Pulseman
If a Mega Man boss got his own gameGenre: action - platform
Publisher: Game Freak
Year: 1995
System: Genesis
Gameplay Score: 4
Gameplay Notes:
Responsive controls and fast, enjoyable movement. Enemies are sparse but they pop out often enough that you have to move slowly through levels unless you have memorized where enemies will be. Attack via a punch with very forgiving hit detection. All enemies die in one hit. You can acquire the ability to turn into electricity and bounce around the screen uncontrollably. This is necessary at a few places but otherwise unuseful. It's also used extensively for a few platforming sections where you travel as a spark along a power line.
Level Design Score: 3
Level Design Notes:
Levels are largely empty with very few enemies. It's mostly just platforming. I could see playing it through to the end. Some interesting ideas but it's so empty that it gets boring.
Theme Score: 4
Theme Notes:
Discount Mega Man X crossed with Sonic. The presentation is made via an April O'Neal wannabe giving a news report at the start and end of levels.
Art Style Score: 5
Art Style Notes:
Wonderful sprites. Some of the best 16-bit artwork. Very bright, colorful artwork. Looks like a SNES game like Tiny Toons or Mega Man X. Significant slowdown when attacking. Enemies explode into 5 or more sprites. Looks cool but causes massive performance issues. I wonder if this is why there are so few enemies in each level.
Audio Score: 4
Audio Notes:
Some songs are great while others are atrocious. The theme in the VR type levels are particularly bad. It's a constant run up and down a scale using what sounds like a slide whistle. It's maddening. Voice samples are horribly scratchy during play. Weird since they sound great in the Sound Test. Overall I enjoyed the sound despite its low quality sound.
Overall Score: 77
Review ID: 1176
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