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Pulseman Review

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Obscurity Corner Special
Pulseman (Gens/MD)

The game known as Pulseman was made by Game Freak,  the creators of the Pokemon games. It was released in the Mega Drive in Japan and until the game was released on Virtual Console, it was never released outside of Japan. Even then, while it had surprisingly clear English voices (which is not uncommon in games in Japan), the text was in Japanese even in the VC release. However, the text has been translated and the rom and/or patch has been released to be played (which you can look up). Here is my review of Pulseman.

Story:

In the 21'st century, a notable computer scientist known as Doc Yoshiyama creates a "C-Life" being. An advanced artificial intelligence with an actual mind of her own. He soon falls in love with the digital being and enters the cyberworld himself. He then has "bio-digital sex" (I am not kidding). This mix between his DNA and her code results in a hybrid boy who would become known as Pulseman. Doc Yoshiyama  became mentally corrupted by his time in the cyberworld and becomes evil. He became known  after that as Doc Waruyama. He then forms a group of cyber-terrorists known as the Galaxy Gang to cause chaos in both the the physical and digital realm. With the help of a C-Life being known as Beatrice, Pulseman takes it upon himself to stop his father and the Galaxy gang.

Setting:

Pulseman will travel around the world and shift between the physical world and the digital world to battle the forces of the Gang as well as Waruyama himself at a few points. Under the effects of the "EUREKA system" created by Waruyama, the many C-Life based members of the Galaxy Gang can phase through both worlds easily which makes them even more of a threat. Due to Pulseman's dual nature, he can do this as well without harm. As for Beatrice (who is a C-Life being no longer under the influence of the EUREKA system after Pulseman rescues her from the Galaxy Gang), she is still in the digital realm and cannot get out out of it but she still communicates with Pulseman and assists him on his quest. So that's basically it in terms of setting.

Gameplay:

As a mix between a human and a C-Life, Pulseman has both the ability to phase between the physical and digital worlds, he also is potent physical attributes as well as powers over electricity. This all shows during gameplay. With his electrical powers, he can use his signature move, the Volteccer in which he turns him into a sphere of electrical energy and shoot off diagonally upwards and can rebound off walls. Yes, this game is indeed an action platformer by the way.

In order to execute the Volteccer as well as an enhanced projectile version of your normal attack (an electricity-charged "slash"), you must run a certain distance to charge yourself and then do the move. The Volteccer can be used without charging but it is very brief and is much less effective as a result. His electrical abilities will be used in a variety of ways like going through circuits in the form of the Volteccer. One major weakness of Pulseman is water which can short out his powers. He will not be physically harmed but he will be unable to use his powers unless he gets out of water. As for health, you will lose a life if you get hit three times. Lose all your lives, and it's game over. You will really have to get used to the gameplay to get through the game.

Overall, the game is interesting with the unique mechanics and is a blast to play.

Graphics:

The game boast very colorful graphics. And with the theme of cyberspace in areas, it looks like it can be seizure-inducing to those prone to it since it can be very flashy on top of that. It's very nice to look at however. The game certainly looks very impressive visually.

Sound:
Again, to fit with the "digital style", the game has what is basically 100% electronic music. It certainly sounds like it. As for the voices, they are English (despite the game originally being released in Japan) and surprisingly clear for the Mega Drive so even the voices are well done. So the music and the voices are good overall.

Overall:

This game is very interesting piece of work and looks and sounds great. The only things that bugs me about it is that it was released in Japan only and even the Virtual Console release still is in Japanese. English speakers (like myself) will have a tough time understanding it. But someone has translated the game and you can easily find a patched rom and/or separate patch plus the rom quite easily online with the text translated to English and with an emulator, you can play the game in English. Go do some searching if you are interested. As for the game, it deserves an A as it is very good indeed. That's it for this review. I hope it was informative.
Here is my review of Pulseman for the Mega Drive. A very fun game and one that needs more love like the other games I reviewed.

For those who can't find a patch here is somewhere you can get it. [link] As for the rom, that should be easy. Google "Pulseman rom" is you think otherwise. That's all. Have fun everyone!
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Comments13
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ConneroftheNightSky's avatar
Well, the Japanese text has nothing to do with the story really. So anyone can play this game on the wii's virtual console without worrying about missing something in the text.