Chase H.Q.

As a classic arcade racing main game from 1988, you step into the role of police officer Tony Gibson, tasked with high-speed pursuits against fleeing criminals. The core loop demands precise driving under severe time limits; you must reach the target vehicle before time expires, navigating split roads correctly to avoid delays. Once reached, you must ram the car until the suspect is arrested. The game features five short, intense levels, emphasizing quick reflexes and route knowledge over long-form content.

This is a high-octane arcade racing experience originally released in late 1988. Players step into the role of Tony Gibson, an officer belonging to the "Chase Special Investigation Department." Aided by his partner, Raymond Broady, the core objective is to engage in intense, high-speed pursuits to apprehend fleeing criminals across five distinct levels. The game emphasizes precision driving under extreme time pressure, making every second count in these urgent police operations.

Core Gameplay Mechanics: The Pursuit Loop

The fundamental loop of this main game revolves around a strict time limit imposed on every mission. At the start of each stage, the player is informed of the target criminal and their vehicle, which is positioned a significant distance ahead. The primary task is to navigate the roads and reach the criminal before the initial time limit expires. If the player crashes repeatedly or fails to maintain adequate speed, the target will escape, resulting in mission failure.

Navigating the Chase Dynamics

A critical element of the gameplay involves dynamic road layouts designed to test navigation skills. At various points during the pursuit, the road will split, requiring the player to make the correct directional choice to stay on the optimal path. Taking the wrong turn will add valuable time to the pursuit duration, potentially leading to the target escaping.

Once the player successfully reaches the criminal's vehicle, the time limit is temporarily extended, initiating the apprehension phase. The player must then ram the target vehicle a specific number of times until the criminal is forced to stop and is subsequently arrested. This mechanic shifts the focus from pure racing to aggressive contact management.

Atmosphere and Technical Presentation

The atmosphere is one of immediate, urgent police action. Communication is established via radio, notably featuring frequencies in the 144.X Mhz range, which references the 2-meter amateur radio band. While superficially sharing the perspective of contemporary racing titles from that era, this title featured technical advancements in its presentation of perspective, track elevation changes, including hills, and the aforementioned track splits.

Availability and Content Structure

This title was made available across numerous platforms, including the original Arcade cabinet, Commodore 64/128/MAX, ZX Spectrum, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST/STE, Sharp X68000, and FM Towns. As a main game from its era, there are currently no officially listed DLCs or expansions available for this release.

How long is the typical session?

Due to the extremely tight time constraints—both the initial pursuit window and the subsequent time extension granted upon reaching the target are often just 60 seconds each—a single successful run through all five levels is quite brief. A player capable of finishing the game on one credit can expect at most ten minutes of continuous, high-intensity gameplay. This structure emphasizes short, skill-based bursts of driving action.