When I was younger, I loved to go to play in maquinitas. This is a word that doesn’t have a English term, since I live in a third world country. This was our equivalent of a Arcade Machine or Cabinet. Here, the “arcade machines” weren’t like the ones you have come to know in the US or other first world countries (don’t like the terms third world and first world, but it’s reality) where normally you would find a Cabinet with a PCB or Arcade System boards. The ones found here and in many other third world countries are different. While the look is similar to a Cabinet, the components are not. Here, the Cabinet was made of two sticks with three or six buttons (or 2 depending on the system), a CRT TV, and a 16 bit console like a SNES or Sega Genesis (and in case of two buttons, an NES). Nowadays, these “Cabinets” are still working but not like before. They came all the way to the PS2 era (yep, there were N64 and PS1 cabinets as well).
I mentioned all of the above because a game that I really loved during my childhood was an SNES game called Top Gear. My encounter with this game was only made possible due to the Cabinets mentioned above, since at the time, I didn’t have any consoles. My parents thought that a gaming console would break our TV, or give me epilepsy and all sorts of things. Yeah, parents used to think this kind of stuff (if you my reader are from any third world country, you will understand me). I used to love Top Gear because of how cool the game looked on the SNES with the different tracks and cars (only four) and the kickass music. The game is one of my favorites, and so far. no game has topped it. That is, until Horizon Chase Turbo arrived to my Nintendo Switch.
When I started to play Horizon Chase Turbo (fun fact: the pass code to get to the last cup in Top Gear was the word Horizons…coincidence? I think not), the first thing I said is, “Top Gear is back baby!” I immediately called a friend and took the Switch to his house to play (he was the one friend that always went with me to our “arcade cabinets” to play). Needless to say, he was shocked, and as of time of writing, he already purchased a copy of the game.
It might sound highly unlikely, but it’s true. When a game wows you (and by many factors you cannot play it anymore or find it) or when a game comes that makes you remember those fun times, you just buy it. For me, the game is heavily inspired in Top Gear, but with enough concepts to set the game apart. To me, it feels more like a spiritual successor, and I see no problem in that.
Top Gear had a fuel system in which if you ran out of fuel you were out of the race, but you could go to the pits to refuel and continue the race. Horizon Chase has a similar system. If you run out of fuel, you lose the race, but instead of pits, you find fuel containers on the track. When you pass over them, you regain fuel. Also in Top Gear, when you used one of the three nitros available, there was a speech bubble that appeared on top of your car with random phrases. In Horizon Chase, the developer uses speech bubbles–not only when using nitro–but also while overtaking and when getting hit or hitting other cars. You have three nitros available from the start (in some tracks, you can find an extra nitro). It’s here where the similarities end and Horizon Chase shows its own identity because like many racers, the objective is get to the finish line after a certain number of laps and finish on the top three. Doing so unlocks the next race and so forth, but HC adds more to each race, since there are coins scattered in the track. If you get all of them, instead of getting a normal cup, you get a Super Cup.
Speaking about the different game modes Horizon Chase offers, World Tour is where you will spend most of your time. Here, you race in different cities around the world in a series of races. In each city, there are a several races that you must compete in. Getting Gold and Super Cups is a must, since each time you finish a race and get all coins, get in first place, and have fuel left, you are granted race points. These are important since the next city unlock depends on them, but more than that, if you get all nine gold cups and super cups, you unlock a special race in which the price is a permanent upgrade for all cars in your garage. There are 12 different upgrades to earn, and they give you a boost on basic car stats as suspension. (chasis, nitro, and so on). In each mayor city, there is a upgrade to unlock with certain conditions to meet before having that race. Besides unlocking upgrades, you can also unlock a special car when you win all the races. These cars can give you an edge against the competition, especially in harder racers in which you need to catch up with the rest fast. With twelve cities and ten races for each one, you have your work cut out for you. I personally would not have it any other way, since the game is worth it.
Besides World Tour, you have Tournament mode in which you compete in a series of races in three different categories: Novice, Professional, and Expert. As you can imagine with Pro and Expert, the other cars have good IA and pose quite a challenge. Also, as of time of writing, an update has been released that includes the Playground mode. Playground mode contains a series of limited time races with different twists like using a set vehicle or having to race during a sandstorm or with unlimited nitros, so it adds even more replay value to a package that is amazing by itself. There is also the Endurance mode, a mode in which you race in either 12, 36, or all 109 races. Of course, it takes time to finish it, and you unlock a special car when you do.
There are tons to do in Horizon Chase, and it wouldn’t be a respectable racing game without multiplayer mode, right? Well, you can race with up to four more players in local multiplayer because, sadly there is no online multiplayer, but I hope they go above and beyond and implement it. At least you can see how you stack in the online leader boards in the Playground Mode and also in each race of World Tour. You can even activate the ghosts of the faster racers to be on the race. Maybe you can learn some tips on how to stay ahead of the competition?
Graphically, the game looks beautiful, and I like how colorful each area is. Bonus points should be given for the polygon-esque designs on trees, rocks, and even smoke that comes out when you are racing. I like how the game plays and feels really smooth even in multiplayer. And the music–OH MY GOD–each of the 40 tracks included are amazing. Bonus points for some familiar tracks from Top Gear (remixed to be more precise). Honestly, you know that I recommend the game, so go buy it.
Bottom Line: Horizon Chase Turbo is a great game. I personally think that is the spiritual successor of Top Gear. In my time with it, the game made me remember those awesome days playing Top Gear. I cannot recommend it enough. With tons of replay value and unlocks, the game has everything to keep you coming back, and you will if you want to unlock everything. With the addition of Playground mode, the game will keep on giving and that gets an A+ in my book.
A Review copy was provided for this review.