It seems fitting that Sega chose today, the 11^th anniversary of the North American launch of the Dreamcast, to announce that one of that systems most popular and beloved titles ChuChu Rocket would be coming to the iPhone and iPad. I was an avid Dreamcast gamer back during its heyday, but never actually got into playing ChuChu Rocket. After spending time playing the title today at Segas iPhone Games Day, I realize what I was missing out on.

ChuChu Rocket is a colorful J-style puzzle game where you must get a group of cats safely into their rocket ships while avoiding cats. The mice will brainlessly move forward on their own, and make a right turn when running into walls or barriers. You can place various up, down, left, and right arrows around the playfield in order to direct the mice towards the safety of their rockets. Cats behave similarly in how they march around the board, and if you happen to misdirect your mice into any of the cats youll fail the level. There are limited numbers of arrows per level to direct your mice with, meaning youll have to think ahead to find the best placement of each one to assure you get your mice to safety.

Thats the basic gist of ChuChu Rocket anyway, but there can be variations of this due to the different modes of play. The Puzzle Mode is the main part of the game, and offers 100 levels of trying to get your mice safely to their rockets. This mode isnt timed, and allows you to think through how to complete the level at your leisure. Then there is a Challenge Mode with 25 levels that each have a specific goal, like directing the mice into the cats rather than the rockets. This mode is timed, and youll need to get a certain amount of the mice to their goal before time runs out.

Finally theres Multiplayer Mode, which I think has the possibility to really shine on the iPhone. ChuChu Rocket was the first online capable game for the Dreamcast, back before it was a common feature in video games. Multiplayer is 1-4 players, and you can either join up in teams of two or play free for all style. The goal here is to get as many mice to your own rocket as possible, while using arrows to direct cats into players rockets in order to prevent them from gaining any mice. This mode can be played over WiFi, 3G, or Bluetooth, and if you cant find any friends to play with you can add bots to the game and play against the AI. There are 25 levels to battle on, and the game will be the first from Sega to utilize Apples new Game Center social network.

ChuChu Rocket was a total blast when I had a chance to play it today, and it makes me sad that I never tried out this title almost a decade ago. It seems like a perfect fit for the iPhone, with all of the original levels reworked to be touch screen friendly. Gamers have been begging Sega to bring ChuChu Rocket out on a current platform for years, and finally they will get their wish on the iPhone and iPad. Both versions will be exactly the same except for the iPad version which will contain a same-device 4 player multiplayer mode. Expect to see ChuChu Rocket sometime in late October.

One of the more interesting titles I got to see a demonstration of at Segas iPhone Games Day today was Kingdom Conquest. The game is attempting to blend aspects of MMOs, real-time strategies, card battling, and dungeon crawlers all in one combined online experience. It may sound like a tall order, but it appears that Sega is actually on their way to pulling off this unique idea.

The RTS part of the game has you building up a city by placing buildings and using resources much like you would set up a base camp in typical RTS fashion. Harnessing resources like stone, iron, and wood allow you to build up different structures with different purposes. Youll also need to amass an army to capture territories of opponents. The different types of units you can use in your army are portrayed in a card-battling style similar to games like Magic the Gathering. Each card has its own attributes and special abilities, and there will be ways to earn unique cards to add to your collection. Winning in battle will depend on the effectiveness of the cards that comprise your army.

The dungeon crawling comes in to play when you try to take control of special towers around the map. Once you attempt completing a tower, the game switches into a 3^rd person hack n slash game controlled with an analog stick and buttons where you must complete 5 levels of a dungeon floor filled with enemies and a huge final boss. Beating a tower can net you special items and resources for use in your city, as well as new monster cards and experience points. There will be 3 types of characters to play as in this part of the game a barbarian, a swordsman, and a cleric. These characters can be outfitted with various weapons and equipment, and can be leveled up as you progress in the game.

Finally, the MMO portion comes into play with the online components of the game. Kingdom Conquest requires an EDGE, 3G, or WiFi internet connection to play. You can view other players cities and face off against them in an effort to take over their territory. The online progress is persistent, and you can join with other players and form alliances as you play through a season in the game. You can join into online auctions with other players to trade and buy items, as well as send messages and check various online statistics and rankings. Additionally, the dungeon crawling portion of the game can be played with up to 4 other players cooperatively, similar to raiding in other MMO games.

If this all sounds complicated, a "messenger" character in the game will give you various quests to complete that help you learn the different facets of playing before engaging in online battle. Kingdom Conquest will be a freemium title, which will be free to play but contain a shop full of various in-app purchases. These purchases can do things like increase your production, attack, or defense, as well as other offensive boosts. It remains to be seen how this will affect the balance of the game, and if spending more money will allow you to conquer players unfairly over those that choose not to spend anything. At any rate, the game looks great so far, and youll be able to try out Kingdom Conquest for yourself sometime late this fall.