Chase H.Q.

For the Sega Saturn version, see Taito Chase H.Q. Plus S.C.I..

n/a

Master System
US
JP

Chase H.Q.

System(s): Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear

Publisher:

Sega

Taito

Developer: Taito

Distributor:

Kanal 10 (SE rental)

Original system(s): Taito Z System

Genre: Racing^[1]^[2], Arcade^[3]

Number of players: 1

Release	Date	RRP	Code
EU	1990		7038
FR	1990	329F329^[7]	7038
UK	1990-07^[4]	£29.9929.99^[5]^[6]	7038
SE (Rental)	199x
AU	199x		FCHA06SEC
MX	199x
JP	1991-03-08^[2]	¥3,800 (3,914)3,800e^[8]	T-11017
US	1992-02^[9]		T-11018

Non-Sega versions

Chase H.Q., often known as Taito Chase H.Q. (タイトーチェイスＨ.Ｑ.), is an action-driving game developed by Taito. Originally released in arcades, it was ported to the Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear.

Two sequels, Special Criminal Investigation and Chase H.Q. II were released for the Sega Master System and Sega Mega Drive, respectively.

Gameplay

Dispatch

Chase H.Q. is a racing game in which the player takes control of a pair of police detectives who drive a blue sports car resembling a Porsche 928 and attempt to capture criminals who are fleeing the city in high-speed exotic cars. At the start of each stage, the player receives a transmission from Nancy from Chase H.Q. describing the criminal and the vehicle to pursue. After evading other cars and obstacles and reaching the target, the player must cause enough damage to the fugitive vehicle before time runs out to finish the stage. Midway through each stage, there is a fork in the road, reminiscent of OutRun, where the player must choose between two paths (with the shorter path indicated by an arrow).

The car steers with and . It accelerates by holding and decelerates by releasing . The car can optionally be equipped with a two-speed manual transmission, which is upshifted with or downshifted with . The rev meter in the status area of the screen turns red when the car should be upshifted. The car can use a turbo boost by pressing , which provides it with a short burst of speed. The car starts each stage with three turbo boosts.

Hitting obstacles slows the car or causes it to spin out, costing time and letting the criminal get further away, but the player's car cannot be destroyed. If time runs out, the player's car comes to a stop, but the player can continue from the same point (without needing to restart the stage) up to three times. The distance to the criminal's car is shown in the status area of the screen as a meter in the Master System version or as a road with the player's car and the criminal's car marked on the Game Gear version. When the player is close to the criminal, the player's car activates its siren, the criminal's car is marked by an arrow, and another 60 seconds is added to the time limit. Ramming the criminal's car increases the damage meter, and the criminal is successfully stopped when the damage meter is full. Hitting the criminal's car from the sides does more damage than ramming it from behind.

Parts

Parts select

After a stage is completed, the player is awarded points for apprehending the criminal and bonus points for any time remaining on the timer. Points can be spent on upgraded parts before the next stage. Upgrades only last for one stage and must be purchased again to be used on another stage.

Oil: Increases the top speed of the car from 270 to 280 km/h (or from 165 to 171 mph in the US version). Costs 10,000 points.
Turbo: Gives the car another turbo boost. The car starts each stage with three turbo boosts, so this upgrade gives it a fourth turbo boost. Costs 500,000 points.
Supercharger: Increases acceleration. Costs 2,000,000 points.
Tire: Improves handling. Costs 30,000 points.
Bumper: Increases the damage done by hitting the enemy car. Costs 50,000 points.

Stages

There are five stages, each having a different criminal who must be apprehended. After the first five stages have been completed, the stages are repeated at a higher difficulty, then repeated a final time at the highest difficulty (for a total of three rounds of five stages apiece).

Round 1

	Stage 1
	The player pursues Ralph, the Idaho Slasher, driving a blue car resembling a Lotus Esprit.
	Stage 2
	The player pursues Carlos, the New York armed robber, driving a yellow car resembling a Lamborghini Countach.
	Stage 3
	The player pursues a gang of "Chicago pushers" driving a green car resembling a Porsche 911.
	Stage 4
	The player pursues an L.A. kidnapper driving a red car resembling a Ferrari 288 GTO.
	Stage 5
	The player pursues an Eastern Bloc spy driving a red car resembling a Porsche 928.

Round 2

	Stage 1

	Stage 2

	Stage 3

	Stage 4

	Stage 5

Round 3

	Stage 1

	Stage 2

	Stage 3

	Stage 4

	Stage 5

Versions

The Sega versions of Chase H.Q. are inspired by the original arcade version, but make a number of changes to gameplay (such as the addition of purchasable vehicle upgrades) and make huge cutbacks on graphical detail. Such changes likely make for a smoother experience on the Master System, but a less accurate one. The opposite case can be seen in Ocean Software's 8-bit home computer ports released around the same time (particularly the highly acclaimed Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum versions), which sacrifice speed in favour of visuals.

The Game Gear version of the game runs in the system's Master System compatibility mode.^[10]

Magazine articles

Main article: Chase H.Q./Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Master System version

Print advert in (UK) #103: "June 1990" (1990-05-16)
also published in:

(UK) #33: "June 1990" (1990-05-xx)^[11]

Print advert in (UK) #104: "July 1990" (1990-06-16)

Print advert in (IT) #13: "Luglio/Agosto 1990" (1990-xx-xx)

Print advert in (UK) #105: "August 1990" (1990-07-16)
also published in:

(UK) #106: "September 1990" (1990-08-16)^[12]

Print advert in (GR) #74: "Fevrouários 1991" (1991-xx-xx)

Print advert in (UK) #111: "February 1991" (1991-01-16)

Game Gear version

Print advert in (US) #31: "February 1992" (199x-xx-xx)

Print advert in (JP) #1991-02: "February 1991" (1991-01-08)
also published in:

(JP) #1991-03: "March 1991" (1991-02-08)^[13]

Print advert in (JP) #1991-04: "April 1991" (1991-03-08)

Physical scans

Master System version

Sega Retro Average

Publication

Version

Score

(DE)

67

^[16]

(UK)

83

^[17]

(UK)

86

^[18]

(UK)

PAL

86

^[19]

(UK)

PAL

72

^[20]

(UK)

83

^[21]

(UK)

86

^[22]

(DE)

67

^[23]

(UK)

55

^[24]

(FR)

93

^[25]

(ES)

50

^[26]

(UK)

PAL

86

^[27]

(FR)

70

^[28]

(DE)

33

^[29]

(UK)

PAL

70

^[30]

(UK)

PAL

50

^[31]

(UK)

76

^[32]

(UK)

PAL

72

^[33]

(FR)

85

^[34]

(UK)

85

^[35]

	73
Based on 20 reviews

Chase H.Q.

Master System, EU
Cover
Cart

Master System, EU (Sega®)
Cover

Master System, SE (rental; Kanal 10)
Cover

Master System, AU
Cover
Cart

Master System, AU (Classics)
Cover

Master System, MX
Cover
Cart

Game Gear version

Sega Retro Average

Publication

Version

Score

(UK)

NTSC

50

^[36]

(JP)

NTSC-J

63

^[37]

(UK)

90

^[38]

(UK)

85

^[39]

(UK)

PAL

64

^[40]

(UK)

70

^[41]

(JP)

NTSC-J

60

^[42]

(FR)

83

^[43]

(UK)

PAL

87

^[44]

(DE)

80

^[45]

(UK)

NTSC-U

74

^[46]

(UK)

NTSC

74

^[47]

(JP)

NTSC-J

52

^[48]

(UK)

62

^[49]

	71
Based on 14 reviews

Chase H.Q.

Game Gear, JP
Cover
Cart

Game Gear, US
Cover
Cart

Technical information

ROM dump status

System

Hash

Size

Build Date

Source

Comments

?

CRC32	85cfc9c9
MD5	08511c5cf0df0941b10ebf28050afe51
SHA-1	495e3ced83ccd938b549bc76905097dba0aaf32b

256kB

Cartridge (EU)

?

CRC32	7bb81e3d
MD5	3cd1a4c27e330bba7703ee22ac83b856
SHA-1	b757b45a07ae6530443862e0eca547e16c23b4a3

128kB

Cartridge (JP)

?

CRC32	c8381def
MD5	c72556c76d431b545dd56bdcc536a89f
SHA-1	6d6209c642b854eaa43da81b311c04a7579d9a17

128kB

Cartridge (US)

References

NEC Retro has more information related to Chase H.Q.

Chase H.Q.
	Main page \| Comparisons \| Hidden content \| Magazine articles \| Reception No results

Games in the Chase H.Q. series for Sega systems
Chase H.Q. (1990) \| Chase H.Q. II (1992) \| Special Criminal Investigation (1992) \| Taito Chase H.Q. Plus S.C.I. (1996)

[:File:ChaseHQ_GG_JP_Box_Front.jpg_p-1] File:ChaseHQ GG JP Box Front.jpg

[https:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20130101202427.2Fhttp:.2F.2Fsega.jp.2Ffb.2Fsegahard.2Fgg.2Fsoft_licensee.html-2] 2.0 ^2.1 http://sega.jp/fb/segahard/gg/soft_licensee.html (Wayback Machine: 2013-01-01 20:24)

[:File:ChaseHQ_SMS_EU_Box_NoR.jpg_p-3] File:ChaseHQ SMS EU Box NoR.jpg

[:File:BristolEveningPost_UK_1990-08-02_Page_67.jpg_p-4] File:BristolEveningPost UK 1990-08-02 Page 67.jpg

[:File:Raze_UK_11.pdf_p76-5] Raze, "September 1991" (UK; 1991-07-25), page 76

[:File:CVG_UK_103.pdf_p105-6] Computer & Video Games, "June 1990" (UK; 1990-05-16), page 105

[:File:PlayerOne_FR_001.pdf_p45-7] Player One, "Septembre 1990" (FR; 1990-xx-xx), page 45

[:File:BeepMD_JP_1991-04.pdf_p70-8] Beep! MegaDrive, "April 1991" (JP; 1991-03-08), page 70

[:File:EGM_US_031.pdf_p33-9] Electronic Gaming Monthly, "February 1992" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 33

[https:.2F.2Fwww.smspower.org.2FTags.2FSMS-GG-10] ttps://www.smspower.org/Tags/SMS-GG

[:File:ACE_UK_33.pdf_p28-11] ACE, "June 1990" (UK; 1990-05-xx), page 28

[:File:CVG_UK_106.pdf_p80-12] Computer & Video Games, "September 1990" (UK; 1990-08-16), page 80

[:File:BeepMD_JP_1991-03.pdf_p70-13] Beep! MegaDrive, "March 1991" (JP; 1991-02-08), page 70

[:File:CVG_IT_06.pdf_p88-14] Computer + Video Giochi, "Giugno 1991" (IT; 1991-xx-xx), page 88

[:File:HobbyConsolas_ES_006.pdf_p30-15] Hobby Consolas, "Marzo 1992" (ES; 1992-0x-xx), page 30

[:File:ASM_DE_1990-04.pdf_p55-16] Aktueller Software Markt, "Avril 1990" (DE; 1990-03-30), page 55

[:File:CGtC_UK_02.pdf_p20-17] Complete Guide to Consoles, "Volume Two" (UK; 1990-04-xx), page 20

[:File:CGtC_UK_04.pdf_p94-18] Complete Guide to Consoles, "Volume IV" (UK; 1990-11-xx), page 94

[:File:TheCompleteGuideToSega_UK.pdf_p54-19] The Complete Guide to Sega, "" (UK; 1991-05-xx), page 54

[:File:Console_XS_UK_01.pdf_p139-20] Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 139

[:File:CVG_UK_103.pdf_p94-21] Computer & Video Games, "June 1990" (UK; 1990-05-16), page 94

[:File:GameMania_UK_05.pdf_p81-22] Game Mania, "May 1993" (UK; 1993-xx-xx), page 81

[:File:Gamers_DE_1993-01.pdf_p103-23] Gamers, "Dezember/Januar 1993" (DE; 1992-11-19), page 103

[:File:TGM_UK_34.pdf_p62-24] The Games Machine, "September 1990" (UK; 1990-08-xx), page 62

[:File:Joystick_FR_007.pdf_p108-25] Joystick, "Juillet/Août 1990" (FR; 1990-06-25), page 108

[:File:Micromania2_ES_031.pdf_p58-26] Micromanía (segunda época), "Diciembre 1990" (ES; 1990-1x-xx), page 58

[:File:MeanMachinesSega01UK.pdf_p129-27] Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 129

[:File:PlayerOne_FR_001.pdf_p44-28] Player One, "Septembre 1990" (FR; 1990-xx-xx), page 44

[:File:PowerPlay_DE_1990-05.pdf_p118-29] Power Play, "5/90" (DE; 1990-04-12), page 118

[:File:StheSegaMagazine_UK_07.pdf_p16-30] S: The Sega Magazine, "June 1990" (UK; 1990-05-03), page 16

[:File:SegaPower_UK_23.pdf_p55-31] Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 55

[:File:SegaPro_UK_02.pdf_p20-32] Sega Pro, "December 1991" (UK; 1991-11-21), page 20

[:File:SegaPro_UK_18.pdf_p70-33] Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 70

[:File:Tilt_FR_081.pdf_p84-34] Tilt, "Septembre 1990" (FR; 1990-0x-xx), page 84

[:File:Zero_UK_10.pdf_p79-35] Zero, "August 1990" (UK; 1990-0x-xx), page 79

[:File:ACE_UK_50.pdf_p109-36] ACE, "November 1991" (UK; 1991-10-08), page 109

[:File:BeepMD_JP_1991-04.pdf_p30-37] Beep! MegaDrive, "April 1991" (JP; 1991-03-08), page 30

[:File:CVG_UK_118.pdf_p89-38] Computer & Video Games, "September 1991" (UK; 1991-08-15), page 89

[:File:GameMania_UK_05.pdf_p70-39] Game Mania, "May 1993" (UK; 1993-xx-xx), page 70

[:File:GamesX_UK_06.pdf_p37-40] Games-X, "31st May-6th June 1991" (UK; 1991-05-31), page 37

[:File:GamesX_UK_45.pdf_p23-41] Games-X, "5th-11th March 1992" (UK; 1992-03-05), page 23

[42] Hippon Super, "April 1991" (JP; 1991-03-04), page 43

[:File:Joystick_FR_018.pdf_p190-43] Joystick, "Juillet/Août 1991" (FR; 1991-0x-xx), page 190

[:File:MeanMachinesSega01UK.pdf_p131-44] Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 131

[:File:PlayTime_DE_1992-06.pdf_p89-45] Play Time, "6/92" (DE; 1992-05-06), page 89

[:File:SegaPro_UK_07.pdf_p38-46] Sega Pro, "May 1992" (UK; 1992-04-16), page 38

[:File:SegaPro_UK_18.pdf_p74-47] Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 74

[:File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf_p88-48] Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 88

[:File:Zero_UK_24.pdf_p85-49] Zero, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-xx-xx), page 85

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Chase H.Q.

From Sega Retro

Contents

Gameplay

Parts

Stages

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Versions

Magazine articles

Promotional material

Master System version

Game Gear version

Physical scans

Master System version

Game Gear version

Technical information

ROM dump status

References