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Rating: Good Space Channel 5 represents all that is good and pure about the video game industry. It reminds us that no matter how many first-person shooter clones, generic racing games, and Titus products are released, the video game industry is still a place where unique ideas and creative flair are rewarded with industry-wide recognition and strong sales. In the months leading up to Space Channel 5's US release, many people said that it's more of a collection of music and dancing than an actual video game. After experiencing it for myself, I believe that Space Channel 5 is indeed a video game. It's just a really, really weird one. Any game that forces you to save the world from aliens by dancing like crazy is bound to labeled as "weird," and rightfully so. Showing Space Channel 5 to your friends will probably do one of two things: Make them think it's one of the coolest things they've ever seen, or make them think you're weird for playing such a game and file a restraining order against you. Space Channel 5 takes the "copy the commands" concept that debuted in PaRappa the Rapper and expands on it with insanely catchy music, addictive gameplay, and surprisingly good voice acting. The game focuses on dance music rather than PaRappa's rap music. You not only have to successfully enter each of the commands (up, down, left, right, and two shoot buttons), but you also have to do so with a particular rhythm. Also, while PaRappa had paper-thin graphics, Space Channel 5's graphics are actually quite impressive. The game's dancing is amazingly well animated from the beginning of the game to the end. Even if this doesn't sound like fun to you (it didn't to me at first), believe me, it is. The judging of your performance is much less abstract than it was in PaRappa; you either mess up or you don't. Occasionally, there are still times where you could have sworn you entered the command correctly and with the right rhythm, but the game says you got it wrong. These frustrating occasions take place less and less as you play the game more, and they're never really that bad even at their most frustrating. Space Channel 5 is such a charming and endearing game in every possible way that I can't possibly stay mad at it for long. Space Channel 5 is far from a luck-based button-masher; you really do get better at it as you play it more. The game is a great test of not only your hand-eye coordination, but also your sense of rhythm and other funkadelic tendencies. Maybe I'm just a little bit slow mentally, but I found the game to require a very intense level of concentration in the later levels. As a matter of fact, I actually find that it helps my concentration if I look away from the screen for a few seconds when it's time to listen to commands and then enter them yourself. Space Channel 5 is addictive in more ways than one. Of course, there's the way the game pulls you in while you're playing and discourages you from turning it off. But Space Channel 5 also has a way of getting into your head when you're not playing it. You'll be thinking about playing it, or remembering your last gameplay session with it, or getting ready to play it soon. Any game that can take me away from Perfect Dark for more than a few minutes should be regulated by the government for its addictiveness. The only thing that limits Space Channel 5 to being a must-play game rather than a must-buy game is its ridiculous shortness. Once you polish your skills, it's possible to play the game from start to finish in just one hour. My recommendation is that you rent Space Channel 5, finish it, show it to everyone you know, and then return it. Send your thoughts on this review to ivan@mastergamer.com
© 2001 ivan@mastergamer.com