Previous Next

Yawwwnnnn! How tedious! The movie of course, not the wonderful game. I didn't think much of the movie on video, but while seeing it again on TV I almost fell asleep.

Fortunately, the computer game version didn't need to pay much attention to the David Mamet script, it just went for the action and boy did it succeed!

The game is split into five levels, each a tough multi-loaded game in its own right. Fortunately, if you progress a level you stay on the new level when you die - you only have to go back to the start if you pull the plug.

The aim of the game is for the four Untouchables to arrest Al Capone for smuggling whisky during the Prohibition of alcohol in America. The first stage is one of the toughest. a side-on view of a warehouse packed with bootleggers. Ness is on his own and must collect ten pieces of evidence, each carried by a white-suited accountant. The tricky bit is that if you shoot the accountant in the wrong place, the evidence falls into another crook's hands and he makes off with it smartish! It's fiendishly tough with a tight time limit but utterly compelling.

Level two has all the Untouchables present, which basically means if you've taken a lot of damage you can select a new character with maximum energy. You're at the bottom of the screen armed with a rifle; before you are various crooks hiding behind crates, vans and so on. Pick them off using the sniper scope at the top right of the screen. You can roll left/right besides moving the sight in any direction while you're stationary.

Stage three is another simplistic shoot-'em-up, this time set in a series of alleys - again packed with bootleggers. You're armed with a double-barrelled shotgun. The idea is to pop out from behind a wall, aim, fire and then take cover to reload. Simple, but good fun.

Stage four may not seem that much more complex, it's an overhead-view, downward-scrolling section where you must take out the baddies while keeping a pram out of trouble, but it's a masterpiece of demonic programming. The villains always attack the same way. However, working out a way of keeping the pram from toppling over while shooting the villains (and not the innocents) is a real hair-pulling toughie.

It's worth it though, because included in this load is a first-person perspective screen where a baddie holds a gun to someone's head. You must carefully aim your massive revolver to blow the villain's brains out!

The final load is similar to the alley scene, only now you're chasing a key Capone henchman across a rooftop. Each time you hit him you move forward a bit until eventually he takes a dive off the edge!

Programmed by the Navy SEALS team of John Meagan (code) and Steve Thompson (graphics) this earned 96% in issue 55. Stu called it "a spectacular combat game... the music is brilliant: using a variety of famous period tunes". Robin enthused, "Individually, the screens aren't that original but brought together they offer great variety and long-lasting appeal."

Sadly, because of the offbeat licence and long delay after the movie's release, The Untouchables was never a massive seller. Strangely enough, it hasn't even appeared on a compilation, but with five varied, action-packed loads, this is a true C64 classic. Don't miss it this time around!