My belated entry into the Halloween season comes from a retro 2D platformer that I picked up a few years ago and completely forgot to review! Everything about it screams generic on the surface, but its visuals are misleading. Spooky Chase embodies the mantra: “you are your own worst enemy”.
Each level in the main mode of Spooky Chase is a collection of 2D platforms, spread out by jumps, spikes, or doors. The goal is to capture the flag, or more accurately, capture 10 of them. When you capture a flag, the level resets, and the flag moves to a different position. As you set off, you’ll realise a monster has replaced your previous actions and will replay your previous movements on loop. You’ve got 30 seconds to reach each flag, and as it moves around, each echo of your previous actions will only get more and more in the way. You’ll need to remember if you jumped, zipped sideways, took an alternative route, and also where you spawned from. Levels are designed to have multiple crossover points, meaning all your ghost monsters are going to meet there. You can jump on their heads to get rid of them, but avoidance is usually the answer.
As the game progresses, levels get larger and more complex. Castles have candlelight areas so you’ll be running in the dark. Graveyards become multi-level. Spike pits and ceiling lock off specific routes, meaning you can’t jump over your previous selves. It’s clever level design that forces you to rethink some cheap ways out. The platform movement is stable and consistent, meaning that if you get it wrong, it’ll almost always be down to you. The key is not to panic and work methodically.
Outside of the excellent story mode, you’ll have endless mode to see if you can get the highest score for a level, and also a 2-4 player battle mode allows you to play last man standing against lots of echoes. The more you play, the more monsters you unlock to choose from, diversifying the visual appeal. It’s great fun. My only minor caveat to Spooky Chase isn’t about the game itself, but its direct competition. A very similar game also exists called Extreme Exorcism. That operates on the exact same rules, but each level is a single screen. Spooky Chase’s levels are larger, but strangely feel less diverse. Both do a good job, but I do have a personal preference to play Extreme Exorcism. Spooky Chase is cheaper, though, and on sale more often.
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