Space Channel 5

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For the Canadian television network, see Space (TV channel)

Space Channel 5
Space Channel 5.PNG
European boxart, Dreamcast version
Developer(s) United Game Artists
Publisher(s) Sega, Agetec
Platform(s) Dreamcast, PlayStation 2
Release date(s) Dreamcast
JP December 16, 1999
NA June 4, 2000
EU October 6, 2000
PlayStation 2
EU March 15, 2002
JP December 12, 2002
NA November 18, 2003(SC5 Special Edition)
Genre(s) Music
Mode(s) Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s) ESRB: T (Teen)
ELSPA: 3+

Space Channel 5 (スペース チャンネル５?) is a music video game series developed by United Game Artists under the direction of Tetsuya Mizuguchi and published by Sega. The gameplay features a system where the player must copy sequences of dance steps performed by the computer.

Contents

[edit] Overview

[edit] Gameplay

The dance commands merely use the existing movement buttons. The "up" button corresponds to the aliens raising both paws or Ulala raising both hands. For "down", Ulala lowers only her right hand. Her left hand contains a microphone. When either the "left" or "right" button is pressed, she only moves her hand in the respective direction. Their legs move, and their torsos automatically bend.

The "A" or "X" button is used for shooting at the Morolians or simply another dance move. The "B" or "O" button is used for rescuing hostages (In report 2, however, in the first phase of the boss, the "B" button is not used for shooting directly at the hostages). There also appears to be mispronunciation of "shoot" when the player presses either the "A" or "B" button. In the manual, it says "shoot", but the Morolians say words that are quite similar to "kiss", "chin". Ulala, Pudding, Jaguar and Evila say "chu', while Fuse says "shoot" or "chu". In Part 2, the B Button attack is now called "hey" and is also used outside of rescuing hostages.

In between these scenes, Ulala appears to be taunting the opponent (if the player gets all the moves correct) or have messed up the dance (if the player gets incorrect moves or misses a move). The performance also extends to the music. If Ulala misses a certain number of moves the music changes to an off tone one and if she has a better performance, certain extras will be played (as for example a guitar solo in the first level). Ulala is given a certain number of hearts in case she misses a move or get an incorrect move. If she does so, she will lose a heart. If she loses all the given number of hearts, she will then hunch over and become upset, with Fuse shouting at her. In Part 2, some parts convert ratings to stars; the better the player has done, the more stars they'll receive. If all stars run out, the game is over.

[edit] Story

In the first game, an alien race shows up and start forcing people to dance. Ulala from Space Channel 5 gets sent to bring in the news, save the hostages and beat the Morolians, whilst simultaneously fighting off rival reporters Pudding and Jaguar. In the end, it turns out the Morolians were being brainwashed by Space Channel 5's boss, Blank, who desires ratings over the truth. After failing to defeat Ulala with a robot replica named Evila, he pilots a large version to hurt her, but she is rescued by Jaguar, just like he did when she was young. With the aid of her supporters and Fuse's antenna, Ulala uses groove energy to defeat Blank and send him to the other side of the universe.

The second game follows Ulala as she faces off against a new group of enemies called the Rhythm Rogues (known as the Odori-dan in Japanese), led by the mysterious Purge and his masked assistant Shadow. The Rhythm Rogues kidnap thousands of innocent people, including Space President Peace, and force them to dance.

Purge demands a ransom for the return of the president, but when Ulala and Space Policewoman Pine reach the rendezvous point, they discover that the ransom demand was a diversion from Purge’s real plan to steal transmitters from all of the news stations and combine them into a superpowerful dance-control weapon. Ulala is unable to prevent Purge from stealing the transmitters and destroying Space Channel 5’s orbital headquarters, but she does succeed in rescuing Space Michael and the other Space Channel 5 employees, except for (apparently) her boss Fuse.

Pine summons Ulala, Space Michael, rival reporter Pudding, and the Morolian Boss to Purge’s “Mystery Zone” space station, where the group defeats Shadow (revealed to be Ulala’s colleague Jaguar) in a battle of the bands. Ulala then faces Purge, first in a one-on-one dance battle, then in a final showdown with the help of her friends and all of the kidnapped dancers.

[edit] Characters

  • Ulala

Voiced by Apollo Smile. Space Channel 5's top reporter. When she was young, a reporter from Space Channel 5 saved her life, and she wanted to become a reporter for Space Channel 5. She carries with her trusty microphone and two guns. The Chu Beam is used for shooting aliens, robots and other attackers while the Rescue Beam is used to rescue hostages being forced to dance. When ratings are high, she emits a pink aura, signifying she is full of groove energy, Born: February 14, 1981

  • Fuse

Voiced by David Nowlin (Original English version), Kerry Shale (Part 2, English version), Takashi Thomas Yuda (Japanese version). The broadcaster of Space Channel 5. He remains in the broadcasting ship all the time, and his face is never seen. He relays instructions to Ulala to help her through her missions, although he often gets fascinated by Ulala's moves.

  • Space Michael

Voiced by Michael Jackson. Space Michael, based on Michael Jackson, appears as a cameo in the first game, but becomes a fully involved character in Part 2. After being rescued by Ulala from the Rhythm Rogues, Michael uses his singing skills against a singing robot.

  • Pudding

Voiced by Sumalee Montano (Original English version), Larissa Murray (English Part 2), Kae Iida (Japanese version). A reporter from Channel 42, who usually shows up early on in the games. With her bodyguards, groupies and her catchphrase "It's me, Pudding!" ("Pudding desu!" in the Japanese version), she challenges Ulala but usually finds herself beaten. In Part 2, she challenges Ulala to a guitar battle. In both games, she teams up with Ulala on later levels.

  • Jaguar

Voiced by Jeff Kramer (Original English version), Tom Clarke Hill (English Part 2), Show Hayami (Japanese version). A reporter from a Pirate broadcasting station dedicated to giving viewers the truth. In the first game, he tends to act snubby against Ulala's affiliation with Space Channel 5. He was a former member of Space Channel 5, and was indeed the reporter who saved Ulala's life years ago, but he sensed corruption from the station's head chief, Blank. He does, however, rescue Ulala once again from Blank, and uses his back up group to get Ulala back in the groove. In Part 2, he mysteriously disappears while investigating something. Later, it was revealed that he was brainwashed by Purge, becoming "The Shadow." He is saved by Ulala near the end of Part 2.

  • Noize

Voiced by Alan Marriot (English Part 2), Ken Okazaki (Japanese version). Ulala's partner who provides transportation for Ulala using a platform ship powered by dance energy and jiggy power. In Space Channel 5: Part 2, he helps Ulala in a drum battle against Pine.

  • Pine

Voiced by Toni Barry (English Part 2), Yoshiko Sakakibara (Japanese version). A member of the Sexy Space Police. In Part 2, when dozens of reporters are heading for a scoop, Pine lays down the law to clear the area, opening fire on Ulala who refuses to leave. She then challenges Ulala and Noize to a drum battle. Later on, she calls on Ulala's help to stop Purge.

  • Hoorg

Leader of the Morolians. In the first game, Morolians were brainwashed by Blank into attacking people and forcing them to dance. Boss Moro was one of the last Morolians Ulala had to face before confronting Blank. In Part 2, he is a news reporter on Morolian News, which airs in between reports but constantly gets hijacked by Purge. In Report 5, he joins Ulala in stopping Purge.

  • President Peace

Voiced by actor Bob Sherman (English Part 2), Tōru Ōhira (Japanese version). As the galactic president, Peace loves nothing more than to sing, but unfortunately whenever he gets the chance, he gets kidnapped by the Rhythm Rogues. His amazing voice provides a massive source of groove energy that Purge uses for evil.

  • Chief Blank

He is voiced by Gary Martinez (English version), Kenji Utsumi (Japanese version).The head Chief of Space Channel 5 in the first game, Blank became corrupt and brainwashed the Morolians to stage an alien invasion, so that he would get many ratings. He despises reporters who 'spread truth like disease' and even creates a robot clone of Ulala called Evila to replace her. He is soon defeated using the dance energy of the crowd and sent flying into space.

  • Purge

Voiced by Erik Myers (English Part 2), Akira Ishida (Japanese version). The main antagonist of Part 2, Purge is a sly dancer and leader of the Rhythm Rogues. Using his henchman Shadow and his army of robots, Purge kidnaps President Peace and steals satellites from several TV stations in order to complete his Ballistic Groove Gun in order to make the galaxy dance for him.

[edit] Games

[edit] Space Channel 5

Space Channel 5 was first released in Japan for the Dreamcast on December 16, 1999. It was later released in the United States on June 6, 2000 and in Europe on October 8, 2000. The game was given a budget DriKore release in Japan on December 21, 2000 in simpler packaging. In 2002, Space Channel 5 was ported to the PlayStation 2. It was released in Europe on March 15, 2002 and in Japan on December 12, 2002. It was released in North America on November 18, 2003 as part of a sole package called Space Channel 5 Special Edition.

[edit] Space Channel 5: Part 2

Space Channel 5: Part 2

Space Channel 5: Part 2 was released in Japan on February 14, 2002 both for the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2. The PlayStation 2 version was released in Europe (except for the UK) in February 12, 2003, and in North America as part of special edition package with the first game on November 18, 2003. Space Channel 5 Part 2 (Limited Edition) was released in Japan featuring a carrying case and a set of large headphones.

The scoring system is changed from the first game. Moves can be charged while holding down a button. Instrument battles have been added. They are played using the directional buttons. There is a 100 stage battle mode, in which players have to play 100 consecutive lines, with only one heart. Some of the lines seem to resemble those found in the first game. There is also a 2 player mode, where one player controls directions and the other controls actions, and an alternate story mode where characters, costumes and dance moves are different.

[edit] Space Channel 5: Ulala's Cosmic Attack

Space Channel 5: Ulala's Cosmic Attack was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2003 by THQ as part of an agreement that gave THQ the exclusive rights to make Game Boy Advance games based on Sega franchises. It is a remake of the original Space Channel 5.

[edit] Ulala's Channel J

Ulala's Channel J was released for the Vodafone.[1]

[edit] Future of the series

According to an article on Eurogamer, several "Higher Ups" at Sega are pushing for a new Space Channel 5 game to be made for a next-generation console. However, producer Takashi Yuda says that "nothing has been decided."[2] Series producer Tetsuya Mizuguchi has expressed interest in another Space Channel 5 sequel for the Nintendo Wii.[3]

[edit] Appearances in other games

Ulala, along with other Space Channel 5 elements, have appeared in several other video games:

Ulala has also made a cameo in the 2001 film Josie and the Pussycats, where she is popular in the merchandising in a store that Wyatt visits to try out a demo CD.

[edit] Development

In discussing the study of target demographics, Mizuguchi related the story of designing Space Channel 5, which was at first a vague assignment from Sega that asked only that Mizuguchi design a game with a broad enough appeal to draw in even casual female gamers. "This was the first I'd heard of casual female gamers", he said, "so I didn't really know what to do. I personally interviewed a lot of young girls, trying to find out what they like." Women, he says, tend to enjoy puzzle games, while male gamers "want to be on top, they want to accomplish something and be the champion." It's difficult, he insists, to create a game that appeals to both males and females on an equal level.[5]

Mizuguchi has also stated that Space Channel 5 was inspired by the dance troupe Stomp . He highly enjoyed the performance, and began thinking why musicals were so much fun, but more importantly "How can we get this feeling into an interactive process?". It was then that Space Channel 5 was born.

Michael Jackson makes a cameo appearance as Space Michael in Space Channel 5,[6] near the end of the game.

The May 2007 issue of EGM contains a quote from series creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi concerning what it was like to work with Michael:

"We were in the middle of production of Space Channel 5, in 1998 or 1999. I got a call from the U.S. from my partner - the executive producer of Space Channel 5 - and he said, 'Oh, Michael wants to act in Space Channel 5.' I said, 'Who's Michael?' 'Who is Michael Jackson?' he said, 'The Michael Jackson - the real Michael Jackson'
My partner had shown him the 60-to-70 percent complete version, when it was almost at the end of the game. We had one month to finalize. But Michael wanted to do something, so we suggested that if he was OK with it, we could program the people in the game to do the Michael Jackson dance when taken over by aliens. he said 'yeah.' We initially had five aliens who danced. One of them became Michael Jackson."

He had a more prominent role in Space Channel 5: Part 2 where he became the new head of Space Channel 5. Whilst Ulala is distracted by a fake scoop, the headquarters are attacked and Space Michael is kidnapped by Purge and the Rhythm Rogues and has to be rescued by Ulala in a level featuring several of Michael's trademark dance moves. Then when faced up against a singing robot, Space Michael 'sings' using trademark noises such as his infamous howl. He then joins Ulala in facing up against Purge.

In both versions of the game, Michael speaks in English, which is subtitled into Japanese in the Japanese version.

[edit] Lawsuit

In early 2003, Lady Miss Kier, formerly of the band Deee-Lite, initiated a lawsuit against Sega corporation for allegedly stealing her former persona and using it as the basis of a video game character. The lawsuit was based on accusations of copying her look of knee-high boots, short skirts and a pink ponytail, for Sega's Ulala character design.[7]

Lady Miss Kier (real name is Kierin Kirby) claims that Sega offered to pay her $16,000 to license her name, image and songs for the game, though she rejected their offer. Kirby later learned that the videogame maker went ahead and used her resemblance anyway, and she decided to initiate the lawsuit. She ultimately lost the suit and a later appeal and was liable to pay Sega's legal fees of $608,000 (reduced from $763,000 requested).[8]

[edit] References

  1. ^ GAMEs developed with help of iMageStudio
  2. ^ "Space Channel 5 to return?". eurogamer.net. http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=61643. Retrieved 2006-10-22. 
  3. ^ "Tetsuya Mizuguchi interview: Thoughts on Lumines III, and Space Channel 5 for the Wii". QJ.net. http://wii.qj.net/Tetsuya-Mizuguchi-interview-Thoughts-on-Lumines-III-and-Space-%20%20Channel-5-for-the-Wii/pg/49/aid/102897. Retrieved 2006-10-22. 
  4. ^ Chris Greenhough, "GC 2008: Left! Right! Chu! Chu! Ulala in Samba," Wiifanboy (Aug 20th 2008).
  5. ^ Clifaldi, Frank (2005-05-20). "E3 Report: The Path to Creating AAA Games". http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20050520/cifaldi_01.shtml. Retrieved 2007-05-26. 
  6. ^ Michael Donahue, "Forced Guests: Cameos that make us sceam 'Yessss!'" in Electronic Gaming Monthly 226 (March 2008): 34.
  7. ^ "Lady Kier VS Sega". ladykier.com. http://www.ladykier.com/segacase.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-11. 
  8. ^ ""Lady Miss Kier" Hammered With Opponent's Attorney's Fees". legalreader.com. http://www.legalreader.com/archives/003453.html. Retrieved 2006-12-11. 

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