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The Mafia have a bad time of it, don't they? Always being criticised, and just because they blackmail, cheat, torture, extort and murder innocent people. Still, Titus seem to think they're fun souls at heart, so they've written a game in which you get the chance to blackmail, cheat, torture, extort and murder people too.

The city is ripe for takeover by whoever has the determination to work his way up to be Mayor. You're not given specific instructions on how to do this, just a lot of hints, but it boils down to blackmailing the right people, gaining enough money and being in the right place at the right time. The street map can help: with its aid, you wander around the city, trying doors. Usually these are unlocked so you can have a snoop round inside. You may find something very useful, like the Mayor's wife's confessions of her affairs, something not quite as useful like a video of Gone With The Wind, or nothing at all. It's up to you to use the objects you do find for the right jobs. If you want to rob a bank, for instance, you need plenty of ammo, dynamite and a detonator. You can only carry five items at a time, so it's worthwhile noting the locations of any important objects.

You do, of course, have a gun to use on the hoods and gangsters out to beat you to the top. Unfortunately, controlling this weapon in a situation where you need to shoot quickly isn't easy, and you often end up being shot yourself as a result!

In addition to the uniformed police who wander the streets, there are seven characters you might encounter, some friendly, others decidedly not - the Mayor, his wife, the Chief of Police, the Judge, the Butcher (?), the Barman and the Doctor, all of whom you need to utilise in various ways to get anywhere.

The graphics certainly can't be described as fantastic, but they're passable. The character sprites move fairly naturally, with the only letdown being that everything slows down when the screen starts scrolling. The interiors of the buildings are less pleasing, with books and suchlike represented as simple shapes on the floor. To give the streets something of a perspective effect, the angle of the streetlights changes as you walk by - but unfortunately this gives the impression that they're turning their "heads" to follow you, because there are no other visual cues. Sound is adequate - a "Godfather"-style tune wafting from the speaker over the intro screens and simple gun effects in the game.

Crime Does Not Pay is a bit of a surprise. From the box you'd think it's one of those awful street shoot-'em-ups, but it turns up to be quite an absorbing game with reasonable effects. It shouldn't tax anyone too much, though - once you've had a good look round and sussed out all the objects you know just what to do and where.

Morally it's a bit dodgy, glamorising killing and the Mafia like this. It's not the same as a shoot-'em-up set on the plaet Zit which is complete fantasy. If you can close your eyes to that, you can probably enjoy the game - but if you have strong feelings on this sort of violence, you'd best avoid it.