Griffin
Well-known member
Jaleco City Connection: Art pack and cab build - Arcade Icons
My second 'kit' build is going to be City Connection. There is very very little source material out there for the original version of this game so it should present quite a challenge (But I like those
)
Build Details...
PCB - Purchased working from Germany
Cab - Never a dedicated cab so that's open for now.
Art details...
Marquee
Redrawn in vector.
CPO
I suspect the kit may have shipped with w generic CPO like these
Bezel
Nothing to go off yet
Side Art
Current source material I have to go off...
This art seems to be related to the MSX Console (???) version?
Looking at the original Japanese Flyer the art is slightly different. I could really do with finding a higher-res version of this to examine...
The thing I like about the original Japanese art is that it features the female character who is the driver of the car. In the American version of this game 'Cruisin' the female character wasn't featured. So we HAVE to get her into this art package if we are going to create a proper tribute to the original game.
Game History
Developed by a company called Hect (renamed Axes Art Amuse in 1992- their GDRI rap sheet is enlightening) and distributed by Jaleco in arcades in 1985, City Connection is an extremely silly tour of the globe.
As Clarice, you have to drive your Honda City (no, honest, that's the type of car you drive) across the world, with your objective being to drive every inch of the stage. Each city, from New York to London to Tiananmen Gate, comes in the form of a four-tier highway (three tiers suspended in mid-air, and one serving as the base) that loop horizontally and, as you drive over the road, it gets painted. Paint all of the highway and you move on to the next stage.
For a Honda City, Clarice's car is pretty manoeuvrable- it can jump (a short jump or a higher one by holding the stick up), turn on a dime (but after turning it pops a wheelie, during which time you can't jump or turn again) and speed up its fall rate (hold the stick down when descending) and driving speed (hold the direction you're facing). Mastering Clarice's car is very important, as there's some vital tricks- like combining a high-jump and a turn (press jump + up + the opposite direction at once) and turning mid-air- that you need to learn to get anywhere.
As you clear each stage, the designs slowly become more fiendish, mostly in the form of highway tiers that are too far apart to jump between, so you'll be doing a lot of to-in and fro-ing, eventually becoming a puzzle to the tune of 'how the flip am I gonna get there?'.
Clarice's painting spree wouldn't be too bothersome if not for three main obstacles- the police, the cats, and the road spikes. Touch any of them and you'll lose a life, lose all your lives and it's game over. The police are on her tail at every turn (yes, even on Easter Island) and while they're not exactly smart- they'll never jump up or aggressively chase Clarice- they will get in the way. They can be dispatched by throwing oil cans at them (you have a limited supply, and can grab more along the way) to stun them, then running into them. You can also chain 'em by stunning multiple cars at once for big bonus points!
The cats and road spikes can't be killed, so you have to avoid them or scroll them off-screen- cats spawn randomly, and road spikes start appearing if you spend too long on one tier (it usually happens on the bottom tier as it's always the biggest, and their appearance might be connected to the mileage meter) and your best recourse is to turn tail and get on another tier. The only other wrinkle in the game mechanics are the balloons- they appear every now and then, and collecting three of them warps you to a random stage further in the game. Eventually, the level designs and backdrops will start to loop, and, well, that's your lot.
The arcade and Famicom versions star Clarice- her name appears at the bottom of the arcade version's high score table- and depending on where you look, her reasons for driving everywhere are different. arcade-history and the Japanese Wikipedia page probably has the most detail, establishing that Clarice is 15 years old and travelling the world looking for the ideal man, hence why when she gets hit, her car explodes into a pile of hearts. The Japanese Wikipedia page also tries to figure out why the police get involved, offering theories such as Clarice being too young to drive, driving too fast, or without a license.
On the other hand, the English Wikipedia entry says that she's on a world tour, and she's marking the roads as a way of proving she's visited a country- this vandalism annoys the police, and so they give chase.
According to arcade-history's page on the game, only 1000 PCBs of the original Japanese version of City Connection were produced. Overseas, the game was licensed by Kitcorp (also known as Kitco or Kitkorp, they mostly brought over other developer's arcade games, including SNK's T.N.K. III and Taito/UPL's Return of the Invaders) and retitled Cruisin
Great old Japanese TV Spot
Source... http://gaminghell.co.uk/CityConnection.html
My second 'kit' build is going to be City Connection. There is very very little source material out there for the original version of this game so it should present quite a challenge (But I like those
Build Details...
PCB - Purchased working from Germany
Cab - Never a dedicated cab so that's open for now.
Art details...
Marquee
Redrawn in vector.
CPO
I suspect the kit may have shipped with w generic CPO like these
Bezel
Nothing to go off yet
Side Art
Current source material I have to go off...
This art seems to be related to the MSX Console (???) version?
Looking at the original Japanese Flyer the art is slightly different. I could really do with finding a higher-res version of this to examine...
The thing I like about the original Japanese art is that it features the female character who is the driver of the car. In the American version of this game 'Cruisin' the female character wasn't featured. So we HAVE to get her into this art package if we are going to create a proper tribute to the original game.
Game History
Developed by a company called Hect (renamed Axes Art Amuse in 1992- their GDRI rap sheet is enlightening) and distributed by Jaleco in arcades in 1985, City Connection is an extremely silly tour of the globe.
As Clarice, you have to drive your Honda City (no, honest, that's the type of car you drive) across the world, with your objective being to drive every inch of the stage. Each city, from New York to London to Tiananmen Gate, comes in the form of a four-tier highway (three tiers suspended in mid-air, and one serving as the base) that loop horizontally and, as you drive over the road, it gets painted. Paint all of the highway and you move on to the next stage.
For a Honda City, Clarice's car is pretty manoeuvrable- it can jump (a short jump or a higher one by holding the stick up), turn on a dime (but after turning it pops a wheelie, during which time you can't jump or turn again) and speed up its fall rate (hold the stick down when descending) and driving speed (hold the direction you're facing). Mastering Clarice's car is very important, as there's some vital tricks- like combining a high-jump and a turn (press jump + up + the opposite direction at once) and turning mid-air- that you need to learn to get anywhere.
As you clear each stage, the designs slowly become more fiendish, mostly in the form of highway tiers that are too far apart to jump between, so you'll be doing a lot of to-in and fro-ing, eventually becoming a puzzle to the tune of 'how the flip am I gonna get there?'.
Clarice's painting spree wouldn't be too bothersome if not for three main obstacles- the police, the cats, and the road spikes. Touch any of them and you'll lose a life, lose all your lives and it's game over. The police are on her tail at every turn (yes, even on Easter Island) and while they're not exactly smart- they'll never jump up or aggressively chase Clarice- they will get in the way. They can be dispatched by throwing oil cans at them (you have a limited supply, and can grab more along the way) to stun them, then running into them. You can also chain 'em by stunning multiple cars at once for big bonus points!
The cats and road spikes can't be killed, so you have to avoid them or scroll them off-screen- cats spawn randomly, and road spikes start appearing if you spend too long on one tier (it usually happens on the bottom tier as it's always the biggest, and their appearance might be connected to the mileage meter) and your best recourse is to turn tail and get on another tier. The only other wrinkle in the game mechanics are the balloons- they appear every now and then, and collecting three of them warps you to a random stage further in the game. Eventually, the level designs and backdrops will start to loop, and, well, that's your lot.
The arcade and Famicom versions star Clarice- her name appears at the bottom of the arcade version's high score table- and depending on where you look, her reasons for driving everywhere are different. arcade-history and the Japanese Wikipedia page probably has the most detail, establishing that Clarice is 15 years old and travelling the world looking for the ideal man, hence why when she gets hit, her car explodes into a pile of hearts. The Japanese Wikipedia page also tries to figure out why the police get involved, offering theories such as Clarice being too young to drive, driving too fast, or without a license.
On the other hand, the English Wikipedia entry says that she's on a world tour, and she's marking the roads as a way of proving she's visited a country- this vandalism annoys the police, and so they give chase.
According to arcade-history's page on the game, only 1000 PCBs of the original Japanese version of City Connection were produced. Overseas, the game was licensed by Kitcorp (also known as Kitco or Kitkorp, they mostly brought over other developer's arcade games, including SNK's T.N.K. III and Taito/UPL's Return of the Invaders) and retitled Cruisin
Great old Japanese TV Spot
Source... http://gaminghell.co.uk/CityConnection.html
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Hell the car in the Marquee isn't even remotely like the car in the game or the art.


