These mice are the cat's whiskers
ChuChu Rocket!
Sega Dreamcast Free Sonic Team/Sega ****
The team behind Sonic the Hedgehog has produced one of the most compulsive multi-player puzzle games yet to hit the net.
The basic game is very simple, and is played on a checked board. You start with one or more chuchus (cartoon space mice), and your job is to direct them to their rocket, so they can blast off for home. Unfortunately the board may also contain any number of kapukapus (space cats), walls, black holes and other hazards. By placing arrows on the board, however, you can direct all the chuchus to their rocket before the kapukapus can get to them.
In single-player mode, this usually isn't very challenging, especially given the limited number of squares where arrows can logically be placed. Anyone who managed to get through Lemmings, a vastly superior British puzzle game, will knock these off in very short order.
Where ChuChu Rocket! really comes into its own is as a Bomberman-style multiplayer game, where up to three out of four players can be played by the computer. In multi-player modes, you can not only try to rescue your own mice but steal your opponents' mice as well.
Further, you must also find time to direct cats away from your spaceship, preferably into rival spaceships - this is a key technique for reducing the leader's score. The action quickly becomes fast and furious.
The easy learning curve and challenging action should make ChuChu Rocket! a good party game, while the simplistic graphics, catchy background tune and silly scenario should mean that losing isn't taken too much to heart. And if you haven't got anyone to play, ChuChu Rocket! lets you play online. In fact, Dreamcast owners have to go online to order a copy, which will be sent, free, to those who register on Sega's Dreamarena website. ChuChu Rocket! will also be bundled with Dreamcast consoles sold after June 9. (JS)
Bland battle of the gene genies
Evolva
PC £39.99 Computer Artworks/ Virgin Interactive ***
Here's a candidate for the unfortunate-name hall of fame, right up there with Pschitt lemonade. Schoolboy sniggers aside, Evolva (hee, hee) is an action strategy title with a double-helix twist. Instead of finding better weapons and learning abilities, you evolve them, by absorbing the genes of creatures you have killed.
You can choose how your warriors evolve: more speed, or more strength in melee combat? Higher jumps, or a bit more oomph into the spike gun? This makes less difference to the gameplay than you'd think, but it is quite satisfying watching your trooper sprout a flamethrower attachment after taking out his first fire parasite.
Using a team of four "genohunters", your mission is to purge a planet of parasitic visitors. Although you can directly control only one genohunter at a time, the others will follow your example, or, if you wish, your commands.
At least, they're supposed to. They may be physically adaptable, but when it comes to smart, these GM warriors have the DNA of a headless chicken crossed with a lemon. Ergo: player-controlled warrior jumps on to a rock; two of the remaining three do likewise, and the fourth embarks on a pacifist rampage, alerting every baddie on the level. Player-controlled warrior runs round a corner into an ambush; warriors two through four decide this is a good time to start filing their nails.
The missions are varied and sometimes original - make a bomb to blow up an enemy structure, herd the local fauna into a natural "pen" and protect them from the parasitic invaders - and the levels impressively large. The downside is that it's all too easy to get lost.
Given the amount of information being processed, the graphics run very smoothly, although the sky is reminiscent of your typical British May and the colours are all a bit matt.
Matt is quite a good description of the game as a whole. A setup as alien as this needs some detailed scene-setting, which it just doesn't get. The intro is abrupt, the game literature economical, and your reward for completing a level is a page of stats followed by new orders.
This, along with the faceless hunters, makes it very hard to engage with the action in an emotional, or even intellectual way.
The only reminder of human involvement in the game is the kicking soundtrack, which is the main reason why Evolva somehow manages to be enjoyable. (AB)
Hard road for virtual rally drivers
Colin McRae Rally 2
Sony PlayStation £29.99 Codemasters ****
If you thought passing your driving test was a challenge, just wait till you get a load of this. Colin McRae Rally 2 - the sequel to the well received original - is one of the toughest console driving experiences known to man.
Not content with offering some treacherous and devious courses, the game even requires you to occasionally take your finger off the accelerator.
Whilst this heresy would be unforgivable to Ridge Racer fans it does mean the game is a rewarding experience.
As before, you get to race around the top global rally spots, though this time the graphics are even better.
A particular highlight is the realistically depicted damage inflicted on your car.
Steer too close to a tree or verge and it's likely that yourbumper and body will start messy divorce proceedings.
But it's not just crumbling bodywork, or the weather based engine tinkering, that makes Colin McRae's such an arduous undertaking.
No, you can blame the handling for that. As brutally realistic as is possible on the PlayStation, the way the cars steer and grip the road is a pleasure when mastered but a pig to learn.
Fortunately those drivers with less patience, or who are simply looking for a quick thrill, can indulge in the arcade mode, complete with looping, and more forgiving, tracks. But really, if you are on the hunt for a short-term speed session then you're looking at the wrong game.
However, if steep learning curves, vocal co-drivers and souped-up road cars are your thing then you can finally stop watching Grandstand and get behind the wheel yourself.
Authentic, yet ludicrously enjoyable, Colin McRae 2 is the thinking man's driving game. (GH)
