Chase H.Q. (Sega Master System) review "Bump & Run"

Theft! Killings! Kidnappings! Substance abuse! CRIME-RIDDEN NEW YORK. Whether it's on the back of the box or inside the instruction manual, they really wanted to... drive home the fact that life in New York is terrible. Thankfully stuff like this doesn't happen in real life. The "Manhattan Police Department," in an attempt to end these ghastly occurrences, have put together a special headquarters within the department: CHASE H.Q. Their sole purpose is to, as you may have deduced, chase criminals as they escape in getaway vehicles. You think the department would have a cunning plan of action to support them, right?

Nah.

Nah, one guy is just using his personal car.

With his fine-tuned "Tarche" roadster, partner Raymond Brody in the passenger seat, and dispatcher Nancy providing details over the radio, Tony Gibson roars through the streets in pursuit of lawbreaking scum. Gameplay-wise, this translates into two portions per round. The first portion is essentially a normal driving segment typically seen in arcade racing games; here you must reach a destination within the allotted time limit, dodging traffic and obstacles, with the latter including cardboard boxes, bushes, and yellow safety barriers haphazardly scattered about. Every second counts, as failure results in having to use up one of your limited supply of continues. Thankfully, though also limited, you have turbo boosts to help out run the timer.

Once you reach the destination, which in this game's case is the criminal's car as indicated by a distance meter, is when the second portion begins. Your siren is activated and the objective here is to continually ram the fleeing car until its health meter is depleted. The concept of bumping into criminals might sound odd for an OutRun-inspired racer, but its implementation isn't as awkward. Ramming into the side of a perp's car won't decelerate your own vehicle much, meaning you simply have to keep at it while constantly avoiding traffic, hard turns, and the time limit. Graciously, the time limit refreshes when you reach this second portion, and you'll need it; a simple crash on the side of the road can prove devastating, especially since you have to spend the following dozen or so seconds trying to catch up again.



This gets increasingly tougher to accomplish as you progress through each round, with vehicles you're pursuing being more stubborn to immobilize; the AI has near-flawless driving in the final rounds and even cheats by zooming away off screen when you hit them a certain number of times. But between rounds, you're allowed to purchase upgrades with money earned from the prior chase, such as an additional turbo charge, better acceleration, or the ability to cause more damage when ramming. You're going to need as much help as possible, because you must survive through three loops of five rounds, all while not using up your measly three continues in the process. There's no save or password system either, so you have to do this oldschool and complete the entire game in one session.

Of course, with this being based on an arcade title with higher specs, several things are bound to be lost in translation. While the SMS version pulls off the feeling of speed the best it can, it's not as intense as the arcade original, where your vehicle actually looks like it's fiercely hurtling down the road and past countless obstacles, eventually ramming into criminals with aggressive determination; all that while playing on a cabinet with actual sirens flashing during a chase. Unsurprisingly, the abundance of voice-acting is also no longer a thing, depriving Master System players from hearing Ray's sassy one-liners throughout each round. The weirdest "modification" is perhaps Raymond being transformed into a white man in this conversion...



The port is a commendable attempt, as the devs at the very least keep the core gameplay. But in stripping away at its visual and audio senses, it places a bigger glare on said gameplay. Despite its perceived chaotic presentation, the execution usually leaves you wanting more in this 8-bit port. For instance, since you're spending the first minute or so blazing through each round, normally with the aid of turbo boosts, the first portion comes off like filler until you reach the criminal; unless you're close to the finale, you don't get a lot of push back from obstacles, traffic, and even the turns themselves, stuff that's suppose to get in your way. That really just leaves the second portion of every round being the major focus, which is just basic-level bumper car action. And you're required to do this for 15 straight rounds.

If you're viewing CHASE H.Q as an OutRun-influenced alternative for your Master System, it's an interesting take with decent execution that loses most of its arcade charm. It's not a terrible title, but there's clearly room for improvement and variation, something that its sequels attempt to do with varying degrees of success. The fact that a SMS version of CHASE H.Q. exists is intriguing in itself, but that's probably the most this product has going for it.

Community review by dementedhut (June 21, 2023) Now if only I had the foresight to submit this OutRun review a day earlier...