It's history in the making – Sega makes a game for a Nintendo system. The company's not hiding it anymore…we're going to see Sega properties on the Game Boy Advance from here on out. And though Chu Chu Rocket may not be the company's true flagship product, it's an amazing design that makes for an excellent portable handheld title. And it's only the beginning from the company.

Chu Chu Rocket for the Game Boy Advance is a conversion from the Dreamcast puzzle game of the same name. The "simple" task at hand is to get a herd of mice through a maze into the properly colored rocket -- the only thing you can do is drop arrow tiles in their path to change their direction. The title emphasizes maniacal action over anything else, because there are hundreds of mice to corral, all moving at an insane rate across the portable screen. What's more, in some levels you have to deal with a bunch mouse-eating orange cats that roam the playfield, making a snack out of any of the critters that get in their way.

There are several ways to play the game – the design has a ton of variety even though all the levels are based on the general "get mice to rocket" idea. It's hard to say which is the main game option, as all of Chu Chu's game modes are all very well done. Some people might prefer the more thought intensive puzzle mode where you simply plop down specific arrows and see if the mice will follow the path to the rockets. Others may prefer the outrageous battle mode where it's every person for himself against three other opponents trying to snag as many mice in the set amount of time. Or, how about the Challenge mode where you have to meet a certain quota per each level? You can even design your own levels or draw up animated versions of the mice to use in the game – it's extremely thorough.

The Dreamcast version utilized a basic 3D engine for its game design – the mice, cats, rockets were all polygonal objects, so the camera could swoop in and out wherever necessary. It was mostly for eye-candy, though, as the gameplay didn't actually need the 3D objects for the level design. The game translates perfectly as a strictly overhead 2D game, especially on the Game Boy Advance. It really shows off the system's sprite-handling capabilities, as Chu Chu Rocket never slows down or flickers, even with the dozens of mice wandering aimlessly on-screen. This game just couldn't have been done on the Game Boy Color because of that system's sprite limitations -- ChuChu Rocket may be simple in design, but graphically it can get very intense. The controls have changed slightly for use on the Game Boy Advance compared to the Dreamcast edition – but you can tweak it to how you want it to play. If you're learned on the console version, it's only a five second adjustment to relearn the configuration.

The game shines all over the place, and the designers added one more feature that makes it a must-have – downloadable link for four players. You only need one cartridge to play the game in multiplayer mode. And the game never misses a beat – if you've ever played Chu Chu Rocket with four players on the Dreamcast, you'll realize just how fun and brutal the challenge can get. It's the same here – though the screen is smaller, the action is just as awesome on the handheld. The GBA version also has a few power-up mania modes that aren't found in the Dreamcast version. You can even transfer all the levels you've created on your cartridge to other players who also have a Chu Chu Rocket cart.

If Chu Chu Rocket is this complete on the Game Boy Advance, I honestly can't wait to see what else Sonic Team has up its sleeves for the handheld. If you've already imported a system, you really should pick up a copy of this game. The Japanese version is completely international – at the start of the game you can select Japanese, English, German, French, or Spanish.

-IGN.com