Pepsiman (1999)

 

Publisher: KID

Developer: KID

Single Player

Playstation One

 

There isn't enough Pepsi for everyone, and violence has flared up amongst those wanting Pepsi!

Videogames and licensed properties go hand-in-hand. Especially when you look at earlier generations of consoles, even Olympic mascots have had tie-in games let alone film and programme tie-ins over the years. It is neither a Western phenomenon as, food mascots the subject of today or soda drink as is the exact term, I can also include UFO Kamen Yakisoban (1994), a tie-in game for a brand of ramen, which never was released in the West and also was based on adverts with even a straight-to-video feature film in existence. Licensed games however have the immediate issue that preservation, due to the rights issues, is significantly more difficult. There is also the issue that most of these games alongside "shovelware", a term of work churned out to consoles just for money quickly, are seen as terrible. You have to contend both with the relevance of a licensed property that no longer has pop culture cache decades later, alongside who owns the copyright, and that most of these titles are probably terrible due to a lack of care with their quality over product.

Here, however, we have a case, I will argue, is actually a good licensed game if a tough one, one title as many have learnt of on the internet like myself due to how ridiculous it is. If one title though deserved to be released in the West as a digital or even physical release, if the rights could be figured out, it is Pepsiman. It is not even the weirdest of a food and drink brand's attempts to advertise itself, as KFC's promotional wing has gone as far as have sexy studly Colonel Sanders a real thing both in romantic novels (Tender Wings of Desire by Harland Sanders) and a visual novel videogame, I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator (2019), were he is an anime hunk your protagonist character attempts to date in culinary school. Pepsiman himself however, a Japanese only advertisement character designed by Takuya Onuki, a legendary graphic designer, is one in a row of attempts by Pepsi to get ahead of the likes of their rivals Coke Cola. Some readers may remember their advertisements with animated polar bears, and the likes of Madonna and Michael Jackson appeared with their branding, but Pepsiman as a character was a Japanese exclusive, shot and set in the United States with Industrial Lights and Magic even brought in to render the fully 3D animated hero. Onuki in his creation of the character, setting up as well how the game is a very accurate replication of the source material, made him both a cool character but also an intentionally comedic one, self-deprecation to the advertisements as Pepsiman injures himself as much as he is a hero of providing soda based sustenance.

This is neither the first game he appears in, as he was a secret character in the Japanese release of Fighting Vipers (1995), specifically the Sega Saturn port of the arcade fighting game. For the Japanese market only, though in the decades later becoming a cult item, Pepsiman finally got his own game from developer KID. Knowing Onuki had an investment, distinct to this property, of also handling how the merchandise would replicate the character, it would not be a surprise if he also had some thoughts to how the video game looked just from speculation.

Like the adverts, this is a Japanese take on the West, set in an Americana world, with all the dialogue in English with Japanese subtitles. They have some dated aspects, mainly a lot of American women in tight bikinis, let alone a sole cameo in one advert of a Pepsiwoman, which is just emphasis at the time the Dead or Alive fighting games would develop a notoriety for chest physics, to use the polite choice of words, Industrial Lights and Magic of all people had to animate it too up to their quality of work. The adverts however as well, starting in the mid nineties through past this game into the 2000s, are legitimately fun, a bright and warm hearted view of American culture baring the one cruel joke about a man trapped in the desert merely having a mirage of a cactus being Pepsiman. The game is aware of its existence and is as playful, opening with full motion video pre-titles where you are introduced to Mike Butters, a Canadian actor who would eventually become a mainstay of the Saw horror franchise, opening a can of his beloved beverage from a vending machine only to hear weird music from it. He will be a constant through if you can get through the levels, eating food that Pepsi's main company owned (like Lay’s Potato chips) and surrounded by a ludicrous amounts of empty Pepsi cans, saying inane but charming things like "Pepsi for TV game!" which really do not make sense.

Pepsiman the game itself predates a popular mobile phone game called Temple Runner (2011), in which in a limited number of controls you have a character constantly moving having to avoid obstacles in what is called an "endless runner" game, where unlike "auto runner" gameplay, where a game can have sequences where you are forced to move forwards, "endless runner" means it will continue on and on, with procedural generation. Pepsiman is more of an "auto runner" in that it has a set of levels with set obstacles, our Pepsi branded hero having to negotiate around construction site barriers, cars, even tumbleweeds to avoid being hurt on his missions, a time limit also to bear in mind. There is a jump button and the ability, without burning one's skin off on concrete and tarmac, to power slide under certain obstacles. The slide mechanic has two other functions - the down button on a PS One controller causes one to briefly stop, which is not really useful, but forwards causes one to run faster for a brief sprit, vital when playing chicken with subway trains, also useful to spam (if careful with it) to make up for lost time and distance. The game's mechanics includes the fact that, once you start an action, it has to finish the animation, so this is a factor you have to consider unless one wants to hit a barrier or spiral down a pit.

This is of note as Pepsiman is a hard game, but with mind that the obstacles are not unpredictable and do not change per gaming session. They play out the same way in every attempt, and it is both the mechanics of the game and the player, both their reactions and muscle memory, which is necessary. It became a pleasure to do this, with the only real problem with Pepsiman the game being a lack of a save function to allow you to continue from a level you have reached. Though it only has four levels, split into three parts, Pepsiman even in its original form as a short game has a greater harshness because of this. Lives can easily be accumulated, collecting Pepsi cans during levels mid-run, and completing the game once opens an option to try any section again, but this game gets more challenging as it goes along and requires learning the courses over time to finally beat them.

The difficulty is emphasises, by the first two chapters per level, that enough trips and pratfalls will eventually cause Pepsiman to collapse in embarrassment. Some obstacles are instant live takers, such as being directly hit by cars or rampaging motor bikers, and the many pits and drops to oblivion. Failing to reach the end of a course in the time limit causes a life to be lost as Pepsiman feels embarrassment in not being a hero on time. The third part of all levels has its own mechanics in that you are running towards the screen, away from a giant constant obstacle (twice a giant Pepsi can) with additional obstacles and no slide ability. Unless used in emergencies, the jump button for me in these sections, alongside the disorientating nature of running towards the screen, actually proved more a hindrance when to merely negotiate quickly and carefully around the hazards was a wiser decision.

Pepsiman is a licensed game, when they are notoriously known for many being hashed together cash-ins, which is actually well made. It is tough, and the simple controls can be awkward at times, but this never feels broken or badly designed at all. Even Level Four, the final one when you get to chapter two at the main factory of Pepsi City, is some you can learn. Even with crates appearing out of nowhere and conveyor belts, alongside having to ride a hover board through barely opened doors with a ridiculous reaction time, it is one you can learn to negotiate from improving reflexes and muscle memory of how best to move ahead. Save states would improve this game without losing the challenge, as the point to Pepsiman is focusing on the challenges per level than the instinct a future endless runner game would have. This is more focused on elaborate one-off levels which, per Level and even within one stage, can vary even within them, such as a city on fire leading to a construction site, or a sewer within one part leading to a mad bolt past subway trains and passersby on the train platforms, alongside jumping across roofs to the end goal.

What pushes Pepsiman further is how charmingly memorable it is, apt for an adaptation of adverts which are charmingly absurd. Again as mentioned, this is all done in English when there are cut scenes, each level introduced with Pepsiman listening to a character give him a mission in exaggerated speech. Even within the game, there are playful details like homeless people with signs wanting Pepsi. The only real disappointment, which I learnt of from the soundtrack for this game, is that we may have missed an additional stage. Set up with five stages in the soundtrack, one involves a cheerleader for an American football game, using the most over-the-top voice you can imagine, talking about the cheerleading team being tired from their work and wishing for Pepsi. Already a short game, it is a shame that, for a character about exaggerating Americana, we never got the American football level even if the adverts do have a think for obsessing over skimpy clothing. The music as well, even if it consists of just the same basic theme, with the only lyrics being "Pepsiman!" being repeated, is also part of the charm especially when you get into the calypso version among others.

The game's self awareness, which came from the adverts, is admirable. So much that, if we could get Pepsi to clear the license, this would be great to relicense and have in the modern digital era. Its foundations are solid once you can get around the challenge, and alongside said challenge being worthwhile, the ridiculous nature of the concept is amusing. Whilst Pepsiman was for a moment a really well regarded creation, sadly in contrast KID filed for bankruptcy in 2006, with their projects acquired and finished into the 2010s, and this game did not even sell well when it was originally released. It would be worthy of giving that studio's staff happiness, if we could figure out how to deal with licensed games in terms of copyright decades after, if Pepsiman went from already having a cult status as a videogame to also become a cheap but playable work for legal purchase. For the fact this is far better made and better than what can be done with licensed games, or what is called "shovelware", should be recognised.