Dick Tracy

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Let’s talk about Dick Tracy.

A movie tie-in game… wait, where are you going? Come back! Issue 3 and I’ve already lost you. Well, it was a good run, folks.

Seriously though, stick around for five minutes. What if I told you it was actually good? I swear.

Movie tie-in games had earned a terrible reputation by 1991, and for good reason. Most were rushed cash grabs that slapped a film license onto generic, poorly made games.

Gamers had learned to approach any movie-based title with extreme skepticism, expecting lazy design and quick buck mentality from publishers.

Dick Tracy was one of the few that broke that stereotype.

One minute you’re lighting up gangsters in the background with your tommy gun. The next, a shooting gallery mini-game. Then suddenly, you're out of ammo and forced to throw punches like a proper pulp hero.

The game never lets you settle into one mechanic for too long. Just when you think you've figured it out, it pulls the rug out and throws something new at you.

That unpredictability is what made it memorable.

The Genesis version faithfully recreates the bold, stylized art direction of the 1990 film, bringing its comic-strip aesthetic to life in vibrant, side-scrolling action.

The game spans six stages with three scenes each, delivering 18 levels of varied action that never settle into routine.

Tracy himself looks amazing in pixel form, his yellow coat practically glowing against the backgrounds that attempt to capture the stylized 1930s aesthetic.

The core shooting mechanics work beautifully, with responsive controls that make mowing down Big Boy’s cronies feel satisfying. But the real genius lies in the constant variety.

For gameplay, think Rolling Thunder or Shinobi, that same mix of side-scrolling and shooting gallery action.

The main draw and notable mechanic is that the game uses a dual-plane shooting system. Tracy uses a pistol for the foreground/immediate playfield, enemies that spawn in front and behind you like a typical side scroller.

What sets this apart is that the background comes into play too. Enemies will appear across the street and on rooftops to shoot at you. Here’s where you press another button to pull out a tommy gun that only shoots objects in the background. Throw in destructible environments and unlimited ammo and you have the makings of a good time.

Boss fights punctuate every third level, showcasing colorful characters straight from the movie and comics.

You’ll face off against memorable villains like Itchy, Pruneface, and Flattop, each with distinctive costumes and larger-than-life personalities, all building toward your final showdown with Big Boy.

These encounters give you concrete goals to work toward and break up the action at just the right moments.

The audio design does its job, with sound effects that pack serious punch, from the tommy gun’s rapid-fire to the satisfying crack of fists connecting with jaws.

The soundtrack channels that noir atmosphere with decent energy, though it’s a shame they didn’t include any of Danny Elfman’s memorable themes from the film.

Visually, the game shows off the Genesis’s color capabilities with bold, saturated graphics that make every frame feel like a comic panel come to life.

Destructible environments add flair, and the stylized, cinematic look channels the movie’s Oscar-winning design.

Some backgrounds can feel repetitive due to limited parallax scrolling, but overall, the color and animation quality impress for the era.

It’s short, but rarely boring thanks to the level of challenge. After the first stage, the game gets tough. To beat it, you’ll need to replay the later missions and memorize enemy spawn points to avoid getting hit.

Once mastered, there’s little incentive to replay but the learning curve gives plenty for players seeking skill-based action.

The result? A game that works whether you’re a fan of the movie or just someone looking for solid, clever action gameplay.

Dick Tracy succeeds because it understands what made its hero enduring: bright colors, snappy action, and larger-than-life villains.

Strip away the movie license and you’re left with a genuinely fun action game that knows exactly what it wants to be.

The variety in gameplay keeps it from overstaying its welcome, while the comic book presentation gives it a timeless quality that still holds up today.

When developers actually care about creating something worthy of the source material, magic can happen.

Dick Tracy proves that even licenses games can become memorable experiences worth revisiting decades later.

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