ChuChu Rocket!

n/a

ChuChu Rocket!
System(s): Sega Dreamcast, Game Boy Advance, Mobile, PlaySega, iOS, iPad, Android
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sonic Team, AirPlay, Binary Hammer
Distributor: Infogrames (EU)
Peripherals supported: Dreamcast Arcade Stick, Jump Pack, Dreamcast Keyboard, Dreamcast Modem, Visual Memory Unit, Dreamcast VGA Box
Genre: Puzzle
Number of players: 1-4
Release Date RRP Code JP 1999-11-11 ¥2,8002,800 HDR-0039 JP (Controller) 1999-11-11 ¥4,8004,800 HDR-0048 US 2000-03-07 $29.9529.95 51049 EU 2000-05-12 MK-51049-50 EU (DreamKey) 2000 MK-51049-B5 FR (DreamKey) 2000 MK-51049-B9 PT 2000 DCJS22319 JP 2001-03-21 ¥4,800 (5,040)4,800 (5,040) AGB-P-ACRJ US 2001-06-06 AGB-P-ACRE EU 2001-12-07 AGB-P-ACRP JP ▼ 2011-07-21 ¥250250 US ▼ 2010-10-28 $4.994.99 4+ EU ▼ 2010-10-28 €3.993.99 UK ▼ 2010-10-28 £2.992.99 AU ▼ 2010-10-28 $5.495.49 JP ▼ (iPad) 2011-07-21 ¥450450 4+ US ▼ (iPad) 2010-10-28 $6.996.99 4+ EU ▼ (iPad) 2010-10-28 4+ UK ▼ (iPad) 2010-10-28 £2.992.99 4+ JP ▼ (PuyoSega) 201x US ▼ 2011-11-23 $0.990.99 EU ▼ 2011-11-23 UK ▼ 2011-11-23 £0.750.75 JP ▼ 2015-10-21 ¥650 (702)650 (702) WUP-N-PCHJ
ESRB Sega ELSPA USK OFLC SELL

ChuChu Rocket! (チューチューロケット!) is a puzzle game originally developed by Sonic Team for the Sega Dreamcast.

ChuChu Rocket! is considered to be the first truly popular online video game released for a major video game console, and existed to demonstrate the online capabilities of the Dreamcast. In Europe, it was given away for free to customers who visited the Dreamarena online service with the Dreamcast browser. In Japan, there was a limited edition set which included a clear orange controller.

The Online portion of the game is still online via Private Servers and can be used with the DreamPi.

Story

In a far away time on a far away planet, there is a space port where thousands of ChuChus live. The ChuChus are space mice who lived happily until one day when the Space Port became infested with KapuKapus. The KapuKapus are space cats with voracious apetites and naturally will eat the ChuChus if they catch them, therefore the ChuChus must ran away and escape in rockets. Albeit they're never seen anywhere in the game, the rockets are piloted by four color coordinated ChuChus:

• Chuih: the blue ChuChu with starry eyes. This ChuChu really knows how to party.
• ChuPea: the red ChuChu female with a heart on the tip of her tail. She's a moody daydreamer ChuChu.
• ChuBei: the yellow ChuChu that is chubby. He's a careless ChuChu who feigns ignorance.
• ChuBach:, the green ChuChu that has swirly glasses. He is a steady and reliable ChuChu, who does things at his own pace.

Gameplay

Just like the story suggests, the objective of the game is to guide one or more ChuChus around the stage into a rocket, while avoiding the KapuKapus that stalk the stage or any holes on the floor.

Chuchus run in a straight line, will turn right when hitting a wall head on, follow corners and turn around when in a dead end. KapuKapus move exactly the same but slower. If they hit any ChuChus they will eat them, no matter how many and if they hit a rocket they will damage it and one third of the total amount of ChuChus is lost.

To control the directions both ChuChus and KapuKapus go, the player can set four directional arrows (color coded for each player: blue, yellow, red and green) on the floor and any of them passing through will follow said direction. Though any number of ChuChus can pass through an arrow, KapuKapus can only hit one twice (the first shrinks it and the second vanishes it). Eventually, the arrows also disappear past some time (they will flash first) and only three arrows can be placed without the older one disappearing. Both ChuChus and KapuKapus will disappear if they fall on a hole but they will spawn at their correspondent color coded hatches (blue for ChuChus, red for KapuKapus) and only a set number of ChuChus and KapuKapus can be at a stage (at least one KapuKapu is always present for example).

There are three different species of ChuChus:

• Blue and white ChuChus: most common throughout the game.
• Pink and red "?": ChuChu: it will randomly select a different gameplay option when hitting a rocket:
  • Speed Up!: All ChuChus and KapuKapus move more quickly.
  • Slow Down!!: All ChuChus and KapuKapus move more slowly.
  • Mouse Mania: All KapuKapus disappear and large numbers of ChuChus pour out from their hatches. In the GBA version, yellow ChuChu rarely appear.
  • Cat Mania: All ChuChus and KapuKapus disappear, and then KapuKapus will come out from their hatches (only four at once).
  • Mouse Monopoly!: ChuChus flood into the player's rocket.
  • Cat Attack!: A KapuKapu hits each of the other player's rockts.
  • Place ↑ Again!: All the arrows disappear and the game pauses for a few seconds.
  • Everybody Move!: The rockets switch places randomly.

(GBA version):

• • Night Time!: The entire board is darkened except for the players' rocket locations, making it hard to locate ChuChus.
  • Kitten Mania!: All ChuChus and KapuKapus disappear, and then small KapuKapus come out of the hatches.
  • Blindfold the Winner!: The leading player has the ChuChus and KapuKapus disappear from their screen for a few moments.
• "50" yellow ChuChu: gives a total of fifty ChuChus to the counter.

Modes of play

• 4-Player Battle: In this mode the player can battle a stage up with a maximum of three other players. The objective is to save as many ChuChus as possible by directing them to a rocket within the time limit. Obciously, the player with the biggest score, that is equal to the number of ChuChus saved, will win the stage. The player can also choose the number of points needed to win the match, which correspond to the number of stages one player wins.
• Team Battle: In this mode the players are split into two teams (blue and red team and yellow and green team). The team who collects the most ChuChus within the time limit wins.
• Stage Challenge: In this mode there’s a set task given per stage to complete, within a thirty seconds time limit. There are no special ChuChus and a second player can help as well. The objectives of stages A and B is to get all of the Chu-Chus into the rocket, C to have the KapuKapu eat all of the ChuChus, D to get 100 Chu-Chus into the rocket and E to play Cat Football which is hitting the opponent's rocket with a KapuKapu to win. There's a final stage which plays like Battle Mode, and which objective is to lead one hundred ChuChus to a rocket before the CPU does.
• Puzzle: In this mode the player has to guide all of the ChuChus to a rocket, while managing to avoid KapuKapus and holes, that along with KapuKapus hitting a rocket is a level failure. As an addiction, there’s a pre set number and directions of arrows the player can set and everything must be set before the stage starts playing, where the player can't input anything else. There are three levels of diddiculty: normal, special and mania, the latter levels getting unlocked as the former are completed.
• Puzzle Edit: In this mode the player is free to make their own puzzles. After completing the custom stage once, the player can save and upload them on the net and any other player can download and play them as well.
• Network: Though not a mode per se, the player is able to battle with others online (up to four), chat using the a keyboard (virtual or physical), download or upload games, access the ChuChu rocket homepage (when it existed, anyway), see various informations including the Stage Challenge records. In 2016 The webpage and online mode where brought back by fans.

After beating some of these modes, the following characters are unlocked: Chao and Nightopians. It's also possible to download other characters. There are also eight wallpapers hidden on the disc.

Versions

In 2001, ChuChu Rocket! was ported to the Game Boy Advance, featuring the same gameplay as the original Dreamcast release, complete with single-cartridge multiplayer gameplay across multiple GBA handhelds. The original 100 puzzle levels were included, as well as 2,500 user-submitted levels from the online service. This version was one of the system's many launch titles in Japan.

This version's level editor is capable of creating levels for 4-player battle, team battle, stage challenge and puzzle mode. Numerous new features and effects were added to the GBA version as well, some taking advantage of each player having their own screen. Predictably graphical and audio quality took a hit in the transition between the two systems.

ChuChu Rocket! on the Game Boy Advance is often incorrectly cited as being the first game to be published by Sega for a non-Sega console. It was the first Game Boy Advance game to be published by Sega, but not the first Nintendo game (this title goes to Sakura Taisen GB2 for the Game Boy Color).

The Game Boy Advance port was later included in two compilations - 2 in 1: Sonic Advance & ChuChu Rocket! and 2 in 1: Sonic Battle & ChuChu Rocket!, both released in 2005.

Mobile phone ports of ChuChu Rocket! was were handled by AirPlay, and were first available on September 30, 2006. This version is also available at PlaySega (subscribers only). More recently the game has been brought to iOS and Android devices by Binary Hammer, which were removed from sale in mid-2015.

Other Appearances

• In Sega Superstars ChuChus are one of the twelve full games to play in main mode. Movement over a certain target on the screen will cause a bridge to raise, which the chu-chus then follow to the goal. The bridge also must be dropped at certain moments to prevent KapuKapus from destroying the score.
• In Sonic Battle, Tails' landmine appears to be a ChuChu. The Skill Card describing the landmine gives its name as the "ChuChu Rocket".
• In Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, a ChuChu and a KapuKapu can be found in eggs. The former allows the player to access a mini version of ChuChu Rocket! on the Game Boy Advance and the latter will help the player by attacking foes.
• In Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, the four colored pilots are playable racers. They're all in the same rocket and their All Star move is riding a KapuKapu and running over their opponents.

Version history

Main article: ChuChu Rocket!/Changelog.

System	Version	Size	Date	Comment	Ref	Icon
	0000010000150000000000000000001.15	17MB	201112022011-12-02
	0000010000010000020000000000001.1.2	25.6MB	201112012011-12-01
	0000010000010000010000000000001.1.1	24.4MB	201107212011-07-21
	0000010000010000000000000000001.1	22.5MB	201012192010-12-19
	0000010000000000020000000000001.0.2	16.1MB	201012032010-12-03
	0000010000000000000000000000001.0.0	13.7MB	201010282010-10-28
	0000010000010000010000000000001.1.1 (HD)	31.3MB	201107202011-07-20
	0000010000010000000000000000001.1 (HD)	16.3MB	201012192010-12-19
	0000010000010000010000000000001.1.1 (JP, HD)	31.3MB	201107212011-07-21

Production credits

Dreamcast version

• エグゼクティブプロデューサー: いりまじり しょういちろう
• プロジェクトマネージャー: うつみ しゅうじ
• プロデューサー＆ディレクター: なか ゆうじ
• プランニングディレクター: すずき ゆういちろう
• メインプランナー: かや たかふみ
• アートディレクター: うえかわ ゆうじ
• キャラクターデザイン: かわむら さちこ
• プログラマー: たけだ じゅんいち, やまもと まさのぶ, たかはし やすひろ, まつなみ しんや
• ネットワークプログラマー: せつまさ あきお, わかやま まさひろ
• デザイナー: やすむら まさとし, ひつだ かおり
• パズルエディット: かや たかふみ, すずき ゆういちろう, おがわ ようじろう, なかむら しゅん, いしぐろ ゆういち, もりもと けんじろう, ふじわら けんいち, あいだ ともひこ, にしやま あきのり, みよし たかお, はた しんたろう, たかはし やすひろ, わかやま まさひろ
• サウンドコーディネイション: まきの ゆきふみ
• サウンドディレクター: しばた ふみたか
• ミュージック: おおたに ともや
• サウンドエフェクト: あべ ひでき
• ミックス エンジニア: みや よしただ
• エグゼクティブマネージャー: すずき ひさし
• マーケティング: おかむら ひでき, うえの くにひさ, さとう けんいち, さんなべ せいじろう
• プロモーション: かわぐち まさとし, きくち ひろと, たかはし みつる, かとう けんじ, しみず たけし
• パブリシティ: たけざき ただし, なぐも やすし, まさひろ やすのぶ, やまざき じゅんじ, ひさだ ひろみち
• モニターテスト: さわだ つよし, なかむら あきひさ, おか ひとみ
• パッケージ＆マニュアル: いちござき かおる, おがわ えいいち, やまぐち としき
• カラーコントローラせいさく: はまだ かずひこ, とさき けんじ, だて としのり, こあくつ たかし, うめむら きわむ
• スペシャルサンクス: いけだ けんいち, かく てつや, あんどう たつや, さかぐち やすし, うの あつし, はっとり やすゆき, にしお きみたか, じんどう たかあき, にしかわ あきら, てらさわ あきら, ようかいちや ひでき, さえぐさ ひさこ
• エグゼクティブスーパーバイザー: おおかわ いさお
• Presented by: Sega

(C)Sega Enterprises, Ltd., 1999

Source:

In-game credits (JP)

• Exective Supervisor: Isao Okawa
• Exective Producers: Tetsu Kayama, Hideki Sato
• Producer/Director: Yuji Naka
• Main Planner: Takafumi Kaya

Design Section

• Art Director: Yuji Uekawa
• Character Designer: Sachiko Kawamura
• Designers: Masatoshi Yasumura, Kaori Hitsuda
• Game Object Designer: Tomonori Dobashi

Program Section

• Programmer: Junichi Takeda, Yasuhiro Takahashi, Shinya Matsunami
• Network Programmers: Akio Setsumasa, Masahiro Wakayama

Sound Section

• Sound Designed By: Wave Master
• Sound Director: Fumitaka Shibata
• Music: Tomoya Ohtani
• Sound Effects: Hideki Abe
• Mixing Engineers: Hirokazu Akashi, Yoshitada Miya, Sawako Sogabe

Puzzles Section

• User Puzzles: Chu Chu Rocket! Players
• Puzzle Editors: Tomohiko Aita, Kenichi Fujiwara, Shintaro Hata, Ryuichi Ishiguro, Takafumi Kaya, Takao Miyoshi, Kenjiro Morimoto, Shun Nakamura, Akinori Nishiyama, Yojiro Ogawa, Yasuhiro Takahashi, Masahiro Wakayama

Sega Corporation

• Language Support: Shinobu Shindo
• Package & Manual: Kaoru Ichigozaki, Makoto Nishino, Eiichi Ogawa, Luke Valentine, Toshiki Yamaguchi
• Marketing: Hideki Okamura, Seijiro Sannabe, Kenichi Sato, Kunihisa Ueno
• Web Engineers: Daisuke Mori, Takaaki Saito
• Promotion: Kenji Kato, Masatoshi Kawaguchi, Hiroto Kikuchi, Takeshi Shimizu, Mitsuru Takahashi
• Publicity: Hiromichi Hisada, Yasunobu Masahiro, Yasushi Nagumo, Tadashi Takezaki, Junichi Yamazaki
• Color Controller Made By: Toshinori Date, Kazuhiko Hamada, Takashi Koakutsu, Kenji Tosaki, Kiwamu Uemura
• Created By: Sonic Team
• Published By: Sega

Product Development

• Producer: Keith Palmer
• Lead Tester: Paulita Escalona
• Assistant Lead Testers: Mike Rhinehart & Keehwan Her
• Special Thanks: Dennis Lee, Jeff Sideno and The Sonic Team

Marketing

• Director of Product Marketing: John Golden
• Product Manager: Stacey Kerr
• Creative Services: Angela Santos & Bob Schonfisch
• Product Marketing Specialist: Dennis Lee

Manual Production

• Write/Editor/Translator: Luke Valentine
• DTP Operator: Makoto Nishino
• Supervisor: Kaoru Ichigozaki

Source:

US manual

GBA version

• Producer & Director: Yuji Naka

Plan

• Main Planner: Takafumi Kaya

Design

• Art Director: Yuji Uekawa
• Game Object Designer: Tomonori Dobashi
• Designer: Masatoshi Yasumura

Program

• Main programmer: Takahiro Hamano
• Programmer: Masahiro Wakayama
• Computer Alogorithm: Yasuhiro Takahashi

SoundWave Master Inc.

• Sound Producer: Shigeharu Isoda
• Sound Creators: Masaru Setsumaru, Hideki Abe, Tomoya Ohtani

Puzzle

• User Puzzles: Chu Chu Rocket! Players
• Normal Puzzles: Takafumi Kaya, Yojiro Ogawa, Shun Nakamura, Ryuichi Ishiguro, Kenjiro Morimoto, Kenichi Fujiwara, Tomohiko Aita, Akinori Nishiyama, Takao Miyoshi, Shintaro Hata, Yasuhiro Takahashi, Masahiro Wakayama

• Translation: Kuniyo Matsumoto
• Product Support: Takashi Iizuka, Eugene Archibald

• Package & Manual: Kaoru Ichigozaki, Eiichi Ogawa, Toshiki Yamaguchi
• Software Management: Akira Nishikawa, Hideki Yohkaichiya, Akira Terasawa
• Software Pubilshing: Masanao Maeda, Minoru Kabuta, Yoshiki Ooka, Hiroyuki Miyazaki, Seijiro Sannabe, Yasushi Yamashita
• Promotion: Takayoshi Ohuchi, Mitsuru Takahashi
• Publicity: Yasushi Nagumo
• Marketing: Tadashi Takezaki, Tomomi Kishimoto, Toshimasa Kubo
• Special Thanks: Yasuko Maruyama

Note: Skip Original Staff credits

Original Game ©Sega, 1999,2000

©Sega / Sonic Team, 2001

Source:

In-game credits

Music

Below is a listing of the songs available to played through the Music test in the Option menu.

• 01: Title Screen
• 02: Multiplayer
• 03: 30 Seconds Left! (multiplayer)
• 04: Speed up! (multiplayer)
• 05: Slow Down! (multiplayer)
• 06: Mouse Mania! (multiplayer)
• 07: Cat Mania! (multiplayer)
• 08: Winner! (multiplayer)
• 09: Challenge Mode
• 10: Single Player
• 11: Network Connecting
• 12: Puzzle Editor
• 13: Credits
• 14: Winner! (network)
• [hidden] 15: Sonic Team Jingle

Digital manuals

• 

  Virtual Console manual

Magazine articles

Main article: ChuChu Rocket!/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

File:ChuChuRocket DC JP TVAdvert 1.mp4

Dreamcast JP TV advert

File:ChuChuRocket DC JP TVAdvert 1.mp4

Print advert in GamePro (US) #139: "April 2000" (2000-0x-xx)
also published in:

• Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #130: "May 2000" (2000-04-04)
• GamePro (US) #140: "May 2000" (2000-0x-xx)

Print advert in Dreamcast Magazine (JP) #1999-35: "1999-35 (1999-11-12)" (1999-10-29)
also published in:

• Dreamcast Magazine (JP) #1999-36: "1999-36 (1999-11-19,26)" (1999-11-05)

Print advert in Dreamcast Magazine (UK) #11: "No. 11" (2000-07-13)

Print advert in Consoles + (FR) #101: "Juin 2000" (2000-0x-xx)

Artwork

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

  generic ChuChus

• 

  KapuKapu

• 
• 

  Chuih

• 

  ChuPea

• 

  ChuBei

• 

  ChuBach

Physical scans

Dreamcast version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source Arcade (UK) 80 №20, p76 Consoles + (FR) 92 №101, p100 Dreamcast Magazine (JP) 90 №1999-36, p24 Dreamcast Magazine (readers) (JP) 88 №, p33 Dreamcast Magazine (UK) 92 №4, p70/71 Edge (UK) 80 №80, p92 Famitsu (JP) 85 №570, p30

	87
Based on 7 reviews

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 576 Konzol (HU) 90 Arcade (UK) PAL 75 Consoles + (FR) PAL 92 Dreamcast Monthly (UK) NTSC-J 70 Dreamcast Monthly (UK) PAL 80 DC-UK (UK) NTSC-U 90 Dreamcast Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 90 Dreamcast Magazine (UK) NTSC-J 92 Dorimaga (JP) NTSC-J 88 Dreamplanet (ES) PAL 79 Edge (UK) 80 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 93 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 85 Fun Generation (DE) NTSC-J 100 Fun Generation (DE) PAL 89 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 78 GameZine (UK) 100 Gamers' Republic (US) NTSC-J 91 Gamers' Republic (US) NTSC-U 83 Hyper (AU) NTSC-J 87 Incite Video Gaming (US) NTSC-U 100 MAN!AC (DE) PAL 80 Mega Fun (DE) PAL 85 Mr. Dreamcast (UK) PAL 84 Neo Plus (PL) 70 Next Generation (US) NTSC-U 75 Official Dreamcast Magazine (UK) PAL 90 Official Dreamcast Magazine (US) NTSC-U 80 Sega Magazin (DE) PAL 89 Strana Igr (RU) 90

	86
Based on 30 reviews

ChuChu Rocket!

Dreamcast, US
Cover
Disc Manual Inlay

Dreamcast, EU
Cover
Disc

Dreamcast, EU (With Dreamkey 1.5)
Cover

Dreamcast, FR (With Dreamkey 1.5)
Cover

Dreamcast, JP
Cover
Disc Manual Inlay Reg Card Stickers Dream Points

Dreamcast, JP (Limited Edition)
Error creating thumbnail: convert: Insufficient memory (case 4) `/home/sonicret/domains/segaretro.org/public_html/images/2/2b/ChuchuRocket_DC_JP_LEControllerBox_Back.jpg' @ error/jpeg.c/JPEGErrorHandler/338. Error code: 1 Error creating thumbnail: convert: Insufficient memory (case 4) `/home/sonicret/domains/segaretro.org/public_html/images/6/64/ChuchuRocket_DC_JP_LEControllerBox.jpg' @ error/jpeg.c/JPEGErrorHandler/338. Error code: 1 Cover
Disc Manual Reg Card Stickers Dream Points Dreamcast Controller

Game Boy Advance version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source Consoles + (FR) 90 №119, p168 Playbox (FR) 95 №12, p71

	93
Based on 2 reviews

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 100% Consoles (FR) NTSC-J 88 Advance (UK) PAL 90 Consoles + (FR) PAL 90 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 80 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 78 GameBoy Magazyn (PL) 90 GMR (US) NTSC-U 80 Gamers' Republic (US) NTSC-U 70 MAN!AC (DE) PAL 78 Next Generation (US) NTSC-U 50 Nintendo Official Magazine (UK) PAL 89 N-Zone (DE) PAL 83 The Official Nintendo Magazine (UK) PAL 88 Playbox (FR) 95 Power Unlimited (NL) 75 SuperGamePower (BR) 85 Strana Igr (RU) 85

	82
Based on 17 reviews

ChuChu Rocket!

Game Boy Advance, US
Cover
Cart

Game Boy Advance, JP
Cover
Cart

Game Boy Advance, UK
Cover
Cart

Game Boy Advance, FR

Game Boy Advance, DE

Game Boy Advance, ES

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
✔	CRC32 8ab607c0 MD5 6957bac168ff27f70df74629751b3f5c SHA-1 34f3066bc8dbd3f046e43db01476f87e64dcc38b	4MB		Cartridge (EU)
✔	CRC32 2c8c1b5a MD5 2f661853601455283f51e54fb85dea73 SHA-1 ea7099f5e4cbeee929f43db91b0331855202bb03	4MB		Cartridge (JP)
?	CRC32 057fb1b6 MD5 76bd3ac13808b1d6abea377815b10adb SHA-1 f204105308b7758df84f1a31919204459ea6e54f	4MB		Cartridge (US)

External links

• Sega of Japan catalogue pages (Japanese): Dreamcast, Game Boy Advance
• ChuChu Rocket! on iTunes: US, UK, JP (offline)
• ChuChu Rocket! HD iPad version on iTunes: US, UK, JP
• ChuChu Rocket! on Google Play (offline)
• ChuChu Rocket! PuyoSega version on Google Play (offline)
• ChuChu Rocket! on Nintendo.co.jp