Tomcat (also known as F14 Tomcat) is a 1989 computer game published in the UK by Players Software for a range of 8-bit home computers. The game was released on the Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, Commodore 16, Commodore Plus/4, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum ranges of computers. Tomcat was released as a budget title and was also featured on a Your Sinclair magazine cover tape.
Description
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Tomcat is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up in which the player takes control of an F14 Tomcat fighter aircraft, shooting at both air and ground targets whilst flying over four levels.
The game is set in the future, some time after the first half of the 21st century. In the in-game universe, materials science has progressed such that human civilisation has found a way to cheaply build many artificial islands. The game is set on one such island, called ARTROCK 6 which is a completely automated defence installation. Due to a freak storm damaging the controlling software, the island has turned against its own side and has started attacking local shipping. The player's task is to fly in and completely destroy the rogue island.
Critical reception
Most reviews of game are generally negative, citing a slow running speed, an overly high difficulty level and a lack of originality. Reviewers independently agree that the game has a major flaw in that the enemy bullets are incredibly difficult to see, being the same colour as the background graphics in many versions. The game has also been criticised for having a weak aeroplane theme as it's simply a fixed-speed vertical scroller which could just as easily have a spaceship or any such sprite in its place. The game scored 24% in Crash magazine.
The review of the BBC Micro version on beebgames.com however is largely positive, praising the game's very very good graphics, drawing comparisons with another shoot 'em up, Firetrack and concluding that Tomcat is a great game, although the reviewer remains critical of the small gameplay window.
Tomcat is unrelated to another Commodore 64 and MS-DOS game called F-14 Tomcat, developed by Dynamix and published in 1988 by Activision, nor the Game Boy Advance game called F-14 Tomcat, developed by Virtucraft and published in 2001 by Majesco Entertainment., or Tomcat Alley on the Sega CD.
References
External links
- Gamebase 64 entry for Tomcat, showing Commodore 64 screenshot
- Commodore 16 / Commodore Plus/4 screenshot at plus4world
- YouTube video featuring Commodore 64 chip-music from Tomcat by Jeroen Tel
- Another Commodore 64 screenshot and details of the game
- ZX Spectrum cassette inlay
- English instructions at World of Spectrum