American Dream is a gambling simulation game for the Nintendo Entertainment System set in a stylized version of New York City. Players aim to accumulate wealth by gambling, competing against various characters, including a cameo by Al Capone. The game features a unique design, presenting a mix of dilapidated buildings and extravagant casinos, while omitting realistic transportation elements, except for a limousine that travels across grass.
The player must earn money in order to become the wealthiest gambler in the world. The game, set in New York City, is considered a spin-off from the Pachio-kun franchise. Al Capone has a cameo role in this game even though he lived about one thousand miles to the west (Chicago) in real life.
Roads, taxis and automobiles are not portrayed in the game. However, a black limousine that escorts the player from the air force base to the final casino is portrayed as driving on grass. This is in direct opposition to the real New York City where the majority of the surface is concrete (either as roads, parking lots, or as foundations for the buildings). Only parks and some older residential districts use grass in their design in the real world. Buildings are either shown as dilapidated tenements, shiny towers, or as flashy casinos.