Special Criminal Investigation

Special Criminal Investigation, also known as S.C.I. for short or as Chase HQ II: Special Criminal Investigation in some home versions, is vehicular combat racing game published by Taito for arcades in 1989. It is the sequel to the 1988 game Chase H.Q.

Special Criminal Investigation
North American arcade flyer
Developer(s)Taito
Publisher(s)
  • WW: Taito
  • EU: Electrocoin[1]
SeriesChase
Platform(s)Arcade, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Master System, PC Engine, ZX Spectrum, Saturn
ReleaseJune 1, 1989[2]
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player
Arcade systemTaito Z System

Gameplay

Instead of the black Porsche 928 of the first game, the player commands a red example of the just-introduced (at the time) Nissan 300ZX Z32 T-Top Turbo. Unlike the first game, the player is able to fire at offending vehicles, with some cabinets containing buttons on the steering wheel, and others having a fire button on the gearshift, along with a button to activate the nitrous boost.

The game brings back protagonists Tony Gibson and Det. Raymond Broady of the first game, and their second game appearance. Broady has taken over the driver's seat this time, while Gibson, as the passenger, serves as the gunman. Also, instead of Nancy, Karen is the officer delivering reports of whom the criminal is pursuing, and what they are driving.

Ports
European Master System cover

Conversions for Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum were released in 1991 by Ocean Software, developed by Glasgow's ICE Software. A conversion for the PC Engine (TurboGrafx-16) was released in January 1991 exclusively in Japan by Taito. Natsume ported it to the Master System. An Amstrad plus/GX4000 version was written but never released, and only a small number of cartridges are known to exist.

In 1996, Taito released an emulation of the arcade original for the Sega Saturn in Japan, bundled together with Chase H.Q. on one disc.[3]

Reception
Contemporary reception
Review scores
Publication Scores
Arcade Amiga ST C64 PC Engine ZX
ACE [4]
Commodore User 86%[5] 72%[6]
Computer + Video Games 84%[7] 79%[8] 85%[9]
Raze 89%[10]
Sinclair User 8/10[11]
Your Sinclair 94%[12] 80%[13]
Zero [14] 81%[15] 79%[16]
Zzap!64 Positive[17] 91%[18] 93%[19]
Awards
Publication Award
Crash Coin-op of the month[20]

In Japan, Game Machine listed Special Criminal Investigation on their December 1, 1989 issue as being the second most-successful upright arcade unit of the month.[21] It went on to become Japan's third highest-grossing dedicated arcade game of 1990, below Super Monaco GP and Winning Run Suzuka GP.[22] The arcade game was also a major hit in Europe, particularly the United Kingdom where Taito shipped 1,500 units by January 1990.[1]

References
  1. "International News: London Preview". RePlay. Vol. 15, no. 4. January 1990. pp. 140, 142.
  2. "Special Criminal Investigation (Registration Number PA0000473769)". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  3. "Taito Chase H.Q. Plus S.C.I.: Traffic Cops Take it to the Bad Guys!". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 12. Emap International Limited. October 1996. pp. 28–29.
  4. "Special Criminal Investigations review".
  5. "Special Criminal Investigations review".
  6. "Special Criminal Investigation review from CU Amiga (Feb 1991) - Amiga Magazine Rack".
  7. "Special Criminal Investigations review from Computer + Video Games 109 (Dec 1990) - Amiga Magazine Rack".
  8. "Special Criminal Investigations review from Computer + Video Games 109 (Dec 1990) - Amiga Magazine Rack".
  9. https://archive.org/stream/computer-video-games-magazine-113/CVG113_Apr_1991#page/n78/mode/1up
  10. "RAZE - Issue 09 (1991-07)(Newsfield Publishing)(GB)". July 1991.
  11. "Special Criminal Investigations review".
  12. "Your Sinclair Magazine Issue 51". March 1990.
  13. Your Sinclair, issue 63
  14. "Zero Magazine Issue 04". February 1990.
  15. "Chase HQ 2: Special Criminal Investigation review from Zero 15 (Jan 1991) - Amiga Magazine Rack".
  16. "Chase HQ 2: Special Criminal Investigation review from Zero 15 (Jan 1991) - Amiga Magazine Rack".
  17. Hogg, Robin (March 1990). "Arcades". Zzap!64. No. 59. pp. 38–40.
  18. "Chase H.Q. 2: Special Criminal Investigation review from Zzap 68 (Dec 1990) - Amiga Magazine Rack".
  19. "Chase H.Q. 2: Special Criminal Investigation review from Zzap 68 (Dec 1990) - Amiga Magazine Rack".
  20. Caswell, Mark (25 January 1990). "Arcade Action". Crash. No. 73 (February 1990).
  21. "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - アップライト, コックピット型TVゲーム機 (Upright/Cockpit Videos)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 369. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 December 1989. p. 29.
  22. ""Tetris" Has Still Earned More Than "Final Fight"" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 396. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 February 1991. p. 22.
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