is a 1985 platform video game developed and published by Jaleco for arcades. It was released in North America by Kitkorp as Cruisin. The player controls Clarice in her Honda City hatchback and must drive over elevated roads to paint them. Clarice is pursued by police cars, which she can stun by hitting them with oil cans. The design was inspired by maze chase games like Pac-Man (1980) and Make Trax (1981).
City Connection was ported to the Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System, MSX and ZX Spectrum. It was re-released in several Jaleco game collections and services such as the Wii's Virtual Console. These received mixed responses in North America, with critics disliking its simplicity, lack of replay value, and poor controls. Some felt it possessed a cute aesthetic and unique concept and was entertaining. Clarice is one of the first female protagonists in a console game. In Japan, the game has maintained a loyal following, and the NES version is seen as a classic for the platform; Jaleco's successor, City Connection Co., Ltd., was named after the game.
Jaleco released a sequel, City Connection Rocket, for Japanese mobile phones in 2004.
Gameplay
left|thumb|Clarice jumping to another road whilst avoiding police cars
In City Connection, the player controls Clarice, a blue-haired teen driving an orange Honda City hatchback, as she travels around the world in the quest of finding herself the perfect man. Clarice traverses through twelve side-scrolling stages that take place within famous locations around the world, including New York, London, and Japan. To clear these levels, the player must drive over each of the elevated highways to change their color from white to green. The car can jump over large gaps to reach higher sections of the stage.
Clarice is constantly being pursued by police cars that follow her around the stage, and must also avoid flag-waving cats that block her from moving past them. The car the player controls throughout the game is a Honda City hatchback, which is believed to be the source for the game's title.
City Connection was ported to several consoles, including the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), ZX Spectrum, and MSX. The Japanese Family Computer (Famicom) version is included in the compilations Jaleco Collection Vol. 1 (2003) for PlayStation and JaJaMaru Jr. Denshoki Jaleco Memorial (2004) for Game Boy Advance. The NES versions were digitally re-released on the Virtual Console service for the Wii in 2008, Mediakite produced a port of the arcade game for Windows in 2003, while Jaleco produced a remake titled City Connection DX for mobile phones in Japan. Hamster Corporation released a digital version of the game under their Arcade Archives series for the PlayStation 4 in 2014, and for the Nintendo Switch in 2018.
Reception
City Connection has maintained a loyal following in Japan, where it became one of Jaleco's most successful and beloved games. The NES version, in particular, is viewed as a classic title on the system for its accurate portrayal of the arcade original.
Critics felt City Connection, in spite of its flaws, possessed a cute aesthetic and unique gameplay. Computer Entertainer US believed its cute visual style would appeal to younger players and its challenge to older ones, and said what little the game had to offer was enjoyable. and in the high-definition remaster The Game Paradise Crusin' Mix (2018) as downloadable content.
In 2004, Jaleco released a sequel named City Connection Rocket for Japanese mobile phones through i-Mode. The game places Clarice in the role of a spy working for a secret organization to capture criminal leaders from around the world. Rather than painting sections of road, Clarice must now collect briefcases placed in specific areas in each stage while avoiding police cars and other types of enemies. PlayStation Mobile closed in September 2015, delisting the game from the PlayStation Store and other supported devices.
The company City Connection, which is the current owner of Jaleco's video game assets, is named after the game.
See also
- CarVup