Plot. A new hit show called Battle & Chase has been released. It is an extreme racing show, that pays a large amount of money to the winner: 10 million Zenny. Soon, word reaches out that robots want to compete in the race for their own gain, and it becomes a major challenge where the stakes are high, and the reward is higher. Mega Man enters the competition to help Dr. Light repair his computer which broke during a thunderstorm. But someone wants to steal all that money, and that person is Dr. Wily.
Mega Man has the ability to shoot projectiles from his car, but when the weapon gauge is completely filled, he can fire a much more powerful blast. Each of the characters possesses an innate ability that can be used for attacking other drivers during the race. A gauge on the left side of the screen will repeatedly charge and allow for another special power when fired. You can also remodel your car with parts gained from your opponents after you beat them.
Concept. This game is divided in three game modes: Grand Prix, Versus Mode, and Time Trials. Grand Prix is for racing to win the grand prize money of the game, a multiplayer mode is Versus Mode, where players play against friends and family, and finally there is Time Trials where players can make attempts for a new time record.
Design and Development. Keiji Inafune is the developer of the game, and when making Battle & Chase he claimed that he had always wanted to "[bring] the unique 'beat your enemies and take their stuff aspect' of Mega Man to a racing cart game". The game's character designs and promotion images were illustrated by Hideki Ishikawa and Shinsuke Komaki.
Music and Sound. Sound effects almost sound quite a bit in a way like the old Mega Man games on the SNES, as for some random voice acting, they don't speak English, and only Japanese. As for the music, Toshihiko Horiyama was not the composer this time, the composer was Yoshinori Ono and has vocals by Yoshino Aoki and Ryoji Yamamoto. This was one of Aoki's first projects at Capcom. She sang theme for the character Roll, Kaze yo Tsutaete (風よ伝えて, Wind, Carry My Words), which was used as both an ending theme and for the game's Japanese television commercial advertisement. The second vocal ending theme A ~ Otoko Ichidai (あ~男一代, lit. "Ah, Man's Life") features Yamamoto as the character Guts Man. A CD soundtrack for the game was released by Victor Entertainment in Japan on June 21, 1997
Rantings. I was actually not fond of this one as much as I was with Mega Man Soccer. I think that this game was almost like a clone of Mario Kart because of the style of gameplay and concept. I mean, I didn't like it much but still I would rate it as a decent game. Also, Duo should have been released overseas as well, and some of the non-playable racers could have been playable, which would have been fun in some ways.
Good Aspects. The game's replay value is actually average. I wasn't too fond of this game as said, and actually in terms of a Mega Man sports game, I like Mega Man Soccer better. Music was ok and all, but at least they could have put Horiyama, but it's ok.
Overall. Mega Man Battle & Chase gets a 6 out of 10.
God Bless and Play Hard Gamers!