Space Channel 5: Part 2 - Dreamcast/PS2 - 2002

During the throws of the lovely Covid lockdown (I don't mean that in a nasty way; I actually didn't mind being stuck inside), I watched lots of things, listened to a lot of new music, and played lots of games for a lot of time. Something I picked up from the Steam store was the SEGA Dreamcast Collection. I had heard plenty of opinions about the Dreamcast before, so I figured that this would be a great opportunity to see what all of the hubbub was about. Browsing through the titles available to me, A girl with a retro-futuristic outfit and hot pink hair caught my eye. I’m always down to play a game with a female protagonist (girlpower, and all that), so I booted the game up. Immediately, the charm and spunk this game had to offer was on full display, straight from the title menu; though I hadn’t heard of Ulala in the past, I concluded pretty quickly that this was going to be a charmingly unique experience.

Normally I would simply talk about the aspects of the game I truly enjoy, but seeing as how this game is only a couple of hours long, we can take the journey together, and I’ll add in my opinions and blurbs as we go along.

Report 1

Ulala struts onto the scene with style reporting on the incipient chaos and immediately captures our attention with her energy and poise. After a brief synopsis of the situation, she encounters the commander of the commotion, Shadow. He commands her to follow him “with no mistakes.” This introduces us to the basic mechanics of the game. Space Channel 5 plays as a sort of “call-and-response” rhythm game. We start off first with a dance section using the 4 directional inputs: “up”, “down”, “left”, and “right.” After successfully showing our stuff, it then switches up next with the shooting section, adding in an additional input: “Chu," activated with the A button. This tells Ulala to shoot a Chu Beam from her Tension Blasters, dispatching enemies with ease.

Finally, we move on to the third type of gameplay, rescue sections. This involves the use of the final input: “Hey,” activated with the B button to shoot a Hey Beam to rescue hostages who have been taken over by the groove. Though this input was present in the first game, Part 2 makes a clearer distinction between the two inputs by using this new word, as opposed to “Chu” for both the Chu Beam and the Hey Beam, which is helpful when you may not have paid close attention to the visuals. These six inputs are built upon throughout the game with a variety of twists and tricks that keep things interesting and engaging.

We end Report 1 with the first boss, a trio of Rhythm Rogue robots: Kin, Kon, and Kan. We also receive a brief taunt from Shadow before catching a glimpse of the true leader of the Rhythm Rogues. This part of the report converts our ratings into stars, which act as the hearts for these sections. The sections before this were more adaptive with mistakes, potentially repeating or using alternate patterns. But since bosses and other similar sections like these are choreographed, the stars indicate that the choreography will continue on, whether or not you perform it correctly. Stars are a little more risky since losing one will have a much larger impact on your final View Rating. But even after a little robotic fake-out, we defeat the trio and conclude our report.

Report 2

During the MoroNews intermission, we learn that the Rhythm Rogues have captured Space President Peace! Due to the kidnapping, we start with a special introduction to Report 2 at the Space Park, canceling the Tasty Cookin’ rerun for the day. We run into Shadow again and he starts us off with a slower shooting section before ramping up the speed and throwing some school-age hostages into the mix. Once we reach the apex, we dance with Shadow once again to save the schoolteacher. Our supervisor-in-the-sky, Fuze, gives us some praise before cutting to commercial.

Afterwards, we reach “Fountain Squaaare!” But not long after our arrival, another voice enters the fray accompanied by a sick guitar riff. Our interloper reveals herself to be a rival reporter, Pudding, from Channel 42 recommending that we get our news coverage from their outlet instead. She challenges us to a “battle of the bands,” with Fuze reminding us that we have a guitar too.

We show her our mad skillz and she admits defeat with an iconic “I quit!”. We move along through the square to find that the Song Bird Mistress is in trouble. Ulala jumps back into the action to rescue her and her avian flock. As you successfully complete each section, the timbre of the song builds up and up, crescendoing with her hitting a Mariah Carey note at the end, making this my favorite section in this report.

We strike a pose and transition to the boss of this report. We find President Peace held hostage by a singing plant mecha, Pon Piriri. We need to counter incoming projectiles as we make our way towards Peace, but soon Ulala finds herself in a somewhat compromising situation. But with some mad technical dodging, she breaks free and Pon Piriri drops down to the floor “like a turd,” according to Fuze (or perhaps Noize; I couldn’t really tell).

One notable aspect of this part of the fight is the switch to a 3-beat waltz, which is a nice touch; it keeps you on your toes while not being too demanding to adjust to. We finish him off and Pon Piriri returns to its benevolent self, also reuniting with the President. Although, this reunion is short-lived, as Shadow appears and takes off with President Peace again, leading us to Report 3.

Report 3

The leader of the Rhythm Rogues hijacks Moro News and states his ransom for the President and the kidnapped hostages. In pursuit of President Peace and the hostages, we hurry over to the location he states, Point XX. Pudding blazes past us in an attempt to get to the scoop first, meanwhile we are left to deal with the authorities whose attention we inadvertently grabbed while headed straight toward an important point of interest for a wanted space criminal. We spend this first section countering attacks from the authorities’ ship; for a short time, we also fly into a cloud, hindering our vision for a cycle, making you rely on your sense of hearing and timing.

After proving too stubborn for the police, we then meet them face to face on the top of their cruiser. The leader introduces us to her as Pine, with a nice little ditty and dance. She, along with Sexy 1 and Sexy 2 (surprisingly iconic names) is associated with the Eastern Venus Space Police. They challenge Ulala to a drum battle and Noize, another one of our coworkers in the background, comes up front and backs us up.

This section plays just like the previous guitar duel; Ulala must face Pine with her Space Channel 5 branded drum set with the controls simplified to the “down,” “chu,” and “hey” commands. You can simply follow those mentioned instructions, but if you suffer from an inability to control your intrusive thoughts, you can rest easy knowing that “up,” “left,” and “right” commands all count the same as “down.” In fact, mixing up the directional commands makes Ulala perform different poses; this makes repeat playthroughs more enjoyable with an opportunity for some freestyle choreography.

Report 4

Unfortunately for us, we learn that our scoop was a hoax, distracting us from The Rhythm Rogues’ true intention of stealing the main Space Channel 5 broadcast satellite dish. We bolt back to HQ, mowing down some robot baddies along the way. Rescuing some fellow coworkers along the way, Ulala approaches the building, making a stellar landing pose.

Entering HQ, we see it overrun with the Rhythm Rogues’ robotic cronies. The game adds in a little added challenge by requiring you to complete each section correctly to successfully navigate the building. Normally, if you mess up, you simply move on to the next beat and get scolded. But here, you actually end up taking multiple detours for your poor performance, in addition to Fuze’s negative feedback.

We dash through the crazed corridors and encounter our company cheerleaders in desperate need of help. I love that 500 years in the future corporate cheerleaders are a well-respected and stable occupation for people. I guess this is a good time to mention the secret commands. These are sprinkled throughout each level and add a little extra incentive for replaying through the game. These count towards your final score for the report, so If you suffer from the “completionist” condition, you may not have a smooth time, considering the vague hints and lack of any consistent patterns. Though this scene has a ridiculous amount of commands in it, the developers threw us a bone by making them follow the beat.

Ulala narrowly makes it into Space Michael’s office, but soon realizes it is a trap set up by Shadow. And yes, Space Michael is based on the icon and legend, Michael Jackson. If you played the original game, his presence should be no surprise. In Part 2, he is the current Chief of Space Channel 5 and we need to rescue him from the clutches of Shadow. This entire scene is a fun callback to the original game: we descend a strobing elevator down to the core of the station which provides quite a visual contrast, accompanied by former Evila bots, now refurbished into security bots. They back us up as we face Shadow in a head-to-head dance battle. The pattern slowly builds up in a similar manner to a pattern from the first game. This cleverly foreshadows the true identity of our rival, but if you lack background knowledge of the original, we get a more distinct clue after beating him.

With our boss now saved, we arrive at the heart of the station, finally learning the true villain’s identity: Purge. He taunts us on his hovercraft thingy and starts another shooting section. These scenes make strong use of the environment to add to the experience. By himself, Purge shouts commands that align to the path he takes on his hovercraft. This is coupled with the lights on the wall changing color to indicate the path he has taken, giving us an additional visual stimulus that serves both an aesthetic and functional purpose.

He then whips out his robotic ace, the “Rhythm Rogues Mecha Peace Carrier,” which carries President Peace inside. We swap back and forth for a bit before Purge decides to get a little more naughty, forcing us to “play in reverse.” This twists things up a bit where you have to input the opposite of the command you hear. Thankfully, “chu” remains the same, but I’ll admit that it took quite a few tries to get the inputs correct in my head. Eventually, Purge challenges Ulala and Space Michael to a song battle, which plays identically to the instrument battles. Again, the four directional inputs are fun to fiddle around with, particularly with Space Michael belting out his “bang’s” and “hoo’s” to the beat.

Just as soon as we have Purge cornered and blast him with the groovy dance energy we’ve accumulated, the “Rhythm Rogues Mecha Peace Carrier” (I’m still stunned by that name) somehow reflects our beam back at us. Fuze heroically takes the hit for us and as a result, the station begins to collapse. Space Michael orders everyone to evacuate and Ulala and Fuze make a hasty retreat. Still stunned by the sudden loss of Fuze, Noize encourages Ulala to generate “dance and jiggy power” as it is the only way for them to escape. Another neat touch is the gradual change in Ulala’s voice as she tries to get back into the groove. She gradually recovers her spirit and after shooting through some very intimidating (and annoying) robots, Ulala and Noize zoom out into open space before the station explodes.

Report 5

Ulala is distraught by the sudden loss of Fuze, but then picks up an emergency broadcast from Pine asking for help. Along with Space Michael, they make their way to the Mystery Zone where Purge supposedly waits with President Peace. Pudding and Hoorg (the Morolian reporting from Moro-News 5) also pick up on the broadcast and catch up with us. They sneak along in the dark, Ulala dressed in a cunty cropped jacket, striped-bar pants and shades resembling a cat-eye frame shape; easily my favorite outfit of hers in the game. This section throws us a curveball by omitting the audio commands, instead having you rely on the robots poses to indicate which direction to input before the final “chu.” By this point in the game, it's not too much of a hindrance to be frustrating; plus the song here is definitely a banger.

Ulala and Co. then fall through a trap door into a room with “loads and loads and loads of robots!” This is another neat setpiece. Surrounded, Ulala and her friends take on a circular formation and work together to dispatch the robots from each direction. Eventually, they escape and catch up to Shadow who challenges them to a battle of the bands. Team Ulala pull out all the stops: Pudding and Pine on guitar and drums respectively, Space Michael on vocals, Hoorg busting out dance moves, and Ulala on a circular keyboard all work together to meet his challenge. At this point in our journey, we’ve already interacted with these characters in one way or another, so it’s a satisfying callback to see them all working together.

After showing Shadow that we mean business, we catch another glimpse of his true identity, prompting Ulala to play a little game of “spot the difference.” Shadow splits into multiple clones and it’s up to us to shoot the real one with our “hey” beam, instead of the “chu” beam. The vocal commands will all say “chu,” so we must rely on either visual cues or tone shifts in his voice, another neat little twist on the standard formula. Finally, we rescue Shadow and reveal that he is actually Jaguar, the independent reporter who saved Ulala’s life from the first game. Free from Purge’s mind control, he joins the gang, sharing Purge’s true intentions of stealing all of the major broadcast satellites to force the entire galaxy to his own Purge TV Show. Hot on his trail, they pursue Purge to put an end to his foolishness.

Report 6

We arrive on the set of the Purge TV Show, where the titular host delights us with an introductory song and dance to his perceived greatness. Ulala and friends begin to march towards him, and in an effort to not play into his game, speak only with terse responses. Eventually, Ulala meets Purge and he pulls Ulala up into the air where they begin their duel. She holds her own, but Purge then pulls out President Peace and uses his energy to form Dance Dimension X, where the cards are in his favor. Purge uses this dirty little trick to overpower Ulala. But when all seems lost for our heroine, she begins to hear the voices of Fuze and all of her friends cheer her on to get back up and fight.

Ulala then usurps control of Dance Dimension X; this frees President Peace and surrounds Ulala with all of the people who she’s helped along the way. They all dance and sing together to defeat Purge, showing him the “power of love.” Once they have him weakened, they finish him with the help of Fuze (who makes a heroic comeback) and the power of the 86,429 fans in the audience to blast Purge into the outer reaches of space, verbally dragging him along the way. With Purge successfully defeated, everyone joyously celebrates with a parade marching to the end of the galaxy.

Space Channel 5 is a game that is like no other. Like many other Dreamcast titles, it had a ton of heart and soul poured into it, and shows with an experience that still stands out from the crowd, 20-something years later. Though it deserved more mainstream success than it received, I’m still glad that I found it and that there are still people out there that recognize Ulala for the absolute queen that she is. This game is highly replayable, with an extra mode that remixes the original campaign, collectable costumes, and a challenge mode, there is always a reason to come back to this gem every now and again. Unfortunately, SEGA delisted the Dreamcast collection a couple years back, but no matter which way you play it (wink wink), know you’ll always be in for a funky beat and a good time, so make sure to “stay tuned!”