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The fourteen space stations of the Tangent Empire are floating around the cosmos, annihilating civilisations. Earth's leaders, on hearing of the Empire's dirty deeds, have sent you on a mission to eliminate the alien threat.

In this multi-directional scrolling shoot-'em-up, it's you alone (or with a friend) against the destructive might of a huge alien onslaught. Scattered around each of the fourteen stations (each containing three levels) are energy stars which, at the end of every stage, can be traded in for extra speed, shields, etc.

Vindicators is an extremely professionally product which looks and sounds fine, but it doesn't take an age to realise that there isn't much action behind the aesthetics.

Enemies are surprisingly sparse, leaving you with the thought: "Well, if this is all there is attacking Earth, why bother climbing out of bed?" It's not the conversion that's at fault though - it's the original arcade machine.

The original Vindicators coin-op wasn't that special to start off, even with the two-player mode. Domark have produced a very good conversion, but even when you jump to one of the hard levels the action remains sluggish.

Graphics and sound, by being so close to the arcade game, are ironically rather dull. Still, fans of the coin-op should be well pleased with this, and the two-player game is reasonable.

Presentation 79%
One of (simultaneous) two player option.

Graphics 78%
Sturdy vehicles trundle around plain yet presentable playing areas.

Sound 68%
An average array of tunes and sampled spot effects.

Hookability 77%
Play is simple enough to alert initial excitement from the gamer.

Lastability 59%
Unfortunately, this lack of difficulty persists throughout the levels.

Overall 63%
A competent conversion of an eye-catching yet unchallenging coin-op.