1986 Opera Soft (Spain)
Another cute game I have discovered and that I was completely unaware of existence.
The game is set in Chicago, during the gangster years.
You play Mike Bronco, a super detective, set out to destroy crime in the city.
You must search within the 92 screens that built up the city, the five Chicago barons and annihilate them.
Their names are suggestive, from Ruddy Bulldog, Jonhny Fandango, Tony Spaguetty, Franky Frondasio and of course the Godfather himself, they all sound like they can only belong in an 80's computer game or a funny cartoon.
Anyway, Cosa Nostra is in fact a straightforward shoot 'em up, with a city maze to go thru. And it plays rather well, I must say, despite being simple and relatively easy.
Sure there are lots of better games out there, but 'Cosa Nostra' has that funny feel that made games like 'Jack the Nipper' really enjoyable.
SHOOT AT ANYTHING THAT MOVES AND DO IT VERY FAST is the deep philosophy that permeates this Spanish offer, where you must search and destroy five mafia bosses inside a city so violent that the sidewalks are completely blood red, so violent that the white sprites on red background can almost kill your eyes.
So violent that the bullets kill you EVEN if you're not in their trajectory, just the optic illusion of them passing through your sprite is lethal! It's really not a very friendly neighborhood, in fact not only the neighbors haven't the slightest intention of lending you some sugar, but they throw flower vases at you from the windows, or maybe it's just a welcome ritual, after all flowers are a good sign. Anyway, it's just shooting and running searching around, not forgetting to pick up the bullet boxes left by the dead and, again, TO DO IT VERY FAST. For a few minutes of mindless destruction [mainly the destruction of your character, that is, and it usually happens, of course, VERY FAST: you can die 45 times in a row in a few seconds, even because you reappear very near to the nasties].
2,75/5
