Overview and Gameplay
Billy West crosses Louisiana to rescue Annabelle from crime boss Godfather Gordon. Across nine stages, the game switches between side-view fighting, first-person shooting galleries, and armed jeep sequences.
Fighting stages feature punches, kicks, jump kicks, dropped weapons, and limited firearms. Shooting stages require careful ammunition management, while driving stages combine steering, gunfire, dynamite, and obstacle avoidance. Three lives, score-based extra lives, five continues, and separate training exercises support the campaign.
Controls And Mechanics
- Fighting: Move with the directional pad, kick with A, punch or use a weapon with B, and press A and B together for a jump kick.
- Driving: Use the directional pad to steer and change speed, A to throw dynamite, and B to fire.
- Shooting: Move the gunsight with the directional pad and fire with A when using the controller.
- Select switches between ordinary combat and a firearm when one is available. The game supports one player only.
Version Notes
The North American release is a harder adaptation of the Japanese Famicom game Mad City. Enemies are tougher, ammunition is scarcer, roads are harsher, and some graphics and layouts differ. It also adds sampled speech but removes the Japanese version’s multiple endings.
Release And Credits
- US release: June 1989
- Developer: Konami Industry Co., Ltd.
- Publisher: Konami, Inc.
- Original platform: Nintendo Family Computer
- Japanese title: Mad City
