More than 5 years ago in March of 2015, Aquiris Game Studio announced a new retro-inspired racing game tentatively titled Project Retro-Racer. In August of that same year they launched that game with the final title of Horizon Chase. The developers used inspiration from several classic arcade racers, but more often than not Horizon Chase was described as a modern Out Run, and I’m pretty okay with that description. They somehow managed to create a racing game that simultaneously felt like an authentic old-school arcade game and a modern console or PC racer, and Horizon Chase instantly became my favorite arcade racing game on mobile. We awarded it 5 stars in our original review, chose it as Game of the Week, and put it in our Best Games of 2015 list.
About a year after its release, Horizon Chase was updated with new cars and tracks as part of an Australia Cup expansion, and about a year and a half after that it was updated with even more new cars and tracks as part of the Hawaii Cup expansion. With so many locations now in the game the official title became Horizon Chase – World Tour, but since that Hawaii Cup update Aquiris has been mostly focused on the console and PC version of the game, called Horizon Chase Turbo. With that game’s release and a handful of updates under their belt, Aquiris are now turning their attention back to Horizon Chase – World Tour on mobile. This week they released a new update that features a completely refreshed UI and menu system, support for even more device screen sizes, and increases the amount of content you can experience in the free portion of the game.
What’s much more exciting than a new UI though is what Aquiris is describing as “a constant stream of updates for Horizon Chase in 2020." This week’s update already hints at some forthcoming new modes like Weekly Challenges that will “offer a selection of tracks with different rules and conditions." There’s also a spot for a Store “where players will find a set of additional content that will be offered throughout 2020." It kind of sounds like that’s where they’ll be offering DLC, which is A-OK by me. The free portion of Horizon Chase offers more than 30 tracks to play now as well as access to 7 different cars, and a one-time IAP that’s currently just $2.99 provides access to the rest of the game. The Weekly Challenges will be offered to both free and premium players, but those who have unlocked the premium version will have access to additional challenges and rewards.
I’m really thrilled to see Aquiris coming back around to Horizon Chase on mobile, and it sounds like the future is really bright for one of the very best racing games on the platform. If you haven’t played it before I absolutely recommend checking out the free download, and it should offer more than enough racing fun to help you decide if springing a few bucks for the full version is something you want to do.
