One of the oldest questions never asked, perhaps because everyone’s talking about that damn chicken. And I’m not about to answer that question as this is not Amphibian Psychology 101. I’m here to talk about HOW the frog crossed the road and how this (loosely) relates to Horizon Chase 2, new to Xbox.
Horizon Chase 2 is unashamedly a throwback to a golden age of arcade racing. Back to Outrun and its like. Throbbing synth soundtrack? Check. Blisteringly fast races through a wide range of sceneries from around the world? Check?
This game is not about innovating the formula, but tweaking what was delivered (successfully) in the original Horizon Chase title and improving it. And there is a lot to love here. The graphics are a beautiful rendering of the style the classic style from the 80s/90s. Bold and bright, with the addition of (deliberately) disorienting weather effects thrown in.
The pace genuinely made my heart race. You can’t see that far ahead on the track and so it’s nearly all about reactions as you go from hairpin bend to hairpin bend in milliseconds. Each race is very fast and pretty short, so one mistake (aka a crash that makes your car flip in the air) is enough to make the difference between first and fifteenth.
So, the frog. I used to play Frogger growing up (Google it, kids) and it was all about moving sideways and forwards to evade cars and crocodiles. Simple. All about timing and making it into the right spaces and reacting very quickly.
I had the feeling after a couple of hours in this game that I was having a similar experience with Horizon Chase 2. I am NOT a good gamer, generally speaking, so was worried about a game that evoked an age when games were very unforgiving. But I breezed through this game with relative ease.
One of the pieces of advice that flashes up on the screen at times is ‘Braking is better than crashing’. Great advice, you’d think, but not only did I not apply the brakes at any point while playing, I didn’t even take my foot off the accelerator. Not once. I’m used to tight bends requiring you to at least slow a little. Not so here. Nope. You can go full pelt through every single race from start to finish. And so, like Frogger, your main concern is moving left and right to get through the traffic ahead (you always start at the back). Once I was in the lead I don’t think I ever relinquished it. If I didn’t win (which was rare), it was due to difficulties weaving between other cars.
This was frustrating and was the difference for me between this game being good and great. Because it is good. Graphically and musically gorgeous. Intense and superfast gameplay. And the additional challenges (collecting tokens and time trials) meant that it has a ‘one more try’ quality to it. And I suppose that’s the thing with the slowing/braking. It’s a nod to older games where that was never what the race was about. But, for me, it meant that races didn’t vary and once I’ve completed all the game’s challenges, it might have limited replayability.
SUMMARY
Horizon Chase 2 is great fun. An adrenalin-fuelled, nerve-twitching blast. For fans of the retro racing style, there’s so much to enjoy. It won’t be in your life for a very long time I don’t think, but while it’s there, it’ll take you on a fantastic ride.
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