ChuChu Rocket! review (Game Boy Advance)

The puzzle mode can be enjoyable, but ChuChu Rocket is best known for its extremely fast-paced battle mode: Mice pour from stage entrances, and you can drop as many directional tiles onscreen as you like, all with the intent to get as many mice into your goal as you can within a limited space of time. Meanwhile, three opponents (either human or computer-controlled) are trying to do the same. The game also supports a two-on-two battle mode. Either way, part of the strategy lies in foiling your opponents, as cats will scour the playing fields and will take away from your opponents' scores if you can lure the cats into their goal areas. Random power-ups will mix up the action, and all together, this mode can be a blast to play, though its pacing can be overwhelming at first.

Furthermore, the Game Boy Advance's digital pad isn't perfectly suited for controlling the onscreen pointer--you can't move your pointer with the same precision you could using the Dreamcast's analog stick. There are three button control schemes available to choose from for use with dropping tiles--the Game Boy Advance has fewer buttons than the Dreamcast, so the designers thought up several solutions to the problem of translating the controls of the game. Only one of these control schemes, which uses both the portable unit's face buttons and also its shoulder buttons to drop corresponding directional tiles, is suitable for the battle mode, but it's still slightly awkward and requires practice.

ChuChu Rocket has a lot to offer. It even lets you redraw and animate your very own replacements for the mice and cats in the game. It has simple graphics that, while not technically impressive, still look appropriate. Likewise, the game's upbeat soundtrack is catchy, though it gets repetitive in short order. Of course, the addictive gameplay is what really sets ChuChu Rocket apart. The game is essentially identical to the Dreamcast version, so it's perfect if you want a copy of it on the go. ChuChu Rocket is the first puzzle game and also the first party game for the Game Boy Advance, and it's successful in both respects.