History VideoGame / Vigilante8

* AKA47: There's quite a few familiar cars in the games, such as the Ford Bronco, Lincoln Continental, AMC Pacer, and Winnebago, but [[WritingAroundTrademarks called "Clydesdale", "Jefferson", "Leprechaun", and "Xanadu RV" in the game]].

* AndYourRewardIsClothe: In ''Second Offense'', as you upgrade your character's stats using Salvage points, their car will gain extra parts and equipment depending on the stat you upgrade. (Upgrading acceleration outfits the cars with spoilers and/or a beefier engine, upgrading shield gives them DeflectorShields and/or more intimidating bumper grills and covers, ETC.) Once you upgrade them all to 100, their entire car will be replaced with a tricked out Hot Rod version. Unfortunately the player is unable to revert back to their original chassis once they've upgraded to the hot-rod without ether starting a new save or intentionally loosing matches so that they'll loose enough Salvage points to revert back. [[DoWellButNotPerfect So if you prefer their default chassis with the extra parts, you have to select one stat to ignore.]] (Top Speed would be the best choice in this case as it's not only is it a RareRandomDrop, but the only thing it adds to the car [[PowerUpLetdown is a a new set of tires]])

Created by Activision, ''Vigilante 8'' was a SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/{{Interstate 76}}'' and their answer to the ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal'' franchise, and it proved to be no slouch in vehicular combat. Destructible stages that also brought along their own hazards, special moves for the regular weapons, a nice story (albeit rather tongue-in-cheek), [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome mind-blowing music]], and some very tight gameplay made it a great alternative to ''TM''.

* [[AndYourRewardIsClothes And Your Reward Is Parts]]: In ''Second Offense'', as you upgrade your character's stats using Salvage points, their car will gain extra parts and equipment depending on the stat you upgrade. (Upgrading acceleration outfits the cars with spoilers and/or a beefier engine, upgrading shield gives them DeflectorShields and/or more intimidating bumper grills and covers, ETC.) Once you upgrade them all to 100, their entire car will be replaced with a tricked out Hot Rod version. Unfortunately the player is unable to revert back to their original chassis once they've upgraded to the hot-rod without ether starting a new save or intentionally loosing matches so that they'll loose enough Salvage points to revert back. [[DoWellButNotPerfect So if you prefer their default chassis with the extra parts, you have to select one stat to ignore.]] (Top Speed would be the best choice in this case as it's not only is it a RareRandomDrop, but the only thing it adds to the car [[PowerUpLetdown is a a new set of tires]])

* [[WorldOfBadass World of]] CrazyAwesome

The game also has a remake call ''Vigilante 8 Arcade'' for the UsefulNotes/XboxLiveArcade which improve the graphics and had a few of the sequel's elements.

* AliensAreBastards: Toyed with - Y the Alien [[spoiler:a.k.a. Garbage Man in 2nd Offense]] wants to KillAllHumans, but only because his friends were dissected by scientists. On the other hand, the player will definitely feel this way towards aliens when on the receiving end of Dave's special.
* [[AndYourRewardIsClothes And Your Reward Is Parts]]: In Second Offense, as you upgrade your character's stats using Salvage points, their car will gain extra parts and equipment depending on the stat you upgrade. (Upgrading acceleration outfits the cars with spoilers and/or a beefier engine, upgrading shield gives them DeflectorShields and/or more intimidating bumper grills and covers, ETC.) Once you upgrade them all to 100, their entire car will be replaced with a tricked out Hot Rod version. Unfortunately the player is unable to revert back to their original chassis once they've upgraded to the hot-rod without ether starting a new save or intentionally loosing matches so that they'll loose enough Salvage points to revert back. [[DoWellButNotPerfect So if you prefer their default chassis with the extra parts, you have to select one stat to ignore.]] (Top Speed would be the best choice in this case as it's not only is it a RareRandomDrop, but the only thing it adds to the car [[PowerUpLetdown is a a new set of tires]])
* AxeCrazy: Bob-O in Second Offense.

* DeflectorShield: The green shield power-ups in all the games. In Second Offense, Dallas, Obake and Clyde gain these for their default chassis by maxing out their Defense stats.

* EasterEgg: In 2nd Offense, ejecting the game disc and putting in the first game will allow you to play the first game's maps.

** Houston's special attack in the sequel, which involves using the towing hook on her tow truck to...[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Well, tow your opponent's car around.]] In order to set it up, you have to get fairly close to your target, within Flamethrower distance, and then drive off, with the damage dealt depending on the tension put on the rope along with CollisionDamage from towing them through parts of the environment and into traps. While it's pretty dangerous to set up, [[ForMassiveDamage a well executed hit and run can chew up your opponent's lifebar.]] Especially if you incorporate the Hover Pods and land mines into the mix and [[NoKillLikeOverkill ESPECIALLY if they end up]] [[GoodBadBugs getting snagged on a wall along the way.]] With the cheat code for [[MirrorMatch multiple players to use the same character]], having two Houstons tow the same opponent in different directions is an ''[[OneHitKO instant Total]]''.

The game also has a remake call ''Vigilante 8 Arcade'' for the XBoxLive which improve the graphics and had a few of the sequel's elements.

* ContinuityNod: At the end of the first game, Convoy [[BagOfSpilling discards all of his accumulated weaponry]], seeing no use for it anymore. [[spoiler: This is what gets him killed in the opening to the second game, with Houston's story arc revolving around manipulating time travel to avert this.]]

* Continuity Nod: At the end of the first game, Convoy [[BagOfSpilling discards all of his accumulated weaponry]], seeing no use for it anymore. [[spoiler: This is what gets him killed in the opening to the second game, with Houston's story arc revolving around manipulating time travel to avert this.]]

*** In the first game, his special is an improvised explosive device called the Steel-Belter, a spare tire packed with TNT.
*** It's much more dangerous than that, you forgot to mention its homing capability. Plus, it's one of the strongest specials in the game.

''Vigilante 8'' provides the following tropes:

* DeadManHonking: Implied when you wear down your opponent's life bar completely and the horn goes off. You now have a few seconds to "Total" his vehicle. However GameplayAndStorySegregation is in effect and EverybodyLives, especially in the first game ([[spoiler: in the second game, only Clyde dies and that is only in one of the endings.]])

* Continuity Nod: At the end of the first game, Convy [[BagOfSpilling discards all of his accumulated weaponry]], seeing no use for it anymore. [[spoiler: This is what gets him killed in the opening to the second game, with Houston's story arc revolving around manipulating time travel to avert this.]]

* DeadManHonking: Implied when you wear down your opponent's life bar completely and the horn goes off. You now have a few seconds to "Total" his vehicle.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In Sid's ending, [[spoiler: he manages to destroy the American oil industry and get paid. But his car is out of gas and there are no stations for miles thanks to him.]]

* EverythingsFunkierWithDisco: And there may be no better music for inspiring people to shoot things up! '''Especially Boogie.'''

* GoshHornet: Beezwax's special weapon.

Created by Activision, ''Vigilante 8'' was a SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/{{Interstate 76}}'' and their answer to the ''{{Twisted Metal}}'' franchise, and it proved to be no slouch in vehicular combat. Destructible stages that also brought along their own hazards, special moves for the regular weapons, a nice story (albeit rather tongue-in-cheek), [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome mind-blowing music]], and some very tight gameplay made it a great alternative to ''TM''.

--> [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jms2zOU2MZE commercial]] tagline

->''Blow sh*t up!''

* {{Drive-In Theater}}: One of the stages in ''2nd Offense''.

* HeelFaceTurn: Houston broke free of her mind control bracelet at the end of the first game [[spoiler: which Clyde later found in the men's bathroom of a gas station]] and married Convey in the 2nd game. Obake works for the Coyotes throughout the whole of the 2nd game, but [[spoiler: chooses to overthrow Clyde and change the future by removing all the polluting industry and replacing them with green power sources such as solar panels and wind generators.]]

* AliensAreBastards: Toyed with - Y the Alien [[spoiler:a.k.a. Garbage Man in 2nd Offense]] wants to DestroyAllHumans, but only because his friends were dissected by scientists. On the other hand, the player will definitely feel this way towards aliens when on the receiving end of Dave's special.

* DuelingGames: With ''TwistedMetal''.

** Houston's special attack in the sequel, which involves using the towing hook on her tow truck to...[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Well, tow your opponent's car around.]] In order to set it up, you have to get fairly close to your target, within Flamethrower distance, and then drive off, with the damage dealt depending on the tension put on the rope along with CollisionDamage from towing them through parts of the environment and into traps. While it's pretty dangerous to set up, [[ForMassiveDamage a well executed hit and run can chew up your opponent's lifebar.]] Especially if you incorporate the Hover Pods and land mines into the mix and [[NoKillLikeOverkill ESPECIALLY if they end up]] [[GoodBadBugs getting snagged on a wall along the way.]]

* AKA47: There's quite a few familiar cars in the games, such as the Ford Bronco, Lincoln Continental, AMC Pacer, and Winnebago, but [[WritingAroundTrademarks called "Clydesdale", "Jefferson", "Leprechaun", and "Mobile Home" in the game]].