Dick Tracy

n/a

Mega Drive Master System
Dick Tracy
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega Technical Institute
Supporting companies: Sega of America
Sound driver: SMPS Z80
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1991-03-01 ¥6,0006,000 G-4044 US 1991-02 $49.9549.95 1014 EU 1991-04 1014 UK 1991-04 £34.9934.99 1014 SE (Rental) 199x AU 199x CA 199x BR 1991-12 US 1991-01 7057 EU 1991-04 7057 UK 1991-04 £29.9929.99 7057 AU 199x BR 1992-07 025100

Dick Tracy (ディックトレイシー) is a Sega Mega Drive and Sega Master System action game developed by Sega Technical Institute. Based on the 1990 film of the same name, it was published by Sega in early 1991, and was one of the first titles produced by Mark Cerny's STI.

Story

Introduction

Dick Tracy is a police detective in a stylized 1930s American city. The game does not follow the plot of the film.

Tracy receives word that the gangster Big Boy is up to something at the train yard. When he arrives, he finds a train carrying a shipment of nitroglycerin. He eventually tracks the shipment to the criminal Lips Manlis, who reveals that Big Boy is using the nitroglycerin for his secret explosives factory.

Gameplay

Mega Drive version

The game is an action game played as the hard-nosed police detective Dick Tracy as he fights groups of gangsters to unravel the mystery. Each stage has three scenes, with the last involving a boss fight against one of the gangsters. Each scene has two planes, a foreground and a background. Tracy walks along the foreground but enemies can appear in and attack from either layer. Tracy walks with and and ducks with . He jumps with . He can climb ladders with and .

Tracy shoots his pistol at enemies in the foreground layer with . If an enemy is close, Tracy punches him instead; the game gives the player bonus points at the end of each scene for enemies defeated with punches. Tracy's pistol is always fired straight ahead and cannot be aimed, though it can be fired while ducking or jumping. He shoots his Tommy gun in the background layer with , which can be held for continuous fire. His Tommy gun is aimed in any direction with the D-Pad; Tracy stands in place while shooting it. He can fire his Tommy gun while ducking if he ducks before firing, and he can jump while firing it. Enemies in the background layer initially miss with their shots, to give the player a chance to dodge, but gradually close in. Both weapons have unlimited ammunition.

In some scenes, Tracy cannot use his weapons and can only punch enemies. These scenes do not have a background layer. In the boss scenes, the boss stays in the background layer, attacking and attempting to evade Tracy. Tracy must gradually wear down his health while progressing through the scene until he is finally defeated.

Some scenes involve Tracy pursuing suspects by grabbing the side of a police car and fighting gangsters in their cars as they drive through the streets. These scenes scroll forwards automatically, but the player can maneuver the car back and forth with and . Tracy can still duck with and climb on to the roof of the car with to dodge incoming enemy fire, and he still fires his pistol at foreground enemies with and his machine gun at background enemies with .

Tracy has a limited number of health points. He loses health whenever he takes damage from an enemy; punches and knives cost one health point and bullets cost two health points. When he loses all of his health, he loses a life, but he revives at a checkpoint if the player has lives remaining. Scenes are also timed, and Tracy loses a life if time runs out. If he runs out of lives, the game ends, but the player can continue from the start of the current scene if there are credits remaining. The player can earn extra credits in bonus rounds after each stage.

There are three selectable difficulty levels (Easy, Normal, and Hard). The player can also decide the starting number of credits (3, 4, or 5).

Stages

	Stage 1
	Boss: Itchy
	Stage 2
	Boss: The Brow
	Stage 3
	Boss: Lips Manlis
	Stage 4
	Boss: Pruneface
	Stage 5
	Boss: Flattop
	Stage 6
	Boss: Big Boy Caprice

Bonus round

Bonus round

After each stage, there is a bonus round in which Tracy shoots targets in a police shooting gallery. In addition to pictures of gangsters, there are civilians such as milkmen or police officers. The player receives a rank and bonus credits for successfully hitting gangsters and avoiding shooting innocents. The speed at which the targets flip over increases. There are three targets, which are targeted from left to right with , , and .

Master System version

This version of the game plays nearly identically to the Mega Drive version. There are six stages divided into three rounds each. Tracy moves with and and crouches with . He jumps with . Enemies appear in both the foreground and background. Tracy fires his pistol in the foreground by tapping and fires his machine gun in the background by holding . He can fire his pistol while crouching or jumping. He punches enemies at close range instead of shooting them, which awards extra bonus points at the end of the round. Both weapons have unlimited ammunition. In some rounds, Tracy does not have a weapon and can only punch enemies. A "G" icon in the top status area indicates if Tracy has his guns available.

Tracy can call for police backup with +, which eliminates all enemies on the screen. This can be done once per round, though not all rounds allow police backup to be called. An "R" icon in the top status area indicates if Tracy has police backup available.

In the car chase scenes, Tracy can move the car with and . He can still duck with and jump with . His weapons work the same way, with the pistol firing in the direction last moved.

Tracy has six health points and loses one whenever he takes damage from an enemy. He loses a life if he loses all of his health or if the player runs out of time in a round. He revives at the beginning of the round as long as the player has lives remaining. Otherwise, the game ends, but the player can continue if there are credits remaining. The player can earn extra credits in bonus rounds after each round.

There are three selectable difficulty levels (Easy, Normal, Hard, and Hardest), which determines the starting number of credits.

Bonus round

Bonus round

After defeating the boss at the end of each stage, Tracy plays a bonus round where he shoots targets in a police shooting gallery. Tracy must shoot gangsters and avoid shooting innocent civilians. There are two targets, and Tracy fires at the left target with and the right target with . The player earns extra credits for accurate shooting.

Production credits

Mega Drive version

• Programmer: Mark Cerny, Scott Chandler
• Background Artist: Alan Ackerman
• Artist: Brenda Ross
• Animator: Takeshi Doi
• Composer: Takayuki Nakamura

Source:

Uncredited

Magazine articles

Main article: Dick Tracy/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

File:DickTracy MD FR TV advert.mp4

FR

File:DickTracy MD FR TV advert.mp4

FI advert

Print advert in Computer & Video Games (UK) #112: "March 1991" (1991-02-16)

Print advert in Computer & Video Games (UK) #113: "April 1991" (1991-03-16)

Print advert in Computer & Video Games (UK) #114: "May 1991" (1991-04-14)
also published in:

• The Complete Guide to Sega (UK) #1 (1991-05-xx)

Print advert in Cumhuriyet (TR) #1991-12-20 (1991-12-20)

Physical scans

Mega Drive version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source Hobby Consolas (ES) 79

	79
Based on 1 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 30 Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 65 Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 73 The Complete Guide to Sega (UK) 80 Console XS (UK) PAL 71 Computer & Video Games (UK) 86 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 60 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) 80 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 70 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 68 Games-X (UK) 100 Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J 30 Hobby Consolas (ES) 85 Joystick (FR) NTSC-J 93 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL 39 Mega (UK) PAL 47 Mega (UK) PAL 47 MegaTech (UK) 89 Micromanía (segunda época) (ES) 90 Mean Machines (UK) PAL 82 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 89 Player One (FR) 88 Power Play (DE) 75 Raze (UK) PAL 80 Score (CZ) 71 Sega Power (UK) PAL 84 Sega Power (UK) PAL 75 Sega Pro (UK) 76 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 71 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 61 Supergame (BR) 85 Tilt (FR) 85 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 61 User (GR) PAL 73 Video Games (DE) 73 Zzap! (IT) 89

	73
Based on 36 reviews

Dick Tracy

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, SE rental (HENT black)
Cover

Mega Drive, FR
Manual

Mega Drive, AU
Cover

Mega Drive, BR
Cover

Mega Drive, CA
Cover

Master System version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source Hobby Consolas (ES) 60 Supergame (BR) 85

	73
Based on 2 reviews

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Buzz! Computers (UK) 70 Console XS (UK) PAL 21 Computer & Video Games (UK) 64 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) 71 Joystick (FR) PAL 45 Mean Machines (UK) 77 Player One (FR) 74 Power Play (DE) 53 Raze (UK) PAL 34 Sega Power (UK) PAL 30 Sega Power (UK) PAL 0 Sega Pro (UK) 34 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 21 Tilt (FR) 75 Video Games (DE) 62

	49
Based on 15 reviews

Dick Tracy

Master System, US
Cover
Manual

Master System, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, AU
Cover
Cart

Master System, AU (SP3/Hotline stickers)
Cover
Cart

Master System, BR
Cover
Cart Manual

Technical information

Main article: Dick Tracy/Technical information.