Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: The Second Cataclysm
From Sega Retro
| Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: The Second Cataclysm | |||||||||||||||
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| System(s): Sega Mega-CD | |||||||||||||||
| Publisher: Rocket Science Games | |||||||||||||||
| Developer: Rocket Science Games | |||||||||||||||
| Supporting companies: Nu Romantic Productions (sound) | |||||||||||||||
| Licensor: Mark Schultz, General Motors Company | |||||||||||||||
| Genre: Shooting | |||||||||||||||
| Number of players: 1-2 | |||||||||||||||
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Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: The Second Cataclysm is a Sega Mega-CD game developed and published by Rocket Science Games in 1994. It is based on the comic book series Xenozoic Tales, and the TV show of the same name. It is not to be confused with the arcade beat-'em-up, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs by Capcom.
The Mega-CD game was only released in North America and Brazil, though BMG Interactive Entertainment had once planned to bring the game to Europe[2]. A Sega Saturn version was also planned for Q4 1995[3].
Contents
Story
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, replay any previously accessed level, or watch the introduction or the credits. 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.[4]
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
- "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
- "The Mighty Handful"
- Supervisor: Chris Green
- : Emile Duronslet, Antonio Toro, Richard McBride
- 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
Magazine articles
Promotional material
also published in:
- Next Generation (US) #1: "Premiere Issue 1995" (1994-12-08)[6]
- GamePro (US) #66: "January 1995" (199x-xx-xx)[7]
Physical scans
| Sega Retro Average | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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68 |
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| Based on 12 reviews | |
| Mega-CD, US |
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  Cover
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 Disc  Manual |
| Mega-CD, BR |
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   Cover
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Disc |
Technical information
ROM dump status
| System | Hash | Size | Build Date | Source | Comments | |||||||||
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653,427,936 | CD-ROM (BR) | 063496 |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 GamePro, "March 1995" (US; 1995-xx-xx), page 60
- ↑ Mega Power, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-10-20), page 7
- ↑ 1995 Sega Product Catalog (US), page 75
- ↑ https://www.badgamehalloffame.com/ (Wayback Machine: 2023-01-19 21:34)
- ↑ File:Cadillacs and Dinosaurs MCD credits.pdf
- ↑ Next Generation, "Premiere Issue 1995" (US; 1994-12-08), page 16
- ↑ GamePro, "January 1995" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 4
- ↑ Consoles +, "Février 1995" (FR; 1995-0x-xx), page 128
- ↑ Electronic Games (1992-1995), "March 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 60
- ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "February 1995" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 34
- ↑ Game Informer, "February 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 40
- ↑ Hobby Consolas, "Marzo 1995" (ES; 1995-xx-xx), page 96
- ↑ Joypad, "Février 1995" (FR; 1995-0x-xx), page 101
- ↑ Mega Force, "Février 1995" (FR; 1995-0x-xx), page 82
- ↑ Next Generation, "March 1995" (US; 1995-02-21), page 96
- ↑ Player One, "Février 1995" (FR; 1995-0x-xx), page 104
- ↑ Power Unlimited, "Jaargang 3, Februari 1995" (NL; 1995-01-25), page 46
- ↑ VideoGames, "April 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 78
