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The Chase: Felix Meets Felicity DS is a platforming game in the style of old school arcade platformers with a love story thrown into the mix. The Chase stars Felix and Felicity who have bumped into each other at the very start of the game. They instantly fall in love and you’ll play as either one of the characters as they go through the games 40 plus levels to make it to their first date.

The game is kind of a cross between side scrolling Sonic games and Kirby’s Canvas Curse. It sounds like an odd combination but it works. Hit the jump to check out my preview for The Chase.

(P.S. This game has Nuclear bomb weapons. F*cking Nukes!) 

 The Chase is comprised of eight worlds with five levels in each. Each level you play on offers a different play style or unique objective. The first level I saw was the normal level where you simple need to go from point A to point B.

The first thing players will notice is that Felix and Felicity move on their own. They will run and climb walls automatically with no player input required. Players can still point them in the direction they want to go in and can use the buttons to make Felix and Felicity run faster and jump.

Players can also move about with the Rush Lines, which is basically Kirby’s Canvas Curse’s rainbow lines feature. You’ll draw lines on the touch screen to which Felix or Felicity can use to move on in the air and such. There is a Rush Line meter that drains as you use the Rush Line, but can be filled back up by items in the levels. The Rush Line can be used defensively as well to block enemies from slowing you down.

Players can find items throughout the levels to help them get through levels faster such as stopping time or having a brief moment of invincibility. Easily the most misplaced weapon of all time is the Love-Nuke. When used, every enemy on the screen gets Nuked. They first turn to ash and then the wind blows their bodies away. Seriously, wtf?

The Chase is aimed at appealing to both male and female audiences so the level of difficulty isn’t very hard. In fact, enemies on the map can’t actually kill you. They’ll slow down your progress, but can’t end your life. The only way players can die is by the Rain Storm, which is exactly what it sounds like. As you’re moving through the levels, a Rain Storm starts to slowly consume the level. If you get caught in the storm, you’ll die. However, if you do get caught in the storm, you can escape by using the Rush Line and ride out the storm. While not necessary, using the Rush Line in the Rain Storm will add a lot of points to the Crush Meter (the score bar).

Other levels in the game will include:

• Heart Grab: requires players to collect five hearts before reaching the end.
• Vertical: Players have to ascend through the levels by using the Rush Line to grab onto ledges above them (think Bionic Commando).
• Foot Race: Race against characters in the game that will give you love advice if beaten.
• Rescue Mode: Run through the level while carrying some sort of animal. You can let go of the animal, but they will move on their own once free.

After completing every level, players will go through a little cutscene describing various events happening in the game. Felix and Felicity will play through the same levels, but both of their stories are different.

The game sounds very casual, but has some depth to draw in the non-casual crowd. The one thing the game could have really benefited from would have been a multiplayer mode. It’s a single player game and I think a multiplayer mode would have really added a lot more to the game.

The Chase: Felix Meets Felicity is made by Atari for the Nintendo DS and will be out either January 2009 or around Valentine’s Day.