Cisco Heat

 is a 1990 racing arcade game developed and published by Jaleco. It is similar to games such as "Chase H.Q." and "Out Run", where players control a police squad car that must race against other computer-controlled players to make it to the end of each race in first place. Players can also take different routes to bypass certain portions of the game. Three different cabinet types were created, a standard upright, a sit-down, and a motion-based "deluxe" machine; both of these could be connected, or "linked", together to enable multiplayer.
"Cisco Heat" was designed by many former employees of Sega, who had left the company to form BitBox, which developed "Jaleco Rally: Big Run". After Jaleco absorbed the company, the team began work on a spiritual successor to "Big Run", which became "Cisco Heat". The game was ported to several home computers in European countries, including the Atari ST, Commodore 64 and Amiga, all of which were published by Image Works. The arcade version of "Cisco Heat" was praised for its gameplay, presentation and controls, with one finding it to be a drastic improvement over Jaleco's previous arcade games. Home computer ports were met with a more negative reception for their generally poor quality.
Gameplay.
In "Cisco Heat", players control a police squad car through San Francisco in an attempt to win the "National Championship Police Car Steeplechase" in first place. Gameplay is similar to "Out Run" and "Chase H.Q.", where players must race against computer-controlled vehicles to the end of each section, taking place in a different area of San Francisco. Sections contain famous landmarks from the city, namely the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and tram cars, as well as several features such as steep dives, 90-degree turns and multiple selectable routes, which can allow players to bypass certain portions of the race and shortcut to another area. Players can select from two different police cars, both being based on the Cadillac Brougham and Nissan 300ZX Z32 respectively. Up to four "Cisco Heat" cabinets can be connected, or "linked", together to enable multiplayer play.
Development and release.
"Cisco Heat" was developed and published by Jaleco, originally released in October 1990 in Japan. It was released in North America in November 1990 and in Europe in early 1991. Most of the development staff who worked on the game were former members of Sega, who left the company to form the short-lived developer Bit Box, which created "Jaleco Rally: Big Run" (1989). After Jaleco absorbed the company in 1990, the development team became part of Jaleco and worked on a successor to "Big Run", which later became "Cisco Heat". For this reason, "Cisco Heat" bears several similarities to "Big Run", and was even marketed as a conversion kit for older "Big Run" arcade units. The soundtrack was composed by Yasuhiko Takashiba. Three different cabinet types were produced for the game, a standard upright machine, a sit-down, and a "deluxe" unit with minor motion capabilities. In 1991, "Cisco Heat" was exhibited at the Amusement Trades Exhibition International expo in the United Kingdom.
"Cisco Heat" was ported to several home computer platforms in 1991, all of which were developed by UK-based developers ICE Software and Moonstone Computing, and published by Image Works; these being the Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amiga, MS-DOS, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, and several IBM-compatible PCs. The Amiga version in particular, designed by Stuart Campbell, was entirely reworked to accommodate for the computer's technical limitations, and in turn has little to do with the original arcade game. An Atari Jaguar version of "Cisco Heat" was announced in 1994, but was never released.
Reception.
The arcade version of "Cisco Heat" was met with a favorable reception from critics. "Sinclair User" compared it to "Out Run" and "Chase H.Q." for their similar gameplay, saying that its impressive atmosphere, fast-paced action and generally well-made presentation made "Cisco Heat" "one hell of a driving game". "CU Amiga" felt the same, and claimed that it was one of the better arcade games produced by Jaleco, and showed that they had the resources to produce a well-designed racer after "Big Run". They labeled it as a "stunner" for its presentation, gameplay and fast-paced action, alongside its responsive controls and colorful visuals. "The One" called it "an urban Chase H.Q." for its similar gameplay and aesthetic, commending its multiplayer mode and cabinet linking system.
The home computer ports were met with a far-less positive fanfare. Reviewing the Amiga version, "Amiga Action" criticized the controls for being sensitive, the scrolling for being jerky, and the graphics for being poorly-made. They felt the game had a "rather amateurish" theme to it in regards to its presentation and overall quality, further criticizing it for being a generally unimpressive game. German publication "Power Play" had a similar response, adding that the game lacked originality compared to other similar games for the system and for its 3D effects being of poor quality. The Commodore 64 version received a record-low score of 12% by "Commodore Format", who labeled it one of the worst games of 1991; they lambasted nearly every aspect of the game, greatly disliking its presentation, jerky scrolling, bad framerate and large amount of glitches. "ZZap!64" shared many of the same criticisms, further disliking its lack of difficulty and bland music. In light of their criticism, they liked the port's short load times, which were only at the beginning of the game.