Chuchu Rocket! | November 11, 1999
チューチューロケット!
"Chuchu Rocket!" is a competitive action puzzle game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. The game was born from a task given to Sega's new employees during their training period, which was to create a game with each employee taking on different roles.
On the screen, there are "Chuchu" (mice) and "Kapkap" (cats) that appear from hatches, along with rockets where each player must collect the Chuchu. Players place arrow panels on the floor to control the movement of Chuchu and Kapkap. The panels can push Kapkap back up to two times. Chuchu and Kapkap mainly move straight, but when they hit a wall, they change direction to the right, and when they step on an arrow panel, they change their direction accordingly. When Chuchu enters the rocket, points are earned, but when Kapkap enters, points are deducted. Occasionally, a roulette mouse marked with a "?" or a bonus mouse that gives 50 mice for just one being captured appears. The roulette can cause effects such as "Chuchu Fever!" where many Chuchu appear or "Cat Fever!" where many Kapkap appear. The player who collects the most mice within a set time wins.
In addition, the game includes a "puzzle mode," which follows the rule below. The field contains pre-placed Chuchu and Kapkap, and the player is given several arrow panels. The goal is to place the arrow panels and lead all the Chuchu to the rocket. Players must place all the panels before moving the Chuchu. Once the panels are placed and the instruction is given, no further panels can be placed while the Chuchu are moving. If even one Chuchu falls into a hole, gets eaten by Kapkap, or if Kapkap enters the rocket, the game is failed and starts over. If all Chuchu enter the rocket, the player succeeds. Puzzle mode includes 100 puzzles, and players can also create their own puzzles. In the Dreamcast version, players can upload puzzles online and download user-generated stages. The Game Boy Advance version includes 2,500 puzzles selected from those created by users of the Dreamcast version worldwide. The Shockwave version includes 100 official puzzles and 625 user-made puzzles, available for download until 2003. Some user-made stages aimed for fun in appearance and movement, such as stages where no arrow panels were provided or where the stage could be cleared without placing any panels.
As mentioned earlier, the game was originally created as part of Sega's new employee training task where each employee was given a role to develop a game. One of the developers, Kenjiro Morimoto, mentioned in an interview with Sega's official site "SONIC CHANNEL" that the most enjoyable part of the development was creating the puzzle stages. This was because the rules were clear, which allowed them to reflect the planning intentions quickly and include various types of fun. On the other hand, Sachiko Kawamura, the character designer, revealed in another interview that she struggled to come up with good ideas. She also mentioned that she had difficulties when modeling the designs in 3D because she initially created them with a flat design in mind to focus on the silhouettes.
In the Game Boy Advance version, if all 2,500 puzzles are solved, a "secret password" appears once, and sending this message to Sonic Team gives a chance to win a "4-night, 6-day trip to Orlando, Florida." The catchphrase for this promotion was "Solve the Chuchu Rocket! puzzles and go see a real rocket!!" The Dreamcast version has unique features, such as unlocking the "Chao" from the Sonic series when all challenges are cleared and unlocking "Pian" from Nights when all puzzles are solved. Differences between the Dreamcast and Game Boy Advance versions include the appearance of "Pian" and "Chao," changes to some of the puzzle contents, and modifications to the battle mode. The Game Boy Advance version was released on January 26, 2006, as part of the 2-in-1 pack with "Sonic Advance & Chuchu Rocket!" Sega's site once hosted a Shockwave version (puzzle mode only), but this service ended. The game was also featured as a mini-game in the PlayStation 2 (EyeToy-exclusive) release "Sega Superstars" on November 11, 2004. The iOS version includes 145 puzzles in the puzzle mode and a battle mode (Bluetooth and Wi-Fi). The iPad version allows for four-player competitive play on a single screen. The Android version includes over 500 puzzles.
