Space Channel 5

Space Channel 5

Publisher: Sega

System(s): Sega Dreamcast, PlayStation 2

Peripherals Supported: Dreamcast VGA Box, Dreamcast Jump Pack

Genre: Action

Number of Players: 1

Release	Date	RRP	Code
JP	1999-12-16	¥5,800	HDR-0029
JP (Dorikore)	2000-12-21	¥2,800	HDR-0140
US	2000-06-04	$?	51051
EU	2000-10-06		MK-51051-50

JP	2002-12-12	¥3,000	SLPM-65095
EU	2002-03-15	£? €?	SCES-50611

ESRB

SEGA

PEGI

ELSPA

USK

OFLC

aDeSe

SELL

Space Channel 5 (スペースチャンネル5) is a video game for the Sega Dreamcast released in Japan on the 16th of December, 1999, North America on the 6th of June, 2000 and in Europe on the 8th of October, 2000. It was the first game to be developed by the newly opened United Game Artists studio within Sega, spearheadded by Tetsuya Mizuguchi, although the UGA name had not yet been adopted by the original Japanese release.

The game stars Space Channel 5 reporter Ulala, tasked with upping the ratings of the channel, and stopping the "evil" Morolians, who are forcing the galaxy to dance.

Development

According to Tetsuya Mizuguchi, the Space Channel 5 project was born after a request from Sega to produce a game which appealed to "casual female gamers". Unaware that such a group in society existed, Mizuguchi spent much of the design phase interviewing young girls, ultimately coming to the conclusion that the puzzle genre was most suited to this demographic. However, in a bid to also appeal to a male audience as well, the game was designed to be competitive.

Space Channel 5 is primilary inspired by western culture of the 1960s, particularly a mix of fashion and espionage thriller movies such as James Bond. Its main theme, Mexican Flyer was originally released in 1965 (the same year Mizuguchi was born) by British composer and trumpeter, Ken Woodman.

Originally Space Channel 5 was said to simply be an interactive music video. Pressing buttons in time with the music would change the video, but little else would occur. Displeased by the lack of "fun", Tetsuya Mizuguchi demanded that elements inspired by the dance troupe, Stomp were implemented to liven up the gameplay. UGA's staff at the time struggled to comprehend some of the more radical ideas Mizuguchi put forward, so a pantomine was brought to UGA to lift spirits, ultimately inspiring the numerous "strike a pose" segments within the game.

Half way through production, Mizuguchi was contacted by Shuji Utsumi, who informed him that Michael Jackson was interested in taking part in the game. Utsumi had shown the star a 60-70% complete version of the game, set to be finalised within a month, and after some negotiations, "Space Michael" was put into the game. Mizuguchi and Utsumi would later found Q Entertainment in 2003.

Because the player has no control over Ulala's movement through stages, much of Space Channel 5 relies on pre-rendered backgrounds, leading to arguably more detailed visuals than what the Dreamcast could achieve in real-time.

Gameplay

Space Channel 5 is a rhythm game built similarly in nature to electronic memorisation games such Simon, and video games such as PaRappa the Rapper. Throughout the game the computer shows a sequence of moves—dance steps in this case—and the player must copy them successfully to advance. Repeated failure will force the show to be cancelled, effectively triggering a game over.

Space Channel 5 utilises six different commands - "Up", "Down", "Left", "Right", "Shoot" and "Shoot". The button corresponds to the aliens raising both paws or Ulala raising both hands. Pressing causes Ulala to lower only her right hand as her left hand contains a microphone. When either the or button are pressed she moves her hand in that direction. The Morolians will mimic Ulala's moves so pressing the directional pad will affect them also.

The "shoot" button is used for shooting at the Morolians or simply to perform another dance move. The "shoot" button is usually used for rescuing hostages. There also appears to be mispronunciation of "shoot" when the player presses either the or 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 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). Ulala is given a certain number of hearts in case she misses a move or get an incorrect move. Performing a incorrect move will cause her to lose a heart. If she loses every one of her hearts she will then hunch over and become upset, with Fuse shouting at her.

Sequels and Re-releases

Space Channel 5 was followed by a direct sequel, Space Channel 5: Part 2, and then ported to the PlayStation 2 in 2002. In the US, the PlayStation 2 port was bundled with Part 2 in Space Channel 5: Special Edition, published by Agetec.

However, apart from a Game Boy Advance adaption, Space Channel 5: Ulala's Cosmic Attack, released in 2003, the game has yet to be re-released for newer systems. Part 2 was released as part of Dreamcast Collection in 2011 (before separate releases on Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and Steam), but the original game has not received the same treatment, presumably due to its heavy reliance on pre-rendered video. Ulala has cameoed in a number of Sega games, however, and is playable in the likes of Sega Superstar Tennis and Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing.

Production Credits

Producer: Tetsuya Mizuguchi
Director: Takashi Thomas Yuda
Art Director: Yutaka Minobe
Programming Director: Hitoshi Nakanishi
Story & Game Design Director: Takumi Yoshinaga
Game System Supervisor: Yoshiyuki Okitsu
Game Designer Unit: Takao Esaka, Mika Satou, Toshihide Ozeki
Space Programmers: Ise Susumu, Yuuki Hatakeyama, Ko Midoro
Technical Support: Osamu hori, Koji Kaifu, Satoru Takeshima, Michio Yokomizo, Kyosei Yukimoto, Keiichi Noda
Technical Director: Takeshi Hirai
Character & Background Modeling Design: Mayumi Moro, Ken Okazaki, Yutaka Minobe, Shiro Kinemura, Deen Guns Project, Jake Kazdal
Character Modeling Supervisor: Mayumi Moro
Character Modeling Unit: Ken Okazaki, Nanako Yarimizu, Chisai Abe, Shinkichi Tanahashi
Character Animation Supervisor: Ken Okazaki
Character Animation Unit: Takanori Ohnuki, Makio Kitahawa, Yusuke Kashiwagi, Jake Kazdal, Kenya Suzuki, Shigeru "Pigeon" Arkai
Choreographer: Nahoko Nezu, Shigeru "Pigegon" Araki
Motion Capture Set Up: Kenichi Suzuki
Visual Effects Designer: Taro Hino
Film Editor: Ryutaro Sugiyama, Taro Hino, Kanji Sutou, Kenichi Suzuki
Camera Operation Unit: Mika Satou, Kanji Sutou
Sound Director: Naofumi Hataya
Sound Producer: Yukifumi Makino
Sound Technical Director: Tatsuya Kouzaki
Music Composers: Kenichi Tokoi, Naofumi Hataya
Sound Effects: Takashi Endo
Sound Programmers: Kazumi Suyama, Yoshiaki Kashima
Recording Director: Fumitaka Shibata
Recording Engineer: Hirokazu Akashi, Yoshitada Miya, Sawako Sogabe, Syuhei Muaki

Musicians

Trunpet: Isao Sakuma, Mitsukni Kohata, Naohito Watnabe, Masahero Kobayashi, Koichi Suzuki
Trombone: Yuji Shimoda, Gakutaro Miyauchi
Sax: Yo Shibano, Toshimichi Imao
Drum: Masashi Matsumoto
Bass: Koji Motosugi
Guitar: Chew-Taro Moritake
Chorus: Miho Fujiwara, Yoko Akama, Wornell Jones, Triad Project
Sctore: Hiroshi Aso
Recorded Coordinator: Hidetaka "Carl" Shibata
Recorded And Mixed At: SEGA Digital Studio
Special Thanks: Jun Senoue (Sonic Team USA)
Very Special Thanks To: Tomoko Sasaki

Mexican Flyer

Ken Woodman & His Piccadilly Brass (Woodman)

CG Movie Support Unit Trilogy

CG Movie Producer: Masaaki Taira
CG Movie Directors: Hiroyuki Takagai, Shinji Naka, Mika Ando, Yumiko Takahashi

Saihi Information Service, Ltd.

Producer: Terumi Hamamoto, Makoto Baba

Image Studio 109

Manager: Yusuke Aoki, Yoshiya Nagata, Hiroyuki Ishiguro, Hiroyuki Motai

Eyedentifyc Inc.

Manager: Toshio Shinma, Daiji Hori
Special Thanks: Hiroko Natori, Hironobu Kuwana, VFX Studio Loop Hole Ogawa 3D & Visual Factory

Sega Corporation

Localization Team: Michael Hanna, Jake Kazdal, Koji Kuroki, Shinobu Shindo

Sega Of America

Localization Producer: Mari N. Schaal
Localisation Manager: Osamu Shibamiya
Voices (Extra): A. J. Briones, Ray Craig, Roger Faso, Heather Hawkins, Teri A. Higgins, June Honma, Jason Kuo, Christopher Lucich, Asha Reddy, Mari N. Schaal, Robert Schonfisch, Jane Thompson, Klayton Vorlick

Sega Europe Ltd.

Director Of Product Development: Naohiko Hoshino
Producer: Daniel Liewellyn
Assistant Producer: Akiko Koutstal
European Product Marketing Manager: Jin Pride
European Product Marketing Execituve: Mathew Quaeck
Translators: Angelika Michitsch, Dave Thonpson, Caroline Ruiz, Roberto Parraga-Sanchez
Test Manager: Jason Cumberbatch
Senior Lead Tester: Darren Lloyd
Lead Tester: Nick Bennett
Assistant Lead Testers: Pete O'Brien Daniel Slater
Localisation Coordinator: Roberto Pattaga-Sanchez

Promotion Art Director: Masahiro "Magic" Kobyashi
Desk Support: Yumiko Mouri, Akihiko Nagao, Sayuri Yajima
Technical Support: Osamu Hori
Production Management: Hayato Watanabe
Special Thanks: Charles Bellfield, Peter Leichert, Peter Moore, Nobuhiko Shimizu, Shinobu Toyoda, Katsuhiko Yamada, AM R&D 9 Staff, Multi R&D Section
Team Pheromone: Yumiko Miyabe, Yumiko Mouri, Mineko Okamura, Sayuri Yajima
Technical Producer: Ryuichi Hattori
Executive Producer: Shuji Utsumi
Very Executive Producer: Sadahiko Hirose, Hisashi Suzuki
Very Very Executive Producer: Shoichiro Irimajiri
Very Very Very Executive Producer: Isao Okawa
Assistant Producer: Mineko Okamura, Hayato Watanabe
Created By: United Game Artists
Presented By: Sega

Artwork

Promotional Material

Dreamcast US print advert
Dreamcast JP TV advert

Physical Scans

Dreamcast Version

81

Sega Retro Average

Based on 5 reviews

Publication	Score	Source
Consoles +	89	№105, p108/109
Dreamcast Magazine (JP)	93	№1999-39ex, p26Media:DCM_JP_19991224_1999-39ex.pdf
Dreamcast Magazine (JP) (Readers)	90	№, p33Media:Dorimaga_20021011_JP.pdf
EDGE	60	№81, p84
Weekly Famitsu	73	№575, p31

Dreamcast, US
Cover
Disc Manual Inlay

Dreamcast, EU
Cover
Disc

Dreamcast, JP
Cover
Spinecard Disc Manual Inlay Card 1 Card 2 Flyer

Dreamcast, JP (Dorikore)
Cover

PlayStation 2 Version

79