Space Channel 5 for Dreamcast Review

StarDate, The 25th Century—Story

You play Ulala, a young reporter for, you guessed it, Space Channel 5. An alien race called the Morolians have invaded Earth and are shooting people with a mysterious ray gun. The ray gun forces people to dance uncontrollably to the alien beats. The first station to get the scoop is, you guessed it again, Space Channel 5. Ulala is sent to the spot of the first invasion where the dancing begins. And it’s at that point everyone realizes that Ulala is humanity’s only hope to save the world. Wow, what a weight to have.

Be A Dancing Fool—Gameplay

There’s not much to know. As you encounter the Morolians, you will have to copy their dance moves in rhythm to the music. You’ll use the buttons and digital pad to do that. The Morolians will give you a sequence to copy, like “Up, Down, Left, Right, Shoot, Shoot, Shoot”. Then, the dance icon will shift over to you and you have to remember the sequence and perform it. You’ll dance to funk, 60’s pop, hip-hip and other types of danceable songs. If you’re successful, it’s the aliens turn again, and so on and so on until you beat them and your View Rating goes up (Ulala will start to glow once you hit 95%). After you reach the end of a level, you’ll encounter a Boss alien and do that same thing with them. If you fail a sequence, a Heart is taken away. You’re given so many hearts per level, so remember back to your Simon playing days.

On your quest to save the world, you will also encounter arch-enemy reporters. Once such reporters is Pudding, a former teen pop star for a rival channel. When you meet these other reporters you have to fight them in order to continue. Okay, you don’t really have to fight them, you have to have a Dance-off. Same thing, right?

Cute and Cuddly—Graphics

I admit Ulala is cute. The backgrounds are cute. Even the aliens are cute. The graphics in Space Channel 5 can best be described as a cross between cell-shaded and cartoon styles. The manual describes the graphics as a “colorful retro-futuristic” style. They are neat, whatever the style.

The character dancing is smooth, as the motion capture seems perfect. There is a slight glitch when the computer cuts to a different camera angle and has to retrack the rhythm of the characters to the music. But it’s slight and doesn’t distract you.

Super Cool Moments

One of the best moments in Space Channel 5 is when you start saving humans. As you progress through the level to your next encounter, the humans will follow you and mimic your dance moves. The most I ever had was 20 and it was a awesome sight walking through a SpacePort with all these people following me, like in an opening sequence of an Austin Powers movie.

The second moment, which is actually funnier than cool, is when you have a chance to save Michael Jackson. He lent his voice and likeness to the game and it was interesting to see him move and groove in a video game. My decision was whether to save him or not.

Yes, I did (I say defeatedly).

Thompson’s Two Cents

Space Channel 5 is simply a fun game to play. Unique gameplay and bright, cool graphics and a cutie named Ulala make this game a must have (or a must find) for the Dreamcast. If you can’t find it for the Dreamcast, then you must find it for the PS2—which has a few extras as a port.