Wait for an extreme sale, and then have a blast with this wildly entertaining game. And you better make sure you enjoy every minute, because the alarming lack of content is its biggest flaw, particularly if you consider its price. It was funny. * The product in this article was sent to us by the developer/company. Space Channel 5 VR: Kinda Funky News Flash! The music bounces, and Ulala bounces, and the aliens bounce, and you bounce too. Howdy. That means Space Channel 5 is a game you can only play standing up, but it’s a price worth paying. Space Channel 5 VR is fantastic. When I’m not playing games or wrangling my gaggle of children, I enjoy watching horror movies and doing all the other geeky activities one might expect. In Space Channel 5 VR: Kinda Funky News Flash — the first game in the series in 18 years — you dance-off with aliens in order to save the galaxy. But with a campaign that stretches over an entire 27 minutes (if you play straight through and don’t die) and a price point of $39.99, there is no way that I could suggest that you buy it, no matter how much I loved it. I only figured it out right as the game was ending. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. Space Channel 5 was amongst the earliest releases for Sega’s doomed Dreamcast console in 1999. Space Channel 5 VR continues ratcheting up the crazy meter until it reaches an absolutely splendid crescendo, and I had a dumb smile on my face the entire time I was playing it. Space Channel 5 remains a lustrous expression of the Dreamcast’s ethos, and a chance to actively embrace it merits attention and applause. The worst part is that the game's solid core gameplay is a clear sign that its dev team could have made an excellent and unique VR rhythm game instead of rushing this scant disappointment out for $40. DLC has already been announced for Space Channel 5 VR: Kinda Funky News Flash!, which might add some value to the package. But I’ve played more technically demanding PSVR games without running into the same issue. It doesn’t struggle to find its rhythm so much as actively avoids it. Space Channel 5 VR: Kinda Funky News Flash, Dance is your power to protect the earth against invading aliens. It turns out that they’re little circular patterns that appear at various times throughout the levels, and you’re supposed to reach out and hit them with your hand. Space Channel 5 VR: Kinda Funky News Flash! The story is concise, and the fun dances within the trial mode are pretty much the saving grace of the title in terms of “content” offered. Space Channel 5 VR is a brief, beautiful celebration of a bygone era. Sega’s cult classic dancing game returns on PSVR, but after almost two decades in the wilderness does Ulala still have the right moves? A great comeback that keeps the charm of the original intact, and we’ve enjoyed every minute of it. For the price of the game, you’re paying for the nostalgic nature of it all, and you won’t be disappointed. Ulala helpfully chants the moves back to the player in time with the music, so it’s all very monkey see, monkey do. Space Channel 5 was a rhythm game following the broadcasts of a futuristic, vinyl-clad television news reporter whose on-camera appearances are invariably set to hot dance moves. Space Channel 5 VR: Kinda Funky News Flash! Not that the dancing is bad per se, more that it’s quite limited in terms of the moves you need to do. It’s time for some paradoxical real talk. Ulala as more than a nostalgic This actually worked well enough to get me through all four levels, but I’d often miss a lot of beats I thought I should have hit perfectly. Although I suppose that if you have no intention of playing it, you can convert the final clause of this sentence out of ROT13 to find out that at one point Ulala ends up pehpvsvrq ba n tvnag svqtrg fcvaare. Back in business! And you better make sure you enjoy every minute, because the alarming lack of content is its biggest flaw, particularly if you consider its price. While PS VR ought to be a I honestly struggled with what score to give Space Channel 5 VR, as the game is indeed well made and fun. Space Channel 5 VR should have been a glorious return to form, but this cult hit series can’t keep up with the beat set by its competitors. But this short-lived revival stumbles on the dance floor, and just about everywhere else. First, the aliens dance a few steps, which is mostly just waving your arms in the four cardinal directions. Mixed or average reviews- based on 10 Ratings. Games Inbox: How big a leap are next gen console graphics? Channel 5, it’s hard to see I absolutely enjoyed Space Channel 5, but I absolutely cannot in good conscience recommend it. If that’s all you’ve wanted to hear, you’ll be as excited as I am for this interstellar dance adventure. But, though the game retains the distinct wackiness that kept it in the hearts and minds of so many over the past two decades, too much else has been lost in the transition. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. That happened pretty shortly after it began. I just hope the upcoming versions for other platforms offer up more precision. Currently, I play on PS4, PSVR, PS Vita, 3DS, Wii U and a janky PC. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. based on For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. The game’s got style, and it’s great to see the shiny world of Ulala come to life once again. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. You’re playing as a rookie reporter standing behind and to the right of Ulala. Space Channel 5’s dancing aliens and high camp work well in VR, but with only around half an hour of gameplay this represents astoundingly poor value for money. A great comeback that keeps the charm of the original intact, and we’ve enjoyed every minute of it. Some of its challenges are sadly due to the vagueness of the tutorial, but it was nevertheless enjoyable exploring each new move as its thrown at you. Formats: PlayStation VRPrice: £36.99Publisher: Grounding Inc.Developer: Grounding Inc.Release Date: 26th February 2020Age Rating: 7, Email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk, leave a comment below, and follow us on Twitter, MORE: Metro Redux Nintendo Switch review – Russian underground, MORE: Ori And The Will Of The Wisps hands-on preview and interview – so good you could cry, MORE: Resident Evil 3 remake hands-on preview – the stars his destination, Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, and follow us on Twitter. Space Channel 5 VR should have been a glorious return to form, but this cult hit series can’t keep up with the beat set by its competitors. In Space Channel 5 VR Kinda Funky News Flash! presents an opportunity to inhabit 1999’s idyllic vision of 1960’s culture through 2020’s virtual reality. Players may be tempted to play through the campaign a second time, which would take them to a grand total of 54 minutes of play time. Space Channel 5 VR is less concerned about rhythm than ensuring the glowing orbs on the end of the controllers are in the proper position for a pose. The aliens are still flat textured and don’t tend to talk much, so Ulala acts as your guide and interpreter for the typically surreal invasion plot. Currys PC World charging £2449 for Xbox Series X to put off scalpers. Seeing the aliens’ laser beams and punches projecting towards you as you expertly sidestep them just in time, works beautifully and most certainly adds to the sense of immersion. Channel 5, it’s hard to see I couldn’t see a point to playing through all 100 levels. Her job was reporting on an alien invasion using the medium of dance. natural medium for Space As well as flinging your hands in the same direction as the aliens, and adopting their poses, you’ll also need to dodge left, right, and downwards. is split out over four chapters/stages, which progressively gets more challenging as you work through it. The game is however funny but its replayability is almost zero and is far from paying tribute to the cult game of the late 90s. [Issue#344, p.120]. This is a hard one to gauge, because it's not the quintessential VR game on the market - honestly, it's not even the quintessential VR rhythm game on the market - but SC5 was not exactly the quintessential rhythm game on the market, either. Make three consecutive errors – whether real or imagined – and you’re sent back to the start of the level. The price tag isn’t worth the admission though... Series fans will know better than to expect an epic, but even by its own standards Kinda Funky News Flash is a short game...After 20 years in the shadows, Ulala's return to the spotlight involves a few too many missed beats to recommend. The promise of new characters, songs, and DLC, should rectify some of these issues, but with the already high price tag it's hard to imagine anyone outside the already committed fanbase to take a punt. Copyright 2019 UVR Media LLC. I don’t want to get too deep into what actually happens during the story, because that’s a great deal of the fun, and because as I’ve said, it’s such a brief ride that each little unexpected story beat is a precious moment. In Space Channel 5 VR Kinda Funky News Flash! What’s there to do when you’re done? Do that for 27 minutes, and you will have beaten Space Channel 5: Kinda Funky News Flash!. Dance is your power to protect the earth against invading aliens. Space Channel 5 VR was initially shown off on the HTC Vive, which has much more precise tracking. Mixed or average reviews Yes, each level has ‘secrets’ but those turn out simply to be circles that appear briefly in the air in front of you and need to be hit before they vanish. I was a manager at a toy store for the release of PS1, PS2, N64 and Dreamcast, so my nostalgia that era of gaming runs pretty deep. Still, it’s a damn good time. Space Channel 5 VR does a great job of bringing the series to virtual reality, but other than that, it doesn’t do much to set itself apart from its predecessors. 15 So the aliens dance, then the player and Ulala dance, and then the aliens dance, and then you and Ulala dance. Space Channel 5 VR is not challenging as a video game, and its exercise mode does not have enough content at launch to offer a serious workout. There is no way on this Earth that anyone should pay that much for this title. I’m intrigued by the possibilities presented by VR multi-player, and I try almost every multi-player game that gets released. You get about half an hour of gameplay for FORTY DOLLARS! Cons: Motion sensing proves distinctly patchy, and the game is so short you’ve barely got started before you’ll be playing its interactive credits sequence. But what it did have was originality, and a control scheme that was perhaps less precise than its simplicity required. It’s hard to believe it’s been two decades since Space Channel 5 first rocked the Dreamcast. Ulala and co are long overdue a return to the main stage, but this isn’t it. Fun, but flawed, but memorable. The bigger problem though, is that you can quite easily see all of its meagre four levels in under half an hour. At that point, I just kinda petered out. - It seems like the game is just checking to make sure that the PlayStation Move controller’s glowy balls are in the right position at the right time in the song. opening act for the rest of the They add nothing to the gameplay and certainly don’t create any replayability. There’s a mode that lets you play 100 levels in a row with more and more dance moves, although that’s pretty much just hanging out in a single virtual area, and thus gets a little repetitive.