While the original arcade game consisted entirely of chase sequences, the GameBoy version offers a bit more versatility with its gameplay. Players choose a squad of three police from an initial list of five, each with varying strengths such as speed and power. The game then presents the player with an overhead map. Here, the player tries to position the policemen and chase the criminal before he drives off the map and escapes. Chase H.Q. drops the player into a driving scene when the police and criminal cars intersect on the map. As mentioned, Chase H.Q. does not really qualify as a pure racing game. Rather than beating the criminals to a finish line, the police must destroy the opponent's car, by either shooting or rear-ending it until it breaks. Meanwhile, the cop faces other obstacles such as opposing traffic, various barriers in the road as well as a gradual loss of fuel.

The play control during the races feels nice and solid, especially for a GameBoy title. Chase H.Q.'s design prevents the police cars from constantly running off the road's sides, a common frustration in many racing titles. Thus, the player can fully concentrate on attacking the opponent and avoiding traps in the street. The sense of speed is about as good as anyone could hope to achieve on a machine with a 2.5 inch screen. Control over the crew's cars on the overhead map does feel unpredictable and a bit slow at times, though it is manageable for the most part.

Impressive graphics never were GameBoy's strong suit. Like most of the system's other titles, Chase H.Q.'s graphics evoke memories of old 8-bit Nintendo games such as Rad Racer. Since it works with both GameBoy and GameBoy color, the game does not use GameBoy Color's potentially expanded color palette. The sound too consists of the standard, somewhat tinny music produced by the machine, though it doesn't annoy. But as no one purchases GameBoy titles for their aesthetic quality, graphics and music are probably the least relevant categories.