| Introduction
Chu Chu Rocket was originally a title that was bundled
with the European Dreamcast package and now makes its
way to the GBA courtesy of SEGA's new software oriented
direction. The game itself is reminiscent of Chips Challenge
on the now defunct Atari Lynx where the main object
is to guide a group of objects to a predefined area.
If all that sounds like the dullest concept for a game
ever, trust me, it's not...
GamePlay
Firstly you'll discover your biggest challenge is
that the mice you're charged with herding are not very
bright. As a result of this they will continue in a
straight line until they meet a wall or are given a
directional instruction. This is where you come in.
By utilising the boundaries and placing arrows on the
floor you can channel almost anything to go wherever
you want and the concept really is that simple. Actually
achieving it will have you figuring out some devilishly
hard puzzles and the occasions where you're stuck in
a loop or eaten by a cat will be plentiful.
A lot of the gameplay is provided by the creative
tools which is actually as much fun as the original
puzzles themselves. This allows you to create both sprites
(in a fully featured art package) and levels (with various
building blocks) and then trade them with your friends.
If all this sounds a little complicated... it's not.
Thanks to the on screen tutorials even the novice artist/game
designer can produce finished extras with great ease.
The multiplayer mode is also fantastic allowing anything
up to 4 players to battle it out though as with most
titles you'll all need a copy of the game. There are
various modes here from individual to team play where
you can have 2 on 2 aiming to house as many mice as
possible before the clock runs out. If you don't have
enough players, no problem. You can simply substitute
them with a computer controlled one and as a refreshing
change they're actually reasonably intelligent.
Controls
One of the highlights of this title is the user interface
and not just for the originality but also because it's
both user friendly and informative. Everything's explained
in great detail and most gamers will find that they
don't look at the printed instructions at all. If only
all games were like this...
Graphics
Obviously with the ability to customize the layout
in a variety of ways the graphics are mostly functional.
This is not to say that they aren't impressive as some
of the animations are wonderful. Remember one of the
most important aspects of this title is the ability
to change the look of the game yourself. In other words
if you really don't like a sprite - design a new one.
Sound & Music
Chu Chu Rocket is produced by Sonic Team and as a
result the audio is spot on. From the initial title
screen music to the in game effects everything is top
quality so even if you don't enjoy the gameplay you
can't help but be impressed by the sound.
Final Comments
Chu Chu Rocket is possibly the first GBA title that's
endless as far as gameplay's concerned not only because
of the number of levels but also the inclusion of creative
tools. Giving the player the ability to customize and
create new levels and sprites should be an essential
part of all games of this type and the fact that you
can swap them with friend provides infinite possibilities.
In short, a game everyone should have in their collection
even if it's just to show people what can be accomplished
on the GBA.
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