-of-the-mill gamer, if you\u2019re still experiencing withdrawals despite the genre\u2019s recent resurgence with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/streets_of_rage_4\">Streets of Rage 4<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/river_city_girls\">River City Girls<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/final_vendetta\">Final Vendetta<\/a> promises to give you your fix.<\/p>\n<p>Featuring three characters with varying skills and abilities, Bitmap Bureau\u2019s latest is a love letter to the games it references so heavily. One or two players can battle in tandem through dirty subways, littered streets, and a throng of tribal gang miscreants emerging from oil-sticky brickwork and dirt-encrusted enclaves.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"col\"><a title=\"Docked 1\" href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/4783fd44dfbe7\/docked-1.large.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZpZXdCb3g9IjAgMCA0NTAgMjUzIj48L3N2Zz4=\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\" data-original=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/4783fd44dfbe7\/docked-1.450x.jpg\" alt=\"Docked 1\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"col\"><a title=\"Docked 2\" href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/94964408c75d0\/docked-2.large.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZpZXdCb3g9IjAgMCA0NTAgMjUzIj48L3N2Zz4=\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\" data-original=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/94964408c75d0\/docked-2.450x.jpg\" alt=\"Docked 2\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Featuring design motifs that refuse to quit, Final Vendetta\u2019s aesthetic is firmly attached to the days when Schwarzenegger still headlined the local picture house and Reaganomics fuelled America\u2019s mass unemployment: a glorious backdrop for a bit of vigilantism through a string of dilapidated public locales. The only difference here, is that these crime-ridden inner-city strongholds aren\u2019t set in New York, but in London. Being that Bitmap Bureau hail from the UK, we expect to see backdrops that include random fried chicken shops, homeless people squatting at ATM cashpoints, and at least one sign telling you that a bus replacement service is in operation due to a signal failure on the Circle Line.<\/p>\n<p>In keeping with modern 2D titles, we can confirm that the game has a CRT filter onboard, ensuring its plush pixel art can be elevated by scanlines, if so desired. Additionally, Final Vendetta features a cooldown combo counter, several special attacks for each character, and a move-set broad enough to offer a good variety of combat mix-ups; our personal favourite being kicking the hell out of downed opponents while they lie sprawled at your feet.<\/p>\n<p>And, if you\u2019re feeling peckish, chicken in dustbins, pizzas laid out on concrete, and foodstuffs locked inside oil drums are all present and correct. A nice Anglo-centric bonus comes in the form of smashing traditional red English phone booths to a pulp \u2014 no doubt cathartic for anyone who once-upon-a-time had their pound coins eaten by British Telecom\u2019s regularly malfunctioning machines.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"col\"><a title=\"Handheld 1\" href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/0ea0dac5b87dc\/handheld-1.large.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZpZXdCb3g9IjAgMCA0NTAgMjUzIj48L3N2Zz4=\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\" data-original=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/0ea0dac5b87dc\/handheld-1.450x.jpg\" alt=\"Handheld 1\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"col\"><a title=\"Handheld 2\" href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/17fdb38d75028\/handheld-2.large.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZpZXdCb3g9IjAgMCA0NTAgMjUzIj48L3N2Zz4=\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\" data-original=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/17fdb38d75028\/handheld-2.450x.jpg\" alt=\"Handheld 2\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The audio benchmark set by Streets of Rage\u2019s hard techno is also paid tribute, with Final Vendetta sporting thumping house themes and a smattering of drum and bass \u2014 a criminally underused but totally appropriate choice for a game that features a tempo of thundering fists. Additionally, if you needed it any more old-school, the soundtrack (see the video below for a preview) features brand new tracks from none other than Utah Saints, a prominent fixture of the &#8217;90s UK dance scene.<\/p>\n<p>With three difficulty settings, a cluster of unlockable secrets, and game modes that include Arcade, Survival, Boss Rush and Versus options, the package seems well-equipped to satiate people who thirst for Capcom\u2019s halcyon days and still live and breathe the Mega Drive like it was 1992 (us, basically).<\/p>\n<p>Developers Bitmap Bureau \u2014 better known for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nes\/smash_tv\">Smash TV<\/a>-inspired <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/xeno_crisis\">Xeno Crisis<\/a> \u2014 know their 2D gaming well. Hopefully they will be able to deliver the face-cracking goods when Final Vendetta pounds its way onto Nintendo\u2019s Switch mid-June, and do the genre the kind of justice we\u2019re all looking forward to dishing out.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"object object-youtube\">\n<figure class=\"youtube\" data-videoid=\"zDtl9K7b_fs\">[embedded content]<figcaption class=\"youtube-sub\">Subscribe to <a class=\"external\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/subscription_center?add_user=nintendolife\">Nintendo Life<\/a> on <span class=\"g-ytsubscribe\" data-channel=\"nintendolife\" data-layout=\"default\" data-count=\"default\"><a class=\"external\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/nintendolife\">YouTube<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/aside>\n<p><strong>Further reading:<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image: Numskull Games Beat-em-up fans are like addicts cluttering up the mean streets of an &#8217;80s New York, willing to shoot themselves up with almost anything resembling the belt-scrolling boom that swept arcades in the early &#8217;90s. Whether pink-mohawked punk or run-of-the-mill gamer, if you\u2019re still experiencing withdrawals despite the genre\u2019s recent resurgence with Streets [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125031\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}