Tomcat Alley

n/a

Mega-CD Windows PC
Tomcat Alley
System(s): Sega Mega-CD, Windows PC
Publisher: Sega Sega PC
Developer: The Code Monkeys Novotrade
Supporting companies: AOI Advertising Promotion (JP) (localization)
Distributor: Ecofilmes (PT) Tec Toy (BR)
Genre: Virtual Cinema (バーチャルシネマ), Shooting
Number of players: 1
Official in-game languages: English Deutsch Français Español 日本語 English
Release Date RRP Code JP 1994-12-22 ¥7,8007,800 G-6039 US 1994-03 $59.9959.99 4429 EU 1994-05 4429 DE 1994 4429-18 ES 1994 4429-06 FR 1994 4429-09 PT 199x UK 1994-07-08 £49.9949.99 4429 AU 199x FMEG57SMR BR 199x 063290 AS 199x 4429-11 US 1995-11 $39.9539.95 UK 1996-03-15 £29.9929.99 MK-85014-50

Tomcat Alley (トムキャットアレイ) is a flight combat game for the Sega Mega-CD. It uses full-screen full-motion video. It was later brought in an updated form to Windows PCs.

Story

F-14 Tomcat

A rogue Russian military officer, Colonel Alexi Povich, has deserted and taken squadrons of aircraft and other advanced weaponry with him. He has established a base of operations in the Mexican desert and has been acquiring chemicals needed to produce a deadly nerve agent to use against the United States. The US Navy's top-secret Naval Air Station Tomcat Intercepts (N.A.S.T.I.) has sent two F-14 Tomcat fighter jets, Shadow 3 and Shadow 5, on a mission to stop him.

Characters

Commander Remmington

The team's commanding officer, who provides them with their orders.

Mr. Williams

A CIA agent coordinating the hunt for Povich.

Lieutenant Fujimora

An officer who provides the team with intelligence and information about mission objectives.

"Dakota"

The pilot of Shadow 5 and the player's crewmate.

"Ratchet"

The pilot of Shadow 3 and Shadow 5's wingman.

"Buzz"

The radar intercept officer of Shadow 3.

Gameplay

Select waypoint

Select target

Lock-on target

Bandit on tail

The game is a full-motion video flight combat simulator. The player acts as the radar intercept officer for an F-14 Tomcat air superiority fighter codenamed Shadow 5. In this role, the player serves as navigator and controls the aircraft's weapons systems while the pilot, "Dakota," flies the plane. Shadow 5 is accompanied in its missions by Shadow 3, crewed by "Ratchet" and "Buzz."

The player controls an aiming reticle, which can be used to target enemies as well as to select icons in the HUD. At the start of every mission, the player is presented with an overlay of waypoints, each representing a position that the pilot can fly to, and given five seconds to select one. At each waypoint, the radar system displays an overlay of targets, from which the player again has five seconds to make a selection. Each target typically leads to an encounter with enemy resistance in the form of a fighter jet or SAM sites, which must be dispatched before choosing another target. When all targets have been "splashed," the player chooses from the remaining waypoints. Waypoints are numbered and should normally be selected in order; the player is free to select a waypoint out of sequence, but this increases the number of enemy forces at the location. The last waypoint selected generally travels to a special strategic target that fulfills the objective of the mission.

The Tomcat is armed with a complement of weapons (which are limited in supply but restocked at the start of every mission). Weapons are selected from the bottom-left corner. There are two air weapons and two ground weapons, with a toggle to switch between them, each with different uses. Additionally, the Tomcat has a supply of flares or chaffs (selected in the bottom-right corner of the screen), which are launched as a defensive maneuver to divert enemy heat-seeking missiles. The player is alerted with a "WARNING" overlay when a bandit (an enemy fighter) is on Shadow 5's tail, indicating that it must quickly deploy a flare or chaff to avoid being hit by a missile. Like weapons, flares and chaffs are also limited use. Traveling to another waypoint also has a 50/50 chance of evading the missile, if the player has no other countermeasures available.

The D-Pad moves the aiming reticle around the screen. The player can select an icon from the HUD (including waypoints and targets) by highlighting it with the reticle and pressing . The HUD also contains a radio, which must be answered by the player when it flashes and the wingman is trying to radio in, and a recon cam, which is sometimes used to take intelligence photos as a mission objective. Enemy targets are "locked-on" when highlighted with the reticle while an appropriate weapon is selected (for example, a missile for an air target or a bomb for a ground target), and the player can fire while locked-on with . The lock-on is held momentarily but lost when the target moves too much out of it, which causes the weapon to miss. The player can toggle the HUD with .

There are two difficulty levels (Easy and Hard). Failing to respond to something, such as selecting a waypoint or answering the radio, in time usually causes "Dakota" to abort the mission (forcing the player to start over from the beginning). The game ends if Shadow 5 or Shadow 3 is destroyed, but the player is given the option to save the game to the console's internal memory to continue from the beginning of the last mission.

Items

	Sidewinder Missiles
	Heat-seeking missiles effective against most enemy fighter jets.
	Phoenix Missiles
	Radar-guided long-range missiles used for MiG fighters that are too far away to hit with Sidewinders.
	Maverick Missiles
	Laser-guided missiles effective against SAM sites.
	Bombs
	Heavy ordnance used against special mission targets such as enemy facilities. This is the only weapon that does not lock-on to targets; bombs can be dropped anywhere the player aims the reticle.
	Air/Ground Mode Selector
	Switches the selectable icons between air and ground weapons.
	Radio
	Talks to Shadow 5's wingman. Flashes when it can be used.
	Recon Cam
	Takes reconnaissance photographs. Flashes when it can be used.
	Flare/Chaff Launcher
	Launches a flare (against a heat-seeking missile) or chaff (against a radar-guided missile) to avoid enemy missiles. Both countermeasures share the same supply.

Missions

Dogfights are randomized, so the same footage can appear in multiple missions.

	Mission 1
	The team must intercept and destroy a bomber that is believed to possess a dangerous chemical weapon.
	Mission 2
	The team must clear the area of enemy forces and take pictures of the enemy facility with the Tomcat's recon camera.
	Mission 3
	The recon photos have discovered a railway bridge being used by the enemy to transport chemicals for their weapons program. The team is sent to destroy the bridge.
	Mission 4
	Two other Tomcats were attacked while running a reconnaissance mission over the enemy's base. The team must return to the area to take new recon photos.
	Mission 5
	The team must destroy the chemical plant identified in the last mission.
	Mission 6
	The enemy has attacked N.A.S.T.I. headquarters. Shadow 5 must destroy the remaining enemy resistance alone, as Shadow 3 is unable to launch due to the damage to the facility.

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. A Mega-CD 32X version was also in preproduction, but never saw release either.

Versions

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

The Windows PC version of the game has higher-quality video. Though designed for Windows 95, this version is also compatible with PCs running Windows 3.1, and is one of few Sega PC titles to be compatible with the operating system.

Production credits

Main article: Tomcat Alley/Production credits.

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 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) 60 №23, p26/27

	60
Based on 1 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 63 Consoles + (FR) 91 Computer & Video Games (UK) 54 Digitiser (UK) NTSC 55 Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) NTSC-U 100 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 58 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 60 Game Players (US) NTSC-U 67 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 100 Gamers (DE) 53 GamesMaster (UK) PAL 57 Game Informer (US) NTSC-U 72 Hyper (AU) 80 Joypad (FR) NTSC-U 90 Joypad (FR) PAL 90 Joypad (HU) 88 MAN!AC (DE) PAL 78 Mega (UK) NTSC-U 69 Mega Force (FR) NTSC-U 90 Mega Fun (DE) PAL 77 Mega Power (UK) PAL 90 MegaTech (UK) NTSC-U 72 Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL 75 Player One (FR) 86 Play Time (DE) 75 Power Up! (UK) 75 Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J 66 Sega Magazin (DE) 80 Sega Magazine (UK) PAL 90 Sega News (CZ) 90 Sega Power (UK) NTSC-U 68 Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-U 86 Sega Zone (UK) PAL 58 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 76 Supersonic (FR) 80 The Zone (AU)The Zone (AU) 87 Todo Sega (ES) 85 Video Games (DE) NTSC-U 66 VideoGames (US) NTSC-U 90

	77
Based on 39 reviews

Tomcat Alley

Mega-CD, JP
Cover
Spinecard Disc

Mega-CD, US
Cover
Disc Manual

Mega-CD, EU
Cover
Spinecard Disc Manual

Mega-CD, UK
Cover
Disc Manual

Mega-CD, FR
Cover
Disc

Mega-CD, DE
Cover

Mega-CD, ES
Cover

Mega-CD, PT
Cover
Disc Manual EU Manual

Mega-CD, AU
Cover

Mega-CD, BR
Cover
Disc Manual

Mega-CD, AS†
Cover
Disc

PC version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Computer & Video Games (UK) 59 Dimension-3 (US) 50 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 30 PC Gamer (UK) 8

	37
Based on 4 reviews

Tomcat Alley

PC, US
Cover

PC, EU
Cover
Disc Manual Jewel Case Manual (back)

Technical information

Main article: Tomcat Alley/Technical information.

External links

• Sega of America webpage: Mega CD