Titus
£10.99

He's on his way! Erm... Well, actually, he's here (at last!). Jump into the shoes of Dick Tracy, retracing his steps from the last summer's quite-a-hit movie, searching for Big Boy Caprice and his gang.

The Dick Tracy story takes place in 1930s Manhattan and everybody seems to have big yellow trenchcoats, trilby hats and carry violin cases under their arms! Dick has to rescue the lovely Tess Trueheart, who's been kidnapped by Caprice and hidden somewhere in the city. Getting his loved one back isn't going to be easy, especially as at the start of the game he only has his fists to pop the baddies with.

There are five levels, each with between 10 and 15 screens and end-of-level hard nuts. Dick only has three types of baddy to look out for: blokes with fists, blokes with guns and blokes leaning out of windows with guns! it you're wondering how the hell you kill a gun-wielding maniac with your fists, you'll be glad to learn that once a man has been killed he drops his weapon, leaving it free for Dick to pick up and use. There are two gun types: a normal handgun that fires one bullet at a time and a machine gun (the latter is much more fun!).

All this sounds really impressive but the truth is that Dick Tracy incorporates little interesting gameplay. All you have to do is run around shooting anything that moves and picking up the weapons that are left behind. You don't even have to worry about ammo, as both guns have an inexhaustible supply.

It's a bit like an old-fashioned movie, ie, it's in black and while and there's no sound. Don't laugh, it's true! The only colour is a tiny bit of yellow and cyan on the bottom of the screen; all the sprites and backgrounds, although quite well drawn, are in black and while monochrome. And that's about it. It looks okay and the animation's not bad but Dick Tracy's gameplay is incredibly simplistic - it took me just under an hour to complete it.

NICK [34%]

The Dick Tracy sprite is recognisable, but killing the gangsters is a piece of cake. Okay, at the start you only have fists for defence, but when a gun is in your possession it's simplicity itself to finish the game. Very poor value for money - and where's Madonna?!
MARK [30%]

Titus
£10.99 cass/£14.99 disk
Reviewer: Andy Ide

I know it's a long time now, but talk about a cocked-up Christmas! There were bucket-loads of games that were supposed to come out last December that never saw the light of day.

It could have been some accident of course - they could have dropped off the back of Santa's sleigh over Norway or something - but here in the YS shed Intelligence Unit we ten to back the "programmers getting it a bit wrong and holding everything up" scenario.

Or at least we would in the case of just about every game except Dick Tracy, because this is the kind of paltry effort that makes you wonder why they ever bothered to put finger to key in the first place.

What a blimming wasted opportunity! I though we were really going to be in for something special here. The brilliantly simple colour scheme of the movie would have gone down a treat on the Spec, and a whole host of brilliant cartoon characters should have made for a really fun and bouncy punch-'n'-shoot-'em-up. But no dice. So far as I can see, the programmers would have been more inspired by a damp sponge.

LET'S HAVE A LOOK AT THAT LIST OF COMPLAINTS THEN

First, the gameplay - it's just doesn't grip you. You start off looking for your kidnapped chick armed only with your fists, but if you bash enough baddies up you get to pick up a revolver (and later a machine gun). Kill one bully, and another will immediately spring out of the pavement to take its place - they're more boringly punctual than Swiss trains, these blokes. You've got an 8-way firing 'technique'so you can pop the baddies who are firing at you from windows and, er, that's as far as I got before I started worrying about my brain going comatose. In fact, if you time it right you can walk through about 10 screens at one go without shooting or dying once. (So it's a bit of a shame the scenery's totally crap too.)

Which brings us to the graphics. And there goes all hope of a natty little colour scheme. Quite a few of the screens are in black and white, and all they are are primitive street scenes, the insides of warehouses, things like that. They're dull as crap, and they're badly done. And as for the movement of the actual characters, well, they make the Woodentops look like ballet dancers.

There isn't any sound.

And it multiloads in in the middle of levels.

Caramba!

SO WHAT'S THE VERDICT THEN?

Hem hem. Now, I know crap licences are nothing new, but when you see something like this you get this sort of sicko feeling in your stomach because you know someone somewhere is going to buy this on the strength of its name and the box and what have you. And it isn't even worth £2.99. (Honestly.)

I'm angry because Dick Tracy was an innovative movie with such a lot to offer the computer game, and I hate seeing people do a really, really shoddy job on something. The Speccy's been seing some great games recently and this just brings everything down a notch or two. You're not a stupid bunch of prats, are you? You know what a good game looks like, don't you? Nuff said. Avoid.

Label: Disney Software
Memory: 48/128K
Price: £10.99 Tape, £14.99 Disk
Program By: Herve Trisson
Levels: 5
No of Loads: 4
Reviewer: Garth Sumpter

Dick isn't too good a name to have. Most people these days who shorten Richard seem to prefer Rick or Rich. I suppose life could be too violent if everyone shouted out, "Hey, Dick!"

But not so if your name happens to be Dick Tracy, America's No 1 fictional detective has already been seen in this country on garish celluloid as Warren Beatty brought the character to life in the film version. Now, it's the time of the computer game and it's almost as hard 'as the man himself.

You are Dick (phwoor!), and you must clear all the (gangsters from the streets. A task that you might relish but one that certainly won't be too easy.

The game has a severe case of the scrolls (Aaaargh!) and Dick must fight, shoot and leap his way from left to right, overcoat tails flying out behind him until he has made the streets safe for the good people of America (what BOTH of them?)

You begin with no weapons but after beating up a few of the thugs, one of them will drop a gun. Once Dick has picked this up, the odds turn his favour.

The end of each level is marked by the appearance of the end of level boss. And be sure, they're the boss 'cos they've always got a bigger weapon that you have (fnar!)

Good graphics and a good gameplay however, does not hide the fact that Dick Tracy is far too easy - it's even possible to load in any one of the four.

ANDREA'S COMMENT:I really enjoyed playing Dick but it just doesn't last long enough.

CHRIS'S COMMENT:It's a pity that Dick isn't a bit harder, it could've been a great game but it's far too easy to complete.