Tomcat Alley
| Tomcat Alley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developers | The Code Monkeys (Sega CD) Novotrade (PC) |
| Publisher | Sega |
| Designer | John Zuur Platten |
| Platforms | Sega CD, Windows |
| Release | Sega CDWindows 95 |
| Genre | Interactive film[2] |
| Mode | Single-player |
Tomcat Alley is an interactive movie FMV video game developed by The Code Monkeys for Sega CD. It was the first Sega CD game to feature extensive full screen, full motion video.[3][better source needed] It was later released, with higher quality video, for Windows-based PCs.[3][better source needed] A 32X version was also in development,[4] but never released.
Storyline
The player controls a United States Navy pilot who has to bring peace and stability to the world after the cash-poor former Soviet Union sold off some of its military equipment to an unfriendly government.
The game takes place in a full screen, full motion video, first-person perspective, and the player has to move quickly to launch missiles at enemy aircraft.
Critical reception
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| AllGame | 4.5/5 (SCD)[2] |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 7/10, 6/10, 5/10, 5/10 (SCD)[5] |
GamePro named Tomcat Alley the best Sega CD game at the 1994 Consumer Electronics Show, commenting, "The demo at CES was stunning. It still had that grainy Sega CD look and feel, but you actually felt like you were flying inside the Tomcat."[6] They later reviewed the game and gave it a perfect score, stating: "Tomcat Alley uses actors, sets, and outstanding aerial footage to create a breathtaking aerial battlefield."[7] Four reviewers in Electronic Gaming Monthly commented on the game, with two reviewers complimenting that the FMV sequences use the whole screen instead of a small window, while another dismissed the game saying: "Aaargh, another full-motion video game! If you've played Night Trap or Double Switch, then you've played Tomcat Alley. ... the video [is] very blocky and often hard to see".[5] In a retrospective review, Christopher Baker of Allgame wrote that the phrases and scenes are not as repetitive compared to other Sega CD games and praised the gameplay being fun and praised the game's challenging difficulty without being too frustrating.[2]
In 1995, Flux magazine ranked the game 81st on their Top 100 Video Games summarizing: "A full-motion video game that doesn’t suck, thanks to decent interactivity, semi randomized gameplay, and the hot pilot babe."[8]
References
- ^ "Sega ships CD-ROM titles. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
- ^ a b c Baker, Christopher Michael. "Tomcat Alley Review". Allgame. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
- ^ a b Tomcat Alley on MobyGames
- ^ "Gaming Gossip". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 66. Ziff Davis. January 1995. p. 56.
- ^ a b Semrad, Ed; Carpenter, Danyon; Manuel, Al; Sushi X (May 1994). "Review Crew". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Vol. 7, no. 5. Lombard, Illinois: Sendai Publications. p. 34. ISSN 1058-918X. OCLC 23857173. Retrieved December 23, 2025 – via Video Game History Foundation.
- ^ "CES Showstoppers". GamePro. No. 57. IDG. April 1994. pp. 74–81.
- ^ "ProReview: Tomcat Alley". GamePro. No. 58. IDG. May 1994. pp. 52–53.
- ^ "Top 100 Video Games". Flux (4): 32. April 1995.