awoolcott's Full Review: Space Chanel 5 for Dreamcast
One of the many quirks of Sega (aside from their odd business practices) is their penchant for creating some unusual games. The Sega Dreamcast without question houses some of the oddest projects the company has ever done - while most never came to our shores (stuff like Segagaga especially), a few have slipped through the cracks, such as Jet Set Radio, The Typing of the Dead (no kidding, this game really exists), and this particular game, Space Channel 5. While the genre isn't anything new, that being rhythm action games (think Parappa or Dance Dance Revolution), SC5 is still a plain old weird game - weirder than your cousin Eddie who has more fingers than teeth, even. Naturally, the game isn't for everyone (more like isn't for anyone, unless you love weird games), but anyone who actually decides to give it a shot will find a unique, challenging, and amusing game that is extremely short once you actually master the challenge (if you can, to be more specific), but well worth the what, $5 bucks the game costs today? If anything Space Channel 5 is noteworthy for the coolest in-house character since that Sonic fellow.
Space Channel 5 takes place about 400 years from now. A weird alien race called the Morolians (who look like midget Teletubbies, actually) is using some form of mind control to "attack" humans by forcing them to dance. Yes, dance. Seriously, I'm not making this up. Space Channel 5 enlists their newest reporter, Ulala (oooh la la, yes indeedaroonie) to the scene, and its her job to outdance the aliens and end the infiltration of the humans. Little did anyone know, the best way to achieve peace is to have a dance competition. Through the game's 4 stages, Ulala rescues many humans and even gains allies with other dancing reporters (apparently dancing is a required skill in the 25th century news market) in an attempt to clear the area of Morolians.
Since the game involves lots and lots of dancing (with some occasional shooting that's mixed in with the dancing), you'd figure that following a beat and lookin' good will net you victories against the aliens. And you'd be right, so do you prefer Chips Ahoy or Oreo? Anyway, the gameplay is purely of the Simon Says breed - the Morolians will both aurally and visually clue you to the directions to the dance moves (up, down, left or right), and you have to mimic them by using the control pad, following the music beat and stay in rhythm. The better you do, the harder it gets and the faster you have to memorize and execute the commands to free humans or eliminate aliens. If you fail, your station ratings will go to 0% (as in, nobody's watching but Ulala's mother), and her Swingin' News Report shall be canceled.
Space Channel 5 is a highly deceptive game - when you imagine the main gameplay gist, it doesn't sound too difficult; until you actually put your hands on a DC controller and give it a shot. Keeping the rhythm is very, very tough, because not only do you need to keep up with the beat of the song playing, but also follow the clues given by the aliens. It's been said for 3 years since the game first hit, that all Sega should have done was put in the directions ahead of time (think of how Nintendo has managed the Ocarina/Wind Waker in the last couple Zelda games), because it would let you concentrate on following the beat instead of what's happening with the aliens. Of course, anyone who actually has some rhythm will be much better off, but for those who aren't brimming with that talent, SC5 carries a tough, tough learning curve.
Unfortunately, this learning curve is slightly hampered by a serious lag problem with the controller. I don't know how many times I just know that I did everything right and kept in rhythm only for the controller to not want to recognize and screw up the timing. And since most of the commands are semi-random depending on your own performance, it's not easy to memorize one dance-off to another so this can be combated. Having perfect timing is the only way to beat this problem, and it's still quite annoying.
This steep learning curve is probably the reason why the game is only 4 levels long - once you do master the levels you can beat the game within an hour or less, but it won't happen overnight unless you're a rhythm master. Of course, the entire (left, right, left right left shoot shoot) gameplay mechanic would wear thin very quickly if there was 20 levels of it, so it does make sense. Given how frustrating the game can get at the outset (as the margin for error is razor-thin), most will just want to beat it and be done with it anyway.
Still, it's well worth a try just to see the game in action and view all the cool happenings - Ulala is easily one of Sega's coolest characters - a shame that all the SC5 marketing a few years back did nothing to help sell the quirky title to the masses. Ulala and the style that oozes through the game may be a bit weird, but it's also amusing and strange all at once (especially when you get to save Space Michael, who is of course the biggest alien of all, Michael Jackson...ya know though, I'm ticked that they teased Ulala and MJ doing the "Beat It" routine from the video, as it would have looked sweet in this game. MJ is still a weirdo though). It's Sega at their quirky best.
The style of SC5 is best displayed with the great visual presentation. While the game is a tad dated, the dance animations from Ulala and the others are excellently done and look as cool as you'd think. The futuristic world surrounding the game is also snazzy and only goes to add to the hip quotient that SC5 is gunning for (making a hip game for the nerdiest hobby around - dunno if that's a good call). What's interesting is how Sega managed to mix in 1960's retro with the future to create a unique look that is extremely stylish and futuristic all the same.
Also helping Space Channel 5 along is the great audio. While the audio bits from the Morolians is a tad bothersome and muffled making it hard to comprehend what they're doing without visual clues, the brilliant 60's style soundtrack more than fits the game, giving Ulala and company a load of sharp tunes to dance to - if you've seen those grooooooovy dancing/music shows of the 1960's era, you know what to expect. The voice acting of humans is actually above par, as Ulala is done brilliantly by Apollo Smile (yeah, I don't know her either), and her compatriots are decent. Given the campy style SC5 was built around, they fit in quite well. This is a dancing game built around saving the world, after all. And yes, Space Michael does do his own lines, though he only has a few ("thank you", "come back here little guy, I don't bite unless you ask" , and "I'm still better looking than LaToya" are the only 3 I can remember).
The Real Bottom Line
By all means, Space Channel 5 is a weird game that will appeal to a select audience, and probably disturb the others (making it a 99% to 1% variance). Quirky, hip, odd, irreverent are probably the best ways to describe it. Frustrating as well - which actually is the only way to say it that doesn't involve beating the curse filter. As with most DC games it's extremely cheap (I got it new for $5 myself), so even if you end up not liking it, it's not a $50 investment down the drain. If anything, it's worth the price of admission just to watch Ulala dance, and wonder how in the hell this game failed to make a star out of the character.
Up for sale is a copy of an Original SPACE CHANNEL 5 for DREAMCAST. It is in BRAND NEW FACTORY SEALED condition. I accept PAYPAL ONLY!! ALL SALES ARE ...More at eBay
If you thought PARAPPA THE RAPPER was fun, wait until you get a load of SPACE CHANNEL 5 and its star, Ulala. As the star fashion reporter for Channel ...More at GameQuest Direct. com
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