Vengeance Hunters, a new Neo Geo beat ’em up, dated for consoles and PC

There’s no shortage of throwback beat ’em up games, and there’s certainly no shortage of new games being made for old consoles. In the case of Vengeance Hunters, though, developer Nalua Studio has its sights set on a classic platform that doesn’t get as much attention: Neo Geo. 

While the side-scrolling brawler was developed with SNK’s arcade/home system — specifically the Neo Geo AES, the home console version you might remember as being prohibitively expensive — it also has a date for current platforms. The colorful throwback side-scroller is coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam on October 28, 2024.

If this is your first time reading about Vengeance Hunters, here’s a quick minute-long look at its characters and how their beatdowns look in action:

True to its Neo Geo roots, actually purchasing a physical copy of Vengeance Hunters on its intended platform is going to cost you. The standard version is priced at 349 Euros (about US$$382), with the special and limited editions set at 429 Euros (US$469). Folks who were lucky (and wealthy) enough to grow up paying out the nose for Neo Geo cartridges likely won’t flinch, but this is a niche market nestled further within an even more niche market.

Price aside, it’s still cool to see someone making new Neo Geo games in 2024. Thankfully, it’s not the only option for this one, because Vengeance Hunters looks like a lot of fun! There’s a badass brawler named Candy, a top-heavy robot named Golem, and a rowdy, robot-armed hoss named Loony. The animation looks decent and the bosses are suitably screen-filling. We’ll see how it plays, with or without the pricey cart in hand, later this month.