Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: The Second Cataclysm

n/a

Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: The Second Cataclysm
System(s): Sega Mega-CD
Publisher: Rocket Science Games (US) Tec Toy (BR)
Developer: Rocket Science Games
Supporting companies: Nu Romantic Productions (audio), Three Eight Creative Group (packaging design)
Distributor: Tec Toy (BR)
Licensor: Mark Schultz, General Motors
Sound driver: GEMS
Genre: Shooting
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code US 1994-12 $59.9959.99 T-153035 BR 199x 063496
Non-Sega versions IBM PC

Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: The Second Cataclysm is a Sega Mega-CD rail shooter game developed and published by Rocket Science Games as the company's very first title. Based on the American comic series Xenozoic Tales and its corresponding television show Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, it originally saw an American release in December 1994, and was later brought to Brazil by Tec Toy around two years later.

It is not to be confused with the arcade beat-'em-up based on the same property, Capcom's Cadillacs and Dinosaurs.

Story

Jack and Hannah

The game is set in the "Xenozoic Age," which occurs after a disaster in the year 2020 known as the First Cataclysm causes all of Earth's previous inhabitants to share the planet at once. Mankind maintains a balance with nature according to a code called the "Machinato Vitae," taught to them by the mysterious reptilian race called the Grith. The megalomaniacal Governor Sharnhorst, in her quest for profit and power, threatens to disrupt this balance and usher in a Second Cataclysm. Jack Tenrec, a genius mechanic, and Hannah Dundee, a deadeye shot, are two humans who have been chosen by the Grith to preserve the Machinato Vitae and save the balance of life on Earth. They set out in a 1953 Cadillac with machine guns. The story is told through comic book-styled cutscenes in between each stage.

Gameplay

The game is an full-motion video rail shooter. The first six stages are played in the Cadillac; the last three stages are played in a mine cart. Jack drives while Hannah shoots. Both vehicles automatically move through each stage. Jack and Hannah have one hour to prevent the Second Cataclysm. This clock ticks down in real time, but the player's decisions can affect it: killing or wounding wildlife causes it to tick down faster, while preserving their lives or killing poachers slows it down.

The Cadillac steers with and . The player sometimes comes to a fork in the road and must choose a path; the right path leads to the end of the stage, but the wrong path can lead to driving around in circles. The D-Pad also moves a crosshair around for aiming Hannah's fire. She fires with or , which can be held to charge up a more powerful shot. The player must drive around or destroy obstacles to avoid taking damage from them. The Cadillac can do a turbo boost with , which can be used to launch off obstacles for a jump or to power through mud. In two-player games, where the first player plays as Jack and drives while the second player plays as Hannah and shoots.

The mine cart cannot be steered, since it is on rails. The D-Pad moves the crosshair and fires a gun, which can be charged by holding . The mine cart occasionally reaches a junction and must switch tracks by moving the D-Pad to the left or right side of the screen in order to navigate through the maze-like corridors. The mine cart also has a railgun that can be fired with . The railgun is always fired at the same position and does not need to be aimed; its button can be held down for rapid-fire. The player can reverse the view with , to switch between facing in front of the mine cart and facing behind it. The mine cart has a compass for showing its direction of travel and a Geiger counter for showing its position relative to a radiation source, both used for navigation. There is also a pressure gauge that shows which color of pipe is safe to shoot without causing an explosion and taking damage. In two-player games, both players have separate crosshairs and shoot.

Both vehicles have a damage meter that increases as they take damage from hazards. The player loses a life when the damage meter is filled. The Cadillac can be repaired by driving over crystals found in some of the stages. Many hazards instantly destroy the vehicle, such as driving into a tree or a pit.

The game saves the player's progress to the Mega-CD's internal memory. During gameplay, the player can invoke the main menu with +++ START  to restart the current level or replay any previously accessed level. There are two difficulty levels, Easy and Hard.

Chapters

	Xenozoic
	The Grith
	Toxic Terrain
	Death Dealers
	Escape
	Weird Science
	Tomb
	Express Rail
	Reactor

Development

Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: The Second Cataclysm was developed alongside Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine as one of Rocket Science Games' first titles. Cadillacs and Dinosaurs was released first, with Loadstar being completed soon after the former had shipped.

BMG Interactive Entertainment had once planned to bring the game to Europe. A Sega Saturn version was also planned for Q4 1995.

Production credits

• Story, script and interactive design: David Fox
• Based on the graphic novels by: Mark Schultz
• Production design: Frank Cirocco
• Producer: David Brownstein
• Associate Producer: Daniel Todd
• Executive Producer: Mark Mullen
• Leader of the "Grith": Peter Barrett
• Art Director: Richard Cohen
• Associate game design: Jonathan Ackley
• Softimage Animators: Robin Watts, Peter Hardcastle, Alan Rosenfeld
• Digital Artists: Chris Green, David Dodge, Sheryl Chapman, Mark Holmes, Fred Lewis, David Nakabayashi, Mark Nonnenmacher, Thalia Georgeopoulos

Engineering

• "Old Blood Mechanics"
• Head Waiter: Bruce Leak
• Game Science OS: Sean Callahan
• Game Composer: Edward Harp
• Game Compiler: George Cossey
• Gameplay: Cary Clark, Tony Myles, Joe Tretinik
• CD Wrangler: Mike Killianey
• Compression: Peter Barrett, Mark Krueger
• Digital Coordinator/MVP: Greg Butler
• Extraction/Compiling/Validation (Data wrangling): Lee Montgomery, Dan Todd, Josh Viers
• Audio‑Production Supervisor: Larry Renick
• Narrative Artwork: Frank Cirocco, Mick Gray
• Narrative Animatic: David Dodge
• Narrative Music by: Steve Horowitz
• Narrative Sound Design: Chris Grigg
• Narrative Sound Editing: Brian Walker
• Narrative Audio Mix, Environmental Gameplay Sound Design: Tom Hays at Big Sound, Roy Finch at Sonos
• Gameplay Sound Effects: Neuromantic Productions/LX Rudis, Tom Hays, Roy Finch, Gary Clayton
• Gameplay Music: Neuromantic Productions: Jim Hedges/Mark Miller
• Voice‑Over Talent:
  • Jack Tenrec: Bill Krauss
  • Hannah Dundee: Cynthia Dee
  • Hobb/Governor Scharnhorst: Sandy Timpson
  • Hammer Terhune: Sean Owens
  • Additional Voices: Jeanne Sophia, Guy Slater
• Voice Casting: Smart Talk/Beth Kaufman

Rocket Science - Cel Animation

• "The Mighty Handful"
  • Supervisor: Chris Green
  • : Emile Duronslet, Antonio Toro, Richard McBride

Cel Animation by Duck Soup Produckions

• Director of Animation: Scott Ingalls
• Executive Producer: Peggy Regan
• Producer: Carolyn Bates
• Editor: Eric Myers
• Assistant Director: Carolyn Bates
• Backgrounds: Todd Ingalls
• Layouts: Michael Stocker
• Key Assistant Animation: Carlene Brady, Kimie Calvert, Todd Hoff, Mel Sommer
• Animation: Mark Andrews, Don Hall, David Krentz, Scott Morse, James Purdum, Sheryl Sardina, Tony Siruno, Mel Sommer, Rossen Varbanov, Michael Wu
• Assistant Animation: Leslie Howe, Vesselin Kamenov, John Lange, Wantana Martinelli, Tom Pope, Sheryl Sardina, Jim Snider
• EFX Animation: Carlene Brady, Dave Bossert, Mel Sommer, Rossen Varbanov
• Airbrush: Mel Sommer
• Ink & Paint Supervisor: Kunimi Terada
• Animation Checker: Katherine Schoentag
• Inkers: Ed Hartley, Noriko Hawks, Kunimi Terada
• Painters: Delores Del Valle, Mi Kyung Kwon, Ramona Randa
• Animation Camera: Visual Arts
• Post Production: Pacific Ocean Post
• Rocket Scientists: Mike Backes, Steve Blank, Anna Caldwell, Cathy Callahan, Matthew Fassberg, E. Lacey Gordon, Mark Greenough, Julie Jaros, Ben Jones, Li Kramer, Desmond Mullen, Elon Musk, Veronica O'Donovan, Tony Payne, Rosa Peralta, Josh Smith, Jim Wickett, Brandy Wilson
• Special Thanks: Mark Schultz, Sasha Harari, Michael Mimeles, Amanda Leigh, Steven de Souza, Kathryn Gould & Jon Feiber (for having the faith)
• ...and thanks to our playtesters: John Conklin II, Eric Liu
• Legal Representation: Bob Getman/Armstrong + Hirsch
• Additional Dialog: Scott Zakarin, Troy Bolotnick
• Packaging & Manual Design: Three Eight Creative Group
• Manual: Carol Anne Hanshaw

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: The Second Cataclysm/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #65: "December 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
also published in:

• Next Generation (US) #1: "Premiere Issue 1995" (1994-12-08)
• GamePro (US) #66: "January 1995" (199x-xx-xx)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

{{{{{icon}}}|L}}
Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Consoles + (FR) NTSC-U 74 Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) NTSC-U 58 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 56 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 53 Game Informer (US) NTSC-U 75 Hobby Consolas (ES) 83 Joypad (FR) 75 Mega Force (FR) PAL 80 Next Generation (US) NTSC-U 50 Player One (FR) 56 Power Unlimited (NL) 85 VideoGames (US) 70

	68
Based on 12 reviews

Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: The Second Cataclysm

Mega-CD, US
Cover
Disc Manual

Mega-CD, BR
Cover
Disc Manual

Technical information

Main article: Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: The Second Cataclysm/Technical information.