Chu Chu Rocket: First Impressions

Well, after playing ChuChu Rocket for some time, I come to you with this statement: Give me more.

The demo ODCM gave really lacked a lot. You could only engage in a 4 player battle, a 1 player puzzle mode with 5 levels, and a puzzle edit, which you could not save. The 1P Puzzle Mode was very easy to conquer, though at the final level, you do need some brains. Basically, this is the scenario: You’re given arrow blocks to guide the mice, which usually turn to their right at corners. You have to maneuver the mice to the rocket without them falling into bottomless pits, or getting eaten by the cat. That’s it.

The 4P Battle is where the fun is. In this demo, there are always 2 human players and 2 computer players. You have a minute, and the object is to maneuver the mice to your rocket, so when time ends, your rocket gets launched and you get the points. Oh, but it’s not quite that easy.

Sonic Team threw in some extras to make the battle interesting-like cats, of course, that will really hurt you if they get into the rocket, special gold mice that add 50 to your score, and ? mice-who, when entering a rocket, trigger an action. These range from Mouse Monopoly (be just like Microsoft!), Mouse Mania (where everybody gets the goods), Cat Attack (every rocket but one gets effected), Cat Mania (That can do a lot of negative damage), and more. I just love this mode, even though I only do it one player.

I’ll go over Puzzle Edit briefly: Basically, you have all the tools you want at your arsenal to make your own puzzling, er… puzzle. Go fig, eh?

So, overall, I can’t wait for this game. I’ve always hated puzzle games, but this one looks to be just right for me. I can’t wait to whup someone on the DC Network this March…