Indie Retro Interview Showcase: Vengeance Hunters
Continuing our exploration of featuring games from our Indie Retro Showcase from Super MAGFest 2025, we shine a spotlight on the visually stunning world of Vengeance Hunters by Nalua Studio, the winner of the Best in Art Direction award.
Inspired by 90's era beat'em-ups and fighting games, Vengeance Hunters delivers a thrilling experience with fast-paced combat, fluid combos, and a vibrant Saturday Morning cartoon aesthetic.
Join us as we uncover the artistry and innovation behind this captivating game!
Tell us about how your game was born.
Nalua Studio: "A group of people really wanted to make a Neo Geo beat'em'up. So we did!"
What was the development like?
"It was pretty rough as the Neo Geo is not the easiest platform to develop for. We also targeted the PC, Switch, PS4/PS5, and Xbox ecosystem as well as shipped real carts for the Neo Geo."
What's your favorite memory as a gamer?
"The first time I heard thunder in Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The rain, the screen changing when lightning hit, and the sound of thunder. It was such a massive shift for me as games went from something I played to pass the time (NES) to something that I could be deeply connected to."
What games influenced Vengeance Hunters the most?
"Genre influences include, of course, all of the heavy hitters like Final Fight and Cadillacs and Dinosaurs as well as later games like Guardians 2. However, Marvel vs. Capcom and other fighting games influenced the gameplay quite a bit."
Any fun stories or wild moments during development?
"When trying to come up with ideas for a boss, I had brought up the concept of walls that could pop up during a fight with turrets that could shoot at the player. The turrets would be destroyable and something the player could choose to ignore and rush down the boss. Risk/reward idea. However, one person on the team HATED the idea so much that he even said the soul of the game would suffer. So, naturally, we didn't go with that idea LOL."
Do you think preserving older gameplay mechanics in new games is important?
"Yes and no. Replicating all mechanics has its place in regard to helping define a game and it's genre. However, there should be room for changes, improvements or additions. For example, Vengeance Hunters do not have the traditional "walk into the enemy to grapple and throw" them. For me and many others, this has always been a pretty wonky mechanic. Also, from a dev side, it ends up creating a lot of work that has to be duplicated for each character just so they can have a homogenous attack. If you attempt to make it not homogenous, it becomes very costly in terms of time and money. Instead, we went with a character specializing in grappling and gave him 9 different throws for people who want to feel like a wrestler type. All while freeing up the other two characters to play uniquely."
What makes this game unique?
"Our Signature move system is not something I have seen in other beat'em'ups and I am proud of it. It's both easy to use and has a lot of depth for those who want to lean into it. The aerial combo system is nothing super new to modern beat'em'ups, but nothing like it existed back when Neo Geo games were still being produced. I am very proud of it and how it feels different with each character."
Anything else you'd like to add? Promote?
"We are developing a new game for the Neo Geo that we can't talk about yet. But we will hopefully have something to unveil in the next few months!"
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Vengeance Hunters is NOW AVAILABLE for Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.
Vengeance Hunters by Nalua Studios is an adrenaline-fueled Neo-Geo hardware-developed beat-’em-up that lets you and a friend in local co-op fight mutants, zombies, punks, gangsters, lab techs with bombs (you read that correctly), suited mystery men, cyborgs and more across multiple stages, sublevels, and secret areas.
Follow Nalua Studios to learn more about their studio!
Watch Vengeance Hunters' trailer here:
