Pulseman Now Available on Virtual Console!

After years of waiting, Pulseman, the Genesis cult classic, is now available on Virtual Console. Since it’s technically the Japanese version, it counts as an import title, meaning it’s $9 instead of $8, despite the fact that the game isn’t translated in English. The game was originally released in North America as a Sega Channel exclusive game, meaning it was only available through download. Japan was the only region to get Pulseman in physical form. What most people don’t know is that Pulseman was made by Game Freak, the developer behind Pokemon. Unfortunately, Nintendo isn’t doing anything promotion-wise to let the masses know that.

I started playing the game for the first time only a few minutes ago and I’m pretty impressed with what I’ve experienced. The main character is Pulseman, a red, Mega Man boss-esque creature who utilizes electricity to traverse the 2D landscape. As far as gameplay is concerned, Pulseman is a 2D platformer akin to many other games in that era, with some unique twists. For example, Pulseman can use electricity to kill enemies (via melee or projectile). It shares a similar mechanic to Super Mario Bros. 3 in that Pulseman can temporarily “fly” using electricity as he gains momentum, though he doesn’t need a special suit to do so. This is useful for reaching areas that Pulseman can’t normally reach through traditional jumping. It can also be used to attack enemies and bounce off walls. The graphics are colorful and vibrant, some of the best visuals the Genesis has to offer. One gripe I have is that the controls feel strange on a GameCube controller. For example, jumping in the traditional sense is mapped to the X button. Obviously this wasn’t an issue on the Genesis since it had a horizontal button layout, so this issue can only be attributed to the GameCube pad.

I’m eager to play more, and it’s interesting to look at a Game Freak creation before the company became a slave to the Pokemon franchise.

Video Games Hall of Fame

Best Games Ever

Thousands of video games have been released since the young industry began decades ago, but only a small portion of those games are top tier releases, unfazed by time and hardware upgrades. In light of this, I decided to list the best games of all time; not merely good, not merely great, but the best games of all time. The games on the list are games that I would recommend to anyone even remotely interested in video games. I will also provide a list of consoles that each game has appeared on, though in most cases the main platform I list each game under is the optimal one. Collections and compilations will not be included in this list. Current generation software will also not be included.

NES

Super Mario Bros. (Also on Game Boy Color, SNES and Virtual Console)
Super Mario Bros. 2 (Also on Game Boy Advance, SNES and Virtual Console)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (Also on Game Boy Advance, SNES and Virtual Console)
Mega Man 2 (Also on Playstation 2, GameCube, Xbox and iPhone)
Contra

SNES

Super Mario World (Also on Game Boy Advance and Virtual Console)
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island (Also on Game Boy Advance and Virtual Console)
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (Also on Wii Virtual Console)
Mega Man X (Also on Playstation 2 and GameCube)
Mega Man X2 (Also on Playstation 2 and GameCube)
Mega Man X3 (Also on Playstation 2 and GameCube)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Also on Game Boy Advance and Wii Virtual Console)
Super Metroid (Also on Wii Virtual Console)
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest (Also on Game Boy Advance and Wii Virtual Console)
Chrono Trigger (Also on Playstation and DS)
Earthbound
Star Fox

Nintendo 64

Super Mario 64 (Also on DS and Wii Virtual Console)
The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time (Also on GameCube and Wii Virtual Console)
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (Also on GameCube and Wii Virtual Console)
Star Fox 64 (Also on Wii Virtual Console)
Banjo-Kazooie (Also on Xbox Live Arcade)

GameCube

Metroid Prime (Also on Wii)
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes

Game Boy

Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong ‘94)

Game Boy Color

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX (Also on Game Boy)
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages

Game Boy Advance

Pokemon Fire Red/Leaf Green (Also on Game Boy)
Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald
Metroid Fusion
Metroid Zero Mission (Also on NES, vaguely)
Wario Ware, Inc. : Micro Minigame$
Wario Ware Twisted!

Genesis

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Also on Saturn, Playstation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Arcade Playstation 3, Wii Virtual Console and PSP)

Sega CD

Sonic CD (Also on GameCube)
Snatcher

Saturn

NiGHTS Into Dreams
Dodonpachi

Dreamcast

Jet Grind Radio
Rez (Also on Playstation 2 and Xbox Live Arcade)
Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of the Super Heroes (Also on arcade and Playstation)
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (Also on arcade, Playstation 2, Xbox, Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network)
Samba De Amigo (Also on Wii)

Playstation

Metal Gear Solid
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Also on Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network and PSP)
Mega Man X4 (Also on Saturn, Playstation 2 and GameCube)
Klonoa: Door to Phantomile (Also on Wii)

Playstation 2

Klonoa 2
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance (Also on Xbox)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence
Space Channel 5 Special Edition (Also on Dreamcast in 2 parts)
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (Also on Xbox)

Xbox

Panzer Dragoon Orta
Jet Set Radio Future
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2x (Also on Playstation, Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast in two parts)

Arcade

Pac-Man (Also on…just about everything)
Donkey Kong (with an arcade-perfect port on Nintendo 64)
Street Fighter 2 and all of its variants (Also on…just about everything)
Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike (also on Dreamcast, Playstation 2 and Xbox)

There may be some glaring omissions, as I don’t primarily play PC games, but it’s a good list of what the video game industry has to offer.