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1981 · Data East · Arcade · Maze

Lock 'n' Chase

Lock 'n' Chase is a 1981 maze arcade game developed and published by Data East in Japan in 1981, and later published in North America by Taito. Lock 'n' Chase was Data East's response to Pac-Man. The game's main character is a thief. The object of the game is to enter a maze and collect all the coins and, if possible, any other treasure that may appear.

Released: 1981
Platforms: Android Apple II Arcade Atari 2600 Game Boy Intellivision PlayStation 3 PlayStation Portable
Genres: Arcade Maze Platformer
Developers: Data East
Publishers: —
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
Themes: Action Science fiction
Country: Japan
Age ratings: ESRB E

About

Lock 'n' Chase is a 1981 maze video game developed and published by Data East for arcades. It was released by Taito in North America. It has similarities to Pac-Man, including a goal of collecting dots, with the addition of doors that periodically block pathways.

›Story

The game's main character is a thief. 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.

Keywords

maze
playstation minis
theft
anti-hero
eat or be eaten
police chase
pac-man clone

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The game's protagonist is a thief. The object of the game is to enter a maze styled as a bank vault and collect all the coins and, if possible, any other treasure that may appear. The thief must then exit the maze 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.

Up to two doors can be closed at a time, but will reopen after a few seconds; in addition, some doors near the center of the maze will open and close on their own. The Super D policemen are named Stiffy, Scaredy, Smarty, and Silly.

Story

Players assume the role of a thief named Lupin, who needs to collect gold coins in a maze before escaping to avoid being caught by police.

Development

Home versions for the Intellivision and Atari 2600 were published by Mattel in 1982, and an Apple II version was released in 1983.

In 1990, Data East produced an updated version of Lock 'n' Chase for the Game Boy. The original Lock 'n' Chase is included in the Wii release Data East Arcade Classics and on the PlayStation Network, both in 2010. The Game Boy version was released on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console in January 2012.

Legacy

A clone for the Atari 8-bit computers was published in 1984 as Money Hungry.

On June 16, 2018, Jason Vasiloff set a world record of 136,140 points at the Funspot in New Hampshire.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

Platform	Released	Regions
Arcade	19 June 1981	North America
Intellivision	9 July 1982	North America · Australia 30 September 1982 · Brazil 1 November 1983
Apple II	31 December 1983	North America
PlayStation 3	8 June 2010	North America
PlayStation Portable	8 June 2010	North America
Android	13 November 2018	Worldwide

Editions and related releases

Based on: Q173626
Included in: Data East Arcade 1Data East Arcade ClassicsSuper Pocket: Data East Edition
Expanded editions: Lock 'n' Chase
Ported as: Lock 'n' Chase
Derived from: Pac-Man
Built on it: Lock 'n' Chase