I could probably just let this video run for a length of time and you’d get the picture.
It’s Mega Man... the Kart racer.
Because why should Mario and Sonic and Diddy Kong have all the fun?
Well, “fun” is kind of a subjective term here.
As far as Kart racers go, Battle & Chase is pretty far from optimized, especially in the
realms of controls and balance.
The gulf between Mario Kart and this thing is about the size of the gulf between SSX
Tricky and... that snowboarding mini-game from Final Fantasy VII.
(Which got an update as a mobile phone game, and what the hell is up with THAT.)
But, as Mega Man games are wont to do, Battle & Chase achieves notoriety by being...
well, a racing game inspired by Mega Man, which lets you swipe parts from your defeated
opponents for the purpose of improving your own racer.
And that’s pretty freakin’ awesome.
Upon choosing your racer and their interestingly-named vehicle (which may welcome a lawsuit from
either Konami or Media Vision, unless you just go and rename the kart yourself), You
select from a number of courses, each featuring another named racer as well as a couple generic
Joes just there to take up space.
I have to admit, getting a 3D model of the track before you compete IS a nice touch.
And then you race.
As per usual, there’s an items system that lets you debilitate your opponents, though
instead of just hitting an item box and BAM turtle shells, you actually have to accumulate
points by blasting or running over the various Mets and traffic-cone-looking robots littering
the field.
Upon hitting your quota, the item roulette automatically starts, blessing you with mines
or invincibility or whatever.
You’ve also got a power bar up there in the top left, which can be discharged before
it’s full for a moderate effect (depending on which racer you’re using) or saved until
it hits capacity for a stronger boost-slash-weapon-slash-jump or something.
It’s kinda like CO powers in Advance Wars.
There you have it, Advance Wars to Mega Man Racing in one step.
So maybe it’s not an A-1 title.
Heck, the original PlayStation version never even saw a release in the states, instead
heading directly to Europe from Japan.
Didn’t see you getting all Project Rainfall about this one, did I?
Exactly.
But, if you must get your robot-centric racing on (and maybe you just want to see Roll all
decked out in racing gear, and I’m not even gonna judge), it’s included in the Mega
Man X Collection for PS2 and Gamecube, unlocked by beating X, X2, and X3.
Maybe it’s not more obscure than Battle Chip Challenge.
Oh well, in the absence of Rock Board - the Mega Man meets Itadaki Street mashup - or
that woeful PC version of Mega Man 3 (which had nothing at all to do with the REAL Mega
Man 3), it’ll have to do.