Hey Arcaders!
This next game is what started Data East on it’s upward climb to one of the best arcade manufacturers in the 80s and 90s- Lock N’ Chase!
Like a lot of game creators back then- Data East needed a maze game to compete with the juggernaut that was Pac- Man. What they created was a maze game with a changes to the formula to make it a wholly unique experience.
The game’s protagonist is a thief named Lupin. The object of the game is to enter a maze and collect all the coins and, if possible, any other treasure that may appear. The thief must then exit the maze (a vault) without being apprehended by the Super D (policemen). The thief can close doorways within the maze in order to temporarily trap the Super D and allow him to keep his distance from them. Only two doors can be closed at a time. The Super D policemen are named Stiffy, Scaredy, Smarty, and Silly.
Coins (depicted as dots) are worth 20 points each. In every level, money bags randomly appear in the center of the maze. Money bags are worth 500, 1000, 2000, and up to 4000 points, respectively, for each time they appear. Each level also has a specific treasure that appears near the center of the maze (much like the food items in Pac-Man). These treasures include the following items (listed respectively by level): top hat, crown, briefcase, and telephone. The first three of these treasures are worth 200 points, 300 points and 500 points, respectively. Additional treasures and their point values are revealed as the player completes successive levels.
Lock N’ Chase was released in arcades in Japan in 1981. It was licensed to Taito for distribution in North America, and in a first, – released as a dedicated PCB .
I always liked how Lupin pulled up in his car to go into the maze.
And I think the Super D policemen look familiar…
There were lots of ports of this great game for early systems!
Mattel purchased the home rights for three Data East titles- this one was the first! It is an excellent port on Intellivision! The Atari 2600 port was released by M Network. One I really like playing the the Gameboy port- done by Data East themselves.
Fantastic!
Watered down but playable. Not a fan of the humanoids.
Fun- with great graphics and music. It even has powerups!
A version was made for the Colecovision in 2012!
An almost arcade perfect port! Might have to do a Homeroom Spotlight on this one!
So- what do you think of Lock N’ Chase? I love this games get in the vault- get out of the vault premise. and the lock mechanic can work for or against you. It’s fun romp that’s even more fun every time you play!
Maybe George Plimpton and Henry Thomas were right!
Keep Playin’ Like It’s 1981!
The Arcade Archives! 
I had no idea this main character had a name!! As mentioned in my comment on your other post, I owned this one as a kid and loved it. One of the first games I ever beat (on game boy), and it was so satisfying when it finally happened. I hope this one comes to the Switch Online at some point. I’d love to go back to it. Or I guess I could dig out my old game boy!
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Interesting game!
And it makes sense for companies to want to emulate Pac-Man after its runaway success. And with Lock N’ Chase Data-East did a pretty good job with it.
(Yeah, some of those characters do look familiar… 😜)
And who knows? Given that some of the more obscure titles have been making their way to the NES and Game Boy systems as of late maybe the GB version of this title may end up there at some point. Maybe even the Arcade version.
Great job with this Ray! 👍
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