Video - Chu Chu Rocket! (Dreamcast)

Chu Chu Rocket is a perfect example of what made Sega and Dreamcast so special. No one else in the games industry, save Will Wright and Shigeru Miyamoto, carried such a passion for the quirky, the strange, and the original. Sega went out of their way to come up with novel, fun little games, and the Dreamcast quickly piled up a collection of modern classics that have yet to be matched.

It is sad that despite the growth of videogames, and the success of Sony and Microsoft, nearly every game on the shelf today follows the same, predictable formulas. I honestly can't name five titles on PS3 or 360 that reach out and grab me. It's all the same 3D adventure, first-person shooter, racing, or sports. And very often, we're getting sequel after formulaic sequel. Nintendo really are the only ones trying to be different with the Wii. Bless their hearts.

Anyway, here is Sonic Team's frantic multiplayer classic, Chu Chu Rocket. The idea of the game is to guide streaming numbers of mice into rockets, by placing arrow icons around various mazes. It's a simple concept, but the pacing is so frenetic, so reckless, so damned crazy. It's funny as hell. You'll laugh yourself silly as you learn how to screw over your friends at the drop of a hat. You won't remember any of it; the whole trip is lost in a mad blur. But you'll have the time of your life. This is one of the great multiplayer video games.