Dick Tracy
System: SMS
Release Date: January 1991
Developer: Blue Sky Software
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Action
There’s only one man who can put Big Boy Caprice and Lips Manlis away and stop the mob and that man is Dick Tracy! The war has begun and every hood, thug, and gangster is armed and ready to fight. So pull out your pistol and get ready to blast them all to kingdom come.
Stages have you moving from one end of the level to the other with enemies constantly spawning and trying to get in your way. If they’re close, you punch them out with Button 1, but if they’re far away, and the level allows it, you fire your gun. Sometimes Tommy gun toting mobsters appear in the background and you need to start blasting away yourself by holding Button 1 and moving your aim around. If you don’t take them out quickly, they’ll shoot at you and eat away at your health.
Ducking to avoid attacks is important, but is very sticky when it comes to movement. If you try to move your thumb on the d-pad to move forward while ducking, you just stay ducking and this can leave you open to damage. My least favorite enemy throws dynamite and the trajectory of said dynamite is not predictable, leading to many deaths. At the end of each stage you earn bonus points for time left, punching enemies instead of shooting them, and not breaking any glass.
Some levels have you hanging on to the side of a car and having to avoid bullets shot at you from the sides and the background. As long as there is an R at the top of the screen, you can press Buttons 1 and 2 together to call for backup. This gets hit erroneously when you have to jump and try to shoot at the same time.
There’s a bonus round before the 3rd stage of each level. Here you need to shoot targets that correspond to Buttons 1 and 2. Hit the gangsters and avoid the cops, firemen, and milkmen to earn extra continues, which will come in handy. At the end of the 3rd stage is a boss battle. I found the best strategy was to aim for them when they came on screen and fire back and forth quickly to drain their life. As you progress, their life bars get bigger. Just be careful not to let the thugs on the side of the screen kill you…
Graphics: 2.0
Character models aren’t detailed, but everything else looks decent enough.
Sound: 1.0
Standard Master System sounds and music, which are obsolete by this point.
Gameplay: 1.0
Jumping and attacking will often lead to an erroneous call for backup, which won’t work. You get stuck ducking when you want to be on the move.
Difficulty: 1.5
If you don’t get tripped up by the poor controls, you’ll get hit in the head with dynamite that you have no chance of avoiding.
Fun Factor: 1.5
There’s some enjoyment to be had, but not enough.
Overall Rating: 1.4
Dick Tracy earns a D+. The Master System is really starting to show its age. I’ve only got six SMS titles left on my list and I hope they’re better than this one.