SUPER HQ Criminal Chaser
( Super Chase HQ )
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スーパーH.Q. クリミナルチェイサー
©Taito Corp. 1993
Release: 1993-11-26 (¥8900)
Cartridge SHVC-HF
Racing / Action game
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Released in America as
Super Chase HQ
( SNS-QT-USA )
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Released in Europe as
Super Chase HQ
( SNSP-QT-XXX )
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Super HQ is an action/racing game by Taito and is an
'enhanced' version of their own arcade game originally released in 1988.
The player takes the role of an undercover police officer who must pursue
dangerous criminals and fugitives in high-speed car chases. The police vehicle
must drive towards the fleeing criminals and stop them before they get
away, avoiding not only passing traffic but also obstacles such as barricades
or outlaw bikers who love to throw Molotov cocktails (or frantically shoot
bullets at the car's windshield). The police cruiser comes equipped with three
nitro-boosts that allow the player to attain maximum speed for a short amount
of time. Furthermore, the player must always keep an eye on his damage indicator,
every hit drains it down and final encounters with the criminals will most
certainly put a serious dent in it as they don't usually hesitate to
shoot bullets or to fire deadly missiles are the police cruiser. The game ends when
the damage bar is depleted or when the time limit runs out.
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Super H.Q is more a spiritual sequel to Chase H.Q and
is based on the third episode in the series, namely Super Chase: Criminal Termination.
Both games share a lot in common, such as the first person perspective.
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Chase H.Q was originally released in the arcades in 1988.
The game became a hit and was converted to countless systems at the time -
ZX Spectrum (1988), Famicom (1989), Atari ST (1989),
CPC (1989), PC Engine (1990), Sega Master System (1990),
Commodore 64> (1990), Game Boy (1990), Sega Game Gear (1991),
X68000 (1992), FM Towns (1993). A sequel to the arcade game called
Special Criminal Investigation, also known S.C.I, came out in 1989.
It was also ported to many systems at the time such as
Chase H.Q. II: Special Criminal Investigation (Amiga, 1990)
(C64, 1990) (Atari ST, 1990). Super Chase: Criminal Termination,
the last arcade game of the series, followed in 1992. Several miscellaneous
conversion and sequels also exist such as Super HQ
(aka Chase HQ II in the west, for the Sega Megadrive, 1992),
Super Chase HQ (Game Boy, 1993), Super HQ (Super Famicom, 1993),
Chase HQ Special S.C.I (Sega Saturn, 1996) and Taito Memorial: Chase HQ (2000)
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LK
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Add your Pov here !
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P
O
V
s
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I have mixed feelings about Super HQ... On the one hand, the game is
technically flawless, everything is fast and sprites can at times occupy large
portions of the screen. The controls are correct despite being a little stiff
and each stage brings it own set of excitement and new challenges. On the other
hand, the action now takes place inside the car and is viewed through the
windshield (the arcade's view was from outside the car). This introduces
one of my biggest issue with the game - the perspective/depth is a lot more shallow
and cars and obstacles tend to appear out of nowhere... this brings a lot of
unnecessary (and frustrating) difficulty to the game, and you'll often just end
up running out of time. All in all, Super HQ is correct and definitively
brings something new and exciting to the genre and to the Chase HQ series. But
it most certainly won't be everyone's cup of tea, so to speak. I personally loved
the original game but I don't think Super HQ completely captured the
essence and spirit of it...
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