🎮 Play Vindicators Rev 5 Online (Arcade)

Vindicators is a 1988 vertically-scrolling tank shooter developed and published by Atari Games for arcades (this page runs the Rev 5 ROM revision of that original release), with Tengen later porting it to home consoles. As commander of the SR-88 Strategic Battle tanks, you fight up through 14 space stations built by the invading Tangent Empire, playable solo or with a second player at the same time.

How to Play

Your tank’s fuel drains constantly, so the pressure is always to keep moving up and out rather than lingering. Each station holds a key that opens the door at the top, either into the next station or into a bonus hub packed with power-ups that you have only ten seconds to grab before it closes. Along the way you’ll find fuel, stars (used to buy upgrades between stations), shields, and two sub-weapons — homing smart shots and heavy bombs. Choosing a difficulty at the start also decides which galaxy of stations you begin in and what gear you start with.

• Arrow keys – steer the tank
• Z – fire
• X – cycle between smart shots and bombs once you’ve picked them up
• Shift – insert coin, Enter – start

Tips

• Treat fuel pickups as a priority over everything except the key — running dry mid-station ends the run fast.
• Find the key before you fully clear a station; you can move on the moment the door opens instead of lingering for stragglers.
• Save your smart shots and bombs for the bosses that cap each galaxy, where their extra punch and homing make the difference.