The game is an advertising and marketing attempt for the Pepsi product. Pepsiman is an action video game released back in 1999. In March 1999, a video game for Sonys console, PlayStation, developed by the Japanese studio KID, went on sale exclusively in Japan.The player plays Pepsiman, who runs through various locations, with the task of avoiding dangers and collecting all the cans of Pepsi that he can, ending up in front of thirsty people just like in commercials.The game includes two extra outfits as incentives for.
Most of the commercials starring the logo-emblazoned, faceless CGI man had him running toward those in need of Pepsi (nearly all filming went on in the US with English voices) and granting them their wish with his hand outstetched and his previously-unseen mouth open as he breathes out a “shaaa”, like the effervescent fizz of soda – and most of the time promptly injuring himself in some slapstick folly. Japan was no different, but their spin on took its own venture with the creation of Pepsiman, a hero for taste. In the late ’90s, their ad blitz was tantamount with zany commercials with dancing bears and assorted celebrities or Coca-Cola stockers thirsty for the real flavor. As #2 in the cola wars, they strove to beat its major competitor with more eye-catching advertisements and slogans, many coming off more as extreme and bizarre marketing.
Someone of authority tells Pepsiman about a crisis far off, people stranded or in peril and needing their thirst quenched with caffeinated refreshment. The game is also very import friendly.Pepsiman the game is a form of a high-stakes take on the general premise of the commercials. It can get repetitive but the rarity and strangeness of this game makes it very desireable. You run around as Pepsiman collecting pepsi cans on different stages while dodging obstacles. Beforehand, he had made a cameo as a guest fighter in the Japanese Saturn release of Fighting Vipers, but eventually Pepsiman would receive his own game, donning his new half-blue suit to match the then-current can design.Pepsiman is a very quirky, funny, and simple game. The first three stages are based on real locations, San Francisco, New York City and Texas.The last one takes place in Pepsi City.Naturally, this silvery mascot was a perfect fit for an action game.
Collecting them adds to your score, and for 25 cans you get an extra life. The slide button serves multiple purposes, as holding up + slide makes Pepsiman sprint for a short burst, for extra speed or to break through simple barriers, while down + slide allows him to slow to a brief skid.Each section has 100 cans of Pepsi strewn around to guide you and tantalize you off the beaten path. One button is set to jump while the other is for sliding under obstacles. There’s dozens upon dozens of obstacles that lie between Pepsiman and the fulfillment of his duty to bring liquid happiness, so the klutzy silver mascot stumbles and pratfalls like he does in the ads.Pepsiman is simple enough that the controls could fit on an NES controller. Pepsiman is a licensed endless runner game, one that predates the craze of cheap 2D runners that flood the mobile market today.
It made for an easy international experience thanks to English menus and dialog (with Japanese subtitles). Every stage is orchestrated with a short remix of the Pepsiman theme song on Redbook format for your own CD player audio pleasure.After release, the game was an import-fave for collectors of weird Japanese games. Even people on the sides of the road will hold up signs with the words “Give me Pepsi!” scrawled on them.The graphics have aged, but they also have their own appeal with blocky, pixellated cars and 2D cutouts of civilians or construction men to barge through or dodge.
It’s short and shallow, but a neat game for a quick session every once in a while. Even today it still serves as a neat advergame diversion, though a bit of a costly one compared to the free/ad-ladden ilk of the current market. These scenes serve no purpose, but add to the strangeness of it all.Before the glut of endless runners, Pepsiman served as an unique, dumb-but-fun wacky treat. And pizza, most likely Pepsi-owned Pizza Hut.) and generally being a spokesperson for the brand.
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