Players : 1-4 (plus online)
Chu Chu Rocket.
The title says it all doesn't it. Doesn't it?
It's about as Japanese as a UK release is going to get this year and makes
about as much sense as Keyop from Battle of the Planets.
The story goes that on a far away planet there is a Space Port, inhabited
by thousands of litte ChuChus and they're being invaded by the KapuKapus.
In short - and in English - you have to lead a load of mice out of danger and
into a rocket by placing directional arrows on the floor.
There's a one-player mode which presents 25 separate levels which have quite
a simple edge to them in terms of design, but can be very tricky at times as
a lot of them seem impossible until the brain cells fall into place and
a solution presents itself. I completed all 25 in one hour.
A four-player mode is obviously the highlights though, with up to four humans
playing with the Dreamcast making up the numbers. You will each get a quarter
of the screen surrounding your rocket and can place a maximum of three
directional arrows at once in a bid to get more mice home than the rest.
Such levels only last a few minutes and frequently include random squeaky
Japanese female sayings such as :
Slow down - all the action, er.., slows down
Speed Up - work that one out for yourself
Mouse Mania in which the mice flood onto the screen in direct
proportion to the rush of adrenaline I get when Geri (Joanna Taylor) in
Hollyoaks appears on my TV screen
Cat Attack - while the mice are away, the cats will play and smash
into everyone's rockets and diminish the number of mice kept
Everybody Move - it's all change for the onscreen position of your
rocket.
There are also a number of other games modes to choose from including the
ability to play online from June 9th, 2000 and those who register online via
the Dreamarena site will be able to obtain a FREE copy of Chu Chu Rocket
(UK and Europe only) which will obviously drive down sales in the shops of this
game.
Graphics, Sound and Playability
The graphics are fast, colourful and funny, but only score near-half marks
because they don't push the Dreamcast's capabilities anywhere near its
potential. The sound technically doesn't fare much better, sounding rather
like a Bontempi keyboard having an epileptic fit.
On the plus side though, the one thing in which this game excels is in
playability. It's exceptionally easy to pick up and play without getting
bogged down by difficult controls. Everything does seem rather manic a lot of
the time, but if you stick with it, it does induce an essence of excitement
and several times I was close to scooping the winner's title, but unfair play
from the Dreamcast's AI ability stopped me winning (ok, so it was fair play
and I'm just a sore loser! :)
Overall
However, while it is a lot of fun, the fun is short-lived because it won't
really keep you coming back for more. It's a good laugh for a short while
and I'd normally suggest a rental rather than a purchase, but when something's
free...
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GRAPHICS
SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC
PLAYABILITY
ORIGINALITY
ENJOYMENT
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OVERALL
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Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2000.
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DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
