Crime Fighters
An undercover officer fights street punks to rescue kidnapped women.
Crime Fighters, a 1989 arcade beat 'em up from Konami, launched in Japan and North America that July. It later inspired the company's well-known brawlers Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, X-Men, and The Simpsons.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Konami
- Designer
- Shūjirō Hamakawa
- Programmer
- Masato Ohsawa
- Masahiro Inoue
- Shiyu Rimoto
- Artist
- Masaaki Kukino
- Chiyoko Hanano
- Shūjirō Hamakawa
- Composer
- Mutsuhiko Izumi, Kenichi Matsubara
- Released
- JP/NA, July 1989
- Genre
- Beat 'em up
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
Facts from the source article.
Plot
The city is plagued by the disappearances of several young women, with the local crime boss—referred to in the game as "a fat toad"—being the main suspect. Players assume the roles of undercover police officers tasked with sneaking into the gang's hideout to free the captives, battling any thugs or criminals that block their path. The four playable officers have no names and look nearly identical, sharing the same skills and appearance except for the colors of their pants, hair, and skin.
Gameplay
Crime Fighters is a side-scrolling beat 'em up with eight levels, beginning in a subway. Early on, after players knock down a few foes, a large prompt appears telling them to kick enemies on the ground, which inflicts extra damage. Its pace is slower and more deliberate than Konami's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game from the same year, a style compared to Double Dragon by Hardcore Gaming 101. Players have separate buttons for punching and kicking; pressing both together triggers stronger moves like a spinning jump kick or a flying knee. Grabbing enemies allows attacks such as a knee to the face, and a kick to the groin stuns them, accompanied by a comedic "ding" sound. Many opponents wield knives, lead pipes, or handguns. After defeating these enemies, players can pick up their weapons and use them indefinitely—an unusual feature for the genre at the time, especially since firearms (including handguns in two-player versions) are usable. However, if a player is hit once, they drop the item and it vanishes, except for handguns in four-player versions, which remain as long as ammunition lasts. In four-player versions, each player position has its own coin slot, and each credit adds roughly a hundred health points to that slot, which slowly drains one point per tick, similar to Gauntlet. Players can accidentally hit each other, causing allies to permanently lose their weapons. After each level's boss is defeated, if more than one player is active, a time limit appears that resets when a player takes damage, prompting them to fight as long as they wish while losing health. Some health is restored when the time limit ends, but it is possible to lose more health than gained during this fight. The two-player version replaces this health-and-timer system with a standard life meter and life counter, giving players a set number of lives like other beat 'em ups.
Development and release
Crime Fighters hit arcades in July 1989, brought to life by Konami as both developer and publisher. Shūjirō Hamakawa is listed as the designer, with Masaaki Kukino, Chiyoko Hanano, and Hamakawa sharing art duties. The soundtrack came from Mutsuhiko Izumi and Kenichi Matsubara. In a 2023 interview, Kukino revealed he actually designed the game and drew every character, pulling inspiration from his knowledge of movies and their scenes. He felt especially proud of the stage bosses, each crafted with a distinct personality. His main goal was to build a fun beat 'em up for four players, with fights that felt realistic and highlighted each enemy's unique traits—like kicking downed foes or finishing them with a gun. Kukino called Crime Fighters his favorite Konami beat 'em up, saying the project taught him how enjoyable game creation can be. Programmer Masahiro Inoue, who coded all the enemy characters, took credit for the game's comedic touches, pointing to the "licking" posters and enemy dogs that stop attacking to enthusiastically hump a player's leg. While character designers drew the sprites, programmers adjusted the on-screen timing for each animation; the player character's animation was handled by a developer credited only as "C. Lee." Two versions of the game were produced: a four-player edition for North America, where each player had their own coin slot and individual health reserve, and a two-player version for other regions that used a standard health bar and lives system. Much later, in March 2021, Hamster Corporation released a home port through its Arcade Archives series for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4, priced at $7.99, €6.99, or £6.29.
Reception
In Japan, the August 1, 1989 edition of Game Machine ranked Crime Fighters as the third highest-grossing table arcade cabinet of the time. Later opinions on the game have been mixed or unfavorable. Hardcore Gaming 101 described it as a very boring beat-em-up, pointing out that its hit detection is unreliable—attacks that seem to land often miss—and that its difficulty is punishing, with large groups of enemies surrounding the player and repeatedly knocking them down to slowly drain their health. The same site considered the graphics already dated for 1989, but appreciated the game's silly humor, like when falling objects comically flatten the player, and humorously noted that the groin-kick move is the game's highlight. Retro Gamer also complimented the sound design, but faulted the controls and hit detection.
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