Memorable Adverts / Flyers #4

The Vindicator! by Imagine Software Ltd (1988) - Various Formats

Many of the magazine ads I remember from the likes of Sinclair User, C&VG, ACE and a plethora of similar publications of the 80s and early 90s were for big name arcade conversions or hyped titles for the home micros that everyone knew about and wanted to play, but a few less well-known games got distinctive adverts too. The Vindicator, it seems, is one of these. It seemed like a fairly big deal in its day but, despite having possibly-false links to big-name games (I've seen it called both Gryzor II and Green Beret II), there's barely any acknowledgement of it today. It doesn't even have a Wiki page!

Why is it memorable?
In the era of improbably-large and tough action movie heroes who could take down entire armies single-handedly, it featured a cool candidate for a game equivalent: a hulking great brute looking formidable, festooned in giant bullets for his equally huge gun, the twisted wreckage of a creature/craft of some sort lying behind him smouldering... He was even wearing shades for goodness sake! It was of course another classic piece of Bob Wakelin artwork, and like many others it elevated an otherwise rather ordinary game to the wanted lists of many young 8-bit gamers like myself (Amiga and ST owners were out of luck - this one was just for us Speccy, CPC, and C64 gamers!).

But is the game actually any good?
Not really if I'm honest! It is at least quite a long game and presents a considerable challenge for those so inclined, but I'm not sure how many would be willing to stick it out. For one thing, the in-game representation of the ultra-cool hero wasn't quite as impressive. Understandable I know, but his game wasn't great either. It's split into three sections - a third-person-viewed maze, a vertical shooter, and a side-viewed platform-shooter - but finding your way through the extremely repetitive first section takes way longer than the other two sections combined and surely tested the patience of any player. I suspect this is the kind of game you might look back at fondly if you grew up with it and didn't have many other options, but most players probably said "Grrrr!" a lot and found something more enjoyable to play.