Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (arcade game)

Infobox VG
title = Cadillacs and Dinosaurs


developer = Capcom
publisher = Capcom
designer =
release = February 1st 1992
genre = Beat 'em up
modes = Single player, 2-3 player Co-op
cabinet = Upright
arcade system = CPS-1 + QSound
display = Raster, 384 x 224 pixels (Horizontal), 4096 colors
input = 8-way Joystick, 2 Buttons
platforms = Arcade

Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: The Arcade Game (known in Japan as "Cadillacs Kyouryuu Shin Seiki") is a 1992 arcade game released by Capcom. It is a beat 'em up based upon the comic "Xenozoic Tales" which was created by Mark Schultz in the late eighties. A TV series made after the game was released, though it wasn't a major success, and the Capcom game didn't have any relation with it as it was based entirely on the comic series.

Not to be confused with the console and computer game "" made by Rocket Science Games but based on the same license, this time on the TV series rather than on the original comic. Despite its success and popularity, the Capcom arcade was never released in home systems.

The game-play is like that of many other side-scrolling beat'em up games of the time, such as Streets of Rage or Final Fight. A distinctive feature of this game is the frequent use of firearms, rarely seen on other games of its kind, which normally favored weapons such as bottles and knives. There is also a sequence in which the player can get control of the titular vehicle by radioing for it. It is difficult to keep the car intact for long, because the boss at the end of the sequence (Hogg) is armed with grenades.

Controls

In "Cadillacs and Dinosaurs" the player has access to several special attacks. They are done in the same way for all the characters, but have varying degrees of effectiveness per character. By pressing attack and jump together, the player performs a 360 attack with momentary invulnerability that knocks down nearby enemies. By pressing forward, forward then attack, the player performs a dashing attack that can easily take down crowds of enemies. Mustapha's dashing attack is particularly effective, as it has long reach and priority. By pressing down, up then attack, the player will perform a rising attack that hits multiple times, but can leave you vulnerable. Unlike most other Capcom beat'em ups, you cannot fluently chain a rising attack during a combo, but you can perform one while holding an enemy.

Characters

It features 4 playable characters, corresponding more or less to the usual variations found on beat'em ups:

Jack Tenrec

*"Profile:" Part Mechanic, Part Shaman
*"Height:" 1.8m (6ft)
*"Weight:" 78kg (172lb)
*"Strength:" Good Ability
*"360° Attack:" Spiral Uppercut
*"Dashing Attack:" Running Slide
*"Rising Attack:" Flying Spear Kick
*"Win Quotes:" "Damn, I'm Good!", "You Can't Touch This!"
*"Power:" 4/5
*"Speed:" 3/5
*"Skill:" 3/5
*"Attributes:" The comic's main protagonist is the game's balanced fighter, focusing a bit more on power than speed. His Running Slide is invulnerable to many attacks.

Hannah Dundee

*"Profile:" Diplomat and Explorer. Jack's former flame and love interest.
*"Height:" 1.70m (5ft 6in)
*"Weight:" 53kg (117lb)
*"Strength:" Item Skilled
*"360° Attack:" Spiral Smash
*"Dashing Attack:" Hannah Leaping Knee
*"Rising Attack:" Rolling Boulder
*"Win Quotes:" "What A Wimp!", "All Right!"
*"Power:" 2/5
*"Speed:" 4/5
*"Skill:" 5/5
*"Attributes:" The second fastest character in the game, she's also specially skilled with knives and other items. She's a great thrower, being able to launch enemies higher than the other characters. She's not as powerful as other characters, but her agility makes up for it.

Mustapha Cairo

*"Profile:" Engineer and Jack's Friend
*"Height:" 1.98m (6ft 5in)
*"Weight:" 68kg (150lb)
*"Strength:" Flying Kicks
*"360° Attack:" Tornado Kick
*"Dashing Attack:" Double-Barreled Spring Kick
*"Rising Attack:" Sommersault Kick
*"Win Quotes:" "Bad To The Bone!", "I'm A Bad Mamba Jamma!"
*"Power:" 3/5
*"Speed:" 5/5
*"Skill:" 3/5
*"Attributes:" The fastest character in the game. His flying drop kick has great reach and priority, making him probably the most capable character in the game. The best choice for beginners.

Mess O'Bradovich

*"Profile:" Elusive Past
*"Height:" 2,05m (6ft 7in)
*"Weight:" 97kg (213lb)
*"Strength:" High Powered
*"360° Attack:" Spinning Knuckle Bomb
*"Dashing Attack:" Great Chest Driver
*"Rising Attack:" Diving Body Slam
*"Win Quotes:" "Number One Baby!", "I'm Just Too Cool!"
*"Power:" 5/5
*"Speed:" 2/5
*"Skill:" 4/5
*"Attributes:" The "powerhouse" of the game, Mess equals to Mike Haggar from "Final Fight" series. Despite being slow he is the most powerful playable character in the game. His Diving Body Slam is powerful but not so functional, due to his poor jump ability. Players shall make good use of his throws, as these are his most powerful attacks.

Enemies

Regular enemies

As in a typical beat' em up game, there are nasty enemies to oppose the players, described below.
*Bikers (Gneiss, Ferris and Driver) - the most basic enemies of the game, they are usually dim-witted, attacking mostly with punches, kicks and rarely with a flying kick. They also often drop several firearms when defeated. Gneiss enemies can appear on their "powered-up" motorcycles trying to run over the player. Gneiss wear blue with grey (complete with riding goggles), Ferris wear orange with grey, Driver wear black with green (having more life than his fellow friends).
"Alternative names in Japanese version:" Risk for Gneiss, Astro for Ferris and D.D. for Driver.

*Midgets (Punk and Thug) - very annoying small enemies. They are somewhat harder to deal with (and thus can be a real pain for most players) due to their smaller stature and bigger aggressiveness. They jump a lot and attack with fast punches and kicks, shoulder butts, jump kicks and even throwing grenades (for Punk) and TNT bundles (for Thug) - which they can drop when killed. Punk wears blue pants while Thug wears pumpkin pants.
"Alternative names in Japanese version:" Nitro for Punk and Turbo for Thug.

*Knife Men (Blade and Razor) - cruel guys skilled with butchery knives. They can attack both disarmed (with simple punches) and with their trademark knives - which they can use to stab or swipe, execute a jumping downward stab attack, throw them (the player can hit incoming knives to deflect them, thus allowing their use) and use a running swipe attack (which has good priority and shall not be confronted). These guys constantly drop their knives when killed. Blade wears yellow with navy blue and blonde hair, Razor wears lime green with graffiti and tanned skin.
"Alternative names in Japanese version:" none.

*Fat Guys (Black Elmer, Hammer Terhune and Wrench Terhune (commonly Blk Elmer, Hammer T. and Wrench T.)) - powerful obese enemies that can deal good damage if the player is not careful. These former American football players attack with basic punches and kicks, with addition of running shoulder charges and a painful jumping hip smash. In some occasions they will also disturb sleeping Shivats in order to wake them into rampage. They usually bring food in their pockets and smoke cigars when idle. Blk Elmer wears purple with blue clothing, Hammer T. wears gold with red clothing and Wrench T. wears white with green clothing.
"Alternative names in Japanese version:" James for Blk Elmer.

*Hunters (Poacher Joe (commonly Poacher J.), Gutter and Skinner) - the Black Marketeer's most favored gunmen, they are responsible for killing and selling dinosaur leather and bones for luxurious collectors at extorsive prices. These guys wear torn-down sweatshirts, near-discolored pants, climbing boots and hunting rifles (thought they rarely fire them, and even more rare they drop their rifles when defeated). Their attacks include combos of rifle smacks with kicks, a rolling rifle smash, a hopping kick and the rare rifle shot. Poacher J. sports yellow sweatshirt, Gutter has spinach-green and Skinner wears papaya-red.
"Alternative names in Japanese version:" Saturn for Gutter and Cobra for Skinner.

*Lash Terhune (commonly Lash T.) - tall built guys with leather clothing and a huge steel mace attached to a long rope. Lash T. has basic attacks with knee and his mace, plus a long-range mace fling that deals good damage against any careless victim, friend or foe. He also chews bubblegum after flinging his mace.
"Alternative names in Japanese version:" none.

*Walther - a minor variant of Vice Terhune (Stage 1 Boss), these guys lead the Black Marketeer's poachers in their incursions for killing dinosaurs. He makes his debut in Stage 3 and appears frequently through the game. This enemy has the same actions and skills of the default first boss, but is incredibly harder to fight. Sometimes, Walther drops his handgun when defeated.
"Alternative names in Japanese version:" Colt.

*Bludge - this Blanka-looking creature is a human-reptile hybrid created by Dr. Simon Fessenden himself. Being a reptilian, this foe is a formidable combination of strength and agility, possessing other characteristics such as long jumping kick, diving claw slash and acid spits. He can also grab the player with his tongue and slowly drain his/her health unless the player breaks free. Bludge can also eat objects laying on the ground to prevent their further use in battle (however, if he is killed quickly, the object can be recovered from his stomach before digestion).
"Alternative names in Japanese version:" Phantom.

*Tyrog 2 - just like Walther, this being is a lesser variant of Tyrog (Stage 6 Boss), and is fought only once (in the first scene of Stage 8). This hideous creature combines every action from all of Tyrog's 3 phases. Being a minor-level enemy, Tyrog 2 is easier to kill.
"Alternative names in Japanese version:" none.

Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs can be neutral or enemies in the game. When neutral they are in green color; when enraged or attacking they turn into yellow color; when "defeated" they return to green color and stop attacking, thus moving off screen. Having no allegiances, dinosaurs will attack anyone in their vicinity, player or enemy.
*Rock Hopper (commonly R. Hopper) - a kind of velociraptor. He is usually friendly until being attacked, and his claws and teeth are viciously powerful.

*Mack - a triceratops whose only attack is a painful charging headbutt. It's best to beat him when he stops charging.

*Zeke - a pteranodon which only uses airborne attacks fitting to his winged nature. He can be somewhat hard to hit. But, an easy way to spot it is by standing on his shadow, right below him, and strike right as it goes close to the ground.

*Shivat - a tyrannosaurus-rex, this 12-feet behemoth is commonly found sleeping but will wake up in a rampage if disturbed by fat guys hitting him. Shivat has tremendously powerful biting attacks and causes minor ground shakes when walking. It is by far the hardest dinosaur to be calmed down, so players are advised not to let a Shivat being awakened.

tage bosses

As is customary with beat' em up games, there is a boss at the end of every level. "Cadillacs and Dinosaurs" has 8 levels and of course 8 different bosses.

*Vice Terhune (commonly Vice T.) - the boss of "City In The Sea" (Level 1)

*The Butcher (Atomic in Japanese version) - the boss of "Swamp Forest" (Level 2)

*Hogg (Gaspar in Japanese version) - the boss of "Hell Road" (Level 3)

*Slice - the boss of "Jack's Garage" (Level 4)

*Morgan / Morgue - the boss of "Village Of Flame" (Level 5)

*Tyrog - the boss of "Jungle and Mine" (Level 6)

*Slisaurs - the bosses of "The Vault" (Level 7), they are "reptilian clones" of Slice (Level 4 Boss)

*Dr. Simon Fessenden - the boss of "Deep Deep Down" (Level 8)

Weapons

There are melee weapons, throwing weapons and firearms found along the game. Melee weapons can have their attacks "delayed for extra damage", implying that the longer the player keeps the attack button pressed, the more damage it deals when hitting. Firearms, on the other hand, are mostly limited to their ammunition: when having their ammo fully depleted, they will lay on the ground (with exception of the Bazooka, which disappears right after), waiting for a reload, in which state they can be used as throwing weapons until reloaded (except for Rifle and M-16A1, which will be melee weapons). Bullet boxes will only reload firearms: if there are several firearms scattered around and the player grabs a bullet box, the first firearm picked up right after will be the reloaded one (with full ammo). Throwing weapons usually can be used only once, unless it can be used for melee attacks at close range (like Knife and a broken Rod).

*Pistol - standard firearm which does minimal damage, sometimes dropped by a defeated Walther.
*Shotgun - a powerful PGS-12 firearm which can damage multiple enemies if these are "concentrated" within the gun's firing path.
*Rifle - a "less-powerful-but-not-worse" variant of Shotgun, it can occur naturally or (very rarely) be dropped by defeated Poacher J. / Gutter / Skinner enemies. When out of ammo, a Rifle will serve as a melee weapon.
*Uzi - automatic rapid-firing sub-machinegun which can hold up to 48 bullets.
*M-16A1 - very rare firearm, occurs very rarely in the game. Holds up to 48 bullets just like the Uzi (but its shots are slightly more powerful than the former) and can be used as a melee weapon when out of ammo just like the Rifle.
*Grenade and TNT - very powerful. If used on enemies with low health, they will disintegate into pieces. These powerful explosives can appear on their own or dropped by defeated Punk / Thug enemies.
*Bazooka - the rarest and most powerful weapon of the game. It only holds up 4 shots and vanishes instantly after expending its load, unless it's reloaded before the last shot is expired. The player will gain a Bazooka automatically by choosing to continue after losing his last life.
*Barrel - both Steel Barrel (red) and Wood Barrel (brown) can be picked up and thrown at enemies if the player gets close enough to grab and lift it. Barrels usually contain useful items inside.
*TNT Barrel - it looks like a standard Steel / Wood Barrel, but players can easily distinguish it because of the red flashing on it. Once it is hit by anyone or anything, it starts to ignite and then explodes right a second after, damaging or disintegrating everybody caught in the radius of the blast. Unlike default Barrels, TNT Barrels cannot be picked up and thrown.
*Bucket - a smaller Steel Barrel, it has the same uses of one.
*Knife - for a distance it's a deadly throwing weapon; at close range (when it flashes orange in player's hands) it can be used to stab enemies only once - except fot Hannah, who can stab up to 3 times at melee range. These can be found naturally or dropped by Blade / Razor enemies.
*Rod - a purely melee weapon, it breaks in half after 3-5 hits, when it gains all functionalities of a Knife (see above), including Hannah's close-range stabbing ability.
*Stone - a fairly common but very weak throwing weapon, each one can only be used a single time. It can hit multiple enemies if they are "aligned" within its throw trajectory.
*Torch - another rare weapon, it sets enemies on fire but, unlike Grenade or TNT, it does not disintegrate them in case of low health.
*Club - perhaps the second worst weapon found through the game, it's basically like the Torch but without fire. It has the particularity of hitting the same enemy 2-3 times per strike, thus causing better damage.
*Butcher Knives - they only exist during the boss battle with The Butcher in Stage 2, and are melee only, just like Torch and Club. They are the only weapons which never disappear, due to The Butcher's constant use of them. They are probably the worst weapons in the game.

Trivia

* It is believed the game is the first from Capcom CPS-1 to feature swearing. Two instances are the censored ""XXXX YOU!" (said by The Butcher, Stage 2 Boss) and Jack's stage completing catchphrase "Damn, I'm Good!"

External links

* [http://tenchionline.com/ragey/protected/CADmain.html "The Cadillacs and Dinosaurs Garage"]
*KLOV game|id=7255|name=Cadillacs and Dinosaurs