Flashback to early September, 1999. As the US and Europe gear up for the impending Dreamcast launches in their respective territories, something else was amiss back in the Land of the Rising Sun. For months prior, there had been every indication that Sonic Team was back on the move, and just days before the Dreamcast bomb was dropped on the US, the Team stoked the cannons and fired a blast upon Japan: four new ST games were under development. The titles would be unveiled one-by-one over the month of September, each in successive issues of the well-respected Famitsu Weekly. ChuChu Rocket! (henceforth referred to as "Chu˛") became the third of those titles to be revealed.

   There were no "eye-popping" graphics or "vast 3D worlds" to explore. No deep, engrossing storylines or "100+ hours of gameplay" (well...depending on how you look at it). The characters won't ever win any design awards and don't expect a game soundtrack from MMV anytime soon. Yet Chu˛ is still a revolution in more ways than one. Chu˛ marks Sonic Team's, Sega's, and indeed console gaming's first steps into the network gaming revolution. It's a brave new world, but it's nice to know that the whole thing is pre-padded with a comfy ChuChu infestation.

   Chu˛ landed in November, '99. After a disturbingly brief spurt at the top of the sales charts in Japan, the Rocket plummeted thereafter but remained solid in the number of units sold. A couple of online promotions sponsored by Famitsu kept the torch going until the game's US debut in March, 2000. Passing on the whole "rokketo wa suuugoooiii" advertising campaign, Sega of America opted to emphasize Chu˛'s online capabilities. The European release is still pending as I write this. But right off the bat, ChuChu Rocket is the first network title in history that allows players from all around the world to play together, the language barrier having been effectively crushed. Just imagine: world peace from videogames. And to think in the 80's, they laughed at us...