The Godfather is a side scrolling shooter with occasional first person shooter sequences. The object of the game consists of getting to the end of the levels while shooting enemy gangsters on the street. The player must be careful not to hit any innocent people, or the game will end. At the end of every level, there is a boss, as well as brief mini games which must be completed to proceed in the game. The last level consists of taking down an enemy helicopter while protecting Michael Corleone; this scene was featured in the third film, when Michael has a reunion with the family members.
Each game uses different controls, most DOS games use the keyboard arrows. Some will use the mouse , "Alt" ,"Enter" and "Space bar".