Tomcat is a 1989 computer game published in the UK by Players Software for a range of 8-bit

8-bit

The first widely adopted 8-bit microprocessor was the Intel 8080, being used in many hobbyist computers of the late 1970s and early 1980s, often running the CP/M operating system. The Zilog Z80 and the Motorola 6800 were also used in similar computers...

 home computers. The game was released on the Acorn Electron

Acorn Electron

The Acorn Electron is a budget version of the BBC Micro educational/home computer made by Acorn Computers Ltd. It has 32 kilobytes of RAM, and its ROM includes BBC BASIC along with its operating system....

, BBC Micro

BBC Micro

The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation...

, Commodore 16

Commodore 16

The Commodore 16 was a home computer made by Commodore with a 6502-compatible 8501 CPU, released in 1984. It was intended to be an entry-level computer to replace the VIC-20 and it often sold for 99 USD...

, Commodore Plus/4

Commodore Plus/4

The Commodore Plus/4 was a home computer released by Commodore International in 1984. The "Plus/4" name refers to the four-application ROM resident office suite ; it was billed as "the productivity computer with software built-in"...

, Commodore 64

Commodore 64

The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...

, Amstrad CPC

Amstrad CPC

The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...

 and ZX Spectrum

ZX Spectrum

The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...

 ranges of computers. Tomcat was released as a budget title and was also featured on a Your Sinclair

Your Sinclair

Your Sinclair or YS as it was commonly abbreviated, was a British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum.-History:...

 magazine cover tape.

Description

Tomcat is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up

Shoot 'em up

Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...

 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

Materials science

Materials science is an interdisciplinary field applying the properties of matter to various areas of science and engineering. This scientific field investigates the relationship between the structure of materials at atomic or molecular scales and their macroscopic properties. It incorporates...

 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

CRASH (magazine)

Crash was a magazine dedicated to the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was published from 1984 to 1991 by Newsfield Publications Ltd until their liquidation, and then until 1992 by Europress.-Development:...

 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

Firetrack

Firetrack is a vertically-scrolling shoot 'em up computer game programmed by Nick "Orlando" Pelling and released for the BBC Micro and Commodore 64 platforms in 1987 by Electric Dreams Software. It was also ported to the Acorn Electron by Superior Software in 1989 as part of the Play It Again Sam 7...

and concluding that Tomcat is a great game, although the reviewer remains critical of the small gameplay window.

Unrelated titles

Tomcat is unrelated to another Commodore 64 and MS-DOS

MS-DOS

MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...

 game called F-14 Tomcat, developed by Dynamix

Dynamix

Dynamix, Inc. was an American developer of computer games from 1984 to 2001, best known for their flight simulator, Red Baron, the Front Page Sports series, Betrayal at Krondor, and their online multiplayer game, Tribes.-History:...

 and published in 1988 by Activision

Activision

Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...

.

It is also unrelated to another Game Boy Advance

Game Boy Advance

The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...

 game called F-14 Tomcat, developed by Virtucraft and published in 2001 by Majesco Games

Majesco Entertainment

Majesco Entertainment is a video game publisher founded in 1986.-History:Majesco first made a name as a reissuer of old titles that had been abandoned by their original publisher. By cutting the prices dramatically and, eventually, arranging the rights to self-manufacture games for both Nintendo...

.

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
• [ftp://ftp.worldofspectrum.org/pub/sinclair/games-inlays/t/Tomcat.jpg ZX Spectrum cassette inlay]
• [ftp://ftp.worldofspectrum.org/pub/sinclair/games-info/t/Tomcat.txt English instructions at World of Spectrum]