Bring Back the Space Channel 5 Franchise, Sega!

Space Channel 5 debuted on the Sega Dreamcast in 2000 and had ports to PS2 and even Game Boy Advance in Japan. Recently Space Channel 5 Part 2 made it on to a compilation disk of Sega Dreamcast games for Xbox 360. The game was a music game where the player must match dance steps with a series of button pushes at just the right time, to the beat.

In the game you are Ulala, a "space reporter" with her own "Swingin' Report Show". The game is funky, fresh, and downright lovable, especially to any Otaku who truly understands the concept of MOE. Ulala (Age:22) is cute and sexy, and can really "get down with her boogie parts".

But this is not a review of the game or the short-lived franchise. This is more of a lament. What happened to the franchise? One can say it was replaced by more sophisticated music games, like Guitar Hero or Rock band.

But those games are all but dead. Why not bring back Ulala and SC5? In 2007 an "online petition" went out to bring back the game.

The game was created by the brilliant Tetsuya Mizuguchi. Mizuguchi-san left Sega on October 10th, 2003, citing the corporate culture of the Sega-Sammy merger as his reason. It is to my understanding that no one wanted to touch the game story-wise since.

I think Sega should take the plunge and bring it back. Sega is finding out what Nintendo learned quite a while back- the older games are starting to have new appeal. Sonic Generations is proof of this, and with Guitar Hero all but out of the way, I think it's time for Sega to seriously look at this quirky, funky, and sexy franchise again.

I've said before that I'm tired of all these franchises that have been done to death, like Call of Duty. I was tired of it before it was "cool" to be tired of it. I'm tired of walking dudes around on sticks, and first-person shooters in general.

With all the "re-boots" going on, I find it necessary to say that it probably isn't even necessary to re-boot SC5. The same formula will work just fine. Sega needs a Hi-Def version of the game complete with different outfits for Ulala, mini-games, and even online competition.

Perhaps the release of SC5 Part 2 for Xbox 360 is a clue- the game was only available in this country as part of a "package deal" with the first game in 2003, so most people missed it altogether. Could Sega be testing the waters to see if there is a demand?

This game is a classic and is sorely missed. I hope Sega grabs the opportunity to release Space Channel 5 Part 3.