Saturday, July 20, 2013

City Un-Connected


  Welcome back ! Are you still playing those Nintendo games like we talked about? Well Good !( And if not ..FOR SHAME)
This week were gonna take a Look back to 1985 at a Jaleco release entitled ..Drum roll please .....
"CITY CONNECTION" !!!!

Who made this hmmmm I give up? Jaleco maybe ?

Back Art SWEET !!!


For those that aren't familiar with the game it was a great Arcade release built on fun and high replay value that was easily ported to the home consoles and PC. Anyone who has played it would probably list it among titles like Donkey Kong, Joust, Dig Dug, Bomber man and yes even  Bubble FU*KING Bobble.

City Connection is a  Platform Driving game that can be played alone or with 2 Player mode passing off the controller in turn. The story of the game is that you play as Clarice a young girl that is trying to drive across as many Cities as she can and to prove she's been there she vandalizes the streets by painting a line down them. In the N.American release the character is change to a Man in true western sexist fashion, Good job Equality Freedom seeking America. Small fun fact the car is a Honda City quite the popular lil car that never made it state side back when, also a version was even available with a 50cc mini bike in the trunk... AWESOME !!!




The game is unique as not many " Driving Platformers  " exist in the world of gaming. The car can not be stopped once the stage starts it can only be slightly accelerated from its already quick pace. In the defensive area you have the ability to perform a normal or high jump, do a 180 E-brake turn or fire oil cans that you collect. These abilities come in handy as you attempt to help Clarice leave her mark blocking her way are of course several enemy types. Cop Cars spin out of control when hit with the afore mentioned oil cans and then can be safely bumped off screen, Cats randomly appear and must be avoided with either the E-turn or jumping and finally spikes appear from the ground if you linger on a platform to long. Hitting the cop cars or spikes with your Honda cause the car to explode taking a life but hitting the cats send them flying off screen taking a life from you as well ? I guess killing the cats makes Clarice so upset she kills her self ? Anyone ?


A modern Cell Phone version came out recently.
The girl on the left is dressed like Terry Bogard from Fatal Fury.
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I WANT ONE !!!


The game defiantly stood out at the time for many reasons another of which was the Backgrounds of each of the 12 Stages was different a different real city in fact. Yes there are only 12 Stages but they do present a good challenge as I could not get through all of them for the article play through...( hangs head in shame ) Yes I the Finisher was stumped but I will not give up as I did as a child for I know that I CAN and WILL beat any challenge set against me...just not in 2 days....Im sorry.... the Wii U is having a very bad influence on me lately... its that damn New Super Mario Bros U its pressuring me to play it nightly. Seriously the game is a good fun challenge that as soon as im done at the keyboard I will return to, the stages vary in layout and like I said many Famous Cities appear in the background such as NYC, London, Paris and even Easter Island....what I didn't make the game. The Police Cars even change style completely from Stage to Stage to match the host City. The controls are that sort of  early gaming era style in which the programers didn't try to pin hole you to much in parameters its got so much leeway for creativity that I don't think they even realized it. For instance you can 180 turn back and forth the whole way down the screen changing direction up to the last second or jumping and suddenly180 turning to avoid collisions or redirect toward the games only power up the Red Balloon. The oil cans are standard as they are ammo but the Red Balloon is a Power Up that once 3 are collected can warp you ahead to a random city, the 3 Balloons are usually not all collected on one stage its across several stages so be patient. The game has no true ending in that classic early 80's Arcade fashion it repeats after the 12 cities are played through unfortunately with out any Congratulations screen either.



An accurate simulator of New York driving

Police 4x4s !


That Darn Cat !!! wheres Christina Ricci ?
fg
Borrowed screenshot as I forgot a London one at print

Clarice !!! She rocks !!
Soo we can't play as a Girl ... but as the Guy we can smoke?
Right..... Good job Nintendo of America.

The NES and Famicom version are easy to find at fair price and the Arcade is worth a play too so check out a solid Classic you may have missed and if you beat it before me .... well maybe theres a "Prize" in it for yah.... no cheating game genies. Send me a photo of the Nes or Famicom 12th stage by next Saturday Noon NYC time. Email us at Finalboss1337@gmail.com

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