Undeterred by the negative experience of releasing K.C. Munchkin, then getting sued by Atari and ultimately required to pull the game off the shelves, Phillips/Magnavox set out to release an “above the board” sequel as quickly as possible. A game that could still utilize the main character, K.C. Munchkin, and the maze concept while being different enough that they wouldn’t need to spend time and money in a court room after its release.
Released for the Odyssey² in 1982, K.C.’s Krazy Chase would be the sequel to keep Odyssey afloat, if only briefly. In K.C.’s Krazy Chase, you once again control the titular blue munchkin running around inside a maze but this time, your goal is to eat the segments of the dreaded Dratapillar. The Dratapillar’s head is its only deadly spot but it also employs two Drats that serve as guards running around the maze trying to stop you from eating their master. The only way to get at the Dratapillar’s body segments are from behind or from the side as it runs around the maze eating trees. Once K.C. eats a Dratapillar segment, he becomes invincible to the Drats and he can chomp them for big points, so in essence, the segments serve as power pellets. This does not make K.C. invincible to the Dratapillar’s head, however. K.C. can also eat the green trees scattered throughout the maze for points. Once all of the segments f the Dratapillar have been eaten, the maze level ends, restarting the same maze over with the enemies moving slightly faster.
K.C.’s Krazy Chase offers 5 unique maze designs as well as a maze creator option, similar to the original K.C. Munchkin. Choosing to make the game more of a chase the enemy instead of the enemy chase you game was a neat idea that in my opinion makes K.C.’s Krazy Chase superior to the original. However, when I think about K.C.’s Krazy Chase too deeply, I start to become a bit disturbed. Allow me to elaborate.
- When K.C. dies, he waves goodbye at you with his antennae. (chilling)
- When K.C. eats the Draterpillar’s body, its facial expression turns from a smile to a frown. (sociopathic)
- K.C. can chomp the Draterpillar in the middle of it’s body, leaving rear segments in the maze for K.C. to eat later when he’s hungry. (graphic)
- If the Draterpillar comes across any of its own body segments, it will eat itself in cannibalistic fashion. (disgusting)
K.C.’s Krazy Chase might even be an “MA” rated game if it were to be released on modern consoles with modern graphics based on these gameplay elements alone. Good thing you can only play it on an Odyssey² for now.
Rating: A
Currently in my collection: game, manual, box
Cartridge Corner 