Space Channel 5: Ulala?s Cosmic Attack

Ulala mobilizes in this port of the Dreamcast cult classic, but can pop-art psychedelia translate to the Game Boy Advance?

Space Channel 5 for the Game Boy Advance is a space oddity, a psychedelic audio-visual dance-sim experience built for a system that was never intended to supply psychedelic audio-visual dance-sim experiences. The fact that the game works even a little bit is somewhat of a cosmic shock.

Space Channel 5: Ulala?s Cosmic Attack is a condensed remake of the cult classic rhythm-matching Dreamcast game. The original?s CG renders have been retooled with a fair degree of aesthetic success, but the game?s hyperpastel color scheme tends to look a little washed-out, bland text (it looks almost ?placeholder?) supplants most speech, and the animation is much stiffer than in the original. The sound experience, however, translates surprisingly well, proof positive that the GBA SP sound processing hardware is actually quite good if developers bother trying to utilize it. The main Space Channel 5 theme (repeated throughout in various reprises), Ulala?s voice, Space Michael (Jackson)?s disturbing ?ooh!?, and the endless litany of ?chu!?s all sound great. A word of warning, however: If you have a GBA SP, you?ll need the headphone adapter?the game relies on the sound through and through, and in almost any environment you?ll be playing a GBA SP, headphones are pretty much a necessity. As a sort of compensation, the game is really forgiving when it comes to matching the rhythm.

Space Channel 5 is better than it has any right to be, but ?cooler than it should have been? isn?t quite enough to recommend a purchase?especially given that the game is also really short and super-easy. Mini-Ulala works mostly as a neato novelty act.

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