is a 1985 platform game developed and published as an arcade video game by Jaleco. It was released in North America by Kitkorp as Cruisin'. The player controls Clarice in her Honda City hatchback and must drive over elevated roads to paint them. Clarice is pursued by police cars, which she can stun by hitting them with oil cans. The design was inspired by maze chase games like Pac-Man (1980) and Crush Roller (1981)

City Connection was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System, MSX, and ZX Spectrum. In Japan, the game has maintained a loyal following, and the NES version is seen as a classic for the platform. It was re-released in  several Jaleco game collections and services such as the Wii Virtual Console. These received mixed responses in North America, with critics disliking its simplicity, lack of replay value, and poor controls. Some felt it possessed a cute aesthetic and unique concept and was entertaining. Clarice is one of the first female protagonists in a console game.

Jaleco released a sequel, City Connection Rocket, for Japanese mobile phones in 2004.

Gameplay

In City Connection, the player controls Clarice, a blue-haired teen driving an orange Honda City hatchback, as she travels around the world in the quest of finding herself the perfect man. Clarice traverses through twelve side-scrolling stages that take place within famous locations around the world, including New York, London, and Japan. To clear these levels, the player must drive over each of the elevated highways to change their color from white to green. The car can jump over large gaps to reach higher sections of the stage.

Clarice is constantly being pursued by police cars that follow her around the stage, and must also avoid flag-waving cats that block her from moving past them. Clarice can collect and launch oil cans at police cars and traffic vehicles to temporarily stun them; ramming into them while stunned will knock them off the stage. Cats are invulnerable to oil cans, and cannot be killed by any means. If the player remains on the same stage for an extended period of time, spikes extrude from the ground and instantly kills them. On occasion, a red-colored balloon may appear in the stage, and collecting three of these warps the player to a new area and grants them bonus points.

Stages

Development and release
City Connection was developed by Jaleco and released in Japanese arcades in July 1985. In North America, the game was licensed to Kitkorp and published as Cruisin. Many of the game's stages feature an arrangement of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. The song used when Clarice hits one of the flag-waving cats is "Flohwalzer", known in Japan as "Neko Funjatta" (lit. "I Stepped on the Cat"), while another stage features a remix of the song "Highway Star" by Deep Purple. City Connection is credited as being one of the first to use new music tracks for each stage as opposed to recycling one song. The car the player controls throughout the game is a Honda City hatchback, which is believed to be the source for the game's title. Jaleco based the game's concept on Namco's Pac-Man (1980) and Alpha Denshi's Crush Roller (1981).

City Connection was ported to several consoles, including the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), ZX Spectrum, and MSX. The NES version, which was Jaleco's first release for the system in North America, replaces Clarice with an unnamed male protagonist (though the Famicom release does feature Clarice), alongside other minor differences. The Japanese Family Computer (Famicom) version is included in the compilations Jaleco Collection Vol. 1 (2003) for PlayStation and JaJaMaru Jr. Denshoki Jaleco Memorial (2004) for Game Boy Advance. Both the NES and Famicom versions were digitally re-released for the Wii Virtual Console in 2008, and the 3DS and Wii U Virtual Console in 2013. A version for Japanese cellular phones was published in 2002 through i-Mode devices. Mediakite produced a port of the arcade game for Windows in 2003, while Jaleco produced a remake titled City Connection DX for mobile phones in Japan. Hamster Corporation released a digital version of the game under their Arcade Archives series for the PlayStation 4 in 2014, and for the Nintendo Switch in 2018. The NES version is also available through the Nintendo Switch Online service.

Reception

City Connection has maintained a loyal following in Japan, where it became one of Jaleco's most successful and beloved games. The NES version, in particular, is viewed as a classic title on the system for its accurate portrayal of the arcade original. In 2003, Yuge listed it as being among the console's greatest games, through its unique gameplay, colorful visuals, and memorable soundtrack. The magazine staff described it as being a game that fulfills the dreams of children who want to play arcade games.

The NES version and its digital re-releases received mixed reviews in North America, by comparison. Critics focused largely on its overall simplicity and poor controls. A reviewer for Computer Entertainment US felt that the game was hindered by its lack of replay value for older players. IGN and Nintendo Life reviewers Lucas M. Thomas and Marcel van Duyn respectively both believed the game didn't age well and was too simplistic; Duyn described it as being "still well below par" compared to other NES ports of classic arcade games. Agreeing with them was Nintendo Lifes Steve Bowling (now part of Good Vibes Gaming with Ashton Paulsen (Rob Paulsen's Son), and Derrick Bitner), who claimed the Wii U version was a shallow conversion of an arcade game he considered "already lost to the ages", specifically for its ill-conceived controls.

Critics felt City Connection, in light of its flaws, possessed a cute aesthetic and unique gameplay. Computer Entertainer US believed its cute visual style would appeal to younger players and its challenge to older ones, and said what little the game had to offer was enjoyable. Christopher Michael of AllGame likened its gameplay to Pac-Man and similar maze-chase arcade games from the era, writing that its graphics and gameplay made it a must-play for the platform. Reviewing for Eurogamer, Dan Whitehead compared its gameplay to Q*Bert and its horizontal-scrolling to Defender, and made for an addictive game that justified its price tag. Thomas and Duyn agreed that City Connections gameplay was simplistic and enjoyable, though constrained by its controls and high difficulty.

Legacy
Clarice is credited as being among the first female protagonists in a console game. She appears as a playable character in the PlayStation game GUNbare! Game Tengoku (1998), misspelled as "Claris" and bearing little resemblance to her original design, and in the high-definition remaster The Game Paradise Crusin' Mix (2018) as downloadable content.

In 2004, Jaleco released a sequel named City Connection Rocket for Japanese mobile phones through i-Mode. The game places Clarice in the role of a spy working for a secret organization to capture criminal leaders from around the world. Rather than painting sections of road, Clarice must now collect briefcases placed in specific areas in each stage while avoiding police cars and other types of enemies. Rocket was bundled with City Connection DX for a 2015 re-release on the PlayStation Vita under Hamster's Appli-Archives series, which was available through the PlayStation Mobile service. PlayStation Mobile closed in September 2015, delisting the game from the PlayStation Store and other supported devices.

The company City Connection, who is the current owner of Jaleco's video game assets, is named after the game.

See also
CarVup

Notes

References

1985 video games
Arcade video games
City Connection franchises
Honda
Jaleco games
Kitkorp games
MSX games
Nintendo Entertainment System games
Nintendo Switch games
Nintendo Switch Online games
Platform games
PlayStation 4 games
Side-scrolling video games
Video games developed in Japan
Video games featuring female protagonists
Video games set in New York City
Video games set in London
Video games set in Paris
Video games set in Germany
Video games set in the Netherlands
Video games set in Egypt
Video games set in China
Video games set in Japan
Video games set in Sydney
Video games set in Mexico
Video games set in Peru
Video games set in Easter Island
Video games set in Arizona
Video games set in Utah
Virtual Console games
Windows games
ZX Spectrum games
Hamster Corporation games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
《시티 커넥션》()은 1985년 자레코(JALECO)에서 제작한 아케이드 게임으로 일본이외의 지역에서는 KITKORP가 Cruisin이라는 이름으로 판매하였다. 나중에 패미컴과 MSX, ZX 스펙트럼으로 이식되었으며 PC로도 출시되었다. 또한 플레이스테이션의 자레코 콜렉션 vol. 1에도 포함되어 있으며 북미와 일본에서는 Wii의 버추얼 콘솔로 출시되었다. 한국에서는 웹이엔지코리아에서 휴대전화로 이식해서 2003년 5월부터 SKT와 LGT에 서비스하였다. 일본에서도 2004년 2월 시티 커넥션 로켓으로 리메이크되어 NTT 토코모와 소프트뱅크 모바일로 서비스되었다.

게임 내용과 특징 
게임의 스토리는 클라리스라는 여주인공이 이상형의 남자를 찾아 자동차를 몰고 세계를 여행한다는 내용으로 자동차를 조종해서 4층으로 되어 있는 흰색 도로를 장애물을 피해 색칠하는 게임이다.

 플레이어: 혼다의 시티 AA를 닮은 자동차로 점프를 해서 장애물을 피하거나 도로 위의 오일통을 주워 경찰차, 경찰버스, 견인차에 발사하여 맞춘 후 미끄러진 상태에서 들이받아 제거할 수 있다. 그리고 방향 키를 위로하고 점프키를 누르면 위쪽 도로로 올라갈 수 있다.
 경찰차, 경찰버스, 견인차: 플레이어와 같은 방향으로 움직이지만 간혹 플레이어 쪽으로 돌진하는 경찰차, 경찰버스, 견인차도 있다. 오일통을 쏘아맞추면 미끄러지며 빙글빙글 도는데 들이받으면 제거할 수 있다.
 고양이: 도로 위에서 체크 깃발을 들고 있으며 치게 되면 라이프가 감소한다. 오일통을 던져도 퇴치할 수 없기 때문에 점프나 방향을 바꾸어 피하는 수밖에 없다. 화면 밖으로 빼내면 사라진다.
 뾰쪽한 돌: 같은 곳에 오랫동안 머물면 플레이어 앞, 뒤 도로에서 솟아오르는 장애물로, 고양이와 마찬가지로 역시 오일통을 던져도 소용없기 때문에 점프로 뛰어넘는 방법밖에 없다.
 오일통: 도로위에 놓여 있는 것을 플레이어가 주워 적 경찰차, 경찰버스, 견인차 등에 발사해 퇴치하는 데 사용된다. 최대 99개까지 주울 수 있으며, 스테이지 클리어 시 갖고 있는 오일통의 개수가 많을수록 보너스 점수가 증가한다.
 풍선: 간혹 도로위에 떠다니며 3개를 주우면 다른 스테이지로 워프하며 어디로 떨어질지는 알 수 없다(미국 뉴욕 제외).

스테이지는 모두 12개가 있으며 주행거리에 따라 난이도가 높아진다.

배경 음악으로 차이콥스키(Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)의 피아노 협주곡 1번을 각 스테이마다 다르게 편곡하여 사용하였으며 길 위의 고양이를 치게 되면 고양이 춤이 나온다.
반면에 패미콤판은 고양이를 치게 되면 일본 동요인 '고양이를 밟아버렸다(猫踏んじゃった)'가 나온다.

하드웨어 
 CPU: M6809 (2.048Mhz)
 사운드 CPU: M6809 (640Khz)
 사운드 칩: AY8910 (1.25Mhz), YM2203 (1.25Mhz)
 해상도 240 x 224, 60Hz, 1664색 팔레트, 세로 스크린
 8방향 조이스틱, 2버튼, 1인 플레이

기종별 차이점 
 패미컴 버전 - 스테이지가 6개(1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9)로, 배경 음악도 2가지로 축소되었으며 도로도 블록 형태로 변경되었다. 북미판에서는 주인공이 남자로 바뀌었다. 1985년 출시, 32KB 용량
 MSX 버전 - 패미컴과 같이 스테이지 6개로 축소되었으며 배경 음악은 1곡뿐이다. 가로 스크롤을 지원하지 못하는 하드웨어 특성으로 스크롤 방식이 아니라 화면 전환 방식이다. 오일통이 포물선으로 발사되며 경찰차가 맞게 되면 하트로 변한다. 1986년 출시, 32KB 용량
 ZX 스펙트럼 버전 - 2종류의 4스테이지(2, 5, 7, 8과 3, 8, 6, 10)를 선택한 후 플레이한다. 시작 메뉴에서만 배경 음악이 나오며 플레이 시에는 효과음만 나온다.
 PC 버전 - 아케이드 게임을 에뮬레이터로 작동시킨다.
 플레이스테이션, Wii 버전 - 패미컴 버전을 에뮬레이터로 작동시킨다.
 휴대전화 버전 - 스테이지는 모두 포함되어 있지만 배경음악이 1가지뿐이다.
 시티 커넥션 로켓 - 리메이크 버전으로 주인공과 적 등의 스토리 부분이 강화되었으며 4스테이지씩 묶어 조우편과 결전편, 8스테이지 모두 포함된 완전판이 서비스되었다. 결전편에서는 천안문 광장이 만리장성으로, 모뉴먼트 밸리가 하와이의 와이키키 해변으로 변경되었으며 마지막 스테이지는 적의 아지트이다.

평가

외부 링크 
  시티 커넥션 게임 방법과 팁
  시티 커넥션 게임 화면

1985년 비디오 게임
아케이드 게임
패밀리 컴퓨터 게임
MSX 게임
PC 게임
플레이스테이션 (콘솔) 게임
이집트를 배경으로 한 비디오 게임
아시아를 배경으로 한 비디오 게임
버추얼 콘솔 게임
ZX 스펙트럼 게임
플랫폼 게임
자레코의 게임