ChuChu Rocket!

ChuChu Rocket! is a puzzle game, written by Sonic Team. Originally written for the Dreamcast, it was then ported onto the Game Boy Advance. Due to its simplistic nature, it is regarded as incredibly addictive.

ChuChu Rocket! was the first popular online game for any major video game console. The game was later given away free with every Dreamcast as a demonstration of its online abilities.

Gameplay

The object of the game is to guide one or more mice ("ChuChus") around a board into one or more goals while avoiding cats ("KapuKapus") roaming the board. The mice and cats all move in predictable paths by always turning right when hitting a wall head on or by following corners.

ChuChu Rocket!'s multiplayer mode revolves around up to four players placing arrows on the level at once, trying to direct mice into their own rockets and cats into other players' rockets. Each player can only have three arrows on-screen at a time and cannot place them on other players' arrows. Although a simple concept, this quickly becomes frantic with the relentless speed of the mice and four players fighting over them.

While billed primarily as a multiplayer game, the single-player puzzle mode of ChuChu Rocket! had a strong online following. In this mode, players are presented with levels with mice and cats on it and are tasked with placing arrows in order to get all the mice into the rockets and keep all the cats out without further guidance after setting the level in motion. A level editor allows players to create their own puzzle levels to share with others, and thousands of levels were uploaded to Sega's online service during the game's lifetime.

A less-featured Stage Challenge mode challenges players to get mice into rockets, guide a cat to eat all the mice, put cats into a computer-guarded rocket, and other tasks, all within a specified time limit. One or two players can work together to solve the 25 available levels.

GBA release

The GBA release of ChuChu Rocket! featured the same gameplay as the original Dreamcast release, complete with single-cartridge multiplayer gameplay across multiple GBAs. The original 100 puzzle levels were included, as well as 2,500 user-submitted levels from the online service. Unlike the Dreamcast version, the GBA version also included a level editor for the stage challenge and multiplayer modes. Numerous new features and effects were added to the GBA version as well, some taking advantage of each player having his or her own screen.

External links

• Mures, a similar, open-source game for Windows, Linux, and BeOS