Just a few short months ago, we were singing the praises of the brick-tacular police-'em-up Lego City Undercover - an essential purchase for anyone who owns a Wii U, and a game that's been keeping us occupied in many different ways for weeks on end. But even though we still have yet to find everything it has to offer, the game begins by offering a conundrum of its own. When hot cop Chase McCain descends on the city at the start of the game, it seems he's a bit of a minor celebrity in town, with a fan club all of his own that goes beyond ditsy Detective Frank Honey. But how did he get so famous? And what made him leave LEGO City in the first place, only to return at the beginning of the Wii U game? The all new 3DS prequel, LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins looks to answer that question, telling the tale of Chase McCain's rise through the ranks from rookie to hero, and how he managed to stick the criminal overlord Rex Fury behind bars for the first time. As the subtitle suggests, it's where The Chase Begins.
Pig-racing - the perfect way to unwind after a hard day of doughnut eating.
Arriving at the LEGO City Police Department on your first day on the job, your first mission is straightforward enough - the station's run out of essential supplies (doughnuts) and you need to go and get some more. It should be a simple matter of crossing the road and buying another box, but the man behind the counter informs you that the delivery truck's run into difficulties so they're fresh out - and it's up to you to investigate. Taking the matter into his own hands, Chase leaps into his patrol car and heads off in search of the van, only to discover there's been something of a crash, and the doughnut van's been smashed to pieces while the driver's got his head stuck in a letter box. In real life, this would be a disaster - but in the world of LEGO, it's a minor hindrance. Rebuilding the van and driving it back to the shop, you can finally deliver the Deputy's doughnuts. Job done.
But no sooner have you solved the doughnut shortage than news of a missing dog, Mr. Waggles, hits the station. Hotfooting it to his house, you search the back garden for clues - pressing the A button on specific points will give you a trail of footprints to follow leading you to a buried item, in this case a t-shirt belonging to one of the Knuckles Gang. Fortunately, the shirt has the address of their hideout written on the label, and off you trot, only to find the front gates are locked tight. Climbing up the building next door, you use your audio scanner to confirm the dog is definitely over there before zip-wiring your way into the grounds and clambering up the side of the building to rescue the poor pooch, who's delighted to see you and even more chuffed to finally be reunited with his owner.
The long sprawling Lego levels we've grown accustomed to over the years have been scrapped for the handheld version, in favour of smaller bite-sized missions scattered around the streets of Lego City. Each one taking five to ten minutes tops, you'll mostly be finding criminals, following criminals and fighting criminals, with the occasional doughnut run, dog rescue or citizen crane rescue thrown in for good measure - and each mission tries to mix things up a bit with different ways of doing things. Sometimes you'll be scanning the surroundings for audio clips, sometimes you'll be smashing and rebuilding LEGO bricks to solve a simple puzzle, while other times may see you leaping, sliding and zip-wiring across the roofs of Lego City.
Crime pays.
Each set of the missions follows their own specific storyline, which mostly revolve around you putting a stop to some gang's plans for causing trouble, culminating in a brawl with their leader. Fisticuffs are fairly common, and brawling is as simple as pressing the X button to reverse each bad guy's moves or flinging them around with Y, with most of your moves being hilariously overpowered and filled with dramatic slow-mo. Once you beat the boss of your current area, you'll be rewarded with a new disguise and a new area to explore too - the disguises themselves are pretty much identical to those you'll find in the Wii U game though, such as a robber who can crowbar open locked doors and a farmer who can glide through the skies while holding onto a chicken. For those of you not too familiar, these disguises take the place of previous Lego games' multiple characters, giving Chase different skills and abilities depending on his clothing - abilities which you'll need to mix and match during the course of his adventure.
For those of you who like exploring every nook and cranny for hidden items, the LEGO games are a Godsend - and The Chase Begins doesn't disappoint. When you're not taking part in one of your important police missions, you'll have the opportunity to explore the vast LEGO City freely, as you discover all the secrets it holds. Hidden around each section of the city are extra characters and vehicles, citizens that need rescuing, and the series-staple Red Bricks which unlock all kinds of 'cheats' (such as money multipliers, invincibility and glasses-and-moustache disguises) - as well as new 'postcards' to find by snapping a pretty vista through the town's strategically placed binocular points. And much like it's Wii U big brother, Lego City uses two distinct currencies, the familiar studs, which you use to buy new disguises and vehicles, and the new Super Bricks, which can be used to build the various Helipads and vehicle call-in points scattered around town.
Squeezing the entirety of Lego City onto a cartridge does come at a price though, as the game has some fairly lengthy loading times every time you move to a different district of the city - while the Wii U version took an age to load, it only really happened when you first started up the game or once you left the police station and it needed to draw the whole city in again. Another issue with putting it onto much less powerful portable hardware is that lampposts, people and vehicles only pop into view when you're relatively close, leading to a few squeals from the citizens as you run headlong into them. But neither of these issues are game-breakingly big either, and are definitely outweighed by the positives of Chase's first handheld adventure.
If you like a vehicle, you can 'borrow' it for official police business, whatever that may be.
The world of Lego City is huge - and Traveller's Tales have done an awesome job recreating it for the 3DS, despite a few technical hiccups. With short bite-sized missions perfect for portable play, oodles of collectables and the same Lego humour and silliness we've come to know and love, anyone who's enjoyed a Lego game before should feel right at home with this one.
Format Reviewed: Nintendo 3DS
