ChuChu Rocket!

The Dreamcast Era, was the era of invention, it was akin to the industrial revolution here in the real world, apart from the gamersphere. However, out of all of these oddities, there was one puzzle game that really caught my eye. This game built on the basic concept sega developed in the previous flicky game, released for the Sega Genesis. This game's concept is a simple game of cat and mouse. Or in the previous flicky title cat and bird.

However, we are not here to talk about flicky. We are here to talk about why Chuchu Rocket! and what set's it apart, as a puzzle game, and a complete gem. The main game takes place on a game board, you need to get the mice or ChuChu's into the goals, while avoiding, the Cat's the KapuKapus, while this gameplay idea seems simplistic and none too revolutionary, you must direct the mice and cats by placing directional blocks placed all around the screen. You can only place three arrows on screen at a time, and they cannot overlap with, your other arrows, or on top of any other players. Once the mice have been collected at your goal, a rocket will "blast-off" thus, ChuChu Rocket!

Gameplay: The single player gameplay is a simple puzzle game, you have a number of directional blocks to place to get all the ChuChus to the goal, but the true magic of ChuChu Rocket! comes from the intense multi-player mode. The players must work in tandem. However, this does not mean that all the players must work cooperatively, actually part of the amusement to the multi-player mode is directing the Cats to the other player's goals. It's fast paced gameplay, is due, in part to the roulette style, gameplay shifts that are caused by gaining a pink colored mystery mouse. Actually, this is part of what makes the gameplay so intense. You never know what to expect. There are several modes of play.

Speed Up-This is just as it say's it speeds up the rate of action, meaning that it speeds up the mice as well as the cat's. When I played this is had caused me to panic the most. It meant that I had to think fast, at least three moves ahead.

Slow Down- This usually follows a speed up. The Slow down option allows the player to return to a normal pace, or slows the gameplay down, to slow motion. This allows for a more placid pace of gameplay, however; I found myself making more mistakes in "Slow Down." then I did in "Speed Up".

Cat Attack- If you obtain a mystery mouse, this mode sends a Cat into the other three holes. This is really fun but also one of the most frustrating when other player's get it, which was a lot more than I did back then.

Mouse Monopoly- Sends a flock of mice into the hole that captured the mystery mouse. It really is fun to watch these little mice scurry into your goal, it gives you an awkward sense of accomplishment. Like, the Cat Attack I rarely got this, when someone else would get this, you felt, something close to complete and utter humiliation.

Cat/Mouse Mania- In this mode only Cats or Mice appear, in rapid succession. Mouse Mania, is like a feeding frenzy while Cat Mania is about diverting cats. These tend to be when players become most competitive.

Place Again- All directional pads on the game board are erased, and the screen pauses. Then you have to replace all of your arrows. I really don't think there's much of a point to this, and I find it extremely frustrating.

Everybody Move- This mode is about piloting the rockets as your mouse pilots. This is a really fun part of the game. The four pilots that are introduced are Chuih for blue, ChuBei for yellow, ChuPea for red and ChuBach for green. This mode was the one I found to be the most fun.