{{Short description|1984 video game}} {{about|the video game|financial crises involving banks|Bank panic}} {{more citations needed|date=February 2008}} {{Infobox video game |title = Bank Panic |image = Bank Panic Cover.jpg |caption = North American arcade flyer |developer = Sanritsu Denki |publisher = '''Arcade''' {{vgrelease|JP/EU|Sega<ref name="CVG47"/>|NA|Bally Midway<ref name="Akagi">{{cite book |last1=Akagi |first1=Masumi |title=アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) |trans-title=Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005) |date=13 October 2006 |publisher=Amusement News Agency |language=ja |location=Japan |isbn=978-4990251215 |page=131 |url=https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n132}}</ref>}} '''MSX'''<br>Pony Canyon |platforms = Arcade, SG-1000, MSX, Master System |released = {{Collapsible list|title={{nobold|October 1984}}|'''Arcade'''{{vgrelease|JP|October 1984<ref name="Copyright"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Akagi |first1=Masumi |title=アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) |trans-title=Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005) |date=October 13, 2006 |publisher=Amusement News Agency |lang=ja |location=Japan |isbn=978-4990251215 |pages=35|url=https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n35/mode/2up}}</ref>|NA|November 1984<ref name="Akagi"/>|EU|Early 1985<ref name="CVG43"/>}} '''SG-1000'''{{vgrelease|JP|September 1985<ref name="GMM283">{{cite magazine|title=これまで増加したゲームソフト: SG-1000, SC-3000, & マーク III セガの家庭用ソフト70本|magazine=Game Machine|issue=283|publisher=Amusement Press, Inc.|date=1 May 1986|page=10|lang=ja|url=https://archive.org/details/game-machine-magazine-19860501p/page/n5/mode/1up}}</ref>}} '''MSX'''{{vgrelease|JP|May 1986}} '''Master System'''{{vgrelease|EU|1987}} }} |genre = Shooter |modes = Single-player, multiplayer }}

{{nihongo foot|'''''Bank Panic'''''|バンクパニック|Banku Panikku}} is a 1984 shooter game developed by Sanritsu Denki and published by Sega for Japanese and European arcades;<ref name="Copyright">{{cite web |title=Bank Panic (Registration Number PA0000228015) |url=https://cocatalog.loc.gov |website=United States Copyright Office |access-date=6 May 2021}}</ref> in North America, it was distributed by Bally Midway. The player assumes the role of an Old West sheriff who must protect a bank and its customers from masked robbers.

==Gameplay== thumb|left|The cowboy in the left door is making a deposit, while the masked cowboy on the right is about to rob the bank.

Controls consist of a two-position joystick and three buttons to fire at the left, center, and right positions. The layout of the bank is implicitly a circle with twelve numbered doors and the player in the center. The player can rotate to the left or right using the joystick, viewing three doors at a time, and shoot at a door by pressing the button corresponding to its position. The doors will open to reveal one of the following:

*A customer, who will make a deposit by dropping a bag of money onto the counter. *A robber, who will attempt to shoot the player. *A young boy wearing a stack of hats, which the player can rapidly shoot to gain a deposit or bonus time.

The level ends once every door has received at least one deposit. If a customer makes a deposit at a door where a bank teller is sitting, the player earns bonus points.

The status of each door is indicated by a row of numbered boxes across the top of the screen, with a red dollar sign representing a door that has a completed deposit. A bar gauge above each box shows how close a person is to reaching that door. The disappearance of a dollar sign indicates that a robber has just stolen a deposit; the player must then turn to that door and shoot the robber to recover it.

At random intervals, a bomb will be placed on one of the doors and a rapid timer will count down from 99. The player must move to that door and destroy the bomb with gunfire. Shooting a customer, being shot by a robber, failing to destroy a bomb, or failing to complete the level before the overall timer runs out (shown by a bar at the bottom of the screen) costs the player one life.

Some robbers will wear white boots; these robbers need to be shot twice to be eliminated. At times, a robber may push a customer aside or duck out of view to avoid the player's gunfire, or a door may open to reveal a customer tied up with rope. In the latter case, the player has a short time to fire one shot and free the customer, who will then make three deposits instead of one; if the player waits too long, a robber pushes the customer aside.

Shortly after a robber appears in a doorway, a timer is shown above his head and begins to count quickly up to 0:30 and back down to 0:00, leading to a "FAIR" kill if he is shot during this period. Higher point values are awarded for shooting when the timer is closer to 0:00, but any shot fired before the timer appears leads to an "UNFAIR" kill and a minimum value. At the end of a level, the player earns bonus points for all deposits made and any remaining time, and a further bonus based on the average time of all FAIR kills made during the level.

Each time the player shoots a red-shirted robber when the timer displays 0:00, one letter in the word EXTRA is awarded, shown at the bottom of the screen. Completing the word awards a large bonus and an extra life and immediately advances the player to the next level.

== Reception == In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Bank Panic'' as the second most successful table arcade unit of October 1984.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)|magazine=Game Machine|issue=247|publisher=Amusement Press, Inc.|date=1 November 1984|page=31|lang=ja}}</ref>

''Computer and Video Games'' magazine gave the arcade version of ''Bank Panic'' a positive review, calling it a well-designed game.<ref name="CVG43">{{cite magazine |title=Can You Brave the Bandit Bank? |magazine=Computer and Video Games |date=16 April 1985 |issue=43 (May 1985) |page=95 |url=https://www.solvalou.com/arcade/reviews/214/583}}</ref> They later noted the game is similar to Nintendo's ''Hogan's Alley'', which was released in the same year.<ref name="CVG47">{{cite magazine |title=Arcade Action: Hogan's Alley |magazine=Computer and Video Games |date=16 August 1985 |issue=47 (September 1985) |page=119 |url=https://www.solvalou.com/arcade/reviews/218/593}}</ref> ''Computer Gamer'' magazine wrote that the "colourful and {{sic|humurous}} graphics make this an enjoyable, if simple in concept, game".<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Roberts |first1=Mike |title=Coin-Op Connection |magazine=Computer Gamer |date=June 1985 |issue=3 |publisher=Argus Press |pages=18–9 |url=https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gamer_Issue_03_1985-06_Argus_Press_GB/page/n17/mode/2up}}</ref>

==Legacy== ''West Bank'' is a clone from Dinamic Software for the ZX Spectrum,<ref>{{WoS_game|id=0005664|name=West Bank}}</ref> Commodore 64, MSX and Amstrad CPC. A clone for Atari 8-bit computers was released in 1992 as ''Bang! Bank!''<ref>{{cite web|title=Bang! Bank!|url=http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-bang-bank_493.html|website=Atari Mania}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{KLOV game|id=7012}}

Category:1984 video games Category:Arcade video games Category:Master System games Category:Midway video games Category:MSX games Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games Category:Multiplayer hotseat games Category:Sanritsu Denki games Category:Sega arcade games Category:Sega video games Category:SG-1000 games Category:Shooter games Category:Video games about police officers Category:Video games developed in Japan Category:Video games set in the United States Category:Western (genre) video games