Pulstar (video game)

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Pulstar
Arcade system
Neo Geo MVS

Pulstar

Neo Geo MVS
arcade system board.

Developed by

Wii Virtual Console. The game and its re-releases have received mixed reviews from critics, who felt its gameplay and graphics were good but its difficulty was too high and it lacked originality. A sequel named Blazing Star
was released in 1998, which aimed to correct the flaws present in the original.

Gameplay

The player facing off against a boss

Pulstar is a horizontally scrolling shooter in the same vein as the R-Type series.[1] The player controls a starship, the Dino246, in its mission to protect the entirety of the Solar System from a hostile race of aliens. There are eight stages total, which become progressively more difficult as the player progresses.[1][2][3] They scroll automatically, and the player is given a free range of movement. In these levels, the player must destroy constantly-moving waves of enemies and avoiding their projectiles, as well as dodging moving obstacles.[4] Levels conclude with a boss that must be defeated.

The player's main form of attack is a forward-moving projectile. The player can hold down the button to charge their attack, with its power indicated by a meter at the bottom of the screen; the blue half creates a powerful charge shot, while the red half creates a barrage of rapid blasts.[1] Players can also acquire an auxiliary drone that acts as a shield by protecting them from enemy fire. It can also be used as a battering ram to destroy smaller enemies. The drone can also be destroyed to create a powerful bomb attack that can destroy anything in its radius.[1] Destroying large carrier-like enemies drops a power-up item that grants different abilities. These include capsules that increase the player's speed and smaller ships that follow the player and provide additional firepower.[5]

Development and release

Pulstar was released for arcades on 28 August 1995.

Ghosts'n Goblins series.[9][12] Harumi Fujita composed the music for Pulstar under the mindset of its freedom from sound chip limitations, allowing her to create music that corresponded to the game's environment and match her vision.[9]

A version of Pulstar was released for the

Wii Virtual Console service, courtesy of D4 Enterprise.[15] Pulstar is included in the Neo Geo 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle, released in 2015.[16] Hamster Corporation re-released Pulstar for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch in 2017 under their Arcade Archives series.[17][18]

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed Pulstar on their 1 October 1995 issue as being the seventh most-popular arcade game at the time.[27] Harumi Fujita claims that the game was received positively by SNK and Neo Geo fans.[9]

Pulstar drew a wide range of opinions from critics,[28] many of which drew comparison with the R-Type series.[29][30][31][32] Maximum gave the Neo Geo AES version a rave review, particularly applauding the impressive-looking bosses and the extremely high and intelligently designed challenge. They also regarded the game as a sign that SNK was branching out from one-on-one fighting games.[25] Major Mike gave it a more mixed review in GamePro, describing it as an imperfect and unoriginal shooter which manages to distinguish itself through its high difficulty and rendered graphics. He criticized that objects often blend into the backgrounds, but like Maximum, he particularly noted the visually impressive bosses.[22] A reviewer for Next Generation panned the game, contending that the gameplay mechanics fail to surpass even shooters of the early 1980s. He concluded, "If it weren't for the molasses like pace of the game, then Pulstar could've been another generic shooter. Instead, it's even worse".[23]

In 2014, HobbyConsolas identified Pulstar as one of the twenty best games for the Neo Geo CD.[33] Likewise, Time Extension also listed it as one of the best games for the Neo Geo.[34]

Legacy

A sequel named Blazing Star was released by SNK in 1998. Blazing Star features multiple additions to the core gameplay of its predecessor, such as a wide selection of playable ships and new power-up types.[35] It was developed by Aicom, who had changed their name to Yumekobo during production. The development team noticed the stigma against Pulstar in arcades for its high difficulty, and wanted Blazing Star to have its own identity and improve on the original's flaws.[36] Upon release, Blazing Star received far better reviews for its graphics, gameplay, and difficulty balance,[37] and was described as being part of SNK's efforts in keeping older game genres alive.[38][39]

Notes

  1. ^ Japanese: パルスター, Hepburn: Parusutā

References

  1. ^ a b c d Rasa, Chris (18 June 2016). "Pulstar". Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived from the original on 11 November 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  2. ^ Dr.Ace (30 December 1995). "攻略 - パルスター". Gamest (in Japanese). No. 159. Shinseisha. p. 87.
  3. ^ Bros, Marjorie (November 1995). "Neo Geo (Detonado) - Pulstar". Super Game Power (in Portuguese). No. 20. Nova Cultural. pp. 58–61.
  4. ^ Ace (15 December 1995). "攻略 - パルスター". Gamest (in Japanese). No. 157. Shinseisha. pp. 64–65.
  5. Hobby Consolas
    (in Spanish). No. 51. Hobby Press. pp. 80–81.
  6. ^ "Title Catalogue - NEOGEO MUSEUM". SNK Playmore. 2010. Archived from the original on 28 August 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Dossier: Neo Geo Y SNK — Shooters". GamesTech (in Spanish). No. 11. Ares Informática. July 2003. p. 58.
  8. ^ García, Marcos (January 1996). "Neo Geo CD a fondo: Pulstar – Pulso A Lo Imposible". Superjuegos (in Spanish). No. 45. Grupo Zeta. pp. 76–79.
  9. ^ a b c d Greening, Chris (15 August 2015). "Harumi Fujita Interview: Ghosts, Goblins, and Gargoyles". Video Game Music Online. Archived from the original on 19 November 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  10. ^ "Pulstar - Q&A". Neo Geo Freak (in Japanese). No. 8. Geibunsha. December 1995. pp. 84–85.
  11. Emap International Limited
    . November 1995. pp. 84–91.
  12. ISBN 978-4896373653. (Translation by Shmuplations. Archived 2020-07-14 at archive.today
    ).
  13. ^ Taborda, David; Vilner, Lionel (November 1995). "(Critiques) Pulstar - Neo Geo". CD Consoles (in French). No. 11. Pressimage. pp. 128–131. Archived from the original on 11 November 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  14. ^ Hellot, Grégoire (December 1995). "Test International – Neo-Geo CD: Pulstar". Joypad (in French). No. 48. Yellow Media. pp. 165–166. Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  15. SNK Playmore (in Japanese). D4 Enterprise. 5 June 2012. Archived
    from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  16. PC Magazine. Ziff Davis. Archived
    from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  17. ^ Moyse, Chris (6 July 2017). "Neo Geo shmup Pulstar blasts onto Xbox One". Destructoid. Enthusiast Gaming. Archived from the original on 15 December 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  18. ^ Moyse, Chris (22 December 2017). "Neo Geo shoot 'em up Pulstar available now on Nintendo Switch". Destructoid. Enthusiast Gaming. Archived from the original on 8 March 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  19. All Media Network. Archived
    from the original on 16 November 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  20. ^ Huyghues-Lacour, Alain; Panda (January 1996). "Neo Geo CD Review - Pulstar". Consoles + (in French). No. 50. M.E.R.7. pp. 104–105.
  21. ^ Halverson, Dave; Rickards, Kelly; Loe, Casey (December 1995). "Viewpoint – Pulstar (Neo Geo)". GameFan. Vol. 3, no. 12. Metropolis Media. p. 20. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  22. ^ a b Mike, Major (December 1995). "ProReview: Neo•Geo – Pulstar". GamePro. No. 87. IDG. p. 110. Archived from the original on 17 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  23. ^
    Imagine Media
    . May 1996. p. 94.
  24. Nintendo Life. Nlife Media. Archived
    from the original on 3 August 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  25. ^
    Emap International Limited. November 1995. p. 154. Archived
    from the original on 15 December 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  26. ^ "NF編集部にまる - ネオジオゲームㇱインレビュー: パルスター". Neo Geo Freak (in Japanese). No. 25. Geibunsha. June 1997. pp. 124–128.
  27. ^ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - TVゲーム機ーソフトウェア (Video Game Software)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 504. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 October 1995. p. 25.
  28. Hobby Hi-Tech
    (in Spanish). No. 5. Hobby Press. July–August 1995. p. 24.
  29. ^ Knauf, Andreas (November 1995). "Spiele-Tests - NG: Pulstar". MAN!AC (in German). No. 25. Cybermedia. p. 72. Archived from the original on 15 December 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  30. ^ Souleiman, Sandrie (November 1995). "Test – Neo Geo: Pulstar". Mega Fun (in German). No. 38. CT Computec Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. p. 92. Archived from the original on 15 December 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  31. ^ Delpierre, Christophe (December 1995). "Test – Neo Geo CD: Pulstar". Player One (in French). No. 59. Média Système Édition. pp. 126–127. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  32. ^ Schaedle, Wolfgang (January 1996). "Neo Geo CD – Reviews: Fire and Forget - Pulstar". Video Games (in German). No. 50. Future-Verlag. p. 48. Archived from the original on 15 December 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  33. ^ Alonso, Álvaro (19 February 2014). "Reportaje: Los 20 mejores juegos de Neo Geo CD". HobbyConsolas (in Spanish). Axel Springer SE. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  34. Hookshot Media. Archived
    from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  35. ^ McFerran, Damien (9 May 2017). "Review: Blazing Star (Switch eShop / Neo Geo)". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on 24 January 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  36. ^ "ブレイジングスター設定原画集＆開発インタビュー". Neo Geo Freak (in Japanese). No. 34. Geibunsha. March 1998. pp. 73–79. Archived from the original on 11 January 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2020. (Translation by Shmuplations. Archived 2016-04-10 at the Wayback Machine).
  37. ^ Rasa, Chris (18 June 2016). "Blazing Star". Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  38. Future Publishing
    . February 1998. p. 97.
  39. ^ "Arcade: Blazing Star" (PDF). neXt Level (in German). No. 24. X-Plain-Verlag. April 1998. p. 96. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 August 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
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