-column machines with the CRTC
chip are supported. Space Chase can be played by one or two players. In one-player mode the computer takes over player 2.

Space Chase is the only known game that REALLY uses to SID sound chip in
the CBM II Sadly The CBM I machines do not have a SID chip. Space Chase is fully programmed in assembler. Utilising the full speed of the 2 MHz 6509 processor in the CBM II. On the CBM I machines 8032, 8096 and 8296 the
game runs slower since their processor is clocked at only 1 MHz.

VICE SETTINGS

CBM IIs are quite rare. You can, of course, use Winvice to play the game. Download the latest version for your operating system, vice-emu.sourceforg e.net/index.html#download

Start the "CBM II" emulation,

choose the "8050" floppy drive

Attach the Space Chase disk image called "SpaceChase.D80".

After the CBM II has started up, you load Space Chase with the command

DLOAD "SPACECHASE"

and the run it with RUN.

After some waiting from the original announcement of Space Chase and
playing various Beta versions, Space Chase is finally released! And I confirmed it was ok to review for Commodore Free (wanting to be sure after playing so many beta or pre-released versions the author was happy for it
to be classed finished)

THE GOAL

The goal of spacechase is to shoot and destroy the other player. Whoever
loses all of their 5 lives first loses the game. There are 6 enemy ships allied to each player that will try to attack the opponent player, They
don't shoot they just bump into it to distract the other player. Players
and ships have a protective shield, so they are not killed upon the first
hit, but have to be shot several times. The players' shields recover over time. So there tactic is, if you are just about to die Run away and let
your shield recover!

After a certain number of deaths the enemy ships will drop gems that you
can collect. The gems will recover your shield or give you extra fire
power or lives.

The title screen gives you the instructions on the keys used to control
both your ship from here you can choose 1 or 2 player mode, 1 player mode
you control the ship on the left part of the screen while the computer
takes over player 2 (right hand side).

You can only rotate your ship left or right and accelerate your ship in the direction you are facing. The lack of gravity in space will keep your ship flying in that direction until you counter-accelerate like asteroids. The "thrust meter" in the upper left corner of each screen half will show the direction your ship is currently heading.

Since the playfield is huge, you can easily get lost hitting "auto pilot"
key will make your ship turn and accelerate automatically towards the
opponent player and will do so until you press another key.

The Title menu starts and the music begins to pump out, its quite short but loops round, to me it sounds oriental though it does seem to fit the game

One thing I do have to comment on, and I think I made the comment to the creator, of course it may be that you feel differently, but when you shoot, your bullets don't actually leave the ship and move of screen as in say asteroids, they just move away from the ship slightly, so it seems to shoot like a laser but when you stop shooting this doesn't continue to the end of
the screen it just stops producing this laser fire !

Personally would have preferred the shooting as in say asteroids, where the bullets leave and move independently of the ship, However I am nitpicking

The menu at the top of the screen displays

* Score
* Shield power
* remaining ships

Underneath is a radar type scanner showing the location of other ships

The speed of the game is something that sets it apart (as well as the
music)

Playing against the computer isn't where the game shines, you need a second player, of course a tweak to the game would be two machines (or more)
networked together so each player sees a full screen display

As it stands it's an enjoyable game (against another friend) sounds are ok,
the music gets repetitive and doesn't play at all in the game only on the
menu screen. In-game sounds are blips and crashes.

SCORES

Presentation: 5/10
digital download only
Graphics: 8/10
Sounds: 7/10
a little short music
Gameplay: 8/10
Overall: 8.5/10

Interview with Max Hall, Sid Programmer

www.remix64.com/interviews/interview-max-hall.html

Space Chase here (played on a real
CBM II machine):

youtu.be/Ixvac1yw_5M
www.youtube.com/channel/UC86uBLUTbnTo5PEODptyXAg




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