"Programmable Parade"
(Excerpt of Bally / Astrocade Review)
Electronics Games, November 1982


Pirate's Chase
Astrocade/Astrocade

     Meet the game in the plain brown wrapper.  Pirate's Chase is a two-player 
contest that may well prove highly habit-forming to videogamers.  It really 
doesn't look like much, but its play mechanic certainly produces a bumper crop 
of close calls and thrilling confrontations.
     Using the joystick portion of the Astrocade controller, each player moves 
his on-screen symbol vertically, horizontally or diagonally across a 
rectangular playfield composed of regularly spaced dots.  The result is 
something that might be called a maze-less gobble game, since passing over a 
dot removes it from the screen and adds its point value to the appropriate 
player's total.  Periodically, special bonus prizes appear at random points on 
the screen (but always replacing an ordinary dot).  These are generally worth 
100 points multiplied by the level at which the game is then being played.  
After the combatants cycle through an array of trinkets and goodies, the game 
returns to the first bonus prize for another go-around.
     Besides racing against the other player to see who accumulates the 
greatest number of dots and bonus objects, both joystick wielders must always 
flee from the pirate.  This nautical no-goodnik, symbolized by the traditional 
skull and crossbones, takes one of the player's precious lives whenever it 
catches up with the corresponding symbol on the playfield.
     The missing ingredient-- about the only one in an otherwise solid 
cartridge is the visual element.  Pirate's Chase doesn't look all that 
attractive, though "plain" would be a better description than "ugly."  Let's 
hope that Astrocade owners have the sense to look past the wrapping to see the 
gem buried inside.
     If electronic game-lovers are able to unshackle themselves from the 
prejudices of this intensely graphics-oriented period in the hobby, their 
reward will be a first-rate action contest.  Its non-stop play routine, 
although admittedly somewhat repetitive in longer rounds, is positively 
riveting.
     One of the key factors which does the most to build excitement during
play is the (intentionally imprecise) steering.  It is really quite difficult 
to steer a straight course, much less make sharp turns.  As a result, both 
players frequently end up circling a particularly juicy bonus object like flies 
buzzing around a pot of honey.
     As must be the case with any game that includes an open playfield and a 
merciless robot attacker, strategy is fairly fluid in Pirate's Chase.
     In general, the best advice is to make as few turns as possible when 
scooping up all of the dots and prizes.  That golden scoring opportunity occurs 
when the pirate has caught the other player and your symbol is still active.  
This is the time to concentrate on hitting the bonus objective.
     Pirate's Chase's dull visuals not-withstanding, offers the rare chance to 
compete head to head.