Lock 'N Chase, 1981 Data East/Taito (20 From 1981 #14)
16Great classic maze game, very much like Pac-Man but with some novel twists. Most notable, apart from you being the antagonist (thief), is that there aren't "energizers/power pellets" that allow you to catch your enemies. Instead, you have two traps you can set up that either force your enemies to go in a different direction to try to catch you, or if you set them both up carefully, you can trap one or more cops for somewhere between 5 to 8 seconds or so before the traps disappear. Shutters in various places in the maze open and close, and can make passage difficult for you or the cops.. so if you are trying to plan ahead where to go in the maze and you see those shutters in your path, you may need to find a different way. At certain amounts of gold coins (in lieu of dots) a money bag will appear, cued by a musical interlude. This lasts for a very short time, and if a total of 4 will appear per maze. The first is worth 500, the second 1,000, the third 2,000 and the fourth 4,000. This sounds great, but it takes an intense amount of planning on when to be in the right place at the right time to collect them! A second prize will also appear after a certain amount of coins collected, but it appears only twice (to my knowledge) and lasts for a REALLY short time. There are a total of 10 prizes, and some are worth far less than they should be (prizes before and after may be more lucrative)! I seldom get prizes or money bags due to them appearing too briefly, but I survive on my wits by baiting the cops into following a certain path and then going a different way-- you can turn on a dime, and they cannot-- they keep going until they reach a turn or run into a shutter or trap. REMEMBER THIS! Also, note that the cops definitely speed up later in the game and can easily catch you-- use the warp doors to get separation! Once you get all the coins, it's not over-- head for one of two exits to clear the maze. Fun but tough classic for the DECO Cassette System (game #11) and also licensed to Taito. Stay cool folks!