Oooh-la-la, Ulala!

I think I'm a video-game addict, or a relative one, considering I'm a girl and "girls" don't play video games.

I've always loved Tetris (don't argue with me about it being a video game...it was on Nintendo and therefore a video game) and Yoshi. Dr. Mario was loads of fun. I don't do a lot of sports games, but I adore SSX Tricky. I don't do car games, but I love driving around in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City just so I can listen to the 80s tunes. Forget about the missions! It's all about cruising the city.

What I DO do, are the musical games. I get so addicted to those. First one I ever tried was Bust-A-Move (Bust-A-Groove, here in North America.) and I was hooked. Every moment I got the Playstation away from my brother I'd play that game to its completion. I needed new fixes...I craved the Bust-A-Groove sequels. Unfortunately, they never came to North America...and I couldn't find pirated copies anywhere.

Along the way my brother picked up a Dreamcast at a secondhand store. I chastised him for wasting his money...having more than one system (even I had to admit the NES just couldn't compare anymore to the Playstation...but we kept it for nostalgia) seemed like such a frivolous extravagance.

But then he insisted I try out Space Channel 5. That was it...he got me to shut up pretty quick after that. I guided Ulala during her mission to save the world over and over and over again. I saved Space Michael (major kudos to the game creators for incorporating Michael Jackson in there), I kicked Evila's butt, and I would lead all the dancing humans all grooving into the far ends of the galaxy. "Left, right, up, down, chu chu chu!"

Unfortunately, one fateful day my fickle brother dismantled the Dreamcast and traded it in towards a Playstation 2. My days of living vicariously through Ulala were dashed.

With the PS2 came Frequency, Mad Maestro, Unison...all games I love, but they just couldn't compare to Space Channel 5. Civic blessed me with my very own copy of Dance Dance Revolution and a dancepad to boot! I'm definitely hooked on that, but I still yearn for the days when I used to save the galaxy through music.

And now she's about to come back into our lives. November 25th, Sega's reuniting me and Ulala via the PS2. Rumor has it that not only will it be the original game, but the sequel will be packaged together with it!

"Save us, Ulala!"