Gangbusters (video game)
Gangbusters is a Commodore 64 game about the American Mafia that begins during the start of Prohibition in the early 1920s. A complete set of documents were included with the game that taught the players the complete glossary of the Mafia "language.[5]" The game appeared in the December 1982 issue of The Rainbow. Due to various glitches, the game failed to work on 16K machines but worked reliably on most 32K machines.[5]
Gangbusters | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Prickly Pear Software[1][2] |
Publisher(s) | |
Platform(s) | Commodore 64 |
Release | |
Genre(s) | Strategy[3] |
Mode(s) | Multiplayer (2-6 players[4]) |
Summary
Each player tries to get promoted from punk to Godfather by purchasing a gun and attempting to murder someone.[2] If convicted, the "state mouthpiece" will sentence the player to four years in prison. For each subsequent sentence, the sentence is doubled unless a pardon can be purchased from the "state mouthpiece". Players can purchase trucking unions, prostitutes that are all assigned with the code name Betsy, and moonshine operations.[2] Limousines can be stolen from other players who already have them, with a certain degree of risk.[2] Betting on horse racing events can play a role in adding valuable dollars to the player's bank account.[5]
All games end either when the last remaining player has become the Godfather or the United States government becomes wise and defeats all the players.[2] The game assigns each player a different American city like Brooklyn or Philadelphia from which to run his domain.
Reception
Andy Peters for The Rainbow said "If you've ever dreamed of living a life of crime, Gangbusters is an excellent way to get started, keeping you both safe and innocent!"[6]
Roy Wagner for Computer Gaming World said "The program offers colorful book-keeping and flawless tabulation. It has very limited graphics, but is an intriguing game with more than one strategy which can win."[7]
References
- "Developer information". Games Database. Retrieved 2011-03-19.
- "Basic game overview". MobyGames. Retrieved 2011-03-19.
- "Release information". GameFAQs. Retrieved 2011-03-19.
- "# of players information". Retro Games. Retrieved 2011-03-19.
- "Gangbusters, The Rainbow, Volume 2, Number 6, December 1982". Dydns.org. Retrieved 2011-09-14.
- "198212 Rainbow". December 15, 1982 – via Internet Archive.
- "Computer Gaming World Issue 3.6". December 15, 1983 – via Internet Archive.