I’ve seen some people lament about this being a difficult game, but I have to strongly disagree - for something that’s (one of) the finalization(s) of the auto-runner genre as we know them today, I’m stunned to see how much this gets right immediately. A lot of it, alongside some generous checkpoints, is identifiably on sound/visual cues; from this squirmy two-lane space, emphasis on the peripheral and far sight have become heightened to their most potent extremity. Be it a roaring bison, the rumblings of the rocks and debris, the horns of various cars and cyclists, or more, if it plays the byte, you can react to it accordingly by weaving, jumping, or sliding underneath it within the time frame. Actually, the input nerve necessary for the last move, too, becomes an interesting verb upon a closer glance: despite there only being two buttons, the commands of whatever is configured as the Action get a lot of mileage. The slide’s intent is obvious, but it can also break certain objects and push people out the way to clear any potential bumps. Dashing (Up+Action) does the same thing, but it can also be utilized as a soft jump towards a tile should there be space, akin to the strafe jump utility found in Classic Doom. This also affects the timing and ‘speed’ of the obstacles as well - those cyclists on Stage 3 become nothing but rabble nuisance by spamming the button on the highway with some slight turning if necessary. Should the timing desync too much, or if you’re feeling rather unconfident if it can be done on time, Braking (Down+Action) can slow Pepsiman down for a brief few seconds, allowing for more quick positioning as well as any moving part to go further ahead of its path, be it for dismissal or a slide/dash setup. Though different in importance, all three are vital for survival, and considering there’s little to no endlag, chaining two of them together, or with the jump instead, makes it a cinch to become accustomed to the controls, even during the sections in which they’re inverted or anchored.

Given that its sticking to the suites of Metro Cross, the Pepsi can collectibles play a large part into what makes the game’s overwhelming hurdles become simple checks to pass, with or without some soft resets and game overs. Using the aforementioned techniques, one can ascertain mental routing as the level progresses - a Dash here to bust a glass pane open, a Slide there to swoop under the pipes followed by a Jump to reorient and position onto the opposite lane for the next pickup, Braking to line yourself and the mover properly for a clear line, and a Dash Jump to launch oneself past any large hole with ease! Even ignoring the scoring aspect, they play a big factor into the Time Attacker, as each new shtick and opportunity learned can be whittled into a sheen for all eight stages, all with a Par to beat. Despite being a 30-45 minute title for a casual break, it can tally up big if one dedicates themselves to personal achievement and a goal for 100% completion. It’s because of all these that I never really felt a sense of agitation or rage, even during sections such as 3-1’s road rampage or 4-2’s conveyor belts. I truly wonder as to where this has come from - lack of experience? I mean, Crash Bandicoot has Chase sequences Pepsiman clearly rips - yet ineloquently so - from, and there’s plenty of autorunners built from similar or exact foundation especially on mobile, so that can’t be it. Ignoring the manual? Even accounting for it’s Japanese-only reading, it’s not as if it’s hard to be able to parse some level of scrutiny from it, or even just fumbling about with the inputs in-game. The fact people come into this because it’s a Big Meme Game and don’t really bother to learn much else?... Actually, that one seems probable. Whatever it is, and despite the higher quality deep amongst the quantity of this genre, plus the fact that I am a cardinal sinner, it’s been a pleasant visit unto the zany, disaster-filled world that Pepsiman inhabits. Oh, and between all of us, it’s a bit of a required experience anyway for KID-junkies, particularly those familiar with the ludography of Kazuhiro Ichikawa, Takeshi Abo, and most notably, Kotaro Uchikoshi.

Normalmente me reiría haciendo una review irónica, pero este es mi Kusoge favorito y el tema va más allá.

Como fan del género de los juegos de mierda que son cómicos a la par que maravillosamente malos debo decir que este intento estrafalario de vender el refresco americano en Japón fue algo para la Posteridad.

Desde las cutscenes extrañas del tipo con problemas de sobrepeso instándonos a alimentarnos a base de pepsi y papas hasta el último nivel donde todo el Pepsi todo es un bello despropósito que te hará escupir un pulmón de la risa. Y eso está bien porque vas a pasar un buen rato. Si echas de menos los videos de hostias de Youtube 2006 échate una partida porque las muertes de Pepsiman son impagables.

El nivel del gueto podría resultar un tanto incluso ofensivo con la meméstica música rapera que suena de fondo. La banda sonora es magistral para ponérsela a todo volumen a un vecino molesto. Si eres como yo no te recomiendo ponerla cuando estés haciendo algo que requiera concentración porque te vas a reír solo.

Es una puta mierda, pero esta mierda es mágica. Una maravillosa paradoja.

Seems like everyone just decided to play this game all of a sudden, so I decided why not?

I've heard about Pepsiman for quite a few years now, and I find his story quite fascinating. He was originally produced as a Japanese mascot for Pespsi during the 1990's, appearing in commercials where he would help people out by quenching their thirst with some Pepsi! Then some time after, he would always endure some pain by either his stupidity or something beyond his control, like hitting his head on the ceiling or being chased by a totally not Coca-Cola truck.

He became popular enough for his appearance in Pepsi commercials to last quite a few years, and he even appeared in the Japanese version of Fighting Vipers as an unlockable fighter! His moveset is nothing to write home about, but he is pretty fun to play!

This all culminated in the developers KID making a game all about Pepsiman for the PlayStation 1, released in the year 1999.

The game plays like an endless runner you would find on your smartphone, but it mixes in elements of old arcade games, to provide us with a short, but almost sweet experience.
There are 4 stages to play through, each of them being separated by 2 scenes and a chase sequence at the end. The objective of these is to make it to the end of the stage without running out of time and without losing all of your lives.

It's pretty simple all things considered, but the things Pepsiman will have to dodge and jump over will get more complicated as he goes along, especially as the timing to avoid these obstacles starts getting more and more strict.
The first couple of stages aren't so bad. There are a few gimmicks placed in the middle of these levels, like Pepsiman being stuck inside of a barrel, which reverses his controls, or him riding a skateboard over the streets of... San Francisco?
Now where have I seen this before?
Actually, this game came out two years before that game, soooo....

Anyways, the later stages start getting pretty complicated and really feel like they turn the gameplay into trial-and-error where you can easily fuck up. The chase sequence of the 3rd stage is the worst with that shit, as the obstacles come from behind you, leaving you with very little to react.

Surprisingly enough, I found the chase sequence in the 4th stage easier than the one in the 3rd stage, but I think it's because for most of it, I only had to dodge from side-to-side.

In terms of controls, Pepsiman is super easy to pick up and play, as you can only jump, slide and dash. Dashing is performed by pressing Up on the D-Pad and pressing the slide button, but honestly, I wish that it was its own separate button, as I found myself accidentally dashing when I meant to slide.

In terms of presentation, one of the most iconic things about this game are the cutscenes that you get from beating every stage. They feature live-action footage of actor Mike Butters sitting in his couch, and drinking a shit-ton of Pepsi and acting weirdly excited when you beat a stage.
Is this how Japanese people view Americans? Could be a curious case-study, to be frank.

Another iconic part of this game is the soundtrack! The main theme for Pepsiman had already been present in his commercials, and now it became the basis for the entire OST. You'll be hearing "PEPSIMAAAAN!" a lot, but for some reason, it never got annoying. The bombastic jazzy style of the main theme is such a delight to listen, in my opinion.
Fun fact: The composer for the soundtrack, James Shimoji, would later go on to make the music for Redline and the Lupin the IIIRD films!

The graphics of the game are fine. You can clearly tell that they put more focus on Pepsiman's model, as the many people you'll see in the stages are 2D sprites. The characters Pepsiman talks to at the beginning of the stages are 3D Models, but they have very stilted animations, and some pretty funny voices.

All of what the people want is Pepsi. Forget water, they need their thirst to be quenched by Pepsi, because fuck it, the world of the game has been consumed by Pepsi and people only want Pepsi.

Overall, Pespiman is fine game that could've been pretty fun to revisit if it wasn't for the difficulty spike in the last part of the game. Even in spite of that, I had fun finally playing it for the first time after hearing about it for years.