When Game Freak comes to mind, most people think of the developer’s work on the Pokemon series for Nintendo. However, before Pokemon, Game Freak worked on a little-known action-platformer for the Sega Genesis entitled Pulseman. The game starred an android named Pulseman, created by the world famous scientist Dr. Yoshiyama in an attempt to merge DNA with an Artificial Intelligence. However, Yoshiyama’s obsession with technology eventually corrupted his mind and transformed him into the evil Dr. Waruyama. Waruyama, in a moment of evil, decides to take over the world and the only thing that can stop him is own creation, the electrifying Pulseman.
Gameplay
Pulseman plays pretty much like any other platformer that was released on the Genesis in the early ’90s. The gameplay is fast-paced (see Sonic the Hedgehog), full of variety and, in some cases, brutally difficult if you don’t know what you’re doing. That said, there is one gameplay mechanic that really sticks out as something fresh and original while you are playing the game: “Voltteccer”.
“Voltteccer” is Pulseman’s signature move throughout the game and, when triggered, surrounds him with electricity and allows him to ricochet off of walls like a pinball. Depending on where you aim your bounce, Pulseman will travel through pipes, break through otherwise impenetrable walls, and discover secret areas filled to the brim with power-ups. There is however, a catch to this technique; Pulseman must first charge up enough static electricity to activate it and the only way to go about doing this is by running long straight distances without being hit or jumping. That said, while the “charge up” running technique to activate Voltteccer may seem tedious at first, it soon becomes an integral part of the games’ rule set and players will soon find themselves navigating large, lush environments by running, charging, bouncing, and punching at exactly the right time to rush through the stages at break-neck speeds. When all of the gameplay elements work together precisely as you’d imagine, Pulseman is an exhilarating experience unlike any other platformer out there but, when they don’t, it becomes excruciatingly aggravating.
Take for example Stage 6 in Pulseman, the “Alaska” stage. Up until this one level about halfway through the game, all of the bouncing and running mechanics that the player has picked up on throughout the game work exactly as you’d imagine and, even if the player fails, there is almost always another way to get out of the situation you’re stuck at or you soon realize that the trajectory of the bounce you made was off. This is not the case in the Alaska stage. About three quarters of the way through the level, the player is asked to traverse through a vertical maze by breaking blocks using Voltteccer at precisely the right moment. While this sort platforming puzzle is prevalent in some of the earlier stages, if you accidentally mess up a bounce or a jump, you can always traverse back to where you made the initial launch and try again but in the Alaska stage, if you accidentally press a button other the the “Voltteccer” button during Pulseman’s bounces through the labyrinth, he will fall into a little hole that is impossible to get out of. It’s not long enough hole for Pulseman to run and gain enough static electricity necessary for another jump in and there are no enemies or hazards that can kill Pulseman; he’ll just stand there helpless and dumbfounded until you decide to reset the game and start all the way back at Stage 1.
It’s not an enormous problem because after the first time you get stuck, you’ll realize not to touch a button at that part of the stage. However, the frustration that the player must endure the first time they traverse that level without knowing about that game-breaking glitch is strong enough for me to knock Pulseman down a peg.
Controls
Like most Sega Genesis Virtual Console titles, the game can be controlled using any of the available control schemes the Wii has to offer. A player can use a Classic Controller or even use the Wii Remote on its side to play, the latter of which I used to experience the title. Needless to say, the controls are very simple; players use the D-pad to control Pulseman’s movement, the 1 button to punch, the 2 button to jump, and the A button to activate Pulseman’s special attack, “Voltteccer”.
Presentation
Easily the most impressive aspect of Pulseman, the game’s presentation aspects are some of the best that I’ve seen in any Genesis game. Each of the game’s sprites from the enemies to the bosses to Pulseman himself are large, finely detailed, and highly polished. This same level for polish goes for each of the environments that Pulseman must traverse throughout the title as well as the anime-inspired cutscenes with full featured English voice acting, a practically non-existent feature of games at the time.
The music in Pulseman is nothing to scoff at either. Each level is given a musical theme perfectly tailored their stages environment. In the futuristic India level, electronic beeps and boops are seamlessly intertwined with the sounds of a sitar and the music in the Australia level adapts based on where Pulseman is within the stage (if he’s underwater, the sound will be muffled, but when he pops back to the surface, the electronic beats bubble up in volume with him).
All in all, Pulseman oozes polish and is an easily recommendable download based on these features alone.
Verdict
Pulseman is the very definition of an “import-friendly” title. The entire game, from the title screen to the menus to the voices of the characters in the anime-inspired cutscenes, is in English and the only hints that this is a Japanese import title come in the form of kanji subtitles that appear near the bottom of the screen during each of movie sequences. Honestly, after playing through the game, I find it very odd that Sega never took the time to bring Pulseman stateside since the localization would not have cost them very much and the game certainly would have appealed to the “in your face” platforming crowd that was so prevalent in the early ’90s. If you were afraid that downloading this import title off of Virtual Console would have required you to learn even basic Japanese, rest easy. The gameplay is thrilling, save for Stage 6, the controls are simple, and the game simply oozes polish. If you’re a fan of Genesis platformers or quality titles that never made it out of Japan, Pulseman is required playing. But, if you hate the genre, Pulseman won’t be changing your mind any time soon.
VGTribune gives Pulseman a 8.0 out of 10.
This review as based on a review copy of Pulseman provided by Nintendo.
Welcome Home Pulseman, Welcome Home.
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