Puzzle games and handhelds go
together like peanut butter and jam. It was no accident that the original Game Boy shipped
with Tetris instead of a Mario knockoff. There is just something about handhelds that lend
themselves to puzzle games. Maybe it’s the promise of endless replay value that makes
puzzle games so appealing. No game will ever be the same. If you have a good puzzle game,
you really don’t need to have another game for your system. Who can say that about
Super Mario? Maybe it’s the false sense of a quick game. Puzzle games seem to promise
brief amusements that sharply contrast the epic portions of time necessary to complete a
Zelda or Mario. This of course is a lie. I have dedicated more time to those falling
Russian blocks than to any other game I have played. It’s the simplicity that grounds
me and keeps me playing until all hours of the night.
When Chu Chu Rocket was first
released for the Dreamcast, I avoided it like the plague. I was working on a Master’s
degree and I knew that I couldn’t afford the hours it would suck away from my life.
Well, I’ve completed my Master’s, and it was with a certain sense of abandon
that I plopped Chu Chu Rocket Advance into my Game Boy Advance. Now, I find myself
wondering where all the time has gone.
Like
all great puzzle games, the story is so simplistic that you really can’t call it a
story. Your goal is to steer the space mice with directional arrows into your rocket while
steering the space cats towards the rockets of your competitors with the same directional
arrows. There are mystery mice that can throw a wrench into carefully plotted maps. Chu
Chu Rocket Advance has dozens of levels to master and no game ever plays the same way
twice. The graphics won’t win any awards, but they certainly get the job done. There
is a lot going on on the screen at any given moment and I don’t notice any slow down
(except, of course, when a mystery mouse makes that game slow down).
On top
of the regular gameplay, there is a multi-player link for up to four players off one
cartridge. I really enjoy the puzzle mode of play also, where you’re given limited
resources to steer your mice away from the cats and into the space ships. It’s a
refreshing break from the frantic pace of regular play. Some of these will have you
scratching you head for hours. There are 2500 puzzles to play through in this game. I
honestly don’t anticipate finishing this in my life. There is a time trial trial mode
and a level design mode. Not only do you get to design your own levels, but you also can
design your own characters and their animations. It’s an incredibly tedious process,
but it gives you one more reason to get this game.
I also
have to mention how much I enjoyed the sense of design and humor that comes across in the
menus and manual. It just screams light and fun without being too cute. I found myself
smiling as I leafed through the manual at its cleverness and aesthetic presentation. It
just looks cool. I seriously want a t-shirt with Chu Chus and rockets. There aren’t
too many games out there that I would show off on a t-shirt.
In this
age of amazing graphics capabilities, it’s a wonder that people are still making
puzzle games. They just seem so eighties. I’m glad that there are a few publishing
houses out there who still see the need to create puzzle games that aren’t Tetris.
Chu Chu Rocket is everything a puzzle game should be and so much more. If you need a break
from endless variations of Tetris, I highly recommend you give this a shot. At nearly
forty dollars, it may seem a little pricey, but I guarantee that you will not get more
mileage out of your gaming dollar from any other Game Boy Advance title. I promise, you
will still be playing this game three system generations from now.
Ups: Incredibly
addictive; thousands of puzzle levels; infinite replayability; 4-player multiplayer from
one cart; lots of options and modes.