Space Channel 5 VR: Kinda Funky News Flash! is a virtual reality rhythm game made in Unity, developed and released by Grounding Inc. only digitally, for the PlayStation 4 in February 25th, 2020. Then Oculus Quest version appeared in October 12th which was earlier than expected [2] then the Oculus Quest 2 version came out the next day. The game follows the story of the space reporter Ulala, who is investigating the origin of white aliens called the Othermoros and the twins Roo and Kie, two new reporters hired by Channel 5 who are being trained by Ulala and helping her investigate.
Space Channel 5 VR: Kinda Funky News Flash! is a virtual reality game where instead of controlling Ulala, the player takes controls of one of the two newcomers, Roo and Kie, twin siblings who are new reporters for Channel 5 being trained by Ulala. The player sees the world in perspective of one of the twins and they stay behind Ulala assisting her in the battles. The player must copy the exact same pose of Ulala or the enemies on screen to get more views. To get 100% views in a level, the player must beat the level without missing a single move. If the player miss, they will not only lose views, but also a heart. Missing three moves in a row will result into a game over. The level's segments vary from coping the enemies moves, avoiding getting hit by obstacles and enemies attacks and shooting. Additionally, the secret moves from the second game return to this game. This time there will be blue circles which will appear during gameplay and the player will need to place their hands inside of it. If the player wants to get 100%, it's necessary to get all of the secret moves too.
Plot[]
Report 00[]
Jaguar worried about the Galaxy's Groove Moxie.
Before this tutorial, there's a cutscene showing Jaguar worried about something happening to a type of dancing energy called Groove Moxie from all across the entire Galaxy.
The tutorial.
As the level begins, Mr. Gentle greetings the player controlling one of the twins, Roo or Kie, new recently recruited reporters for Channel 5 and says they must learn the basic gameplay since they are newcomers. They are transported to a room where Ulala appears and introduces herself. She teaches the players how they are supposed to copy the moves and avoid getting hit by attacks. After some instructions, the tutorial is interrupted because Ulala received a message saying that aliens have invaded a Spaceport and are forcing people to dance. Ulala tells the player to go with her and both are transferred, ending the tutorial.
Morolians Strike Back![]
Morolians Strike Back!
The aliens called Morolians have started an invasion in the Spaceport 9 where they are making people hostages and forcing them to dance. Ulala and the twins Roo and Kie are sent to investigate the case. As the level begins, there's a group of Morolians making people hostages. To save them, the main trio must beat Morolians at dancing by copying their moves. After saving the hostages, more Morolians will appear, this time to shoot at Ulala and the twins. The trio will need to avoid attacks and shoot back at them by copying the Morolians moves. After this segment, the level's boss, a giant robot called Groovebot Prime Coco★Tapioca will arrive to fight. To defeat it, the player will need to copy the moves of yellow Morolians who are in front of the robot to avoid getting hit by it's laser and physical attacks as well as to shoot at it during the right time. After knocking Coco★Tapioca down, all of the rescued hostages will celebrate and Ulala will congratulate the player for the nice reporting.
Before the level, there'll be a cutscene revealing a mysterious being who is revealed to be absorbing Groove Moxie from all across the Galaxy called Glitter. Who thanks the Morolians for the Groove Moxie they gathered during the invasion of the first report and as a form of "gratitude", it injects X space cells into them, turning the Morolians into his minions, a new type of Morolian with a white color pallet.
A Chorus in White
Ulala is starting a new report in a space elevator going up which is taking them to space, when she is interrupted by an invasion of a group of white Morolians, that are able to talk and order Ulala to give all of her Groove Moxie, rising the later's curiosity. Meanwhile in the background, a spaceship that belongs to the mysterious Glitter can be seen abducting people. A dancing battle begins against the white Morolians, where again, the player must copy their poses to beat them. During the battle, they introduce themselves and reveal that they are a new kind of Morolian called the Othermoros. After beating them, it's revealed that Glitter has also injected X space cells into Coco★Tapiocas, turning them into Other★Tapiocas. They drop off of Glitter's spaceship and assist the Othermoros in the battle against the main trio. Again, the player must copy the Othermoros moves to avoid the attacks and shoot at the right time. This time however, they will also need to use the move "barrier" to protect themselves from Other★Tapioca's wicked beam. After knocking the robots down, the Othermoros will flee and the main trio will see Glitter's spaceship flying away into space. The curious white aliens make Ulala decides to start a investigation.
First, a cutscene plays, showing Jaguar asking for a trio called "The Jaguars" (formed by Kell, Bello and Soon-Soon) if they are ready to make their move. They answer "ready when you are!".
Space Pirates Showdown
The level begins with Ulala and the twins above their spaceship chasing Glitter's spaceship through space, in an area full of meteors called Meteorite Area.Pudding, Shinichiro Tachibana and 88MAN, who are also after the ship investigating the case, make a cameo and fly away. Suddenly, the Space Pirates Broadcasting ship appears with the Jaguars taunting Ulala, saying she won't get far away with her new "Newbie" then fly away. A gameplay segment begins, where the player must copy Ulala's move to shoot and avoid meteors.
The Jaguars and some Space Pirates will attack afterwards. By copying their moves, the player will be able to avoid their attacks and counter. All of the Space Pirates but the Jaguars will flee after a while. Kell, Bello and Soon-Soon will present themselves and challenge the main trio for a dancing battle. After defeating them, Kell congratulates the player when suddenly, they are all surprised by Glitter's ship which abducts the Jaguars, then Ulala. Before getting abducted though, Ulala throws her microphone to the player. Eventually, the spaceship also abducts the player and the report ends.
Before the reports a cutscene showing computers damaged plays.
The Final Report
The report begins with Mr. Gentle telling the players they are inside Glitter's ship. By looking up, it's possible to see Ulala and the Jaguars being made hostages with Ulala fainted. It's also revealed that Pudding, 88MAN and Tachibana were captured as well and are being made hostages too. Then, the hungry Glitter finally appears to the player. Glitter has absorbed a lot of Groove Moxie from all of the hostages including Ulala, and now it is very full, expecting non less from Ulala. However Glitter still wants more and starts a battle against the player with Othermoros assisting it.
The first battle consists of Glitter singing and attacking the player while the Othermoros do the dancing move. To win this fight, the player obvious needs to copy the aliens moves and use the move "barrier" to protect themselves. Mr. Gentle assists the player by singing and saying the moves the player is doing. After a while the Jaguars advice the player to start shooting. They also replace Mr. Gentle at assisting the player during the singing parts. Glitter stops the battle to taunt the player, saying they are alone, when Jaguar invades his ship and joins forces with the player. With Jaguar's help, they start saving the reporters, starting with 88MAN and Tachibana, then Pudding, Kell and lastly, Bello and Soon-Soon. Together, the team will join forces to wake up and save Ulala. After that, one last battle where the characters sing by copying the Othermoros poses will happen. After defeating Glitter, the Othermoros will turn back into Morolians and the hostages who were abducted during report 2 will be rescued. They will all join forces with the heroes and will unite their Groove Moxie to make one fantastic force capable of defeating Glitter. It's later revealed that Glitter was actually possessing a Space Diva with the same name. Once she is freed, Glitter flees from the scene and the heroes celebrate by dancing. The credits start rolling, though the player should be aware, as the credits will sometimes cut to a cutscene which will contain a secret move.
A mode to introduce the game where there's no limits on how many moves the player can miss, recommended for newcomers. Miku's Far-Out Report Show can also be accessed here.
Trial Dance[]
A mini game where the player must fight Jaguar in a 100 stage dance battle. This mini game was inspired by The 100 Stage Dance Battle (Ulala Dance mode) from Space Channel 5 Part 2. The mini game consist of Jaguar and a few other characters making dancing moves which the player must copy. As the levels go, the characters assisting Jaguar will turn to the player's side and assist them. The mini game contains unique moves such as "Woof", "Meow", "Honda" and "Toyota", which were also in the mode from the previous game, as well as new commands such as "Macho", "Jaguar" and "Gorilla". Unlike the previous minigame though, the player can miss moves, they just can't miss them three times in a row.
Hard Mode[]
Hard mode was announced January 27th, 2021 by Grounding Inc had been added to the Oculus Quest, Steam, and Viveport versions of the game.[4] Hard mode for the the PS4VR version was released on February 16th, 2021[5][6] To access the mode, the player will have to complete the main story first, then it adds the Hard Mode button.
The Hard Mode is similar to Extra Mode from Space Channel 5: Part 2; the reports are identical to the normal mode but the the difficult of the dance has been increased. Additionally three lives for the entire report not just a segment of it. Moves such as "Toyota", "Honda", "Meow" and "Woof", which were previously only used for the Ulala Dance Mode and Trial Dance mini games, are also present in this mode.
Viewing Mode[]
This mode allows the player to watch the story again through a third person perspective and multiple camera angles.
Dressing Room[]
This mode allows the player to change Ulala’s outfits as you unlock them through the game. As of the latest update Ulala can be dressed up as:
This mode allows players to view character biographies of the entire game. You can see the Heroes, Rivals, Aliens and Normal Folk in the game.
Calories[]
You can play over and over again and this game tracks your calories burnt during gameplay. There are 5 bests you can do and can reset them over and over again.
Invincible Mode[]
In this mode it will prevent the player from getting any game overs from occurring in the Story and Arcade Mode. Note that playing with invincibility on will prevent trophies for reports from unlocking even if they are completed.
Development[]
According to an interview made by Kotaku, the development team revealed that the idea for a third installment of the Space Channel 5 series was always imagined, but they though it wasn't worth making it if the game played just like the first two, they wanted to add more gameplay variety.[7] The game's narrative designer, Takumi Yoshinaga, said he though about making a game for either the Nintendo Wii and/or Xbox Kinect, but a project for neither was ever started, because he though the game would eventually get repetitive fast and wouldn't have much replay value.[7] It was then, with the Virtual Reality, that the team though they had finally found a way to make a new game which would be fresher and bring more gameplay variety to the series. [7] Additionally, the game has a feature called that measures calories burned during gameplay, which according to Grounding Inc.'s CEO and Ulala's Japanese voice actress, Mineko Okamura, makes the players maintain their health while saving the universe they are sent to. [8] Giving the game more replay value.
Ulala's new neon yellow outfit.
The game's art director, Noburo Hotta, was responsible for giving Ulala a brand new neon yellow outfit, according to himself in the Kotaku interview, neon yellow was the best color to express the world of Virtual Reality. He also revealed that the reason why her outfit was orange in the first game was to symbolize something new and exciting for Sega and because it was the color of the Dreamcast. [7] It's also possible to notice that the new Morolians, the Othermoros, are wearing virtual reality glasses. For voice actors, only six returned to reprise their roles, they are Mineko Okamura (Ulala's Japanese voice actress), Kae Iida (Pudding's Japanese voice actress), Shō Hayami (Jaguar's Japanese voice actor), Takashi Yuda (Fuse's Japanese voice actor), Ken Okazaki (Noize's Japanese voice actor) and Tom Clarke Hill (Jaguar's English voice actor in the second installment). During the game's development, the Team Grounding tweeted on November 14, 2018, that they had lost contact with Ulala's original English voice actress, the pop singer and media personality, Apollo Smile, and asked for help to track the voice actress down for the game. Eventually, in an interview made by Siliconera, Mineko Okamura revealed that they were actually able to contact her thanks to the Space Channel 5's dedicated community, but unfortunately, Apollo Smile herself didn't want to reprise her role has the lead character. Still Okamura showed great gratitude for such dedicated and helpful community. With Smile rejecting to return, Cherami Leigh took the role of the space reporter. According to Okamura, Leigh has a catchy and positive voice which fitted Ulala's personality very well. [8] The game also features new voice actors such as Greg Chun as Glitter and Noize, Cassandra Lee Morris as Kell, Ratana as Bello, Mari Suffiad as Soon-Soon and Patrick Seitz as Fuse.
Physical Release[]
On the 8th of July it was announced by LimitedRunGames that either on the July 31st [9],[10][11] or November[12] it is getting a physical release and the Price is $34.99 [13] The Single Space Channel 5 physical order is now On Deck according by LimitedRunGames website "This item has been received and is in our warehouse, but has not yet begun active shipment. We expect to start shipping within 1 - 2 weeks. Status will be updated to "In-Hand" when shipping begins." Later on the single physical release has been shipped to all over the world from the US.
Collectors Edition[]
On the 29th July it was announced by the same company who getting a physical release, that there will also be a Collector’s Edition of Space Channel 5 VR: Kinda Funky News Flash! [14].In this deal they include the Physical Space Channel 5 VR Kinda Funky News Flash game for the PS4, 18" x 24" Poster, Officially licensed Sega Dreamcast Jewel Case, Foam ring to transform your PS Move Controller into Ulala's microphone, Space Channel 5 fidget spinner, Handmade galaxy blue Morolian finger puppet. The price for it is $69.99 and is available for 2,000 copies[15] The Collectors Edition is now in in Production. This will be available for shipping in Q1 2021(this year), and as 9th February is On Deck and will start shipping in 1-2 weeks when they are In-Hand. [16]
Space Channel 5 Fan Bundle[]
Also Space Channel 5 fans can get for $114.99 a Space Channel 5 Fan Bundle.[17] This bundle includes the following:
Limited Run #353: Space Channel 5 VR Kinda Funky News Flash! (PS4)
Limited Run #353: Space Channel 5 VR Kinda Funky News Flash! Collector's Edition (PS4)
The complete set of trading cards for the games included in this bundle.
One random Limited Run Games trading card from past or future games.
This bundle includes one guaranteed gold trading card from any of the included games.
Hatsune Miku wearing her Space Channel 5 modules/outfits.
The Space 39 miku Pack is a DLC pack released on July 27th, 2020. Depending on the platform, this DLC may be paid or free.
On February 26, 2020, Grounding Inc. announced a then upcoming DLC that would include Hatsune Miku, the Vocaloid star, and state that the player will be able to dance alongside her and Ulala for the first time. [18][19] Miku, outside of her existence of a program, is the protagonist of another Sega-owned rhythm game series, Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA, which has made tributes to Space Channel 5 a few times. Miku has two modules (outfits) that call back to Space Channel 5, one of them has Miku dressing up as Ulala, with her hair color even changing to pink, the other is a black outfit of a made up channel called "Space Channel 39".
Space Channel 39 T-shirts
On May 30, 2020, Groundling Inc announced that the DLC, now called the “Space 39 miku Pack," was set to release on July 27th, 2020. [20] On the promised dated, the DLC was released to the world, though some territories did not receive of the DLC until the 28th likely due to difference in time zone.[21] It features a whole range of activities. First off there is a new stage in Arcade mode called "Miku's Far-Out Report Show" where the player gets to play as the twins alongside Hatsune Miku and Ulala. An important fact is that this level only contains audio in Japanese. It also adds 10 new costumes for Ulala, which are listed above.
Additionally there were also Space Channel 39 T-shirts which were available from July 27 to August 17, 2020. [22][23]A Fan Art Contest to celebrate the DLC pack’s release started on June 1st, 2020.[24] It was set to be ended on Sunday July 5, 2020 with a craft item July 6, 2020 but it was extended until August 30, 2020 [25]
For the Steam Version, which was released after the DLC's release, Grounding inc were having trouble with users getting the game playable, fortunately they resolved that: "If the update DL does not come automatically, please restart Steam. If there is no update after restarting, please uninstall it from the setting menu of the library application and install it again. We apologize for the inconvenience." [26]
Reception[]
Since its release, the game has received mixed reviews, with its biggest criticism from both the critics and the community being the fact the game is very short and expensive. According to Noisypixel, which gave the game a 7.5/10, the controls are very responsive and the game never makes the player feels being cheated, but being simply "More Space Channel 5" may make it difficult for newcomers to understand and get interested in the series. [27] Gamegrin gave the game a 7/10, claiming the game is less difficult than the previous installments. But at the same time, thanks to the lack of challenge, the game can be beaten very fast and the price tag makes it really hard to sell. [28] Metro GameCentral gave the game a 3/10, praising the game for it's tunes, visuals and good use of the PlayStation Move controllers, but criticising it for it's motion sensing and for being too short. [29] UploadVR gave the game two starts out of five, claiming the series could have made a glorious return but this game can't keep up with it's competitors and criticed the game for having very little content. Overall, Metacritic gave the game a 51 metascore and it's users a 4.8.[30]
The Space Channel 5 Ukiuki Music Festival was a music festival that aired on November 13, 2020 as a part of the 20th Anniversary celebration of the Space Channel 5 series.
-PSVR Pro- 100-Stage Dance Battle!!! - Space Channel 5 VR
Trial Dance cleared.
スペースチャンネル５ VR × REALITY ティザーPV 「帰ってきたうらら編」
Japan exclusive teaser trailer (No english subs available )
Hatsune Miku × SpaceChannel5 VR Official Enlglish Trailer【Space39 miku Pack】PV English ver.
Hatsune Miku DLC trailer.
Trivia[]
This is the first Space Channel 5 game after a hiatus of 18 years, not counting HD remakes.
Also, Ulala got a new English voice actress in this game (Cherami Leigh) for the first time after been voiced by Apollo Smile for 20 years.
The development team said in an interview that they didn't want to make a third game if its gameplay didn't have enough differences from the first two, hence why the long hiatus and why the game is in Virtual Reality. [7]
The game's final report has the PS4Share function blocked, making players unable to record or live stream Report 4. Due to a bug at launch, players were able to stream Report 4. This was patched in Version 1.01.
This is the first game where Space Michael, Hoorg, Blank and Evila are completely absent after appearing in every game.
This is the second game where Pudding is kidnapped. The first time she was kidnapped was during the third report of the first game.
Jaguar was the only major character to not be captured. Ironically, he was one of the two major characters to be captured in the previous game, the other was Space Michael, who didn't return to this game.
With Ulala, Tachibana and 88MAN being captured in this game, Morolian Eight, who was absent from this game, becomes the only reporter to have never ever being kidnapped nor brainwashed.
In this game, it's revealed that there are multiple Coco★Tapiocas.
In the Tokyo Games Show 2024, anyone who plays it in the VR/AR booth will receive a badge either of Ulala, Roo & Kie, Jaguars, The Jaguars Morolians and Othermoros and even a Stay Turned badge. [33] Also at the event, Grounding Inc. have prepared a version of the game based on the Quest version that allows you to experience the main game "Report 1 (1 side)"! [34]
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![Ulala's model. [31][32]](/wiki/File:Ulala_in_Unity_part_2.png "Ulala in Unity part 2.png (258 KB)")
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