Tbh having tried it years ago emulated.. I gotta say this game feels like a bad tech demo. Gameplay is not balanced or really fun. Difficulty is not balanced, even the music felt super barebones and unfinished. Level design (and the backrounds) are horrendous expessially to the eyes
There used to be a Mega Man fans site called atomic fire that had a pulseman fan site. Had all the music rips as well as some character art. Probably still find it on internet archives.
Fun fact: When Super Smash Bros Brawl introduced "final smash" attacks, they gave Pikachu the attack "Volt Tackle" which looks a lot like Pulseman's form when he turns into those flying electro orbs. (In the latest Smash game Pikachu still has that move, but it's no longer directly controlable, as the final smash moves all got kinda streamlined)
they did that because pokemon gave it to pikachu first. volt tackle has been pikachu's move ever since ruby and sapphire. and yeah it's definitely a pulseman reference because the japanese names are identical.
Fun fact on the fun fact: The Japanese name pays homage (or rips off) Tekkaman. However, the original Voltekka is a little shuriken-like star symbol that flies off Tekkaman's forehead in the 60s show, or a powerful energy laser from the shoulders in the Tekkaman Blade "reboot" in the 90s. Both characters would later show on Tatsunoko vs Capcom, where the og 60s Tekkaman's Voltekka was changed to also be an energy beam. As far as I know, the katakana for Voltekka, Volteccer and Volt Tackle is the exact same.
@@ShadowEl good point. i felt like when there were games that appeared on both systems, the SNES version needlessly added more colors and shading than needed, while the Genesis version looked much better with its cartoony approach. one example is Donald Duck's Quackshot on Genesis vs Donald Duck's Maho no Boshi on the Super Famicom (Japan only)
I remember playing this and thinking it was like Sonic. I thought it was some fever dream I had because I couldn’t remember the name of the game and nobody I knew recognized it’s description of the game and it’s gameplay. Thanks for what you do dude. Love your videos.
Game Freak seems to have a lot of respect for this game and has referenced many times in the Pokémon games, between things like the Pokémon Rotom which has a similar concept, some of the design, moves and some of the music like the Barry theme in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, which has a segment which was basically directly taken from a theme in this game.
Not to mention Pikachu's Volt Tackle is lifted directly from Pulseman. Ledian has a similar design to Pulseman as well. Also the concept of being able to live in cyberspace and the real world just like Pokemon.
The Pokémon world is the past counterpart of the earth that Pulseman was created in. And the Pokémon world is also supposed to be a part of the real world, what with mentions of Minnesota and Columbia. Pulseman is real, but he only exists present as data. Perhaps a while after the World Crime Event, he found the means to time travel, and sent the Rotom into the past to search for something…or to make sure that crime hadn’t transcended time and space. That’s my head canon.
The different teams in pokemon are called gangs in Japan. Team Galactic was known as Galaxy gang and was the same name as the villain organization in Pulseman.
It has references to earlier Pokemon games too. Dunno why people keep bringing up Diamond and Pearl, guess it was because Pulseman was ported to the Wii at the same time as Diamond and Pearl being on DS so kids made that comparison. There's plenty of references to the first two gens here too.
This was always one of my favorite older games. The fact that it had a story, good level design, and multiple ways to attack enemies was a thrill. I really wish they would take this game and Ristar and make modernized versions of them to bring the characters back. I know they usually mess a few things up when they "reboot" games, but they could also do so many great things with them as well. It would be well worth the risk of disappointment just to see them again.
@@JohnDoe-wq5eu true talk, they forced it on sega of America Then they made the awful decision .! Of releasing virtua racing as a $100.00 game . Instead of making the svp chip a lock on cartridge like sonic and knuckles for .$49.99 And launching 4 games with it . $49.99 each Virtua racing ,virtua fighter ,virtua cop,Star Wars The
@@JohnDoe-wq5eu To be fair, it was a lot more than the 32X: Sega created a lot of platforms around that time that they dropped official support for very quickly (the aforementioned 32X, the Mega CD, the Game Gear and later the Saturn). And don't forget that when the Saturn launched, it was less powerful than the PSX, retailed at £100 more than it and was more difficult to develop for. Sega didn't really get its act together until the Dreamcast, and it was sadly too late by then.
86-90 I lived with my father and he wouldn’t let me play video games so I missed that span of time that would have hooked me. I’m 47 and just bought a switch lite looking for some of the games I did get to play for a few minutes in store displays and some arcade stuff from my time with my mother. Just started Pulseman today and in the first 30 secs I knew this was going to be dope. Thanks for the info!
Now that I think of it, it's a bit ironic how this was a must-have for emulator gamers (it was on any rom collection CD or zip-file), while console gamers consider it a hidden or lost gem.
I've never played it, but I watched the Game Center CX episode and it looks amazing. I love the FM Synth sound, personally. Probably because I grew up gaming on DOS, and a lot of it just sounds like Ad Lib. Plus I just think it's a cool sound. Megaman music remixed in Genesis style sounds better, as far as I'm concerned.
When I was really young I used to play a lot of games er... Anyway I could. Since in Brazil everything is kind of harder and relatively pricier, we didn't even get to the discussion about downloading ROMs until recently. As a kid, I thought Pulseman was in the same level of awareness as Megaman. Couldn't be more wrong. But anyways, such a nostalgia trip to watch your review
I’ve always loved just the idea of this game, I’m SEGA kid, though I grew up with both SNES and genesis (a perk of being born in 2006 with hand me downs), but I have more nostalgia for genesis, and this game is one I’ve always used as a bit of trivia for people when they ask me to name something interesting about the genesis. “Did you know gamefreak made a game on it? And it was really cool”. Glad to see it’s getting the SEGADrunk treatment
Yeah I have to admit it is a bit mind blowing to think game freak made a game for the Genesis/Mega Drive back in the day. It's kind of sad to see a company that had so much talent basically get used just for Pokemon.
@@JohnDoe-wq5eu it's what keeps the lights on. they haven't expanded as a developer so they don't have a lot of capacity to develop multiple projects. they did do HarmoKnight, Pocket Card Jockey, Tembo the Badass Elephant (published by SEGA!), and Little Town Hero in the last decade. Drill Dozer on GBA was also criminally underrated - it came out in that sunset period after the DS launch. Probably their best since Pulseman and hasn't been topped since.
@@ShadowEl Yeah drilldozer is an absolute classic. And the badass elephant isn't a horrible game either. Mostly I'm just shocked that postman has never gotten another release. I mean not even as a extra game on the Genesis mini or something. I do as I said in another comment hope they put it on the NSO Genesis service at least. That would hopefully at least get it out to more people as so few people have been able to enjoy this game. As for why game freak do what they do yeah I understand. Coors Pokemon is there Big money Maker and it's what they use to keep the lights on I get it. I do wish they would use it as an excuse to branch out more and make more games you would think they were getting pretty sick and tired of the same Pokemon stuff and we wanted to do something else but I don't know I guess not.
Well, it’s a good thing that this game is now on Sega Genesis for Nintendo Switch Online a few minutes ago. Now, I can finally get to play this game now.😊
My brother is a huge fan of Snes Drunk, He's been watching your videos for years and is still watching them now. Thank you, for making my brother happy all these years. 😊
i had no idea this was a sega channel exclusive. i still cannot believe i convinced my parents to sign up for the service but it was one of the coolest things at the time.
Hey I'm leaving this here because it was the most recent video but I just finished binging all the review videos on your channel. I have a snes classic and a hacked 3ds so I'm getting back into retro gaming and trying to familiarize myself with everything I don't know. This channel has been a massive resource for learning about the biggest games I should have known as well as all the lesser known stuff that wasn't on my radar before, plus everything like rom hacks and translations. I appreciate that the videos are all around 5 minutes, that made it really easy to mow through all your videos. If they were like 15-20 minute reviews like I know a lot of people do because the algorithm I wouldn't have engaged so easily. Thanks for being a tremendous source for information on 16 bit (and 8 bit) gaming. PS Pulseman looks awesome. Gonna check this out ASAP
Love that you covered this. I was one of the lucky ones that had Sega Channel, and got to play it! I was a die hard Mega Man fan, and loved this game alot! I always thought it had a few Sparkster or Rocket Knight vibes too. Nice vid!
Awesome video as always! FM synthesis is great, there's still people who think only the Genesis did that kind of sound but basically almost every damn arcade and PC at the time used it as well. It was THE way to do sound in video games, specially in Japan where tbh I haven't seen or read any kind of hate about Genesis sound like in the west.
I beat this twice without savestates so I know this game well. It can be a bit hard, but you'll be okayish if you take it slow. One of the last levels, level 7 I think? can't remember, is absolute bs though. It has an underwater section where you have to fall and dodge spikes and ect with floaty gravity, it's horrible I almost always lose 90% of my lifes and continues here. I love this game regardless of that part. I love the cheezy voice clips as well, and the music is rad. "WATER CAN DESTROY PULSEMAN! >:)"
This is the kind of gem I could only find here. It's easy to realize why you were so enthusiastic during the review. Great video! I just noticed Pulseman's outfit resembles a lot tokusatsu hero Machine Man!
The graphics look even better via a clean composite signal on a CRT. GF deliberately designed a lot of the visual effects to take advantage of the specific artifacting on the Genesis/MD composite output, so you'll actually get better looking "transparency" effects and smoother color/shading gradients... s-video or RGB will look a lot more grainy and awkward
I've been enjoying The Delta Flyers podcast recently, so the Voyager Holodeck reference hit home for me. Plus, this game looks super cool, and this is the first I've heard of it. Great work, Drunk!
I really wanted to Sega Channel growing up, and got to say I agree with the take on Sega's being spread too thin, I wanted a Saturn but couldn't even get one when it came out for over a year and then I had moved on to Nintendo by then
I remember catching a glimpse of this game in a Sega montage on X-Play. Then I found out I could purchase it on the Wii Virtual Console. I never finished the game, but I liked what I played. Glad to have it in the collection.
This, Panorama Cotton, and Mega Man: The Wiley Wars all should have gotten North American releases. America in particular was were the Genesis had the biggest fan base and yet games we would have bought in an instant never came over here.
Cotton would not have been successful in mid-90s America. Anything remotely "cute-em-up" was roundly rejected. This and Wiley Wars absolutely deserved a retail release.
The thing with the MD/Genesis FM synthesis is that you get out what you put in. Hell, even some games that used GEMS sounded good. Great composers, arrangers, sound designers and programmers got some pretty neat stuff out of that Yamaha chip.
As a connoisseur of fine genesis music, I find this soundtrack enducing more headaches than good times. A couple of these tracks are alright techno loops but this soundtrack clearly needed a year or two in the oven, or a better composer entirely.
GEMS wasn't the problem and was actually a pretty neat tool. It was the users of GEMS who abused provided preset sounds. They didn't have the willpower or maybe time to create new sounds.
So let me get this straight: Pulseman was born when his father fell in love with a woman in his computer? Is Pulseman's mother the world's first official Waifu?
Mst3k jokes now they're ripping off spaceballs,watch out for snakes,slim goodbody2525,gallifreyan cruises,crow she's changing Into a oompah loompah, Tom Servo: Wow, you hardly ever get to see Jawas in the nude. Tom Servo: [as Mac blows a bubble gum bubble] Wanna see my spleen? It's pretty cool. [Eric pops the bubble] Tom Servo: Ahh! I need that to live! [a garbage can begins to shake] Crow T. Robot: Remember: When you throw away your Tickle-Me Elmo, you've got to remove the batteries. [Mac makes Eric's hands into an V-shape] Crow T. Robot: That's neither the church nor the steeple. Crow T. Robot: I think we landed too far from the movie. Jonah Heston: This reminds me of the summer my dad hit a deer. Tom Servo: [imitating Mr. Bill] Oh, no! [Mac's pale, skinny hand reaches for a Coca-Cola] Crow T. Robot: My precious. Crow T. Robot: Yeah, keep trying, music. This isn't that interesting. Crow T. Robot: That is some next-level beekeeping. Jonah Heston: It's a smart move. Distract the dogs with some Peter Cetera music. Tom Servo: Alright, this 80's movie has fulfilled its sweatbands-and-a-montage quota. Very nice job Meeting with Floyd the Barber." "Ooo, the car is so wonderful... ooo..."Who is that rapping, rapping behind my chamber door? Huh, darkness there, and nothing more."We are the music makers. We are the dreamers of dreams."It's Talos with breasts!Your crappy effects are powerless against meIt's a Peter Gabriel video!" "Yeah, somebody hit that kid on the head with a SLEDGEHAMMER!"Wow, this is like a Pixar film! In that it exists, and has a title!Are those the Blue Meanies?"due to the blood boiling away in his face like pudding in a copper... OH THE HUMANITY.You look like Goldie Hawn on Laugh-In."Is this a Pink Panther movie?"You know... there are certain flaws in this film. we made it doc I mean mac,it stinks,hello nurse, whatever happened to impartiability the milkman the paperboy mac and/or me?Can you stir the tanks without killing us this time?" More like Hands Across Him-Eric-A..."Chewie is that you is it life day already Jonah: "Autobots, roll out!""I think this is where all those E.T. games get buried."Crow: (as Dr. Smith) Oh, the pain, the pain😆🤣🤣 🤣
No. I want to say that would be EVE from Megazone 23 (or Omegazone 23 as it's sometimes known), but I could be mistaken. Of course, I'm limiting my definition here to women in computers, not robots or androids that can pass for human females.
If she's anything like Olivia Wilde's Quorra in TRON: Legacy, I can understand where Pulseman's father was coming from, but that doesn't make it right!
Excellent review as usual. I'm definitely a Genesis guy and Pulseman has been buried on my playlist for a while but seeing this video I think I need to bump it up and give it a chance sooner than later. Question for you SNES drunk. I really like your channel but it seems like you're getting pretty far out there with your SNES review videos as you've covered pretty much every notable game over the years. Any chance you're thinking of making some second videos to talk about those same games again? Or maybe shifting some focus and giving some similar treatment to more Genesis games? I can tell you, I think your reviews are great and would love to see more Sega focused episodes. Whatever you decide though, I know I'm a fan and I'll continue watching. Hope your New Year is off to a good start!
Yeah I already did that with Secret of Evermore. I'd like to do that with Secret of Mana as well. There will be lots more Genesis, arcade and PC stuff in the future. Lots of ROMhack and improvement patch stuff too
Oh God Geez, thanks for remembering Pulseman. Now I remember that reporter lady of the game, better add her in the Sonic X: The Last Resort Collab somewhere.
Great picks!!!, also got same said games downloaded on the wii VC, along with a ton of turbo grafix, neo geo, Genesis, snes,nes,master system & arcade roms. Man I miss the VC.
For the most part I don't miss the fact I never had cable as a kid except for that channel. I think I had seen it offered and I know they had it and stuff like hotels and stuff too but I was never lucky enough to actually get to experience it. But yeah the concept alone is still mind-blowing even now all these years later. Sega really was one of a kind. It's a shame the company that exists now is just a shell of it's former self.
@@JohnDoe-wq5eu look at the backwards ness Game gear has a 12-bit color palette Sega genesis has a 9-bit color palette Release genesis model 2 in Japan with a 6-button controller Release genes model 2 in america with a 3-button controller 🤦🏾♂️ I don’t. See what nobody says, the sega cd was just too damn early and a real bandaid For not keeping the genesis in the shop for one more year and expanding on its capabilities like the lead tech had beggged them. More colors , hardware scaling and rotating, better sound quality and capabilities. Sega just like to rush too damn much . It wasn’t even 1990 yet. Imagine releasing the the genesis in January 1990 with close to the capabilities of the snes with less hardware just a little added and tweaking to be more efficient. The damn turbo graphics 16-had the same size color pallets and the genesis ,but displayed more colors on screen and clearer better quality sound voice samples. The master system could have had 2/3 more years to ramp up marketing. Imagine if sonic was introduced on master system with the comics and cartoon And streets of rage Now imagine the genesis releasing with the genesis version of those games on release day .!!! Instead of damn altered beast and those release date games they had as a highlight When the snes released in 1991 Sega release sonic 2,streets of rage 2, phantasy star 2 and the genesis model 2 and the 6-button controller in 1992 .!!!delivering a haymaker to Nintend.!! All the genesis hardware needed was a little bit of tweaking. U throw in a 32kbt ram chip in there. Additionall to the 64 it already has Give 8 to the sound dept making a good 16kbt of memory, less compression,more audio throw in 2 more Audio Channels so no sounds had to be cut and muted The rest 24kbt to the vdp Opening the ability for more color ram to show at least double the colors per sprite.. Now we have 128 colors on screen limit before needing dithering and space for more game data, more sprites per character and smoother less cut animation and assets. And the scaling and rotation the designer asked for. Different ballgame. U come in the game with not just horsepower to crush those less powered, but enough to punch toe to toe with competition to come.
@@48hourrecordsteam45 Rushing the Mega Drive to market was a business decision that ironically didn't pay off in Japan but DID when it became the Genesis in North America. Because it launched early, it was positioned against the NES instead of the Super Nintendo; Genesis does what Nintendon't, etc. It got them a lot of lead traction that was buoyed when the SNES finally did launch by the Genesis's larger existing software catalog and a spiky blue secret weapon. And what did SEGA's Japanese headquarters do with this profitable horse? Look it in the mouth and spit right down its throat.
It turns out Junichi Matsuda is good at making bops, huh? XD I learned about Pulseman around 2006, where I remember hearing about the Pokemon Rotom being based on Pulseman and that Diamond and Pearl Version's evil team (Team Galactic) was named after Pulseman's Galaxy gang. fun little facts. Anyhow, Pulseman is just a good example of Satoshi Tajiri's insatiable thirst for making cool ass games.
The look of this game is incredible. Game freak really were an incredibly talented group. (I mean I guess technically are but I feel like their output has greatly diminished since Pokemon)
@@gotdangedcommiesitellyahwa6298 Squinting doesn't let me see the enemies in the Casino section or the platforms well enough in the "outdoors" section with the sky static. And I get a headache even in some of the last levels like the one with spiraled blue and white walls. Thank god for the level select cheat and emulators allowing to resume after resting
@@StaticTV80 There are no REPORTED cases but that doesn't mean no one had seizures or headaches (as I told you). After all, if that Pokemon episode didn't affect SO MANY Japanese children it wouldn't have been nearly as infamous or notorious. Also, I've heard the Virtual Console version edits the background in some way (I think reducing the brightness), so someone did take notice.
also agreed about the 32x that was a really pointless add on knowing full well there was a saturn being made, and that there already was an existing add on the genesis.
I was all about Sega as a kid, subscribed to gaming magazines and I've still never seen or heard of this game. I would have loved playing this as a kid.
lol at the dead anchor in 4:41 also, it was really interesing how you talked about the sega of america deal at the beginning, if the video would've been just you talking about the console war, it wouldn't be complaining. Consider doing an editorial like that sometime.
I loved this game during that short period of time that i had the sega channel. Trying to find this game again was a large reason of why i was obsessed with ROMs as a kid. One of my favorite video game soundtracks of all time!
I was one of those Sega Channel kids who got to play Pulseman back in the day. Half the time I would just find a song in the sound test and just chill for a little while.
My absolute favorite youtube channel; your uploads are always bangers, SNES drunk. Not sure how I missed this one, but you'd fucking better believe I'll play it "any way I can." You're right, the ole Yamaha synth could sound a little... farty (lookin' at you, DOOM), but the Pulseman OST is really impressive. By the way, THANK YOU for turning me on to the Mystical Ninja series. Those games fucking rule! Can't believe I basically missed the entire series. A bummer they weren't pushed harder in the states, I think American 90s kids would've loved that shit. Cheers man.
Yes, I feel that Megaman and Sonic were total inspirations for this. It's a shame it didn't get more attention than it did and now it's 2022. Thank you for sharing!
Stopping at a friend of a friends house in Columbus, Ohio before a concert, his gf was playing Columns (I think) on the Sega Channel. It was some sort of puzzle game.
I tried playing this years ago but didn't get these mechanics. Gonna try again some day. Great review. One thing that could be improved is the game volume after you talk about the music and digitized voice. I think they should be a bit louder, to match your narration. Otherwise, we have to adjust it manually.
![TREASURE - 'KING KONG' COMEBACK SPECIAL [THE TREASURE SHOW]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Jx1wyMaQzf0/mqdefault.jpg)
Emulation does what Sega don't. Definitely try this fantastic game. It's a textbook example of a "hidden gem".
There's no such thing as a hidden gem. The internet exists.
Sega releases new emulation collections on a near-yearly basis. This game just doesn't get included.
ROM fan translation does what Official Localization don't.
Tbh having tried it years ago emulated.. I gotta say this game feels like a bad tech demo. Gameplay is not balanced or really fun. Difficulty is not balanced, even the music felt super barebones and unfinished. Level design (and the backrounds) are horrendous expessially to the eyes
@@ShadowEl it's clear to see why it's not included lol. Game had alot of potential but in its current state its terrible and kind of a headache
I think one of the coolest parts is that Pulseman's electric ball move would go on to become the poke'mon move Volt Tackle!
Isn't the design of Rotom also a reference to Pulseman?
Is this true of the games/anime or only how Volt Tackle is represented in Super Smash Bros?
@@ShadowEl Both, though the Smash Brothers version is more exaggerated
@@Arehexes Honestly I wouldnt be surprised with Rotom's design and it being able to possess electronics
@@Arehexes Indeed it is. The color of Rotom echoes the color of Pulseman himself.
I never heard of this game before. Hidden gem. Holy cow.
There used to be a Mega Man fans site called atomic fire that had a pulseman fan site. Had all the music rips as well as some character art. Probably still find it on internet archives.
Fun fact: When Super Smash Bros Brawl introduced "final smash" attacks, they gave Pikachu the attack "Volt Tackle" which looks a lot like Pulseman's form when he turns into those flying electro orbs.
(In the latest Smash game Pikachu still has that move, but it's no longer directly controlable, as the final smash moves all got kinda streamlined)
so like Sakurai to include an aspect of a character that respects its developer's roots.
they did that because pokemon gave it to pikachu first. volt tackle has been pikachu's move ever since ruby and sapphire. and yeah it's definitely a pulseman reference because the japanese names are identical.
The move being on Pikachu in the Pokemon games in the first place is a reference to Pulseman
Fun fact on the fun fact: The Japanese name pays homage (or rips off) Tekkaman. However, the original Voltekka is a little shuriken-like star symbol that flies off Tekkaman's forehead in the 60s show, or a powerful energy laser from the shoulders in the Tekkaman Blade "reboot" in the 90s.
Both characters would later show on Tatsunoko vs Capcom, where the og 60s Tekkaman's Voltekka was changed to also be an energy beam.
As far as I know, the katakana for Voltekka, Volteccer and Volt Tackle is the exact same.
@@GKoopa makes sense they developed pokemon and pulseman. Even made a pokemon inspired by it which I'd rotom that has multiple diff forms
i love the graphics of Pulseman! I felt the Genesis did cartoony graphics extremely well.
Ironically the snes allowed for far more colors. No wonder they emphasized that so much for the 32X - for better or worse.
@@ShadowEl good point. i felt like when there were games that appeared on both systems, the SNES version needlessly added more colors and shading than needed, while the Genesis version looked much better with its cartoony approach. one example is Donald Duck's Quackshot on Genesis vs Donald Duck's Maho no Boshi on the Super Famicom (Japan only)
@@nimaiiikun The Genesis had a better resolution than the SNES, with a good color palette it gave fantastic results with cartoony graphics.
This game looks especially good and crisp for some reason. Almost like a GBA game even!
Another good example was the hand drawn graphics for Aladdin on the Genesis over the SNES game. Both great games but I preferred the Genesis version.
I remember playing this and thinking it was like Sonic. I thought it was some fever dream I had because I couldn’t remember the name of the game and nobody I knew recognized it’s description of the game and it’s gameplay. Thanks for what you do dude. Love your videos.
Game Freak seems to have a lot of respect for this game and has referenced many times in the Pokémon games, between things like the Pokémon Rotom which has a similar concept, some of the design, moves and some of the music like the Barry theme in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, which has a segment which was basically directly taken from a theme in this game.
Barry? Where's Barry?!
Not to mention Pikachu's Volt Tackle is lifted directly from Pulseman. Ledian has a similar design to Pulseman as well. Also the concept of being able to live in cyberspace and the real world just like Pokemon.
The Pokémon world is the past counterpart of the earth that Pulseman was created in.
And the Pokémon world is also supposed to be a part of the real world, what with mentions of Minnesota and Columbia.
Pulseman is real, but he only exists present as data. Perhaps a while after the World Crime Event, he found the means to time travel, and sent the Rotom into the past to search for something…or to make sure that crime hadn’t transcended time and space.
That’s my head canon.
The different teams in pokemon are called gangs in Japan. Team Galactic was known as Galaxy gang and was the same name as the villain organization in Pulseman.
It has references to earlier Pokemon games too. Dunno why people keep bringing up Diamond and Pearl, guess it was because Pulseman was ported to the Wii at the same time as Diamond and Pearl being on DS so kids made that comparison. There's plenty of references to the first two gens here too.
"Star Trek Voyager Holideck Crap" had me LOLing. This looks like a cool and very bright game!
This was always one of my favorite older games. The fact that it had a story, good level design, and multiple ways to attack enemies was a thrill. I really wish they would take this game and Ristar and make modernized versions of them to bring the characters back. I know they usually mess a few things up when they "reboot" games, but they could also do so many great things with them as well. It would be well worth the risk of disappointment just to see them again.
Had things been different… this coulda been a big thing for Sega. Console Wars also is a great book.
For years I've been blaming Sega of America for the 32X I guess that was totally wrong.
I'm glad I've got my facts straight now.
@@JohnDoe-wq5eu true talk, they forced it on sega of America
Then they made the awful decision .! Of releasing virtua racing as a $100.00 game .
Instead of making the svp chip a lock on cartridge like sonic and knuckles for .$49.99
And launching 4 games with it .
$49.99 each
Virtua racing ,virtua fighter ,virtua cop,Star Wars
The
Sega beating itself up is so Sega it hurts man...
@@JohnDoe-wq5eu To be fair, it was a lot more than the 32X: Sega created a lot of platforms around that time that they dropped official support for very quickly (the aforementioned 32X, the Mega CD, the Game Gear and later the Saturn). And don't forget that when the Saturn launched, it was less powerful than the PSX, retailed at £100 more than it and was more difficult to develop for. Sega didn't really get its act together until the Dreamcast, and it was sadly too late by then.
Sega of Japan was jealous of Sega of America's success and wanted to sabotage them with the 32x and gems sound driver.
Who wouldnt fall in love on the hollow deck?
God damn the backgrounds are a seizure in waiting!
There were none reported or the game would of been banned.
Imagine if in another timeline game freak goes all in with pulseman instead of pokemon
How did i not get a stroke bc of this game's levels when i was little?! I loved this game so much
I’m so glad that Game Freak made Seizures: The Video Game. 😂
There were none reported by anyone.
Porygon go brr
We need a sequel set in Philadelphia: Pulseman and Day Man vs Night Man and Green Man.
86-90 I lived with my father and he wouldn’t let me play video games so I missed that span of time that would have hooked me.
I’m 47 and just bought a switch lite looking for some of the games I did get to play for a few minutes in store displays and some arcade stuff from my time with my mother.
Just started Pulseman today and in the first 30 secs I knew this was going to be dope.
Thanks for the info!
looks beautiful. remember learning about this on a GF history vid. Always wanted the Sega channel growing up. Pulseman for smash /s
He's basically already in there if you just look at the comment directly above you.
@@JohnDoe-wq5eu Comments don't appear in the same order for everyone.
I picked up a repro cart of this at a convention but never got around to playing it. This video definitely changed that!
NoU.
Just emulate it lol. It's not really a good game to be completely honest, and yeah I have played it.
We loved this game with a friend as a kid (played any way we could because we were Play Station kids), we used to call it "Sonic-Man X".
Now that I think of it, it's a bit ironic how this was a must-have for emulator gamers (it was on any rom collection CD or zip-file), while console gamers consider it a hidden or lost gem.
@@parrata
A cruel irony indeed.
This is a very cool game. Got a reproduction cart a while back and loved it.
I've never played it, but I watched the Game Center CX episode and it looks amazing.
I love the FM Synth sound, personally. Probably because I grew up gaming on DOS, and a lot of it just sounds like Ad Lib. Plus I just think it's a cool sound. Megaman music remixed in Genesis style sounds better, as far as I'm concerned.
When I was really young I used to play a lot of games er... Anyway I could. Since in Brazil everything is kind of harder and relatively pricier, we didn't even get to the discussion about downloading ROMs until recently.
As a kid, I thought Pulseman was in the same level of awareness as Megaman. Couldn't be more wrong. But anyways, such a nostalgia trip to watch your review
I’ve always loved just the idea of this game, I’m SEGA kid, though I grew up with both SNES and genesis (a perk of being born in 2006 with hand me downs), but I have more nostalgia for genesis, and this game is one I’ve always used as a bit of trivia for people when they ask me to name something interesting about the genesis.
“Did you know gamefreak made a game on it? And it was really cool”.
Glad to see it’s getting the SEGADrunk treatment
Yeah I have to admit it is a bit mind blowing to think game freak made a game for the Genesis/Mega Drive back in the day.
It's kind of sad to see a company that had so much talent basically get used just for Pokemon.
@@JohnDoe-wq5eu it's what keeps the lights on. they haven't expanded as a developer so they don't have a lot of capacity to develop multiple projects. they did do HarmoKnight, Pocket Card Jockey, Tembo the Badass Elephant (published by SEGA!), and Little Town Hero in the last decade. Drill Dozer on GBA was also criminally underrated - it came out in that sunset period after the DS launch. Probably their best since Pulseman and hasn't been topped since.
@@ShadowEl
Yeah drilldozer is an absolute classic. And the badass elephant isn't a horrible game either. Mostly I'm just shocked that postman has never gotten another release. I mean not even as a extra game on the Genesis mini or something. I do as I said in another comment hope they put it on the NSO Genesis service at least. That would hopefully at least get it out to more people as so few people have been able to enjoy this game. As for why game freak do what they do yeah I understand. Coors Pokemon is there Big money Maker and it's what they use to keep the lights on I get it. I do wish they would use it as an excuse to branch out more and make more games you would think they were getting pretty sick and tired of the same Pokemon stuff and we wanted to do something else but I don't know I guess not.
This showed up in my algorithm just now, I bet because it’s being included in the next batch of Switch Online Genesis titles
Well, it’s a good thing that this game is now on Sega Genesis for Nintendo Switch Online a few minutes ago. Now, I can finally get to play this game now.😊
My brother is a huge fan of Snes Drunk, He's been watching your videos for years and is still watching them now.
Thank you, for making my brother happy all these years. 😊
i had no idea this was a sega channel exclusive. i still cannot believe i convinced my parents to sign up for the service but it was one of the coolest things at the time.
Not one but TWO Snesdrunk vids in a week. 2022 is already off to a better start!
Hey I'm leaving this here because it was the most recent video but I just finished binging all the review videos on your channel. I have a snes classic and a hacked 3ds so I'm getting back into retro gaming and trying to familiarize myself with everything I don't know. This channel has been a massive resource for learning about the biggest games I should have known as well as all the lesser known stuff that wasn't on my radar before, plus everything like rom hacks and translations. I appreciate that the videos are all around 5 minutes, that made it really easy to mow through all your videos. If they were like 15-20 minute reviews like I know a lot of people do because the algorithm I wouldn't have engaged so easily. Thanks for being a tremendous source for information on 16 bit (and 8 bit) gaming.
PS Pulseman looks awesome. Gonna check this out ASAP
Love that you covered this. I was one of the lucky ones that had Sega Channel, and got to play it! I was a die hard Mega Man fan, and loved this game alot! I always thought it had a few Sparkster or Rocket Knight vibes too. Nice vid!
Awesome video as always! FM synthesis is great, there's still people who think only the Genesis did that kind of sound but basically almost every damn arcade and PC at the time used it as well. It was THE way to do sound in video games, specially in Japan where tbh I haven't seen or read any kind of hate about Genesis sound like in the west.
I beat this twice without savestates so I know this game well. It can be a bit hard, but you'll be okayish if you take it slow. One of the last levels, level 7 I think? can't remember, is absolute bs though. It has an underwater section where you have to fall and dodge spikes and ect with floaty gravity, it's horrible I almost always lose 90% of my lifes and continues here. I love this game regardless of that part.
I love the cheezy voice clips as well, and the music is rad.
"WATER CAN DESTROY PULSEMAN! >:)"
Certified gamer moment
I wish "Water can destroy Pulseman" was a more widespread meme on the internet.
@@SobmicSSBB if only
@@cornpop2630 I didn't see the N word?
That casino level absolutely destroys the bitrate of this video.
This is the kind of gem I could only find here. It's easy to realize why you were so enthusiastic during the review. Great video!
I just noticed Pulseman's outfit resembles a lot tokusatsu hero Machine Man!
This and Alien Soldier were for some reason never physically released. Mistakes! Sega doing Game Pass in early 90s
The graphics look even better via a clean composite signal on a CRT. GF deliberately designed a lot of the visual effects to take advantage of the specific artifacting on the Genesis/MD composite output, so you'll actually get better looking "transparency" effects and smoother color/shading gradients... s-video or RGB will look a lot more grainy and awkward
I've been enjoying The Delta Flyers podcast recently, so the Voyager Holodeck reference hit home for me. Plus, this game looks super cool, and this is the first I've heard of it. Great work, Drunk!
I really wanted to Sega Channel growing up, and got to say I agree with the take on Sega's being spread too thin, I wanted a Saturn but couldn't even get one when it came out for over a year and then I had moved on to Nintendo by then
I remember catching a glimpse of this game in a Sega montage on X-Play. Then I found out I could purchase it on the Wii Virtual Console. I never finished the game, but I liked what I played. Glad to have it in the collection.
Great video, thank you! I played the first level of this game many times as a child
I’ve been waiting awhile for you to do this one. Good review! I knew you would like this game.
Makes me wish this was a franchise. One of my favorites as a kid.
This was very informative; you really have your finger on the pulse of retro gaming.
Those backgrounds are hot. I love the one that looks like tripped out television static.
how did I not know about this game? the graphics, the music, the mechanics, it all sounds super good.
This, Panorama Cotton, and Mega Man: The Wiley Wars all should have gotten North American releases. America in particular was were the Genesis had the biggest fan base and yet games we would have bought in an instant never came over here.
Cotton would not have been successful in mid-90s America. Anything remotely "cute-em-up" was roundly rejected. This and Wiley Wars absolutely deserved a retail release.
America was the only place with a 'Genesis' fan base 😆
@@goatbone Canada 😂
@@supersexysega Sorry, North America. When people just say 'America' does that usually mean 'United States of America'?
The thing with the MD/Genesis FM synthesis is that you get out what you put in. Hell, even some games that used GEMS sounded good. Great composers, arrangers, sound designers and programmers got some pretty neat stuff out of that Yamaha chip.
As a connoisseur of fine genesis music, I find this soundtrack enducing more headaches than good times. A couple of these tracks are alright techno loops but this soundtrack clearly needed a year or two in the oven, or a better composer entirely.
GEMS wasn't the problem and was actually a pretty neat tool.
It was the users of GEMS who abused provided preset sounds.
They didn't have the willpower or maybe time to create new sounds.
So let me get this straight: Pulseman was born when his father fell in love with a woman in his computer? Is Pulseman's mother the world's first official Waifu?
And if the mother was created by his father, isn't that like some kind of incest?
Mst3k jokes now they're ripping off spaceballs,watch out for snakes,slim goodbody2525,gallifreyan cruises,crow she's changing Into a oompah loompah,
Tom Servo: Wow, you hardly ever get to see Jawas in the nude.
Tom Servo: [as Mac blows a bubble gum bubble] Wanna see my spleen? It's pretty cool.
[Eric pops the bubble]
Tom Servo: Ahh! I need that to live!
[a garbage can begins to shake]
Crow T. Robot: Remember: When you throw away your Tickle-Me Elmo, you've got to remove the batteries.
[Mac makes Eric's hands into an V-shape]
Crow T. Robot: That's neither the church nor the steeple.
Crow T. Robot: I think we landed too far from the movie.
Jonah Heston: This reminds me of the summer my dad hit a deer.
Tom Servo: [imitating Mr. Bill] Oh, no!
[Mac's pale, skinny hand reaches for a Coca-Cola]
Crow T. Robot: My precious.
Crow T. Robot: Yeah, keep trying, music. This isn't that interesting.
Crow T. Robot: That is some next-level beekeeping.
Jonah Heston: It's a smart move. Distract the dogs with some Peter Cetera music.
Tom Servo: Alright, this 80's movie has fulfilled its sweatbands-and-a-montage quota. Very nice job
Meeting with Floyd the Barber." "Ooo, the car is so wonderful... ooo..."Who is that rapping, rapping behind my chamber door? Huh, darkness there, and nothing more."We are the music makers. We are the dreamers of dreams."It's Talos with breasts!Your crappy effects are powerless against meIt's a Peter Gabriel video!" "Yeah, somebody hit that kid on the head with a SLEDGEHAMMER!"Wow, this is like a Pixar film! In that it exists, and has a title!Are those the Blue Meanies?"due to the blood boiling away in his face like pudding in a copper... OH THE HUMANITY.You look like Goldie Hawn on Laugh-In."Is this a Pink Panther movie?"You know... there are certain flaws in this film. we made it doc I mean mac,it stinks,hello nurse, whatever happened to impartiability the milkman the paperboy mac and/or me?Can you stir the tanks without killing us this time?" More like Hands Across Him-Eric-A..."Chewie is that you is it life day already Jonah: "Autobots, roll out!""I think this is where all those E.T. games get buried."Crow: (as Dr. Smith) Oh, the pain, the pain😆🤣🤣
🤣
@@mikesilva3868 are you ok
No. I want to say that would be EVE from Megazone 23 (or Omegazone 23 as it's sometimes known), but I could be mistaken. Of course, I'm limiting my definition here to women in computers, not robots or androids that can pass for human females.
If she's anything like Olivia Wilde's Quorra in TRON: Legacy, I can understand where Pulseman's father was coming from, but that doesn't make it right!
The bass line in those songs! Wow!
A bit late but happy new year Drunk!
Excellent review as usual. I'm definitely a Genesis guy and Pulseman has been buried on my playlist for a while but seeing this video I think I need to bump it up and give it a chance sooner than later.
Question for you SNES drunk. I really like your channel but it seems like you're getting pretty far out there with your SNES review videos as you've covered pretty much every notable game over the years. Any chance you're thinking of making some second videos to talk about those same games again? Or maybe shifting some focus and giving some similar treatment to more Genesis games? I can tell you, I think your reviews are great and would love to see more Sega focused episodes. Whatever you decide though, I know I'm a fan and I'll continue watching. Hope your New Year is off to a good start!
Yeah I already did that with Secret of Evermore. I'd like to do that with Secret of Mana as well. There will be lots more Genesis, arcade and PC stuff in the future. Lots of ROMhack and improvement patch stuff too
Will Ferrell as Alex Trebek: *Pulse Man*
Darrell Hammond as Sean Connery: *Pul Seman!*
Oh God Geez, thanks for remembering Pulseman.
Now I remember that reporter lady of the game, better add her in the Sonic X: The Last Resort Collab somewhere.
2:26 looks like a ZX Spectrum game 😂
This game looks brilliant.. never played it but definitely will now!
cool game. Happy New Year to ya
"Voyager holodeck crap" 😂
Perfect timing for this to pop up
I still have this downloaded on my old Wii along with Alien Soldier and Rondo of Blood.
Great picks!!!, also got same said games downloaded on the wii VC, along with a ton of turbo grafix, neo geo, Genesis, snes,nes,master system & arcade roms. Man I miss the VC.
I have never heard of this one before, but I know I will be seeking it out. Thank you for bringing this one to my attention!
Sega channel was SO FAR ahead of its time it was so great I had it as a kid.
For the most part I don't miss the fact I never had cable as a kid except for that channel.
I think I had seen it offered and I know they had it and stuff like hotels and stuff too but I was never lucky enough to actually get to experience it.
But yeah the concept alone is still mind-blowing even now all these years later. Sega really was one of a kind. It's a shame the company that exists now is just a shell of it's former self.
Sega should have used it to preview games,
But still release physical cartridges
@@48hourrecordsteam45
Yep, that would have been a smart business move.
Unfortunately, Sega was always bad at the business part.
@@JohnDoe-wq5eu look at the backwards ness
Game gear has a 12-bit color palette
Sega genesis has a 9-bit color palette
Release genesis model 2 in Japan with a 6-button controller
Release genes model 2 in america with a 3-button controller 🤦🏾♂️
I don’t. See what nobody says, the sega cd was just too damn early and a real bandaid
For not keeping the genesis in the shop for one more year and expanding on its capabilities like the lead tech had beggged them.
More colors , hardware scaling and rotating, better sound quality and capabilities.
Sega just like to rush too damn much .
It wasn’t even 1990 yet.
Imagine releasing the the genesis in January 1990 with close to the capabilities of the snes with less hardware just a little added and tweaking to be more efficient.
The damn turbo graphics 16-had the same size color pallets and the genesis ,but displayed more colors on screen and clearer better quality sound voice samples.
The master system could have had 2/3 more years to ramp up marketing. Imagine if sonic was introduced on master system with the comics and cartoon
And streets of rage
Now imagine the genesis releasing with the genesis version of those games on release day .!!! Instead of damn altered beast and those release date games they had as a highlight
When the snes released in 1991
Sega release sonic 2,streets of rage 2, phantasy star 2 and the genesis model 2 and the 6-button controller in 1992 .!!!delivering a haymaker to Nintend.!!
All the genesis hardware needed was a little bit of tweaking.
U throw in a 32kbt ram chip in there. Additionall to the 64 it already has
Give 8 to the sound dept making a good 16kbt of memory, less compression,more audio
throw in 2 more Audio Channels so no sounds had to be cut and muted
The rest 24kbt to the vdp
Opening the ability for more color ram to show at least double the colors per sprite..
Now we have 128 colors on screen limit before needing dithering
and space for more game data, more sprites per character and smoother less cut animation and assets.
And the scaling and rotation the designer asked for.
Different ballgame.
U come in the game with not just horsepower to crush those less powered, but enough to punch toe to toe with competition to come.
@@48hourrecordsteam45 Rushing the Mega Drive to market was a business decision that ironically didn't pay off in Japan but DID when it became the Genesis in North America. Because it launched early, it was positioned against the NES instead of the Super Nintendo; Genesis does what Nintendon't, etc. It got them a lot of lead traction that was buoyed when the SNES finally did launch by the Genesis's larger existing software catalog and a spiky blue secret weapon.
And what did SEGA's Japanese headquarters do with this profitable horse? Look it in the mouth and spit right down its throat.
Great review as always
It turns out Junichi Matsuda is good at making bops, huh? XD
I learned about Pulseman around 2006, where I remember hearing about the Pokemon Rotom being based on Pulseman and that Diamond and Pearl Version's evil team (Team Galactic) was named after Pulseman's Galaxy gang. fun little facts.
Anyhow, Pulseman is just a good example of Satoshi Tajiri's insatiable thirst for making cool ass games.
Wow. This is some of the best use of the Genesis' sound hardware I've ever heard.
Really? There's many games that put the Mega Drive's sound hardware to far better use. PulseMan's audio is below average IMO.
Great review SNESdrunk!
Yet another Sega classic that should make a comeback.
One of my favourite!
This, Gunstar Heroes & Monster World IV are my favourite Genesis games of all time
waking up to a new SNES drunk video is my Christmas morning
Geez man, finally, been asking you for this for years, thank you
Holy cow, I forgot this was a Sega Channel exclusive! That battle against the other rival Pulseman blew my 10 year old mind.
I'm pretty sure it was Geordi La Forge, who fell in love with the Holodeck program
The look of this game is incredible. Game freak really were an incredibly talented group. (I mean I guess technically are but I feel like their output has greatly diminished since Pokemon)
Except when it gives you seizures
@@gotdangedcommiesitellyahwa6298 Squinting doesn't let me see the enemies in the Casino section or the platforms well enough in the "outdoors" section with the sky static. And I get a headache even in some of the last levels like the one with spiraled blue and white walls. Thank god for the level select cheat and emulators allowing to resume after resting
@@thewindthatblows There were no reports of epilepsy with this game or they would of banned it duh!
@@thewindthatblows There no reports of enhanced epilepsy episodes playing this game it has the standard warning of most games.
@@StaticTV80 There are no REPORTED cases but that doesn't mean no one had seizures or headaches (as I told you). After all, if that Pokemon episode didn't affect SO MANY Japanese children it wouldn't have been nearly as infamous or notorious. Also, I've heard the Virtual Console version edits the background in some way (I think reducing the brightness), so someone did take notice.
Love the third string linebacker joke!
Love the music in this game!
Thanks for featuring Pulseman, what a game
also agreed about the 32x that was a really pointless add on knowing full well there was a saturn being made, and that there already was an existing add on the genesis.
I was all about Sega as a kid, subscribed to gaming magazines and I've still never seen or heard of this game. I would have loved playing this as a kid.
lol at the dead anchor in 4:41 also, it was really interesing how you talked about the sega of america deal at the beginning, if the video would've been just you talking about the console war, it wouldn't be complaining. Consider doing an editorial like that sometime.
I loved this game during that short period of time that i had the sega channel. Trying to find this game again was a large reason of why i was obsessed with ROMs as a kid. One of my favorite video game soundtracks of all time!
I was one of those Sega Channel kids who got to play Pulseman back in the day. Half the time I would just find a song in the sound test and just chill for a little while.
My absolute favorite youtube channel; your uploads are always bangers, SNES drunk. Not sure how I missed this one, but you'd fucking better believe I'll play it "any way I can." You're right, the ole Yamaha synth could sound a little... farty (lookin' at you, DOOM), but the Pulseman OST is really impressive.
By the way, THANK YOU for turning me on to the Mystical Ninja series. Those games fucking rule! Can't believe I basically missed the entire series. A bummer they weren't pushed harder in the states, I think American 90s kids would've loved that shit. Cheers man.
Wow, never heard of this. I would have loved this back in the day!
I love your sports analogies
Cool, never heard of this. Thanks!
Yes, I feel that Megaman and Sonic were total inspirations for this. It's a shame it didn't get more attention than it did and now it's 2022. Thank you for sharing!
Ah yes The game based on Trent Pulseman, the O-Linemen for the '86 Seahawks.
I imagined it as more of an Eric Pulseman, RB on his 4th team in 3 years, backing up Earnest Byner and Ricky Ervins
wow that looks amazing, crazy i never saw it before
Stopping at a friend of a friends house in Columbus, Ohio before a concert, his gf was playing Columns (I think) on the Sega Channel. It was some sort of puzzle game.
GameFreak in 1994: Pushes the Genesis to its limits with their unique platformer
GameFreak in 2020: Re-uses 3DS assets on a Switch title
The Star Trek Voyager joke was perfect lmfao
Yet another informative video about a video game I would have had no idea existed
Wow the graphics and animation look amazing !! I wanna play this
Must've been beyond awesome to play that in the early 90s. God I miss it all.
I tried playing this years ago but didn't get these mechanics. Gonna try again some day.
Great review. One thing that could be improved is the game volume after you talk about the music and digitized voice. I think they should be a bit louder, to match your narration. Otherwise, we have to adjust it manually.
What mechanics you just move with a controller and jump?
Those graphics are pretty damn amazing
Still waiting for a shirt that says play it anyway you can
I hope you have a great rest of your day too, snesdrunk!
Stereo Protect is one of my favorite Genesis game songs of all time. Absolute banger.
"Star Trek Voyager Holodeck Crap" omg... thank you
The graphics would have blown me away back then. Cant believe it was SEGA Channel only.
Holy shit, this dug up memories. I had Sega Channel and played this. D: