Summary
An Effective Port Of The Dreamcast Classic.
The Good
With the Game Boy Advance version of Space Channel 5, the programmers were somehow able to fit the entire game into a small cart. It still retains the timing, the moves, the cut scenes (albeit most are not animated), a lot of the voice, and Ulala's personality. All of that, and "Space Michael" as well. The animation is solid, the music, though diminished for the system (better on Gamecube's Game Boy Advance Player), is still effective and catchy, and it remains as fun and full of personality now as it did back in 2000. It also retains all of the weird character bios and a save feature.
The Bad
The original game had some weird timing issues, and this is no different. Moves that players would SWEAR they made are sometimes counted as misses, moreso in the later levels. Because of the Game Boy Advance's tiny speakers, it's often hard to hear the "chus" and directions unless headphones or the GBA player is used.
The Bottom Line
Space Channel 5 was a brilliant Dreamcast game that never truly got the recognition that it deserved due to the phasing out of the console. However, Ulala's personality and dance moves, coupled with the quirky music and gameplay, did garner enough of a fan following, and positive marks from the magazine reviewers. If fans of Space Channel 5 had ever wanted to take the game on the go, this is the perfect opportunity to finally do so. The game retains all the scenes, moves and attitude of the original game, though diminished music and animation (yet still surprisingly effective) does show the hardware limitations.
