Hello, my gamer family! Welcome to The Modern Gamer, this is Sumroad, writing to you all from a nice arcade I found walking down the streets of NYC. It is amazing how the owners have worked in this place, the 80’s vibe in here is so powerful I feel odd in my regular 2021’s clothes, you know, I’d totally blend in wearing a Marty McFly outfit! But even though this place looks amazing, you… yes… YOU! Are here for one reason, to discover what the Modern Gamer has to say about this week’s game. Come, let’s get started!
If we talk about trends, it is fair to say that the 80’s have never gone anywhere, and I believe it is as recognizable as the trends in the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, not to mention the 90’s, but we’re not here to talk about trends and its evolution over the course of time, although it is important to say that trends define a lot of what is popular and what is not, and thus (in a way) successful.
Chaser Tracer (CT) is a game rocking all the 80’s power and vibe. The moment you fire up the game, you’ll feel exactly in a time that has long gone in 2021. The music, the UI. I mean, the initial look and feel is very well adapted to meet today’s standards.
The first screen is the main menu, in here there’s only a few places to navigate to, either you decide to head up and Play, or maybe you want to buy (or restore) the upgrade, or simply visit the game social networks. With that being said, simplicity is part of this game and I believe you’ll appreciate that part. Let’s dive right into the game, shall we?
Once you tap PLAY, the next menu is for you to choose the difficulty, after you pick one, a brief introduction in the form of story will be displayed, then, the mechanics of CT are basic, you only have to trace with your finger the shapes that are shown on screen, there’s also a guide spot that indicates the direction of the trace which makes it hard or easy, depending on how you see it. In the end, this guide is final and you need to trace the right way or you will lose a life, speaking of that, the in-game UI is divided in a few sections and as is previously said, simplicity ports to here as well. On the top left corner, the hearts and the number on its right will tell you the remaining lives, down to the bottom left corner, is the level indicator, on its right side is the pause button, nothing unusual here, only your top score, and then some buttons, resume, quit, restart, upgrade and assistance, followed by audio settings that you can adjust music and SFX volume and on the bottom right corner your available powerups.
So, the game begins with simple shapes, lines, triangles and such, one at a time, so be quick and trace as fast as you can because the guide isn’t just a guide, but it will indicate the pace of the shape’s “life.” It will trace the shape a few times before the shape turns purple and right after the guide finish tracing it, you’ll lose a life if you didn’t trace it correctly. CT defines a correct trace as decoding.
After a few levels, things will get crowded and the pace will go up. At this point you will likely need powerups to survive because you can only trace one shape at a time. Powerups are three and three only: Slow, Simplify, Freeze, and this is also one thing I like about CT, the powerup names defines exactly what they do and you don’t have to test and lose them for the sake of science. If you’re wondering how to get these buffs, there are two ways, you can purchase a Value Pack for $0.99 which is a combo of the three powerups (15 Slow, 10 Simplify and 5 freeze) or watch adds to get one of each buff per add watched. I honestly don’t know if they have a cap of as to how many adds you can watch but I’ve watched more than a few and I keep getting powerups which is also a good thing. I mean, it is a win-win situation, you may be interested in one add and the devs will get some money for that.
The Upgrade I talked about will allow you resume your game from any level completed, earn powerups faster, and will grant you a second powerup slot. In my opinion the upgrade is well priced in $2.99 and it will definitely be a game changer if you decide to buy it. But the in-game purchases continues if you want to get more lives, then you can get a value or jumbo pack ($0.99 / $1.99).
The technical side of CT is pretty well executed overall, the graphics are simple but sufficient. I wouldn’t have to say this but the color palette is 80’s to the max, full of neon and high contrasts. As per the UI, is intuitive and easy to navigate. Audio wise, CT also features a synth soundtrack to match.
Now, is CT for you? Well… if you’re looking for a casual game that doesn’t really ask you to buy anything to keep going and going, yes, this game is for you, every add is optional whenever you need more buffs, which put this feature in your hands instead of dropping adds every now and then, making it 0% invasive.
The game mechanics are simple and it requires some skill and buffs to keep climbing up levels. In my case, I went up to level 35 without using a single powerup and no purchase made. All in all, CT is a good casual game, it isn’t a rhythm game, which make it perfect for commutes without the need to use headphones or anything. If you get it, please consider helping the developers by upgrading it or if you just choose to try it out, please let me know if you liked it or not in the comment section down below.
Time for me to take off, I’m spending too much money in here. The place could have 80’s decorations but the prices are still 2021 and I’ve been playing quite a lot so I will have to walk back to my hotel instead of taking the subway, anyway, it’s no big deal! I hope you have a great gaming weekend my friends and family, this is Sumroad signing out from NYC, until the next one!