Violence Fight

Violence Fight (バイオレンスファイト) is a fighting arcade video game developed by Taito and published in 1989.

Violence Fight is included in the Taito Memories Vol. 2 compilation for PlayStation 2 and Taito Legends 2 for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Microsoft Windows. Violence Fight was followed by a sequel two years later: Solitary Fighter (ソリタリーファイター). The sequel was not released in Japan until August 2023, when it was included in Taito Milestones 2 for Nintendo Switch.

Plot
As the attract screen explains (albeit with an English localization which had a poor translation of the original Japanese script), the game takes place during the early 1950s in the United States, where an underground tournament known as the "Violence Fight" had become very popular among the criminal underworld and the public at large; criminals, especially mobsters, along with other public nuisances and upstanding citizens are allured by its stakes and thrill. The contestants, drawn from all across the country, compete for large sums of money and the title of "No. 1 Quarreler" [sic]. As the game begins, the tournament even attracts a young fighter named Bad Blue (though some parts of the game spell his name as "Bat Blue") from Los Angeles who competes to become the "No. 1 Quarreler" and aspires to share a small fortune with his manager Blinks.

Gameplay
Violence Fight plays similarly to other beat 'em ups like Double Dragon, Renegade and River City Ransom, where the player can move in all eight directions in an arena fight. Also, there are three buttons: punch, kick and jump. However, unlike most side-scrolling fighters, the players fight in an enclosed arena space. Players can press either punch + jump or kick + jump to perform either a special punch or a special kick move. Players also can press punch + kick to duck for a short period of time. While the opponent is struggling to get up, the punch button can be used to throw him to the ground for some damage. The punch button is also used to pick up crates, barrels and other similar objects.

Each match consists of up to three rounds. The timer will initially be set at 100 seconds, or 1 minute, 40 seconds. The objective is to get opponent's life meter to zero to win a round. Winning two out of three rounds will win the match. Each brawler begins the round with 100 health points. Direct hits to opponent will reduce his health gradually, based on certain factors. For each round won, the players gain one point towards winning the match. If time runs out in a round, the round will end in a draw. If two of three rounds end in a draw, the brawler with only one point will be the winner. If the point totals are tied at the end of all three rounds, the match ends in a draw. If the players gets more points than the opponent, they will continue on to the next gameplay round, or "stage" of the game. If the opponent has more points than the player, the game is over and there is the option of continuing the game, at the cost of one additional coin. If the match ends in a draw against the CPU, it will be the same as a loss. If the match ends in a draw of a 2-player match, either player will have to insert another coin to continue the single-player campaign.

Characters
There are four playable fighters, and two unplayable bosses.
 * Bad Blue (バッド・ブルー), or "Bat Blue" – A yesteryear street fighting champion from Los Angeles, California. As far as attributes are concerned, he is the most well-balanced and skillful. He is partnered with Blinks, who acts as his manager.
 * Ben Smith (ベン・スミス), or "B. Smith" – An African-American U.S. Marine veteran from Carson City, Nevada. His fighting style is boxing. During his career as a Marine, Ben was nicknamed "Fierce Eagle" because of his speed and reflexes, though all of his other attributes are lower than average.
 * Rick Joe (リック・ジョー), or "Lick Joe" – A professional wrestler from Ardmore, Oklahoma who was expelled from the Taito Wrestling Federation (TWF, a parody of the World Wrestling Federation) for killing thirteen opponents in sanctioned matches. Joe, who bears some resemblance to real-life wrestler Gorgeous George, enters the tournament hoping to redeem himself of his past deeds.
 * Lee Chen (リー・チェン) – A mysterious Chinese martial artist from Miami, Florida. Although a natural-born U.S. citizen, Lee spent many of his childhood summers visiting China with his father, who taught him the art of kung fu.

Bosses

 * Ron Max (ロン・マックス) – A stock farmer from San Antonio, Texas who is known for his headbutts. He wears a red and white-striped tank top and blue jeans. When the player fights against him, the audience will throw empty beer bottles into the ring, causing unnecessary setbacks to the player's plans to win the bout.
 * Tony Won (トニー・ウォン) – A tall New Yorker who resembles Mr. T. He goes to great and sometimes unorthodox lengths to win, like swinging a chain at his opponents. Tony is also the leader of the Black Will'O gang, the organization who set up the Violence Fight tournament in the first place. Although an African-American, his name also suggests that he could be of Chinese descent.

Reception
In Japan, Game Machine listed Violence Fight on their January 15, 1990 issue as being the thirteenth most-successful table arcade unit of the month.