Tomcat Alley

"Those Crazy Russians Are at it Again!"

Ah yes, Tomcat Alley, the first ever FMV game I played on the Sega CD. Needless to say, I did not progress past the very first objective until a few years later, when I had grasped a decent bit of the English language. For an FMV game, I would rank it among the best ever, as (as we all know) FMV titles are not too good most of the time. Game play will kick off the review, as usual.

Game play: 8/10

A fairly easy game to get into, you will require a few goes in order to get acquainted with the game, as it can be tricky at times. One negative is that when you fail a mission or objective, you must start it over. Thankfully, there is a save feature, though, and that saves you the frustration of starting the game over from point A every time you die. The game is essentially a point and click game, in that you must aim your trigger on either an enemy, or the cockpit of the F-14 Tomcat, and then press the corresponding button. Dog-fighting is a lot of fun, and quite challenging whereas shooting AAA weapons, is tiresome and boring. Dog-fighting happens at random, however the AAA guns are always in the same locations, and should be memorized, otherwise you may die quickly. The game has an excellent story, up to par with other good FMV titles.

Story: 9/10

The Soviet Union, desperate for money, sells off some of its military equipment to an un-cooperative nation, and their general tries to wreak havoc on your homeland. You are the rookie pilot, whose task is to stop the general at all costs. This is quite a good story, using familiar factions (Americans {at least we are to assume they are Americans} and Russians), but adding a twist in that it is not an all out Russian attack. Graphics are also fairly good.

Graphics: 7/10

The game is completely FMV, even your cockpit, thus your entire game play experience will be somewhat grainy. However, the colors are not faded, nor is anything truly distorted in the graphics. They are pretty good, just... grainy... very grainy. Unlike the sounds.

Sounds: 8/10

Great music, and great sounds, even if the voices are a bit muddled at times. The music is mainly a bit of rock infused with slight techno-ish beats thrown in. The sounds are mainly instructions, mixed with briefings, and related things. The game takes a hit in the replay department.

Replay ability: 4/10

Once this game is beaten, you will have no desire to play it anymore, and beating it should not take more than a couple of hours if you are experienced, a bit longer if you are new to the game. With no other modes than the main game, there is not much to do.

Buy or rent?

If you find this game anywhere, purchase it, as it is one of the Sega Cd's better FMV titles. Don't bother renting it.

FMV games have not seen the light of the day since the mid nineties, and I guess, its for the better. However there were a few good titles around that time, including Tomcat Alley. I mean, this was the closest thing to flying an F-14 Tomcat in the mid-nineties, what more could you ask for? "Eagle one... go ahead Ratchet!"

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/17/09

Game Release: Tomcat Alley (US, 1994)