365//365: Day 191 – Pepsiman (PSX)

During the mid 90′s, Pepsi unveiled a mascot for their beverage products in Japan. Starring in about a dozen commercials, this quirky pillar of the Pepsi community delivered cans of Pepsi to the thirsty masses. While politics in the United States would be up in arms over a superhero promoting a sugary beverage to kids and adults alike (although some Pepsiman commercials appear to take place in suburban USA), the exploits of Pepsiman were met with more appreciation overseas. Like most promotional vessels, a video game was created, starring Pepsiman, titled….Pepsiman. With the concept of a man in a spandex suit running to the ends of the earth in order to deliver a can of Pepsi to those who crave the drink, the potential video game tie in seems more like a shallow venture than sweet success. In acuality, it’s a mesh of both.

Taking the concept of Pepsiman’s never ending mission to quench the thirsts of those craving for the blue can of bliss, developer Kid kept Pepsiman’s legs moving and placed them into an on rails “running” game. Your goal is to get from point A to point B, collecting as many cans of Pepsi as you can, while avoiding a myriad of obstructions, including wayward townspeople, cars, construction workers and so on. The concept is sound enough, and the delivery is rather engaging. The main thing that trips up Pepsiman comes with turning transitions. When heading into a turning bend, the somewhat distracting turn gives the illusion that you’ll have to hold left or right to coincide with the turn, when in fact you’ll stay on the same path without and deviation to your movement direction. It’s an aspect to the game that you never really feel accustomed to, leading to some frustration on your many turns.

Kid managed to build a world around Pepsiman that not only looks good, but fits more into a American culture than a Japanese one. City landscapes look more akin towards the American structures, as well as the suburban homes featured. While there are plenty of PSX titles that look leaps and bounds more detailed and impressive across the board, Pepsiman manages to make its surroundings look plausible, with enough distinction to tell what is what. The audio package is a mixed bag however. The sound effects manage to pull off what they were aiming for. Unfortunately, my copy doesn’t want to play any music in game. Looking this game up on Youtube, I noticed that there are in game soundtracks available, however my copy doesn’t seem to want to play them. What I did hear sounds light-hearted, whimsical and fits the premise and scenery well. Nothing extravagant or catchy, outside the “PEPSIMAN!” outbursts.

Pepsiman's world has an appealing look to it. Most product based tie ins wouldn't have anything close to the detail featured in this game.

What makes, and in some minor ways, breaks Pepsiman, are the change ups in the way you play the game. Constant on rails racing with no charm or change wouldn’t fly with most gamers, as the monotony would lay in within the first ten minutes. Every so often you will encounter some kind of change in pace to the standard gameplay. While the premise and route remain unchanged, it’s how you get there that gets mixed up. One small portion will see you with a garbage canover your head, which has the uncanny ability to flip the left and right direction on your controller. Another instance sees you on a skateboard down the hills of what looks to be San Francisco, complete with trolley’s to avoid. While these slight mix ups to the same formula only last for a small stretch of one particular level, it’s definitely a welcome thing. Unfortunately, some of these  different ways to maneuver through a stage, including the above mentioned skateboard portion, as well as the oil drum rolling segment incorporate either stiff controls, the inability to properly see obstructions ahead of you, or a combination of both. So while on one hand, the change of pace stave’s off the monotony of the gameplay, the other hand pulls you back with stiff controls and your own character obstructing the view ahead.

One of the several deviations off the same beaten gameplay path -- being chased by a giant Pepsi can as you're running towards the screen, dodging random obstacles.

A definite oddity in the gaming world, Pepsiman at least tries to incorporate some fresh takes to the same formula. While still monotonous, Kid tried their best to at least give the player some sort of variety. It’s a quirky, yet engaging title, and regardless of all the problems it has, it’ll definitely have a longer lifespan i your library than Crystal Pepsi had in retail shops.

Rating: 6.6