The arcade stand-up of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is probably Konami’s most well-known beat ’em up superstar, but they also mixed the side-scrolling fighting formula in with gangsters, M.I.A.s, and even run ‘n gun, Bucky O’Hare. Though their brawlers weren’t quite as diverse as Capcom’s incredible explosion of pugilistic power, they could still be as much fun. Crime Fighters came out in 1989, the same year that TMNT did, pitting players against the fists, feet, and melee weapons of gang thugs through an urban collection of subway stations, side streets, and seedy alleyways. Four players could simultaneously jump into this vigilante’s paradise on a quest to find and free kidnapped women held by a literal “Mr. Big” type of bad guy. This game used the same basic board that would power the Ninja Turtles months later in that same year. Controls were simple - the joystick moved your chosen do-gooder around on screen who could punch and kick enemies. They could “jump”, but only when they did a flying roundhouse. If other players were with you, friendly fire ensured that accidental punches and kicks would connect. And like many other beat ’em ups, dropped weapons ranging from pipes to guns could be grabbed to even the odds Charles Bronson style. The game even let you keep a weapon you were armed with to the next level if it still worked. Enemy troupes consisted of mohawk’ed thugs, leather jacket wearing cool dudes, switchblade armed muscle shirt wearing toughs, and the bosses ranging from mask-wearing, axe-wielding maniacs to the final bodyguard for the kingpin. Interestingly, a number of the bosses were takes on horror movie figures. The axe-wielder with the mask might remind players of Friday the 13th’s Jason Voorhees, for example. It wasn’t the prettiest arcade game. Konami’s own TMNT had much better presentation values with its cartoonish look, wide range of special effects, colorful stages, and expressive battle mechanics matched with solid controls. The tiny protagonists onscreen seemed to scale weirdly against some of the backdrop items, such as the subway train’s benches, and the basic fighting mechanics and workman-like battles onscreen didn’t feel as exciting as being a mutant Turtle. But the music was stamped with Konami’s usual arcade quality. The game had two different endings depending on how the players did against the last boss who didn’t really have a matching “boss fight” aside from his bodyguard right before he made an appearance. Outside the cell with the kidnapped women, the limo with the boss arrives and the guy steps out throwing a key to the ground. As soon as the player picked it up, the bad guy let loose with a machine gun and you had to try and struggle over to knock it out of his hands and then beat him down. If you actually died during this part, the game had a bad ending ready to go before telling them to give it another go. Finishing this part with the “good” ending finished things off with a group photo-op with the lovely ladies that you had rescued right before putting you into a special stage filled with all of the bosses. Getting through that started the game all over again from the start. Crime Fighters would have 2 sequels in 1991 and 1993 which sported far better visuals and a much larger variety of weapons to hit back with along with fighters that bore more than a passing resemblance to famous personalities ranging from Mr. T to Hulk Hogan. However, both games haven’t shown up in a Konami collection or as an unlockable special in any other Konami product, joining the countless other arcade titles that still linger in the distant past archived in the vault of its creator somewhere. At least, not yet.
This game is so fantastic, best music on an arcade game ever. I love the way all 4 heroes have a white shirt on, but their color palette is ever so slightly different so no player has exactly the same white shirt one. I'd love to own some green or yellow jeans lol.
Good news. In two weeks it will be on the eshop via arcade Archives. Eventually most of our favorites will; but they are taking way too long and keep giving us 70s and early 80s arcade games first.
Stages and Bosses: 0:23 Stage 1: Subway 2:34 Boss 1: Spiky Punk with Studded Pipe 3:22 Bonus Stage 1: Blowing off steam by hitting each other. 4:21 Stage 2: Subway Train 6:55 Boss 2: Hockey Mask-wearing Punk with Axe 7:49 Bonus Stage 2: Subway Sparring 8:06 Stage 3: Streets 11:04 Boss 4: Chain Punk 11:36 Bonus Stage 3: Street Brawl 11:54 Stage 4: Construction Site 14:40 Boss 4: Masked Jacket Punk with Chainsaw 15:10 Bonus Stage 5: Hardhat Hand-to-Hand Combat 15:29 Stage 5: Rooftops 18:33 Boss 5: Freddy Krueger Look-alike, even has the Claws 19:41 Bonus Stage 5: Rooftop Rumble 20:01 Stage 6: Back Alley 22:56 Boss 6: Blond Brown Buzz-cut Tyson Look-alike Punk with Gloves 23:36 Bonus Stage 6: Back Alley Bash 23:57 Stage 7: Docks 26:51 Boss 7: Blond Punk with a Bowie Knife 27:46 Bonus Stage 7: Dockside Donnybrook 28:12 Final Stage: Warehouse 31:51 Final Bosses: 2 Gangsters in Nice Suits with Guns (One White, the other Black) 33:26 Ending & Credits 35:08 Special Stage (Final challenge of this loop): The Bosses Strike Back in the Back Alley: Face all the bosses at the same time. 39:58 Start of Second Loop
@@mattstorm6568 A lot of things are wrong with it, but the hit detection and the way the bosses are designed are two of the biggest problems with the game.
@@johncel1950 Not *all* pixel art looks fine. *cough* Where's Waldo for the NES *cough* Also, this game's graphics and music are genuinely great, I never criticized that. It's the actual gameplay where it all falls apart.
Amazing game just sucks they don’t re release all these great games. Don’t wonder why we emulate them because you won’t officially release them. I’d buy an all in one arcade cabinet if they would make it.
This game was so basic (all the players are clones) and kind of annoying with the friendly fire and terrible hit detection; but, it served as a precursor to some much better games. I bet in the arcade it was a serious coin sink.
Friendly fire is retarded. I mean, you’d think that the characters would know enough to be able to prevent hitting a teammate. And why would you want to fight each other at the end of the stage and lose health?
On older versions of MAME, I think just crimfght.zip would work, but for a newer MAME version, you would need crimfghtu.zip in addition to the other one. I can't give you links to these files, though. The game is also available on the Switch and PS4, which is the 4p version.
My god this game is crap. The combat is clunky and unresponsive, most of the time your character goes right through enemies so neither of you are dealing any damage. It's a nighgmare trying to fight one bad guy without a whole pack of them pummelling you. Then there's the guys with guns which are one of the cheapest enemies i've ever seen in a video game. Poorly designed monotonous trash, I cannot believe this is the same developer who would go on to make some of the greatest beat 'em ups of all time (Metamorphic Force, Violent Storm, The Simpsons, X-Men etc.). It honestly perplexes me that anyone would have a kind word to say about this dogshit, just goes to show how powerful nostalgia can be.
