Crime Fighters [2-Player model], the Video Game by Konami

Type of the machine : Video Game
Crime Fighters [2-Player model] © 1989 Konami.

Plenty of young & beautiful women are missing and the city's local kingpin is the main suspect. As a group of street vigilantes you must venture into the most dangerous zones of your city and destroy all street punks & criminals that are dumb enough to get in your way in order to rescue the girls! Features colorful graphics, a catchy soundtrack, some cool moves (such as striking downed enemies) and a good challenge. Like the idea of fighting to rescue a beautiful damsel in distress?, why not a huge bunch of 'em so its worth your time!!! :D

Game ID : GX821

Main CPU : KONAMI (@ 3 Mhz)
Sound CPU : Z80 (@ 3.579545 Mhz)
Sound Chips : YM2151 (@ 3.579545 Mhz), K007232 (@ 3.579545 Mhz)

Screen orientation : Horizontal
Video resolution : 304 x 224 pixels
Screen refresh : 54.00 Hz
Palette colors : 512

Players : 4
Control : 8-way joystick
Buttons : 2

Released in July 1989.

Also released as "Crime Fighters [4-Player model]".

Some bosses' character design in this game seem to have been inspired by popular horror movies, this seems true for three bosses in particular :
Stage 2 Boss : A parody of Jason Voorhees from 'Friday the 13th movie' series.
Stage 4 Boss : A distant parody of Leatherface from 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' movie series.
Stage 5 Boss : A parody of Freddy Krueger from 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' movie series.

The dying pose that the Stage 7 boss does seems to have been inspired by the movie poster from the 1986 film Platoon.

King Records released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Konami Game Music Collection Vol.2 - KICA-1016) on 21/08/1990.

The US version is slightly different, it has the 'Winners Don't Use Drugs' screen.

There are quite a few differences between the 4-Player version and the 2-Player versions of the same game :

4-PLAYER VERSION :
* This is a 2-button game (punch & kick).
* Character's energy is represented by a numerical hit point value which is always on countdown to zero. Additional hit points may be added by inserting more coins into each player's corresponding coin slot.
* Characters can use a reversal kick which is automatically activated if an opponent is behind you as you press the kick button. This kick knocks down enemies (except bosses) with a single hit!
* The gun has limited ammo, however it is possible to pick it up again if an enemy knocks it off your hand. Also each gunshot is as strong as 3 punches or kicks and knocks down most enemies in one shot.
* You can play the extra stage (enemy boss revenge) more than once.

2-PLAYER VERSIONS :
* Commonly seen as a 2-button game (punch & kick) but actually is a 3-button game (can be confirmed in the game's test mode).
* Character's energy is represented by a life-bar which only decreases with enemy attacks.
* There is a timer as well as a credit counter.
* The 3rd button is a reversal attack, which works as another kick button since you can use a pretty effective 3-hit combo (back kick, back kick, roundhouse kick). However you can't use this button to kick downed opponents.
* The gun has unlimited ammo, however you will lose it permanently if an enemy knocks it off your hand. Also the gun is now just as weak as a normal punch or kick and it takes 3 consecutive shots to knock down a normal enemy.
* You can play the extra stage (enemy boss revenge) only once.

* Unlimited Credits : Successfully complete the entire game two consecutive times.

1. Crime Fighters [2-Player model] (1989)
1. Crime Fighters [4-Player model] (1989)
2. Crime Fighters 2 (1991)
3. Violent Storm (1993)

Software designers : M. Oshawa, Mashahiro Inoue, C. Lee
Graphics designers : M. Kukino, C. Hanano, Ooboke, Hamakawa
Sound designers : K. Matsubara, Mutsuhiko Izumi
Hardware designer : S. Yasuda

Game's rom.
Machine's picture.