Price: £39.99 Players: 1 No, don't rush off! This has nothing to do with the low-rated TV channel with a fuzzy picture and I promise you won't find Keith Chegwin naked in this game! You take the role of Ulala, a space-age female TV presenter and dance diva who has to be the queen of the disco scene. Space Channel 5 is a "Parappa the Rappa"-style affair in which getting hip to the beat and landing on your feet may be the key to success. Keep in time with the music, breakdance better than the invading aliens, rescue their dancing hostages and boost your TV ratings. And that's just about it. It's a novelty game which was fine when Parappa was first released since it was a genre to which we'd only just been introduced. Nowadays it's getting rather long in the tooth and a simple change of sprites just isn't enough.

Where this sort of game does excel - and is best played - is in the arcades. It's quite hypnotising to see people jumping about, crossing their legs and spinning round as specified directions appear onscreen or are shouted out to you, but it's not quite the same just pressing a button. There are some very imaginative graphics with an appearance from Michael Jackson and plenty of colour be it from Ulala's bright orange mini-skirt, your opponents yellow flared trousers (just imagine the horror!) and the cool backdrops, all of which serve to provide a mesmerising experience if you stare at the screen for long enough. The style blends in well with the funky groove of music from the 1970s.

A 60Hz option is also available for those with compatible television sets. While it's a fairly easy game to just pick up and play, a question must be raised with regards to its longevity. There's a mere four levels here and the only incentive you have to return to the game upon completion is to improve upon your percentage TV rating as there's no option to increase the difficulty setting.

GRAPHICS SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC PLAYABILITY ORIGINALITY ENJOYMENT
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Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2002.