Welcome to VC Weekly, N-Europe's guide to the wonderful world of Nintendo's download service. Written by Sam C Gittins.

If you like maze games then you're more than likely going to love this release as it fills a gap that has been there since we got a playable version of Pac-Man which seemed rather average. Anyway enough from me and on with the game!

Available for download this week we have...

• Lock 'N Chase

Price: GB �2.70 EU �3
Publisher: Data East
Developer: Data East
Released: 1990
System: GameBoy

It has to be said that this title is startlingly similar to the original maze-muncher known as Pac-Man as the premise is the same because you find yourself navigating mazes where your main aim is to pick up dots while avoiding enemies you will cost you a life should you run into them; only here the mazes are inside a bank which you're robbing so the dots are clearly coins and the enemies which you're trying to evade are the police.

While the maze layouts start off rather simply they do become more complex as you play on, it is here that the methodical nature of Lock 'N Chase becomes apparent as you'll be doing a lot more strategical thinking on the fly rather than just simply going for the high-score which makes things altogether more challenging. You can acquire one of two power-ups which will either freeze enemies or allow you to temporarily run through them for extra points which can help in some of the more rather hectic moments.

Unfortunately while this game may seem to better the one it copies its basic template from it's almost a shame that it doesn't draw inspiration for the control scheme too as those expecting it to be the same may be disappointed because in Pac-Man when you chose a direction the character would continue to go that way until hitting a wall but here you have to continually keep pressing in the desired direction which can seem a little tiring after a while though it's still a perfectly functioning control scheme. Also the view of the playing field isn't always complete due to being zoomed-in so you need to have a rough idea of each maze layout otherwise you'll find enemies going off the screen and then suddenly appearing in front of you which can be an exasperating experience.

Colour or rather lack of it doesn't really seem to be much of an issue here as it may have been for some when Pac-Man got released on the 3DS, this is perhaps due to this game not being as reliant on it because here the concept works just fine in mere black and white. There is some rather cheerful accompanying background music which when coupled with the games amusingly simple sound effects really helps add to the overall experience creating a playful atmosphere that is perfectly suited here.

It's not really about which game is 'better' here as we all know which is the original maze-based classic but it is somewhat undeniable that Lock 'N Chase offers something decidedly different which might be more to your taste and for a significantly lower price than Pac-Man too. Perfect it certainly isn't but I'd still give this game a decent recommendation based on the strength of its subtle reinvention of an age-old formula while managing to make its own mark within the genre.

Verdict : A maverick within the maze-based genre.

That's it for another installment of VC Weekly which will return again soon. So until then, enjoy the rest of the week and Game On!

Sam Gittins
[email protected]