Hello everyone! It’s time for another journal page! It baffles me how it’s still so warm in Italy, so warm that you can literally walk around with flip-flops. Too bad university doesn’t allow you to wear them! I’m still working on some nice October posts, so don’t worry, they’re coming! ✨
As you know, I played Space Channel 5 (Dreamcast version) back in May, and I really loved it! I’ve recently finished the sequel, Space Channel 5 Part 2 (Steam version), and I’d like to talk about this one as well; however, due to the similarities to the original, I felt that writing a full review of it would just repeat too many points from the first one, so instead we’ll be discussing it in a Journal Entry! 🥳
| Space Channel 5 Part 2 |
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Space Channel 5 Part 2 is a Rhythm Game, as well as the sequel to Space Channel 5, originally released by Sega back in 2002 for Sega Dreamcast, but only in Japan. The rest of us worldwide had to wait until 2003, but even then we actually got a different version, as we instead got it on the PlayStation 2 rather than the Dreamcast. They also released a version that contained both the first and the second game all in one package. Additionally, the game is also available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. I specifically played the Steam version, so I’ll be talking about that one.
Editors Note: Did you know that the PS2 version never actually came out in the UK or Ireland? Now Blisscast can’t blame me for never having even heard of this game until she started talking about it. 🤣
You once again play as Ulala, a reporter for a retro-futuristic space news channel, Space Channel 5, who has to put to a stop to an evil group called the Rhythm Rogues, whose aim is “forcing humans… To dance!”, which is a direct quote from Ulala in the first stage, Report 1, from the original game.
Just like in its predecessor, Ulala will have to copy her opponent’s dance moves, following the same rhythm and movements. These movements are: up, left, right, down, Chu, and Hey. The first four movements use the dpad, while, when played on an Xbox controller, Chu uses A, and Hey uses B. Hey wasn’t in the original Space Channel 5, and as such is new to this game, although in its predecessor B was used as an alternative to Chu, which was used when either:
- You were playing against an enemy
- Or you were trying to save brainwashed humans
In this sequel, you can also charge moves by holding down either A or B, and in some parts instead of dancing you’ll play instruments, which use the directional buttons.
During their turn, the opponent will perform a series of movements, then, during the player’s turn, you will have to replicate those same inputs with usually little-to-no advice. In order to succeed in this game, the player will have to make as few mistakes as possible, as well as reach the ending of each of the 6 “Reports” (levels) available. If the player loses, they can choose to restart from the beginning of the Report or from a checkpoint, if they have reached one. Checkpoints are a new addition to this game, as in the first one you’d have to restart the Report from scratch if you were to fail. Now you do see why I sometimes used save states in the first game, didn’t you?
And let me tell you, this game can be harsh; more often than not, even half a second of delay in inputs will be marked as a fail. However, I’ve noted that this sequel is slightly more forgiving than the first one, allowing some additional room for the inputs, although there still isn’t much, so it’s not as though it’s suddenly become easy.
Even if there weren’t quite enough Morolians for my liking this time (the cute aliens from the first game that say Chu!), I can say that I enjoyed the sequel far more than the original. Yes, not having to restart from the beginning of the Report, as well as not having to use save states did make it more fun, but that’s not the real reason I loved it so much. As I briefly mentioned above, there are many moments in the various reports that have you play instruments, as well as have you dance along with the singing, which made the levels more varied than in the original. While the first game is quite iconic in its own way, it’s also true that the second game takes this to the extreme, making every level immensely entertaining.
Report 2 is an amazing example of this, as it really resembles a musical. During the boss fight, Ulala and her crew dance gracefully to some classical music in a tropical cave with some exotic flowers, with a particularly giant one being the boss for the level. In various occasions, the boss and his cohorts will sing, prompting the main cast from doing so as well. This gets repeated enough that it feels like you’re watching a play at the theater, and it’s really entertaining to see. Because of this, Report 2 is definitely my favorite. Another example of nice additions to this game is in Report 4, where at some point Ulala, along with Space Michael and the rest of her crew, challenge a particular enemy, and Space Michael mimics the boss’s humming with his iconic acute screams, and dances like he usually did in his real-life songs. Finally, you have the game’s final level, which instead acts as a huge reference to the previous game, and to be honest, it felt immensely satisfying to complete, concluding this new adventure by returning you back to the roots of the franchise.
Luckily I didn’t have much trouble completing this game, be it because of my experience playing the first, or because it’s slightly easier and definitely more forgiving, but either way, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t encounter any problems during my playthrough. Reports 2 and 4, in particular, were quite nasty to complete, for some reason.
Editors Note: Considering you listed both of them as your favourites, are you sure that the trouble didn’t stem from you paying too much attention to what was happening on screen, rather than the button prompts?
It’s actually because they’re not only arguably the best levels, but also because having to replay them many times meant that I had more time to see what was going on. Even so, I managed to eventually complete them, so it wasn’t a huge issue. I also gave a few of the Secret Reports a try, which are basically more difficult versions of the main story ones, although often featuring new characters. Those had a similar difficulty to the first game, with the timing being less forgiving, but thankfully still giving the player checkpoints. Luckily, I didn’t have too much difficulty with them either.
But where the true difficulty lies in this game is actually in the Ulala’s Dance mode; it consists of 100 rounds of dancing, and by making your way through each of them, you will unlock costumes for Ulala to wear. Costumes are found in the main story too, by completing each report, but some of the best ones are locked behind this mode. On paper this looks easy, just play the 100 rounds without ever failing a single move. And that is where the game catches you off guard and bares its fangs; if you make even a tiny mistake, the game will throw you back to Round 1! It’s almost as if you had to play an original Space Channel 5 level with only one life and no checkpoints. Whilst certainly no easy task, at least there was a cute Morolian to mimic. 💕
Space Channel 5 Part 2 is the wholesome game you need to feel better after you’ve had a rough day! Or… at least it is after you’ve mastered the gameplay. 👀
Sing along to its tunes, and let this colorful dreamlike world heal you! If you haven’t played the first game, though, definitely give it a try first, or at least watch a playthrough on YouTube instead, as it’ll give more context for the things such as the characters, world, and much more.
… But wait! We’re not quite done yet!
| Review of the Limited Edition for Dreamcast |
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During my magical trips to the eBay dimension, where you often find things you didn’t know you needed, I found something that I absolutely had to get my hands on: the Space Channel 5 Part 2 Limited Edition for Dreamcast! Or… whatever its actual name is. 🤣
It’s your usual limited edition, but it does contain a few interesting goodies that I’ll review for you!
First of all, there’s the game; like you’d expect, it’s the Japanese version for Dreamcast, since, of course, those of us in the rest of the world didn’t get that version. 🥲
Next, we find an item that I absolutely adore; the headphones! If you know at least a little bit about how music sounds, you’ll know that we can, in simple terms, say that a music track has high, medium, and bass tones. Some headphones amplify one of these aspects, others two, whilst some give your ears a balanced rendition of all three, although you will find better or worse results based on both brand, as well as the number of kidneys you’re willing to get rid of. I, unfortunately, have good hearing for these things, which, as my editor tends to put things, is often “a blessing and a curse”, so I personally use Bose headphones for listening to music (The reason I said “unfortunately” was because sometimes not knowing these things would help me save some of the money I’ve spent on headphones, but oh well. It’s like when people can notice the refresh rate of a monitor or FPS in a game without using any tool.). So, given my bit of background, what can I say about these headphones? My expectations could be simplified by that kind of video where you hear music playing from another room, losing a lot of the music spectrum as the music travels to you. Basically, you’d hear the music out of the headphones as if the music was a flat line hitting your ears. And that’s not nice. I mean, these are headphones given out in 2002 with a game, how professional can they be?
I quickly connect them to my PC and google Blank Banshee’s Gaia album on Bandcamp, which I know is of amazing quality. I play it, and I can say that I’m impressed! I mean, I’d never use them to listen to music for leisure, but I can say that while highs and mids are on the medium-low end of quality, the bass is somewhat decent. Certainly doesn’t have that much of a depth, but at least the sound doesn’t come across as a flat line. So, I say that for what they are, they get a pass!
… Too bad they smell like old plastic.
Editors Note: Firstly, you missed a chance to test them using Kuze’s theme from Yakuza 0. Secondly, they probably smell of old plastic… because they’re literally made of 20-year-old plastic.
Sadly I don’t have a quality version of Kuze’s theme, and I usually choose whatever file I know is of good quality so that I can see what the headphones are truly capable of. Some folks recommend trying out headphones and speakers with The Bohemian Rhapsody, actually.
And now, we can move on to the small black bag, which I’d gladly use as a Gameboy or Wonderswan case if it wasn’t a collector’s item. This one also smells like old cloth, and I have a feeling that the previous owner of the box might have left it somewhere humid.
In addition to this limited box, even though it wasn’t originally included with the Collector’s Edition, my package actually came with a special Ulala alarm clock as well! I find it immensely pretty and I had to place it on my bedside table right away! I put batteries in it to ensure it worked, although I only left them in for a few seconds, as I already have a digital alarm clock and I hate the idea of the constant ticking right next to me whilst I sleep. However, contrary to what I expected, the ticking of this alarm clock is actually quite gentle, to the point where it could almost be considered soothing… Who could have guessed? I admit that I expected something like the loud ticking of the Cardcaptor Sakura Tomoyo no Video Daisakusen wall clock, but maybe they imagined that people like me wouldn’t like it being annoying. 🤣
This said, I hope you liked my funny review, and I hope you’ll look forward to the upcoming journal pages!
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