you can take it out of circuit too...
in circuit is not easy to do a check as there are other components around it and one can at best get approximate idea of transistor's status.
IF resistance or surrounding circuitry is sufficiently high, you can also try diode test on BE and BC junctions. but often this is not possible, for example if load is inductive or low resistance ohmic or if input is pulse transformer etc.
Dead transistors tend to fail in two ways:
- CE short
- CE open
first one is easily checked with continuity test, second one (or actually all of them) is best checked with voltmeter or scope when circuit is in operation.