The Wonder Years 11.08.07: Week 29 - Pulseman
Posted by Owain J. Brimfield on 11.08.2007
C-Life and the power of Volteccer.
Welcome to the column where all gamers of a certain age come to wallow in 16-bit nostalgia. I'm your host, Owain J. Brimfield, and I'll be discussing some of the hidden gems and instant classics of gaming's golden era. Some of these games may crop up on the Wii's Virtual Console at some point, some may be consigned to the annals of history. Either way, they're worth tracking down if you missed them first time round, or replaying if you were lucky enough to catch them. Let's take a trip to:
PULSEMAN
(Sega, Genesis, 1994)
Yes, once again it's time to dip the calloused toe of "The Wonder Years" into the murky and fetid pond of obscurity, as we touch for the first time on a game released only in Japan. Developed by Game Freak, who would go on to immense success with a later series of games, and published by Sega, Pulseman was an original action platformer with a virtual reality theme, released in the latter days of the Genesis' lifespan (in common sense terms at least; new 16-bit games were still being released for the console as late as 1998). As such, it was largely ignored by the gaming public, despite receiving critical acclaim and a reputation as one of the most technically advanced titles the Genesis had to offer. So since that column introduction I copy and paste every... single... week... promises a look at some hidden gems of the era, let's take a closer look with our jeweller's eyeglass. They should have a special name for those things.
Quite honestly, Pulseman stars out with a damn fine storyline, even if it does bear striking similarities to the Mega Man canon. In the near future (actually 1999 - funny how much was supposed to happen in that year), scientist Doc Yoshiyama managed to engineer a form of artificial intelligence named C-Life, but over time came to fall in love and eventually uploaded himself to the computer mainframe so they could live together in cyberspace. His DNA combined with C-Life, and Pulseman was born - half human, half C-life, with the electrical power of Volteccer and the capacity to flit between the living world and the virtual realm. However, the time spent in the VR world warped Yoshiyama's mind, and he re-emerged as Doc Waruyama, creating a group of evil cyber-terrorists known as the Galaxy Gang. So, naturally, it's up to Pulseman to defeat the bad guys and kill his own father. Now, anyone who doesn't fall in love with that plot is either not a science fiction nerd or else never played a game that originated in the Far East. And if you're neither of those things, then frankly, you don't have to go home but you can't stay here.
The game itself is a relatively straightforward, although undeniably fun, shooter slash platformer. Pulseman himself is quite versatile, with kicks, punches, somersaults and the Volteccer attack forming his repetoire. And - take this, Mega Man! - he can crouch at will. The little red guy himself is rather charming, too, and battling through the game's stages is never less than diverting. In terms of, er, "lastingness", though, there's not really a lot to come back to. The dozen or so levels are presented in a quasi-non-linear format, but Pulseman isn't hugely challenging - rather strange for a Japanese action game - with not a whole lot of action or enemy-slaying taking place during the course of each level, at least until the bosses arrive. Coupled with the lack of a save feature, you've got yourself quite an arcade feel to the game. This is only compounded on the bonus stages, which take a Breakout / Alleyway style approach to earning points. It's definitely memorable while it lasts.
It's the technical achievements, however, that are really worth writing home about. The handful of screenshots here really don't do the game justice. It's gorgeous to look at, with vibrant colors and the smoothest animation, arguably, of any Genesis game. The fizzing graphics do occasionally get a little visually overwhelming, particularly in the VR stages, but a little watering of the eyes is a small price to pay for one of the best looking 2D games around. The sound, too, is magnificent, with a large number of voice samples (the news reporter in particular is very impressive) and some rich aural tapestries, pleasingly lengthy for a cartridge based game. Any lack of depth in the gameplay is compensated for by the wonderful atmosphere the game invokes; it's pretty easy to get immersed in the electrical wünderkind's world.
Thankfully for posterity's sake, the game is available (in Japan at least) on the Wii's Virtual Console, and has been since April. However, being a thirteen-year-old Japan-only release, copies of the Pulseman cartridge are not exactly easy to come by. I remember seeing one on eBay not so long back that went for about $45, which I thought was a bit of a bargain, as I've never seen it anywhere else. If you have a Japanese Genesis (and to some extent even if you don't), this is a game really worth seeking out, as it's both a great title and a decent investment, even if cartridges don't function as well as a fine vintage after an ageing process. Of course, there's probably a ROM online somewhere of the English language translation that made a fleeting appearance on the Sega Channel, but I wouldn't know anything about that. [Editor's note: "The Wonder Years" strongly discourages the use of ROMs, and advises that an original game cartridge or CD is always worth buying, or at the very least stealing.] So "watt" are you doing "bright spark", why not "volt" off and "plug in", and get ready for an "electrifying" game of Pulseman!
I'm going to hell for that last sentence, aren't I.
Pulseman trivia
If you're wondering where Pulseman's distinctive visual style comes from, look no further than that guy what designed some Pokemon. I forget his name, but it's easy to see the similarities in character design.
The game's working title was Spark, which is a lot less original and was thankfully canned.
Game Freak's only other title for the Sega platform was entitled Magical Taruruto-kun. Suffice to say, it's even more obscure than Pulseman.
Pulseman is an honorable mention in my official all-time Top 100 games.
The Videosphere
Let's take a look at this week's video highlight. It's one of the best-kept secrets on the Super NES this week. Way back in 1990 (my god, that was almost 18 years ago... what an old man I've become), official Nintendo magazine Nintendo Power held a competition in which the lucky winner would get his name inserted in a hidden room in the soon to be released Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Chris Houlihan was the winner, and behold below, the means by which you can access this secret room. 45 blue rupees is your reward, but it's so obscure you have to wonder if Chris himself ever found the place.
General indulgences
Every week in this section I'll endeavour to provide you, the faithful readers, with a fascinating insight into the various forms of entertainment currently dominating my spare time.
This week, I have been mostly enjoying:
Star Wars: Rogue Leader on GameCube, which was the game of choice to christen the new games room in my house. For a first generation title, the visuals are absolutely awesome, and the game features the best Battles of Endor and Hoth ever depicted in a Star Wars video game. Plus it's pretty exhilarating being able to take down a Star Destroyer with a single B-Wing in the 'Razor Rendezvous' level.
Zack Snyder's 300, which I finally got round to watching. A bit over-rated in my opinion, but there's no denying it looks stunning, and if anyone was going to have pulled off Snake Plissken in a Carpenter remake, it would have been Gerard Butler. Can't say I'm annoyed it's not going to happen though. Have a look for the spoof 300: PG Version on YouTube, which is hilarious. "This is delicious!"
City of Evil by Avenged Sevenfold, which has some damn catchy tunes, even if the singer's voice is reaaaalllly annoying. Like a cross between Mike Patton and a chainsaw, and not the good kind.
and email feedback from the readers, which I seem to have been receiving more of lately. It warms the heart, I tell thee, especially when I see a new mail from my favorite madman "Johnny Sorrow".
And finally…
As always, reader feedback and suggestions are welcome, I respond to everything so just drop me a line. You can also check out my science fiction column "The Flux Capacitor" over at 411 Movies. Next week in "The Wonder Years" - the third of the super-special decimal editions of the column! Until then - keep it real, keep it retro.
