The fiendish Henri Le Fiend is terrorizing the city with a crime spree, and only you, French private eye Pierre Touche, can stop him in Private Eye from Activision.
You choose from five different cases to work, each with its own requirements. For example, the first case, "Safecracker Suite," requires you to locate the gun used in a crime and have it verified at the gun store, then locate stolen money and return it to the bank and then capture Henri Le Fiend and turn him into the police station. You have only a limited amount of time before the statute of limitations runs out and Henri Le Fiend gets away.
Hindering your investigation are a number of obstacles, including potholes, falling objects, unfriendly animals, and knife-throwing thugs, to name a few.
You drive around the city in your modified 1935 Model A, which can jump as high as two stories. It can also make 90 and 180 degree turns on a dime. When you make the car jump, you also launch yourself out of it, enabling you to nab suspects in upper story windows.
The difficulty switches modify the speed and jump height of your car. Set the left switch to 'A' and the car will cruise along faster. Set the right switch to 'A' and you can control the height of your jump by the length of time the red button is depressed. Setting the right switch to 'B' will cause the car to jump at its maximum height.
In addition to moving left and right through the city, Pierre Touche can also take short cuts by going down alleys and secret passageways. This will warp you ahead to other parts of the city. Some alleyways are dead ends or one-way streets. Also, roadblocks may block streets.
Points are awarded for Pierre Touche's accomplishments, such as nabbing questionable characters or verifying evidence. Points are removed any time Pierre Touche gets hurt.