King of Chicago Review

The year is 1931, and Al Capone has been dethroned by the IRS. As the scarfaced capo rots in prison, every crook in Chicago fights to be the new number one. You play as Pinky Callahan, a Northside nobody whose good looks and goofy name belie a violent and greedy nature hungry for total dominion over the city, and a coveted membership to the national crime syndicate Murder Inc. To rise to the top, he'll have to conquer the North, West and South Sides of town, as well as the Loop to the east. There are plenty of gangland bloodbaths to be had, but the game isn't all about brawn – you have to balance the books, breed loyalty among your hired goons, and even keep your fickle flapper girlfriend satisfied, too. This total success is essential for you to become the new King of Chicago.

Just as this half-true crime story is a period piece, so too is the game a kind of treasured antique. King of Chicago was the creation of computer game innovators Cinemaware, an American outfit who in 1985 began producing movie genre-based games for early systems from the Amiga to the original NES. This mobile port of King of Chicago preserves the game's subtlest nuances with studious precision. Press play and you'll get the originals' glitzy cityscapes, its silent movie-style title cards with grim missives like A GUY'S GOTTA RELAX AFTER A BIG MASSACRE, and its noirish, noodling jazz score. In many ways, the game is as charming and handsome as it ever was. However, Cinemaware would have done well to try to synch this port up to today's gaming standards.

Gameplay is a refined version of the Choose Your Own Adventure format. As you move from one environment to the next—a rival boss's shadowy office, a Rolls Royce full of armed thugs, greedy girlfriend Lola's luxury flat—you choose from a selection of Pinky's thought balloons to decide how he'll handle things. Pinky is impulsive, though, and if you don't choose fast, he'll decide for himself to, for instance, coddle his long-suffering mother instead of wisely taking back all that good blood money she passes along to the church. You have to keep a constant eye on your cash, strategically handing out bribes and bonuses, or you'll find that the cupboard is bare when it's time to buy a new mayor.

That said, practicality isn't enough—you also have to have to be a little bit psychic. If you put your foot down with your money-hungry girlfriend, will it keep her in line, or will she turn to your nemesis Santucci and lose you the respect of your men? When you need a brainy mobster's assistance to take down a rival boss, will he help you out or rat you out? The unpredictable effects of your actions generate a good deal of suspense, but the slog of reliving many of the same scenes with each playthrough puts a damper on things. Cinemaware has not provided a click-through functionality to allow you to speed through familiar situations, and in any case, you need to keep your eye on Pinky's thought process at all times lest he, say, unwisely lie to his perceptive driver Peepers. You will definitely feel each repetition and redundancy, since this game is slow. A successful campaign can take up to an hour, and there are no save points.

Although the playthroughs may feel endless, you are indeed on a deadline. Pinky has until the end of 1933 to prove himself worthy of Murder Inc. membership. Your story begins in October of 1931, and at the close of each in-game month, Pinky returns to his office to review his finances. The size of your starting bankroll is randomized with each new game; you might start out with plenty of dough to spread between your lady, your men and your political allies, or you might begin your career in debt. In the latter case, you can choose areas of activity that you want to grow (rackets, gambling, clubs), and hope that when you open your ledger again at the start of the next game-month, you'll see your income growing. Remember that you need to stay well-rounded; empty pockets can lead to lost loyalty and missed opportunities.

Most of the game relies on financial machinations and snappy banter, but inevitably, you'll have to let bombs and bullets do the talking. Unfortunately, these are among the game's weakest moments. During a drive-by bombing, you have to hurl an explosive at the right time and with the right force—throw too high or too low, and you'll miss the targeted mob front and risk return fire. Accuracy depends on the duration of your tap, but with only a second or two to throw, a variety of techniques isn't possible. In the first-person gun battles, you plant outside a rival gang's HQ and tap on the shadowy creeps who scurry out of the alleys to plug you. However, the controls aren't especially responsive, and it can seem arbitrary that you missed one enemy but hit another. If you just fire wildly, an innocent woman might appear in your crosshairs, and your next move will be straight to the electric chair in a lengthy series of scenes you have to see through to end the game.

Trouble spots like the clunky reactivity you get from the touch screen and the absence of options like save points reveal the developer's resistance to improve upon their vintage gem. Cinemaware has gone through a number of changes over its almost 30 years in the business, and it's encouraging to see well-remembered classics like King of Chicago get the respect they're due with new ports. That said, it would be easier to appreciate the game with more adjustments for the modern age.
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