[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cadillacs_and_dinosaurs.png]]
''Cadillacs and Dinosaurs'' (1993) is [[Creator/{{Capcom}} Capcom]]'s [[UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame arcade]] [[BeatEmUp beat 'em up]] based on the comic series ''ComicBook/XenozoicTales'' (though it more leans toward its animated series, which shares the name). The game roughly follows the source material's plot: Taking place 500 years from the 20th century, an ensemble gang called the Black Marketeers begin hunting the dinosaurs to serve their unknown purpose. It's up to Jack Tenrec, Hannah Dundee, Mustapha Cairo, and Mess O'Bradovich to stand up against the evil deeds of the Black Marketeers.

It has nothing to do with Sega CD game ''Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: The Second Cataclysm'', which was FMV-based shooting gallery game.

See also ''VideoGame/DinoStrike'', an unofficial remake by Miniclip released some two decades later.

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!!''Cadillacs and Dinosaurs'' contains examples of:

* {{Acrofatic}}: The Butcher may be obese, but he's definitely not sluggish: expect him to leap around the place, trying to [[AssKicksYou squash you with his ample buttocks]].
* AdaptedOut: There is no sign or mention of Wilhelmina Scharnhorst, the governors or Gorgostamos in the game's plot.
* AdaptationExpansion: The Japanese dialogue of the arcade game actually contains extra monologue, as well as specific dialogues unique between each character and enemy boss as opposed to a large number of the recycled English dialogues.
* AdaptationalUgliness: Downplayed. While Wrench Terhune definitely wasn't handsome by any means in ''Xenozoic Tales'', he wasn't obese either. In this game, he's one of the fat mooks, besides Hammer (who was fat in the comics) and Black Elmer.
* AdaptationalVillainy: Dr. Simon Fessenden was only a minor character who engaged in mad science and was killed by his own experiment. In this game, he is a BigBad EvilutionaryBiologist.
* AllBikersAreHellsAngels: Hogg, the third boss. He fights by driving around and tossing grenades at you, but can also trample you if you don't quickly get out of his way.
* AnimalisticAbomination: The Bludge, Morgue and Tyrog mutants are all meshes of human and dinosaur DNA. Fessenden himself turns into one of these as a last resort.
* AscendedExtra: Mess O'Bradovich, your choice of MightyGlacier, was a fairly minor character in the comics.
* AxCrazy:
** The Butcher, who is referred to as "really nuts" by Vice Terhune, behaves the part when you meet him in person, gleefully carving up a dead ''Stegosaurus'' with his machettes.
** Dr. Fessenden himself is also murderously violent when cornered.
* BadassBoast: All four playable characters say some sort of blustery quote after defeating a level's boss.
* BaldOfEvil:
** Dr. Simon Fessenden fits, despite not being completely bald, yet a very evil individual.
** There is also the second boss, the Butcher, a sadist who takes pleasure in killing dinosaurs and is feared even the other bad guys.
** Also, the regular enemies Black Elmer and Wrench Terhune.
* BittersweetEnding: {{Subverted|Trope}}. After Dr. Fessenden is defeated, he activates a self-destruct mechanism on his entire lab, forcing the heroes to hightail it out of there. [[spoiler: Hannah unfortunately trips and Jack goes back to help her, in which Mustapha and Mess unknowingly leave them behind as they jump out of the exploding tunnel. The threat of Fessenden has been neutralized, but Mustapha and Mess seem to have lost their dear friends. The two sadly walk back to base as the credits roll. Fortunately, it turned out Jack and Hannah survived as they suddenly drive up next to them in a cadillac]].
* BlindIdiotTranslation: The game seems to have been mostly riddled with typos in punctuation and spelling, due to the game being made in Japan. Even some item names are misspelled, like "grove" when it should be "glove", and "paffee" when it should be "parfait".
* TheButcher: The boss of the second level is called this. He fights with two big butcher knives and is introduced slashing away at a dinosaur corpse.
* CarFu: The third stage allows the player to get into Jack's Cadillac and mow enemies down.
* CombatPragmatist: Like most games of the genre, the player can make use of bats and knives if dropped by the enemy. Unlike most games of the genre, guns, grenades and bazookas can be utilized as well.
* CompetitiveBalance: The game gives you stats for the four characters in the select screen, making them:
** FragileSpeedster: Hannah Dundee is the second fastest of the team with the best item usage, but has the lowest power.
** JackOfAllStats: Jack Tenrec is better at power, but has good speed and skill, making him this.
** LightningBruiser: Mustapha Cairo is the fastest and hits well with long reach, being able to dish good damage quickly.
** MightyGlacier: Mess O' Bradovich is the slowest character and has the highest power level, being able to kill enemies faster.
* ContinueCountdown: Dying shows you a first-person perspective as Vice Terhune aims a gun at you, taunting you as the timer runs down. Continuing has you [[TalkToTheFist sock the goon in the jaw]]. No prizes for guessing what happens if the timer hits 0...
-->''"Eat lead... baby!"''
* DegradedBoss: Vice Terhune becomes a recurring enemy called Walther in later stages. Also, the sixth boss, Tyrog, returns as an enemy in the beginning of the final stage and is called Tyrog 2.
* DepravedDwarf: Morgan, the fifth boss. He is a short, ruthless gang leader who can [[OneWingedAngel mutate into a large humanoid dinosaur when needed]].
* DualBoss: The first boss, Vice Terhune, fights with a Rock Hopper on his side.
** The Slisaurs in the seventh stage, two human-lizard hybrids with Slice's moveset. If you play in co-op, [[spoiler:you'll be facing three]].
* DualWielding: The Butcher fights with his two Butcher Knives, that you can knock out of his hands and wield.
* DubNameChange: A number of enemies have different names in the Japanese version compared to the English version. Examples include Black Elmers being named as James, Gniess being called Risk, Butcher being named Atomic, Hogg being named Gaspar, etc.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: The second stage's boss, the Butcher, is considered to be a loathsome nutjob even by Vice Terhune.
* EvilGloating: Dr. Fessenden's crazed monologue as he morphs into his final form is filled to the brim with this.
--> '''Fessenden:''' Pathetic fools! Now, witness the power of my serum as it takes effect! (transforms) I've finally done it! [[EvilIsHammy All the strength of the mighty dinosaur and my extreme intelligence, all together in one body]]! The world is mine to control! [[EvilLaugh Ha ha ha]]!
* EvilLaugh: The Butcher does this before using certain attacks. So do the regular FatBastard mooks.
* EvilPoacher: Regular enemies first fought in the second stage. They are: Joe, Skinner and Gutter. Then there's the sadistic Butcher.
* EvilRedhead: Slice, the fourth boss, sports a red mohawk. He seizes Jack's garage and tries to have Jack and company killed.
* EvilutionaryBiologist: Dr. Fessenden has this as his M.O. He thinks that a fusion of human and dinosaur DNA is the next step in our evolution, and plans to create a world full of [[LizardFolk dino-human hybrids]] after he's done destroying mankind.
* {{Expy}}:
** Recurring enemy Bludge AKA Phantom looks very similar to [[Franchise/StreetFighter Blanka]].
** The Butcher himself has a similar choice of weaponry as Sodom, the second boss of ''VideoGame/FinalFight''.
** Vice Terhune wields a pistol in combat, not unlike [[DirtyCop Edi E.]] from the same game. Likewise, he and his clones use a rather familiar looking jump kick animation...
** Slice and Hogg take some obvious cues from Rolento: the multiplication and the grenades, respectively.
** Knife fighting characters Blade and Razor take inspiration from Holly Wood and El Gado.
** FatBastard mooks Black Elmer, Wrench Terhune and Hammer Terhune are clearly inspired by Bill Bull, G. Oriber and Wong Who, both in terms of design and combat style.
* FatBastard:
** A certain type of enemy, known for charging at you and jumping onto you. They are: Black Elmer, Hammer Terhune and Wrench Terhune, who will sneer at you with an EvilLaugh if they get the jump on you.
** The second boss, the Butcher, is a bald, obese man who shares a similar set of tactics as the above, and is introduced carving up a dead ''Stegosaurus'' with sadistic glee.
* GameOverMan: Vice Terhune points a gun at you from a first-person perspective during the continue screen. Continuing allows you to [[TalkToTheFist punch him in the face]]. Failure to do so results in you [[NoRangeLikePointBlankRange getting shot point blank]].
* HalfHumanHybrid: Dr. Simon Fessenden plots to destroy mankind so he can create a world inhabited by dino-human mutants. He's even unleashed some already, such as Bludge, Morgan (who starts as a human but later mutates into a humanoid ''Pachycephalosaurus'' called Morgue), the Slisaurs (reptilian clones of Slice) and a strange parasitic organism called Tyrog, which mutates people into reptilian monsters by latching onto their heads.
* HisNameIs: An elder villager in episode 5 uses this line to tell you who is behind the dinosaur attacks, but is gunned down by the stage boss, Morgan, before he can finish his sentence.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In some stages, the enemies will wake up Shivats (Tyrannosauruses) to attack you. Unfortunately for them, the Shivats are just as happy to attack the bad guys as well as the good ones.
* HuskyRusskie: Mess O'Bradovich, judging by his last name and being the MightyGlacier of the game.
* HyperactiveMetabolism: Picking up food both restores health and gives score (although only if your health bar is full). To quote: "That's good!/Delicious!"
* InexplicablyPreservedDungeonMeat: You can find food in the most unlikely places, even if it's in wooden barrels at the bottom of a subterranean cave.
* LeanAndMean:
** Recurring enemies Blade and Razor are drawn with rather lanky builds compared to the rest of their allies.
** The fourth boss Slice and his [[HalfHumanHybrid dinosaur-hybrid]] counterparts, the Slisaurs. They carry an endless supply of [[BattleBoomerang razor-sharp boomerangs]], which can either be thrown or used as knives. Slice and the Slisaurs are also [[LightningBruiser extremely fast]], leaving behind SpeedEchoes as they charge or dodge.
* LudicrousGibs: Any Mook unfortunate enough to be killed by an explosive attack can suffer from this. Even eyeballs are shown flying from the explosive mess!
* MadBomber: Hogg, the third boss, fights primarily by tossing grenades at you.
* MadScientist: Dr. Fessenden, the BigBad.
* MysteriousPast: Mess' profile in the attract mode says that he has an "elusive past".
* MythologyGag: Mess frequently uses wrestling moves and is the largest and strongest playable character, not unlike [[VideoGame/FinalFight Mike Haggar]].
* OneWingedAngel:
** Morgan, the fifth boss in the game. He starts as human guy with an Uzi and morphs into a humanoid ''Pachycephalosaurus'' for the second part of the battle.
** After initially mutating into a slightly stronger PaletteSwap of Morgan, Dr. Fessenden turns into a three-headed, six-limbed monstrosity with both human and dinosaur parts that breathes fire.
* PaletteSwap: As traditional in this sort of game, you see a lot of reused, color-swapped sprites for the more powerful enemies.
* PrecisionFStrike: When you call out the second boss, the Butcher, on his gruesome actions, he responds with a classy "XXXX you!"
* PsychoKnifeNut: The Razor and Blade {{Mook}}s specialize in knife-throwing, the Butcher wields a pair of machetes, and Slice, the boss of the fourth level, primarily uses boomerang-shaped knives, as do his successors, the Slisaurs. On the player side, Hannah has better control over knife weapons than the others.
* PuppeteerParasite: Tyrog, the sixth boss. Its true body consists of a vaguely reptilian head with several tentacles, so it defends itself by latching onto humans, [[BodyHorror mutating their bodies to match its own DNA]] and taking control. The stronger the human host is, the stronger Tyrog becomes. Killing the host doesn't necessarily kill Tyrog, which can simply abandon the dead host and bond with another. Interestingly, a dead host [[DyingAsYourself reverts to their normal human form]] if abandoned.
* SkippableBoss: During the fight with Tyrog, it's possible to kill the flying organism part after it detaches from a dead host, avoiding the second and/or third stage of the fight. This is rather difficult though.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Exaggerated. Hannah is the only female character in the entire game, let alone the crew of playable characters.
* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[TheBigGuy Mess]] was [[spoiler:killed off early in the original comics]]; it seems that he was added to the game just to give the player the MightyGlacier option.
* SuperSpecialMove: Each character has an extremely powerful special move such as Hannah Dundee's where she rolls a long distance into the enemy and the roll hits multiple times then she attacks with an automated combo.
* ThrowingYourGunAtTheEnemy: Guns that have run out of ammunition as the Uzi or the shotgun can be thrown away against enemies as projectiles, or (the rifle and the M-16) can be used as a club.
* TokenBlackFriend: Mustapha is stated as being Jack's best friend.
* UnexpectedGameplayChange: The third stage has you driving a car and mowing down the sort of enemies you'd normally fight mano-a-mano.
* VillainousBreakdown: Fessenden spends his defeat raving madly about his mutation and being in denial about his defeat. So much so that he tries to use a self-destruct button on the lab to [[TakingYouWithMe kill off our heroes]].
* WasOnceAMan: Many of Dr. Fessenden's experiments involve this. Fessenden himself as the FinalBoss.
* WrestlerInAllOfUs: Mess O'Bradovich's move set consists of clotheslines, a scoop slam and even a suplex. Oddly enough, he lacks a jump and slam move.

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