It has a sequel named Crime Fighters 2, released as Vendetta (1991) in non Japanese territories. Violent Storm is sometimes considered a third game among fans due to its similar themes and gameplay, although it was never officially part of the series.
This game contains examples of:
- Angry Guard Dog: Appears in the late levels.
- Bottomless Magazines: The enemies with guns. This also applies to your pistols you pick up in the Japanese and European versions, while they become Throw-Away Guns in the American version.
- Boss Rush: After beating the game for the first time, you fight all of the bosses again in a Bonus Level of Hell along with a few enemies. The bad news is that you fight SEVEN ENEMIES AT A TIME and all of the non-boss enemies are the high-level ones. There is no good news.
- Bowdlerise: The Japanese versions had the Macho Camp enemies and dogs who tried to lick and hump you, as well as a poster that would lick you in stage 6 when you walked by it. The overseas versions removed these.
- Captain Ersatz: Some of the bosses. In particular, The second stage boss is a Jason Voorhees cosplayer with an executioner's axe named J.J., the fourth stage boss is a Leatherface-like biker named Max and the fifth stage boss is a Freddy Krueger-lookalike named Robert England.
- Color-Coded Multiplayer
- Player 1: Blue
- Player 2: Yellow
- Player 3: Green
- Player 4: Red
- In the 2-Player version:
- Player 1: Blue
- Player 2: Red
- The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: Unlike the regular enemies, not one of the bosses can be knocked down by anything short of their deaths, and if they feel like hitting you out of your combo - which they typically do - they can do so with complete impunity. Pocket Full Of Quarters help you if you decide to do anything but run screaming from the machine as soon as you realize there's a Boss Rush bonus stage after the ending.
- Difficulty by Region:
- An odd example. The Japanese and European versions of the game were two-players and they have lives and a life bar. The American four-player version removed the lives and gave you Hit Points (100 per coin) for every token you inserted in, and worse, it drained your life by 1 point about every 10 seconds. The Japanese version also has a back kick button that was removed in the American version.
- The guns you pick up work differently by region: the 2-player versions have infinite ammo but hurt about as much as a punch, but while the 4-player version's guns do FAR more damage and won't disappear if you're hit, they have a limited supply of ammo.
- Dominatrix: The female enemies have a dominatrix theme, being all Dressed Like a Dominatrix in their black leather gear, fishnet leggings, high heels, and a red Domino Mask and wield a Whip of Dominance.
- Door Slams You: A glass door against one background wall will open up and squash you flat against the wall if you get in front of it.
- Do Not Drop Your Weapon: Played straight with most of the enemies (the gun-toting mooks leave their guns behind upon death). You, however, lose any weapons you pick up as soon as you're hit once (aside from the guns in the American version).
- Excuse Plot: Beautiful women are being kidnapped by a dangerous criminal organization. It's up to you and your buddies to defeat the bad guys and save the women.
- Groin Attack: Can be done to you or the enemies.
- Hitbox Dissonance: You'll have a hard time trying to hit enemies in this game, and your slow attack speed isn't going to help with this. The bosses are even worse, as they'll most likely hit you before you can even get your first punch out, and this doesn't get any better as the stages progress.
- Macho Camp: These enemies are only found in the Japanese versions of the game. There's also dog enemies that try to hump you. They would return in the Japanese version of Vendetta (1991).
- Palette Swap: All four player characters.
- Whip of Dominance: The brunette dominatrixes mooks all wield whips, with their only attack being to quickly lash with it at the player.
- You Get Knocked Down, You Get Back Up Again: Averted as enemies can be kicked while on the ground. The bosses subvert this as they can't be knocked down at all, let alone kicked.
