City Connection was a very unique 1985 arcade game by Jaleco that combined racing games with platform games in an easy to get into kind of experience.
The game follows a teenage girl named Clarice. She drives a small little orange car along platforms painting platform panels as it drives over them. The car keeps going along, but it is possible to push the opposite direction button to quickly turn in the opposite direction. There is also a jump button that allows the car to jump from platform to platform.
There are obstacles along the way that have to be avoided such as construction vehicles, police cars, and odd little flag-waving cats. Oil cans can be used to spin out vehicles, but not the cats. These cats don't need nine lives as they are completely invincible.
If Clarice manages to collect three red balloons, she is immediately brought to another stage. However, if she stays on a stage for too long, spikes rise from the platforms to immediately end her trek.
There are twelve stages to drive through, each themed after a well-known real-life location. The background art is incredibly detailed and brings each of these areas to life. The twelve stages and the associated backgrounds are, in order, skyscrapers in the Manhattan borough of New York City, the Tower Bridge and Big Ben in London, England, the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany, Tulips and windmills in the Netherlands, the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, the Taj Mahal in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India, Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, Mount Fuji on the island of Honshū in Japan, Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia, the Teotihuacan, Nazca Lines, and Moai in Mexico, Peru, and Rapa Nui, Chile, and finally, Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii or Monument Valley on the Colorado Plateau in the United States.
City Connection was ported to the MSX, ZX Spectrum, mobile phones, Nintendo Entertainment System, Windows, PlayStation 4, and Switch. The latter five were the most accurate to the arcade original, with the Hamster arcade emulation on PS4 and Switch being the best available home version of the game. The NES version is also available on Switch through the NES emulator for the Nintendo Switch Online service.
City Connection is an enjoyable and one-of-a-kind game. The backgrounds are well done for the time and still look good today and the gameplay is easy to pick up and play as well as addictive. It is a fun, unique game that is well worth playing and is easily obtainable today.
Final Verdict:
4 out of 5
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