Dick Tracy (video game)
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Dick Tracy appeared in three video games, one for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Bandai and the Sega Mega Drive and Sega Master System [1] by Sega themselves.
[edit] NES version
Bandai released their version of Dick Tracy in August 1990. The objective is to solve several mysteries without accusing the wrong person or shooting too many unarmed villains.
Each level starts out with a case to solve, and some possible clues. The player drives Tracy's vehicle through the city, avoiding snipers and other cars, to various locations mentioned in the clues, where the action shifts to a side-scrolling adventure game. If the player goes to the right location, he will find, during the course of his side-scrolling fighting, a clue icon that provides additional clues for the case, or the player will be able to speak with a character from the comics who give clues. There is one car chase in each level. Once the player has collected enough clues, he can drive to the location where the perpetrator is and arrest him.
In the side-scrolling mode, Tracy can jump, duck, punch, shoot from his pistol or collect more powerful weapons (with limited ammo). These include full-auto Tommy Guns and tear gas, the latter of which eliminates all on-screen enemies. If the player shoots unarmed crooks, then some of life energy is lost. The game provides two ways to restore health. One, if the players is down to 1/2 a life point, he can visit one of the police stations and recover an additional half-point. The second requires a "first-aid", an icon found in some levels that looks like a heart. The game is considered fairly difficult to win, but there is a password feature to help players continue at a later time, as the game does not have any extra "lives" or "continues."
The game is similar to the "sandbox" style of the Grand Theft Auto series.
[edit] Mega Drive/Genesis version
Dick Tracy, released in 1991 for the Mega Drive/Genesis, was a side-scrolling arcade game where played the famous hero through various stages to bring down Big Boy. As Tracy, you can walk (so said to slow), jump, duck, shoot a pistol, and use a Tommy gun to hit enemies and objects in the foreground. Each level had a series of sublevels to it and bonus points awarded if you could avoid hitting any of the various objects in the background, i.e. windows, fire hydrants and street lights. One of the levels switches from the action up slightly by having you control Tracy during a police chase. Several of the villains from the comic book appear and the final battle with Big Boy takes place in a scene similar to the climax of the feature film.
