Tomcat Alley

From Sega Retro

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TomcatAlley title.png
Tomcat Alley
System(s): Sega Mega-CD, Windows PC
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Genre: Virtual Cinema (バーチャルシネマ)[1], Shooting[2]

















Number of players: 1
Official in-game languages:
  • English
  • Deutsch
  • Français
  • Español
  • 日本語
    • Release Date RRP Code
    Sega Mega-CD
    JP     		¥7,8007,800 G-6039
    Sega Rating: All Ages
    Sega Mega-CD
    US     		$59.9959.99[4] 4429
    Videogame Rating Council: MA-13
    Sega Mega-CD
    EU     		4429
    Sega Mega-CD
    DE     		4429-18
    Sega Mega-CD
    ES     		4429-06
    ELSPA: 11+ OK
    Sega Mega-CD
    FR     		4429-09
    ELSPA: 11+ OK
    Sega Mega-CD
    PT
    Sega Mega-CD
    UK     		£49.9949.99[5] 4429
    BBFC: U
    Sega Mega-CD
    AU     		FMEG57SMR
    OFLC: M15
    Sega Mega-CD
    BR     		063290
    Sega Mega-CD
    AS     		4429-11
    Windows PC
    US     		$39.9539.95[7]
    ESRB: Teen
    Windows PC
    UK     		£29.9929.99[9] MK-85014-50
    ELSPA: 3+ OK

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    Tomcat Alley (トムキャットアレイ) is a flight simulator-esque game for the Sega Mega-CD. It is heavily reliant on full motion video, with gameplay being little else but lining up cursors on targets within a short period of time. It was later brought in an updated form to Windows-based PCs.

    Curiously Tomcat Alley recycles the photography from the Japanese version of After Burner III for its cover art.

    Gameplay

    While Tomcat Alley predominantly features the F-14 Tomcat, the player has no direct control over any aircraft in the game, just a target reticle. The objective is usually to lock on and fire at enemy targets within a certain time limit - failing to do so eventually leads to a game over. Aside from the HUD, all visuals are made up of full motion video, including the sequences shown when a weapon is fired.

    History

    Development

    A Sega Saturn version was once scheduled for 1995, but cancelled for unknown reasons. It is not thought this version got very far - it was announced shortly before the Saturn's release, and disappeared from the schedules shortly afterwards.

    Production credits

    • Cast: Gregory Balaban, Jolie Jackunas, Mark Carlton, David L. Crowley, Diana Lee Hsu, Miguel Marcott
    • Game Design by: Sam Nicholson, John Zuur Platten, Elliot Simon Gay, Chris W. Bankston
    • Original Score & Sound Design by: Mars Lasar
    • Director of Photography: Sam Nicholson
    • Executive Producer: Chris W. Bankston
    • Engineering by: Elliot Simon Gay
    • Written by: John Zuur Platten
    • Producers: Sam Nicholson, John Zuur Platten
    • Directed by: Sam Nicholson
    Source: Intro demo[10]


    • Visual Effects Supervisor: Dan Schmit
    • Special Effects Supervisor: David Kuklish
    • Aerial Photography by: Clay Lacy
    • Production Coordinators: Tony Cabalu, Janette Shew
    • Production Auditor: Dorothy Duder
    • Casting by: Patrick Rush
    • Programmed by: The Code Monkeys
    • Programming: Elliot Simon Gay
    • Additional Programming: Colin Hogg, Mark Richard Kirkby
    • Graphics: Joe Lewis
    • Special Musical Appearance by: Herbie Hancock
    • Production Designer: Tom Buderwitz
    • Mechanical Effects: Michael Haase, Michael Huitron, Eric Heisler, Rocky Gonzales, John Miles, Russ Zinter
    • Conceptual Artists: Jim Chrisoulis, Robert Miller
    • Set Decorator: Billy Mitchell
    • Set Dresser: Richard Mendenhall
    • Property Master: Bill King
    • Gaffer: John Kennedy
    • Motion Control Photography: Casey Wilson
    • Camera Assistants: Joseph Clauss, Andrew Turman, Scott Smith
    • Key Grip: Jerry Vaughn
    • Grips: Michael Graef, Brad Sharbit
    • Set Construction: Ronald Record, Joshua Record
    • Script Supervisor: Christina Gunderson
    • Key Costumer: Brenna Charlesbois
    • Assistant Costumers: Molly Mitchell, Kimberly Guenther
    • Make-up Artist/Hair Stylist: Danny Mark
    • Sound Mixer: Glen Berovitz
    • Boom Operator: Brad Bryan
    • Guitars by: Emery Kyneur
    • On-Line Editor: Tony Shepherd
    • Off-Line Editor: Tim Batt
    • Digital Production/Macintosh Consultant: Randy Fugaté
    • Additional Voices: Tony Cabalu, Cyrena Vladish
    • Production Assistants: Larry Gobel, Ross Vinstein, Tina Hill, Cyrena Vladish, Susan Townsend
    • Writer's Assistant: Melinda Bell
    • Miniatures: Larry Detweiler, Ziggy Carr, Larry Addison, Joe Commando, Dana Teisch, Paul Ozzimo, Justin Kraus, Brian Ranger, Sean Frazier, Erica Loomis, Rebecca Cambruzzi, Dina Duhl, Booka Bickar, Evan Jacobs, Ted Smith
    • Painters: Rachel Kelley, Laurah Grijalva, Babette Brunelle, Paulette Fox
    • Pyrotechnics: Pete Slegle, Paul Staples
    • Computer Graphics: Rob Menapace
    • Computer Consultant: Todd Mahon
    • Computer Generated Planes by: Homer & Associates, Peter Conn, Seth Greenberg
    • "Tomcat" Stock Footage Courstesy of: Grumman Aircraft
    • "Blackhawk" Stock Footage Courtesy of: Sikorsky Aircraft
    • Aircraft Interiors Furnished by: Ernie Sheldon
    • Camera Consultant: Leon Bijou
    • Cameras Furnished by: Arriflex Corporation, Volker Bahnemann, Bill Russell
    • F-14 and MiG Model Kits Furnished by: Revell
    • Special Thanks to: Riley R. Russell
    Tomcat Alley is a trademark of Sega
    Copyright 1994 Sega
    Source: In-game credits[11]


    Sega Studios
    Japanese Localization Team - AOI Advertising Promotion Inc
    • Producer: Hidomitsu Kobayashi
    • Director: Masami Higashida
    • Production Manager: Hiroko Arai, Tyomin Nakae
    • Recording Studio: Video Tech Co., Ltd.
    • Cast: Tsutomu Isobe, Osamu Kobayashi, Teseho Genda, Iomasa Kayumi, Mami Koyama, Hiroshi Isobe, Yuka Koyama, Kazunari Tanaka
    SEGA of America, Inc.
    Source: In-game credits (JP)[12]

    Magazine articles

    Main article: Tomcat Alley/Magazine articles.

    Promotional material

    Main article: Tomcat Alley/Promotional material.

    Artwork

    • Mega-CD US prototype cover

    Physical scans

    Mega-CD version

    Sega Retro Average 
    Publication Score Source
    63 [13]
    76 [14]
    91 [15]
    54 [16]
    60 №315, p42
    57 №18, p71
    90 [17] №34, p110
    60 №23, p26/27
    69 [18]
    90 №10, p40/41
    72 №29, p68-71
    75 [19]
    86 №45, p48-50
    68 №55, p46/47
    86 №32, p58/59
    80 №25, p32/33
    Sega Mega-CD
    		 74
    Based on
    16 reviews

    Mega-CD, JP
    TomcatAlley MCD JP Box Back.jpgTomcatAlley MCD JP Box Front.jpg
    Cover
    TomcatAlley MCD JP Spinecard.JPG
    Spinecard
    TomcatAlley MCD JP Disc.jpg
    Disc
    Mega-CD, US
    TomcatAlley MCD US Box Back.jpgTomcatAlley MCD US Box Front.jpg
    Cover
    TomcatAlley MCD US Disc.jpg
    Disc
    Tomcatalley mcd us manual.pdf
    Manual
    Mega-CD, EU
    TomcatAlley MCD EU Box Back.jpgTomcatAlley MCD EU Box Front.jpg
    Cover
    TomcatAlley MCD EU spinecard.jpg
    Spinecard
    TomcatAlley MCD EU Disc.jpg
    Disc
    Tomcat Alley MCD EU Manual.pdf
    Manual
    Mega-CD, UK
    TomcatAlley MCD UK back.jpgNospine-small.pngTomcatAlley MCD UK front.jpg
    Cover
    TomcatAlley MCD EU Disc.jpg
    Disc
    Mega-CD, FR
    TomcatAlley MCD FR Box Back.jpgTomcatAlley MCD FR Box Front.jpg
    Cover
    TomcatAlley MCD FR Disc.jpg
    Disc
    Mega-CD, DE
    TomcatAlley MCD DE Box Back.jpgTomcatAlley MCD DE Box Front.jpg
    Cover
    Mega-CD, ES
    TomcatAlley MCD ES Box Back.jpgTomcatAlley MCD ES Box Front.jpg
    Cover
    Mega-CD, PT
    TomcatAlley MCD PT front.jpg
    Cover
    Mega-CD, AU
    TomcatAlley MCD AU back.jpgNospine-small.pngTomcatAlley MCD AU front.jpg
    Cover
    Mega-CD, BR
    TomcatAlley MCD BR Box Back.jpgNospine.pngTomcatAlley MCD BR Box Front.jpg
    Cover
    SCDManualTomcatAlleyTecToy.pdf
    Manual
    Mega-CD, AS†
    TomcatAlley MCD AS Box Back.jpgNospine-small.pngTomcatAlley MCD AS Box Front.jpg
    Cover
    TomcatAlley MCD AS Disc.jpg
    Disc

    PC version

    Sega Retro Average 
    Publication Score Source
    {{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
    Based on
    0 review

    <meta itemprop="ratingValue" content="Division by zero.">

    Sega Retro Average 
    Publication Version Score
    Computer & Video Games (UK)
    59
    		[9]
    Dimension-3 (US)
    50
    		[20]
    Mean Machines Sega (UK)
    30
    		[21]
    Windows PC
    		 46
    Based on
    3 reviews
    PC, US
    TomcatAlley PC US Box Back.jpgNospine.pngTomcatAlley PC US Box Front.jpg
    Cover
    PC, EU
    TomcatPC-Box-Außen.jpgNospine.pngTomcatPC-Box-Außen-Front.jpg
    Cover
    TomcatPC-CD.jpg
    Disc
    TomcatPC-Cover.jpg
    Manual
    TomcatPC-Inlay-back.jpgTomcatPC-Inlay.jpg
    Jewel Case
    TomcatPC-Cover-back.jpg
    Manual (back)

    Technical information

    ROM dump status

    System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
    Sega Mega-CD
     ?
    CRC32
    MD5
    SHA-1
    		535,465,728 CD (DE) 4429-18
    Sega Mega-CD
     ?
    CRC32
    MD5
    SHA-1
    		570,425,856 CD (EU) 4429
    Sega Mega-CD
    ✔
    CRC32
    MD5
    SHA-1
    		534,654,288 CD (JP) G-6039
    Sega Mega-CD
    ✔
    CRC32
    MD5
    SHA-1
    		569,743,776 CD (US) 4429(Alt)
    Sega Mega-CD
    ✔
    CRC32
    MD5
    SHA-1
    		570,094,224 CD (US) 4429
    Sega Mega-CD
     ?
    CRC32
    MD5
    SHA-1
    		1994-02-10 Page

    References

    1. ↑ File:TomcatAlley MCD JP Box Back.jpg
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://sega.jp/history/hard/mega-cd/software.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-06-22 19:24)
    3. ↑ GamePro, "March 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 174
    4. ↑ Game Players, "Vol. 7 No. 5 May 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 40
    5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Mean Machines Sega, "July 1994" (UK; 1994-05-28), page 76
    6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Sega Magazine, "June 1994" (UK; 1994-05-15), page 88
    7. ↑ Press release: 1995-11-08: Sega delivers arcade gaming action on the PC
    8. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "April 1996" (UK; 1996-0x-xx), page 88
    9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Computer & Video Games, "April 1996" (UK; 1996-03-14), page 58
    10. ↑ File:TomcatAlley_MCD_JP_SSCredits_Intro.pdf
    11. ↑ File:TomcatAlley_MCD_JP_SSCredits.pdf
    12. ↑ File:TomcatAlley_MCD_JP_SSCredits_JP.pdf
    13. ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "January 1995" (JP; 1994-12-08), page 23 (25)
    14. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 83 (85)
    15. ↑ Consoles +, "Septembre 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 144/145 (144)
    16. ↑ Computer & Video Games, "July 1994" (UK; 1994-06-15), page 56/57 (56)
    17. ↑ Joypad, "Mai 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 40/41 (40)
    18. ↑ Mega, "June 1994" (UK; 1994-05-19), page 34/35 (34)
    19. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "July 1994" (UK; 1994-05-28), page 76/77 (76)
    20. ↑ Dimension-3, "Volume 1, Issue 7: December 1995" (US; 1995-xx-xx), page 30
    21. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "April 1996" (UK; 1996-0x-xx), page 89
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