Summary
A far cry from the original Dreamcast release
The Good
I liked the music, which has always been a big plus for the Space Channel 5 group. Some interesting Waltzes and other kinds of music were thrown in this time to keep things interesting.
I also liked some of the funky outfits, and the number of unlockable items in the sequel to Space Channel 5.
The Bad
I was very disappointed by the graphics of the game, both for the ported version of the original game as well as for the PS2 sequel. They just weren't as crisp or "funky" as they were on the original Dreamcast game.
I also thought the control suffered mightily, mostly in response time, which makes this game much more frustrating to play than the original.
I thought the extra characters in this game were sometimes funny, but mostly really stupid. There's a schoolteacher with a wide polka dot tie and oversize glasses that looks like a Jerry Lewis character, and I found he and many other characters to simply be annoying instead of "cool" like almost everyone in the first game.
I was particularly annoyed with some of the sexual references in the game, most specifically a moment when a giant plant attacks the main character with its tentacles, and Ulala says "ooooh, don't touch me there!". It's okay for the game to have some funky sexuality, but this was just stupid, gross, pointless and upsetting to hear.
I also thought that the sequel relied much more heavily on trickery than on making the player memorize patterns and keep the beat. Far too many "single note" sudden sections are thrown out without warning, and it made the game difficult in a not fun way. I was able to get a 100% rating on the original Space Channel 5 after some practice, but had a lot of trouble even getting to 40% on this game due to a combination of the weird trickery and the control being lackluster.
The Bottom Line
Space Channel 5 is a rhythm game that uses a "Simon Says" setup in which the game will present a series of notes and / or movements that you must copy on the beat. Similar games are Parappa the Rapper for the Playstation and to some extent, Guitar Hero. Space Channel 5 features a female lead character, Ulala, going through outerspace, defeating aliens with her music and saving the universe.
