WELCO METOT HENEX TLEVEL - Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: The Second Cataclysm
Publisher: Sega Developer: Rocket Science Games Released: 1994
The next game in this series should really be Burning Fists. But seeing as I don't own a copy of that one (currently in the process of trying to order it from Good Deal Games), I'm going to move on for now. If I do get my hands on a copy of Burning Fists, I'll be sure to come back to it here.
Anyway, let's talk about Rocket Science Games.
Rocket Science is the ultimate result of the belief in the mid-90s that Hollywood and Silicon Valley were going to revolutionize the video game world by working together. Full motion video wasn't just a possible future, it was the only future. Rocket Science was founded based on that belief.
And they got a lot of press, too. The games media at the time treated the developer like some sort of super group. Of course, with Sega and BMG partnering to give the group start-up funding to the tune of $12 million, I guess they were kinda big news.
That plan only lasted for their first three games, all of which received middling review scores and suffered horrible sales. The company then shifted focus to more traditional games, and received even more cash from SegaSoft, who became their sole publisher. Remaining titles were canceled or shipped in unfinished form. They did play a part in an online arcade that eventually morphed into Heat.net.
Ultimately, Rocket Science closed its doors in 1997 – four short years after first starting up.
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs was RSG's second game. It's a vehicular shooter not unlike Batman & Robin, where the player navigates a single strip of road filled with obstacles while trying to shoot at various targets.
But unlike Batman & Robin (and the superb Batman Returns), the road and all objects on it presented through full-motion video. So in a way, this game feels like it has more in common with something like Sewer Shark. The result is slightly better looking objects and creatures, though everything has the grainy, washed-out look you get with FMV on the Sega CD. Considering the Batman games had already proven the system's potential to push around a bunch of sprites in “3D,” it's a shame that RSG stuck to their FMV guns so closely with Cadillacs and Dinosaurs.
Not to mention the game suffers from one of the most annoying FMV game trademarks – instant death. Hitting something big (like, say, a dinosaur), doesn't result in losing a bit of health or speed. It means a quick cinematic of a fiery death, followed by a restart. Lame!
Some folks may recognize the characters. The game is actually based on a series of graphic novels called Xenozoic Tales – a story set in a post-apocalyptic world where the remaining humans return to the ravaged surface of the earth after spending decades in underground vaults (where have I heard this before?) only to find that dinosaurs once again roam the earth. Capcom also adapted the series into a video game.