Space Channel 5: Part 2 is an improvement over the original while being a solid enough rhythm game

The biggest thing they've added that I think was needed was the midway checkpoints. In the first game, there are four stages, but eventually, they start to get longer, and if you lose all of your hearts, it's back to the beginning. That was one of the things that killed a bit of the experience for me because you have to go through the 10 minutes all over again because you screwed up one part of the stage. It was a much-needed addition to Part 2 because later stages can go up to 20 minutes of rhythm and in-game cutscenes. Don't get me wrong, it's still frustrating, but the game is more tolerable now

Another issue I had with the first game was that some parts felt like it was off-sync. There are parts where I got the move right, but the game registered that as incorrect. That was the most annoying part of the first game, and that has been fixed, for me at least

I feel the music is better compared to the first, and I like how they've fleshed out the characters a bit, including my favorite, Space Michael

Space Channel 5: Part 2 is the definitive Space Channel 5 experience. I know I've been talking about the improvements in this review, but it feels like the developers have learned from the first game and made something better. If you want to try out the series, get Part 2 on PC. If you're going to try out both games, get the Special Edition on PlayStation 2; that's where I played it when writing this review. I may not think this is a great game, but it is genuinely a Dreamcast classic

Reviewed on Oct 24, 2022


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