Chase H.Q. (history and reception)

Period magazines treat the home versions as conversions of Taito's arcade game. Crash called the ZX Spectrum version Ocean's Christmas racing game and "the conversion of the brilliant Taito coin-op", and in December 1989 Famicom Tsushin announced that Chase H.Q., still popular in the arcades, had been ported to the Famicom. chase-h-q-history/arcade-original

The arcade game itself is context here: no arcade flyer, manual, or dated arcade source has been read for this set, so its release date and staff are not claimed.

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The Famicom version, Taito Chase H.Q., came out in Japan on 8 December 1989 from Taito, according to a retrospective Famicom catalog; Famicom Tsushin's release schedule of 8 December 1989 also lists it on the 8th, and Taito's advertisement in the same issue gave 8 December as its planned release day and ¥5,900, before consumption tax, as its price. chase-h-q-history/famicom-release

The catalog is an unsigned retrospective mook that names no source for its dates. The advertisement's month and price were read on the page image (image 2).

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The Famicom cartridge, code DTF-H9, is titled Taito Chase H.Q.: its manual thanks the buyer for the Taito game cassette "TAITO CHASE H.Q." and says that the game's names and story are fiction. The manual prints "FOR SALE and USE IN JAPAN ONLY", gives Taito's marketing department as the address for fan letters, and on its back cover names Disco (株式会社ディスコ) as maker and publisher and Taito as seller; Taito's advertisement in Famicom Tsushin credits the two companies the same way. chase-h-q-history/famicom-cartridge

The company names were read on the page images: the manual's back cover (image 20) and Taito's advertisement in Famicom Tsushin 89 (p. 2, image 2: "●販売元 株式会社タイトー", "●製作・発売元 株式会社ディスコ", "© TAITO CORP. 1989/ディスコ"). The advertisement's names aren't in its OCR.

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In the Famicom manual's story, a special investigation headquarters known as Chase H.Q. has been set up in Manhattan to deal with New York's crime, and detective Tony Gibson goes out on patrol with his partner; Nancy radios that a criminal is fleeing. The player's car is the unmarked patrol car of two detectives, the player is one of them, and the aim is to chase down and arrest the fleeing criminal by Nancy's radio messages. Taito's advertisement in Famicom Tsushin names the partner Raymond Broady. chase-h-q-history/famicom-premise

The story page's OCR is badly garbled; the quotes are the legible pieces. Crash's Spectrum review gives the two detectives as Ray Broady and Tony Gibson (spectrum-crash).

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The Famicom manual's rules: the player drives flat out to catch up with the criminal's car, whose distance the console's map shows. Once the car is found and marked by an arrow, a patrol lamp goes on the player's car, the siren starts, and the timer is reset. Each ram adds to the damage meter, and when the meter is full the criminal gives up and stops, which counts as an arrest and moves the game to the next stage. Failing to find and arrest the criminal before the timer runs out ends the game, with a continue. There are 21 stages, in three rounds of seven, and seven kinds of criminal car. chase-h-q-history/famicom-rules

The stage and round counts and the seven kinds of criminal car were read on the page image (image 10, printed p. 8). Famicom Tsushin's feature (p. 30) and Taito's advertisement say 7 stages, and Ocean's computer versions have five missions; the manual's 21 stages are three rounds of seven.

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The Famicom manual's controls, for the automatic car: left and right on the control pad steer (up and down do nothing), A accelerates, B brakes, Start starts the game, and Select fires the turbo. With the manual two-speed gearbox, up and down on the pad shift between high and low gear. Each turbo raises acceleration and top speed for five seconds; the player starts with three, unused turbos carry over from stage to stage, and the stock holds at most five. The status panel shows the time, the distance to the criminal's car, speed, the turbo stock, the gear, and the damage meter. It is a one-player game. chase-h-q-history/famicom-controls

The turbo figures were read on the page image (image 7, printed p. 5), where the OCR garbles the digits: "ターボは、1ステージ3回~5回使用でき、1回につき5秒間、加速度・最高速度が上がる。" and the footnote "ラウンド1の ステージ1では3回。それ以後は前ステージの残りを繰り越す。…ターボの最大値は、5コとなる。"

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The Famicom manual describes play with the Arkanoid controller as well as the joypad: the controller's knob steers and its push button accelerates, while B on the joypad brakes, Start starts the game, and Select fires the turbo. chase-h-q-history/famicom-arkanoid-controller

The Arkanoid controller is Taito's paddle controller for the Famicom.

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Between stages the Famicom version lets the player modify the car on a select screen, paying in points from the score: the choices include an automatic or two-speed manual gearbox, normal or quick steering, oil (10,000 points; without it the top speed falls each stage), an extra turbo (500,000), a supercharger (2,000,000) that raises acceleration and top speed but cuts the time limit to 50 seconds from the usual 60, tyres (300,000; without them the car slides each stage), and a bumper (50,000) that does more damage when ramming but slows the car. chase-h-q-history/famicom-car-upgrades

The turbo and supercharger prices, which the OCR garbles ("0U00000"), were read on the page image (image 11, printed p. 9): ターボ 500000ポイント, スーパーチャージャー 2000000ポイント. None of the computer versions' instructions read here describes upgrades.

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In the Famicom version, when the timer runs out the word CONTINUE appears and a ten-second count starts; the criminal's car keeps getting away during the count, so a quick restart helps. A continue doesn't clear the score or the damage done to the criminal's car. chase-h-q-history/famicom-continue

The manual's limit on continues per stage, and what follows a failed continue, are on image 15 but the OCR garbles them.

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The Famicom manual says that clearing a round shows a round-clear scene, in which the two detectives are commended by their chief, and a round bonus, and that after round 3's scene the staff credits scroll and the game ends. chase-h-q-history/famicom-ending

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Famicom Tsushin's feature on the Famicom version, in its 8 December 1989 issue, conceded that it is not the arcade game's equal but said that its sense of speed, thrills, and excitement are perfectly reproduced. chase-h-q-history/famicom-famitsu-feature

The feature is a preview-style introduction, not a scored review. No cross review of the Famicom game was found in Famicom Tsushin 88 to 91-92 (contents pages and OCR, read by a scout); later issues haven't been searched.

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Electronic Gaming Monthly reported in January 1990 that Taito's Chase H.Q. was rumoured to be in development or coming to the US on the NES, and its March 1990 preview section said the arcade game was "now being developed as a Nintendo game", with Nitro Boosters for catching the criminals. chase-h-q-history/nes-us-announced

The EGM items name the NES (Nintendo) but not a region; the January item (printed p. 26) is about carts for the US. The March box gives no release date or US publisher. Page numbers were read on the page images.

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No North American NES release of Chase H.Q. appears in Nintendo of America's list of licensed NES games, and in June 1991 Mean Machines answered a UK reader who asked when Chase HQ would come out on the NES that it "won't be appearing on the NES". chase-h-q-history/nes-us-unreleased

Mean Machines is a British magazine, so its answer may concern only the UK; no source for other PAL regions has been read. Nintendo's list is a later compilation of licensed North American releases; an absence from it is evidence, not proof. The Famicom cartridge (famicom-cartridge) is marked for sale in Japan only.

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Crash reviewed Ocean's ZX Spectrum version in December 1989 as a Crash Smash, giving its authors as John O'Brien and Bill Harbison and its prices as £9.99 on cassette and £14.99, and gave it 95% overall (Presentation 89%, Graphics 89%, Sound 87%, Playability 91%, Addictivity 93%); the reviewers, Mark and Nick, gave 95% and 94%. The issue's mail-order page lists it among "The Smashers". The review describes five levels, each with a villain to catch, a turbo that can be used three times, and monochrome roads; Nick called it an accurate conversion "as playable as the real thing". chase-h-q-history/spectrum-crash

The OCR is garbled throughout; the lines quoted were checked on the page images (images 56-57). The header prints "Ocean/John O'Brien and Bill Harbison ■ £9.99cass, £14.99", with no format for the second price; in Crash's header the names are the game's authors. The Crash Smash badge, the reviewers' marks (MARK 95%, NICK 94%) and the ratings box were read on the images. The review describes the cops as Ray Broady and Tony Gibson.

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Sinclair User reviewed the ZX Spectrum version in January 1990 as a Sinclair User Classic and gave it 96 (graphics 93, sound 80, playability 98, lastability 97): its Fax Box gives the label as Ocean, the author as "In house", the price as £8.95, and 48K and 128K memory, and sums it up as "Absolutely incredible. The best driving game ever. Superb." The reviewer judged the Spectrum version far better than the Atari ST and Amiga ones and called it a driving game "without any flaws". chase-h-q-history/spectrum-sinclair-user

Read on the page images (pp. 104-105, images 104-105): the Sinclair User Classic badge, the Fax Box marks (GRAPHICS 93, SOUND 80, PLAYABILITY 98, LAST ABILITY 97, OVERALL 96) and the verdict's last word, "Superb." The reviewer's line is a handwritten signature, not a printed byline, so no reviewer is named.

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Your Sinclair reviewed the ZX Spectrum version in February 1990, at £9.99 on cassette and £14.99 on disk, and gave it 94° (instant appeal 94, addictiveness 91, graphics 88, life expectancy 86). The reviewer, Matt Bielby, called it "an absolute corker of a game" and, in presentation, "one of the best coin-op conversions" he had seen, praised the speed of the road, the split roads and tunnels, and the digitised speech, and ranked it "Number One" ahead of Operation Thunderbolt, Power Drift and Hard Drivin'. The magazine made it a Megagame. chase-h-q-history/spectrum-your-sinclair

The verdict box (p. 15, image 15: LIFE EXPECTANCY 86°, GRAPHICS 88°, ADDICTIVENESS 91°, INSTANT APPEAL 94°, overall 94°) and the Megagame badge (p. 15) were read on the page images; the OCR doesn't carry the figures. The same page's "Joystick Jugglers" box lists "Matt 'I've Been Rumbled' Bielby".

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Sinclair User's January 1990 cover tape, Megatape 23, carried a playable demo of one level of the ZX Spectrum version on its B side. chase-h-q-history/spectrum-megatape-demo

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Zzap!64 reviewed Ocean's Commodore 64 and Amiga versions together in February 1990, at £9.99 on cassette and £14.99 on disk for the Commodore 64 and £24.99 for the Amiga, and gave them 53% and 67%. The Commodore 64 version has the Spectrum's monochrome roads but lacks its speed, its helicopter and many of its roadblocks, and is too easy; the Amiga version is "marginally more impressive", with good sampled speech, but too slow to recreate the coin-op's thrill. Robin said Ocean's "strongest" title of the year had ironically turned out to be their weakest. chase-h-q-history/c64-amiga-zzap

Read on the page image (p. 14, image 14): the Commodore 64 box (PRESENTATION 67%, GRAPHICS 52%, SOUND 32%, HOOKABILITY 59%, LASTABILITY 38%, OVERALL 53%, "An anti-climactic release") and the Amiga box (59%, 71%, 70%, 72%, 62%, OVERALL 67%, "A playable, enjoyable racer which lacks any sparkle to hold the attention"). The comments are under caricatures labelled PHIL and ROBIN; the "strongest" line is Robin's, the "marginally more impressive" line Phil's.

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Ocean's Atari ST and Amiga instructions credit the coding, graphics and music to Teque Software Ltd. and the production to D.C. Ward; the sheet is copyright 1989 Ocean Software Ltd. with a Taito Corp. copyright. chase-h-q-history/amiga-st-credits

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Ocean's Atari ST and Amiga instructions describe a one-player, joystick-only game: as head of SCI (Special Criminal Investigation), the player drives a turbo-charged Porsche 928, has 60 seconds to catch up with the target vehicle and a further 60 to ram it off the road, and has a limited number of turbo boosts. There are five missions, each tougher than the last, and forks in the road where an arrow shows the shortest route. chase-h-q-history/amiga-st-rules

Fire changes gear and the space bar fires the turbo. The Famicom manual instead has the turbo on Select and a choice of gearbox (famicom-controls, famicom-car-upgrades).

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Computer Entertainer reported from the January 1990 Winter CES that Taito Software showed Chase H.Q. on the Amiga at $34.95, with MS-DOS ($34.95) and Commodore 64/128 ($29.95) versions planned, describing it as a car racing game that casts the player as a cop in five high-speed chase missions. chase-h-q-history/us-computer-taito

The sentence before Chase H.Q. says the new-for-1990 titles were "shown on Amiga ($34.95 each)". The issue's release schedule (PDF p. 22) lists "Chase H.Q. (TAI)" under February in two computer formats' columns, not read for which.

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The ZX Spectrum version was later sold in compilations: Domark's Wheels of Fire, reviewed by Sinclair User in January 1991, and Ocean's Power Up, reviewed by Crash in June 1991, whose reviewer called Chase HQ "probably the ultimate driving game on the Speccy". chase-h-q-history/spectrum-compilations

The contents indexes give the compilations' marks, read from the page images: Wheels of Fire 69% in Sinclair User 107; Power Up 90% in Crash 89, with Chase H.Q. 17/20 in its box; and in Your Sinclair 66 (pp. 48-49) Power Up 90%, with Chase H.Q. at 92. Which games each compilation holds is in the contents indexes' titles; the quotes above show Chase HQ in each review.

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The Hit Squad reissued the Amiga version at £7.99: Amiga Power's charts for January 1992 show Chase HQ (Hit Squad, £7.99) as a new entry at number 97, and the same issue's budget review, by Stuart Campbell, gave it 44 percent: "Even if you liked the original coin-op, this is crap. Don't buy it." chase-h-q-history/amiga-hit-squad

The two stars are Amiga Power's rating. The review's mark, 44 PERCENT, and the byline STUART CAMPBELL above the Chase HQ box were read on the page image (image 105); the mark isn't in the OCR.

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