The plot of the game involves Kid Klown trying to rescue Princess Honey of Klown Planet from the evil Space Pirate Black Jack. Black Jack sets up a very large bomb with an overly long fuse at the end of the level that Kid Klown must race against while avoiding other crazy traps and obstacles that will slow him down in humorous ways. At the same time Kid Klown must collect four card symbols (Spade, Heart, Diamond, Club) from balloons in order to advance to the next level. The game has a colorful and zany look. The game received a sequel, Crazy Chase 2 released for the PlayStation in 1996, but only in Japan, and a Game Boy Advance remake in 2002.
Klutzy Klown Tropes:
- All or Nothing: The final puzzle segment will singlehandedly lock you into the worst ending if you screw up, regardless of how well you've done for the rest of the game. To make matters worse, it's a Luck-Based Mission.
- Amusing Injuries: Both Kid Clown and Black Jack suffer some through the game. Even Princess Honey gets these in the bad ending.
- Ash Face: Occurs every time Kid Klown gets burnt or blown up.
- Happens to Princess Honey in the bad ending.
- Banana Peel: A common hazard littering the stages.
- Big Bad: Black Jack, the Space Pirate clown who captures the princess and tries to stop Kid Klown throughout the game.
- Big Boo's Haunt: Stage 5, the Haunted Cave, has zombie hands reaching out of the ground, and a ghost chasing you.
- Blessed with Suck: King Klown sends Kid Klown because he's the only one klutzy enough for the mission.
- Bonus Stage: Three hidden ones per level.
- Broken Bridge: Typically the result if you fail to beat the fuse to the big bomb. Thus, it's a game over since Kid Klown has no way to proceed. Stage 5 has a cave-in, and Stage 2... the bomb somehow contrives to make the entire street fall and create a huge chasm.
- Butt-Monkey: Both Kid Klown and Black Jack are this, since they're subjected to multiple Amusing Injuries.
- Cartoon Bomb: Your goal is to reach one at the end of each stage before the fuse does. Smaller bombs wired to the same fuse litter the stage as well.
- Covered in Kisses: Princess Honey does this to Kid in the best ending of the game.
- Death by Looking Up: Black Jack's pursuit of Kid Klown (using a hammer) in Stage 3 is halted when he stops to look up... and gets flattened by a falling rock. Likely a result of him slamming that hammer down so many times and shaking things up.
- Death Mountain: The first half of Stage 3, before entering the volcanic area.
- Did Not Get the Girl: The Normal Ending. Yeah, you saved Princess Honey, but she winds up going out with Prince Studley Clown of Clownistan instead.
- Downer Ending: Kid Klown fails to rescue Princess Honey from the bomb trap resulting in her getting blown up and suffering Amusing Injuries. King Klown chews out Kid Klown and regulates him to scrubbing duty around the castle. A real kick in the teeth after doing all that work, to make matters worse, it really wasn't his fault.
- Dub Name Change: The villain, Dirty Joe, was renamed Black Jack for the U.S. release. He goes back to being Dirty Joe in the GBA port.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: And we really mean earn it. Otherwise Kid Klown ends up on the short end of the stick one way or another. You have to get all the Honey Hearts in each stage. How do you do that? You have to complete each stage in one go (No continuing or restarting), then you have to guess the right lock to free Princess Honey in the end. Its All or Nothing, as failing the last segment automatically gets you the worst ending.
- Everything Trying to Kill You: You have to dodge several hazards throughout each stage and also contend with Black Jack himself.
- It also says a lot about this game when the result of the introduction is Kid Klown taking damage before you even start the first level. While not out of place in games these days (usually to provide a tutorial on healing), it was especially noticeable for an SNES game. Lampshaded by ProJared in his review of the game.ProJared: I haven't even done anything yet....and I'm losing...
- It also says a lot about this game when the result of the introduction is Kid Klown taking damage before you even start the first level. While not out of place in games these days (usually to provide a tutorial on healing), it was especially noticeable for an SNES game. Lampshaded by ProJared in his review of the game.
- Eye Pop: A common reaction of Kid Klown to impending danger.
- Fake Longevity: That ending 50-50 shot, which basically ensures you'll have to play the game at least twice, and to a lesser extent, the requirement to get all the collectibles and never use a continue. Without all this, the game would probably last about twenty minutes.
- Flower-Pot Drop: A frequent hazard in the city stage.
- One falls directly onto Black Jack at the start of the stage.
- Fourth-Wall Observer: Princess Honey is fully aware she's in a video game and throws lampshades on the plot and characters, including Black Jack and even Kid Klown. She even directly addresses the player in the opening cutscene.
- Free Wheel: In the city level, whether Black Jack successfully shoves Kid Klown into open traffic or accidentally launch himself into it, an Offscreen Crash will be heard followed by a tire wheel and car window landing on-screen.
- Gag Nose: Being clowns, all of the characters wear big red noses (or not, as we don't even know if they're detachable or their real noses).
- Game Over: Lose all your health or fail to reach Black jack's bomb in time and you'll see the Game Over screen where over the words "Continue?" you move Kid Klown hanging by a balloon over "Yes" or "No".
- Hoist by His Own Petard: In Stage 2, Black Jack attempts to bum-rush Kid and knock him into traffic. Evade him and he flings himself right into the middle of the busy street with predictable results.
- I'll Take That as a Compliment: This is Kid Klown's exact response to King Klown saying he the only one klutzy enough to rescue his daughter.King: You're the only Klown klutzy enough for this mission, don't let us down!Kid: Okey dokey... er... I'll take that as a compliment!
- The Klutz: Kid Klown. In fact, he is even called klutzy by King Klown, and this is the reason he was signed up for the job.
- Lethal Lava Land: Stage 3, the mountains.
- The Lost Woods: Stage 1, the Windy Woods.
- Luck-Based Mission: The final game to save the princess. Throughout the game, you've collected five keys. The door to the princess's cage has ten locks. If you don't pick the right lock, you're immediately locked into the worst ending, and it's entirely random.
- Meaningful Name: Kid Klown. He's a clown, alright.
- Mini-Game: Your health doesn't recover between levels, so in-between levels there's a mini-game that will recover your health or even give you extra continues depending on how well you do. The coins you collect in the level will determine how many chances or time you have. There are two that it switches between: the first is a game of whack-a-mole where you must use a boxing glove to whack Black Jacks, if you whack Kid Klown, you lose health and if you whack Princess Honey, the game instantly ends. The second is straight-forward game of Air Hockey, also with boxing gloves.
- Monster Clown: Black Jack.
- Ms. Fanservice: Princess
◊ Honey◊. Unsurprisingly, she's a Dude Magnet for Kid, Blackjack, and Prince Studley. In the Playstation version, there's an additional intro cutscene which depicts her, while daydreaming, in various scenes and outfits; one of which includes a bikini. - Multiple Endings: Three of them. The best requires you to beat each stage without having to repeat it, and not lose a life. Get the worst by failing to save Princess Honey from the bomb trap.
- Non-Ironic Clown: Kid Klown is a well-meaning, but klutzy, clown. Played straight, at least as straight as a goofy clown can be played.
- Only Sane Man: Princess Honey is the only reasonable and even savvy character in the game.
- Pain-Powered Leap: Kid's reaction if you fall into a pit of lava or spikes.
- Permanently Missable Content: You can't walk backwards, so if you miss a balloon with a suit in it you're going to have to repeat, and if you ever repeat a stage, you're
immediately locked out of the best ending. - Pink Means Feminine: Keeping with the Playing Card Motifs, Princess Honey's dress has a pink heart at chest level.
- Planet of Hats: Klown Planet. Everyone is a clown.
- Playing Card Motifs: Aside from the symbols you have to collect in each level, the four main characters seen each also prominently display a card symbol: Black Jack and his bombs have spades all over the place. Princess Honey's bosom makes the shape of a heart quite nicely. Kid Klown has a diamond right there on the front of his outfit. And King Klown's clothes feature clubs.
- Power-Up: Finding and completing the hidden bonus stages in each level earns you a power-up with varying degrees of usefulness. One will temporarily halt the fuse, one will speed up the Amusing Injuries animations and one will cause Kid Klown to automatically and continuously jump.
- Portable Hole: In Stage 2, Black Jack keeps showing up in manholes that slide from side to side while attempting to slam the cover into Kid Klown.
- Road Runner vs. Coyote: Black Jack shows up several times throughout the levels trying to trip up Kid Klown, with the attempts usually backfiring on him.
- Save the Princess: The whole mission of the game. Kid fails it in the bad ending, however.
- Slapstick:
- These characters are clowns, and they definitely play the part, even Blackjack is subjected to some goofiness over the course of the game.
- Get the worst ending and Princess Honey gets blown up, with Amusing Injuries to boot.
- Slippy-Slidey Ice World: Stage 4, the Ice Fortress.
- Space Pirates: Black Jack.
- Squashed Flat: Though he stretches right back.
- Totally Radical: The overall dialogue gives off this vibe. Filled with words like "lame" and "bummer".
- Trial-and-Error Gameplay: The balloons littered throughout each level will contain either the suit symbols you need to complete the levels, coins, health, or they'll just hurt you and waste time. And the only way to know which is which is through pure memorization.
- Trip Trap: Black Jack's first attempt at slowing Kid Klown down is a trip trap in Stage 1. If Kid Klown trips, Black Jack will clap and laugh in victory; if you jump over it though, Black Jack will stand there with a surprised look on his face.
- Underground Level: Stage 5, the Haunted Cave.
- Xtreme Kool Letterz: It's always spelled Klown with a K instead of Clown.
