Horizon Chase - World Tour is a racing video game developed and published by Brazilian company Aquiris Game Studio. It was released on August 20, 2015, for iOS and Android. A 3D game, it touts the fact that it has a unique retro aesthetic inspired by 2D, 16-bit titles. Its soundtrack has Nintendocore influences. In 2019, a successor, called Horizon Chase Turbo was released for Windows, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One. This version includes enhanced graphics, more cars and tracks, and presents new features like couch co-op.
Gameplay
Horizon Chase challenges the player to complete races on tracks located around the world. Additional twists to the racing formula come in the form of fuel pickups which need to be obtained to complete the race, as well as tokens that unlock new tracks and the use of nitro boosts to speed up the player's car. The player starts every race at the back of the pack, and is required to pass their opponents to win. There are also different weather effects and track types that affect handling.
Development
The game's soundtrack was composed by Barry Leitch, who was contacted due to his work on Top Gear, a racing game released in 1992 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The soundtrack of that game was popular among Brazilian fans, leading to a remix contest. The remixes were later released as part of the soundtrack. The game's composer also included a hidden marriage proposal to his longtime girlfriend in the game with the assent of the development team, which was discovered by fans but kept secret until he was ready to share the story.
Reception
Horizon Chase received positive reviews, with an aggregate score of 88/100 on Metacritic. Carter Dodson of TouchArcade rated the game 5/5 stars, praising the game's visual style, soundtrack and controls, and calling it a "template for how other developers need to do retro-inspired games." Harry Slater of Pocket Gamer rated the game a 9/10, calling it "a bright and brash arcade racer that looks stunning", while saying that its gameplay is good enough to back up its presentation. He noted that the game got "a little grindy at times", though calling it "the type of grind you're happy to wade through". The site awarded the game the "Gold" award. Tom Christiansen of Gamezebo rated the game 3.5/5 stars, calling the visuals "solid" and praising the soundtrack, but saying he disliked the auto-turn assist system that was impossible to turn off, also calling the AI "impossibly fast" and unlocking new cars overly difficult.
