Pulseman

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Pulseman

Developer(s)	Game Freak
Publisher(s)	Sega
Release date(s)	July 22, 1994
Genre(s)	Platform game
Mode(s)	Single player
Platform(s)	Mega Drive
Media	16 megabit Cartridge

Pulseman is an action platform game developed by Game Freak and published by Sega for the Mega Drive in 1994 in Japan only. It was critically praised and widely regarded as one of the best-looking games for the Mega Drive - rivaling even Treasure's acclaimed Gunstar Heroes. As a side note, this game had made an appearance on the Sega Channel in the U.S., but was never officially released on cartridge in any other region other than Japan.

When first announced, Pulseman was named Spark. The title was changed during development - probably to avoid confusion with Sparkster, the hero from Rocket Knight Adventures.

Pokémon designer Ken Sugimori was the character designer for Pulseman. His unique design style carries on into the Pokémon games. The game's soundtrack was composed by Junichi Masuda, the composer of the Pokémon soundtracks.

1 Story
2 Cast of Characters
3 References to Pulseman
- 3.1 Pokémon
- 3.2 Drill Dozer
4 External links

[edit] Story

In the 21st century, noted scientist and computer engineer Doc Yoshiyama had succeeded in creating the world's most advanced Artificial Intelligence. He called his creation "C-Life" and managed to make her aware, thinking, and feeling. However, he soon found himself in love with this C-Life girl and wanted to be closer to her, so he digitized and uploaded himself into his computer core, where the two "made love" by combining his DNA and her program core. The end result of their love was the birth of a half-human, half C-Life boy named "Pulseman". Pulseman was unique in that he didn't need to remain inside a computer to survive, and had the power to channel electricity through his body, using it both as a weapon and as a means of quick transport through the power of "Volteccer".

Unfortunately, living in the computer world for so long twisted Doc Yoshiyama's mind, corrupting his brainwaves and his body. Doc Yoshiyama emerged back into the human world, but twisted and changed into the evil Doc Waruyama. Now, Doc Waruyama establishes the Galaxy Gang, spreading a new wave of cyber-terrorism across the world, and Pulseman must fight his own father and put an end to his gang for the sake of the free world.

[edit] Cast of Characters

Pulseman: The main hero of the game. Pulseman is a teenage boy born from a human father and a C-Life mother, thus granting him the powers of both worlds. From his father, he can survive outside of computer terminals and roam through the human world, and from his mother he has the power of electricity. He can slash out electricity from his hands, and gather up the current to shoot through the air using his powerful "Volteccer" attack, where he changes into a ball of electricity and ricochet through the stages like a pinball. He is also very agile and acrobatic, and can attack using powerful kicks. His prime weakness is water, which shorts out his powers.

Beatrice: A young C-Life girl who was once held captive by the Galaxy Gang until Pulseman freed her. She quickly became his girlfriend and supports him on his quest to stop Doc Waruyama. She appears on the Stage Select screen to inform you of the stages you'll be entering, and also appears during gameplay to inform you of dangers in the stages. She has spiky pink hair and a red and white dress with black leggings. Pulseman's nickname for her is "Riche" (pronounced RI-teh).

Lisa Hartfield: A star news reporter from Tokyo; Lisa's constantly on the story of Pulseman. She has shoulder-length red hair and wears a professional looking red dress suit. She only appears during cutscenes and unconscious in the background of the first stage in the TV Studio section.

Veil: A mysterious C-Life being whose loyalty is only for Doc Waruyama. Veil looks like Pulseman but colored dark green and red, with large wings on his back and "horns" jutting from his visor. He has all of Pulseman's powers, as if he were an evil twin. He is the Stage 5 boss.

Doc Waruyama: Once known as Doc Yoshiyama, Doc Waruyama was twisted and corrupted by the computer system he uploaded himself into to be with the only love of his life. He leads the Galaxy Gang to destroy the cyber-world, and appears several times throughout the game, where Pulseman fights him as a boss.

[edit] References to Pulseman

[edit] Pokémon

Since Game Freak also created Pokemon, these could be seen as an in-joke.

One of the many new Pokémon introduced in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Rotom, is most likely based off of Pulseman. His alternate color form is also somewhat similar to Veil's color scheme.
The evil group in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Team Galactic (Ginga-dan, literally "Galaxy Gang"), is likely a direct reference to the Galaxy Gang of Pulseman.
Pulseman's signature move, Volteccer, is a secret move that can be taught to Pichu/Pikachu/Raichu in Pokémon Emerald. It's known as "Volt Tackle" in the English language version of the game.
The Rocket Gang/Team Rocket's leader, Giovanni, faintly resembles Doc Waruyama.
One of the Galaxy Gang/Team Galactic admins, Mars, looks almost like Beatrice, except with more flowing hair than Beatrice's spiky hairdo.
In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, the rival battle theme is a remix of the Neo Tokyo theme from Pulseman. Also, the Legendary Pokemon battle theme is a loose remix of Shutdown, the final boss music from Pulseman.^{[citation needed]}
The Pokémon Remoraid appears to be based on the Gunfish enemy that appears underwater in Stage 6 of Pulseman, as they are both combinations of fish and revolver pistols.
The computer Pulseman was born on is named the Saint Ann (サントアンヌ, Santo Annu in Romaji) which is also the Japanese name of the S.S. Anne in the Generation I Pokémon games.