Pepsiman

"Chester Cheetah was cool, Cool Spot had "cool" in his name, but Pepsiman? He's not cool at all!"

- Angry Video Game Nerd

Pepsiman is a 1999 action video game developed and published by KID for the mh:awesomegames:PlayStation, only in Japan. It is based on the American carbonated soft drink Pepsi's Japanese superhero mascot of the same name.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Pretty poor graphics, especially when it gets dark in certain areas like the sewer and it's hard to tell when there's pitfalls that can lead to death.
 * 2) * Most objects, obstacles, and NPCs use 2D models, which makes things look even worse.
 * 3) The plot makes no sense; society is collapsing due to Pepsi vending machines being out of order... yet there are Pepsi cans scattered all over the place?
 * 4) * Pepsiman is often tasked with saving people from situations such as burning buildings or crashed planes, yet all he can actually do is give them Pepsi cans.
 * 5) * Speaking of the plot, if Pepsiman & the world is inside a can, then why did the TV Game Guy look inside the can if he drunk the can into his gullet & react like he tasted something odd, did this mean that the world this game takes place in an can or the tv in the ending credits?? There was no explanation for what just happened. In other words, It's nonsensical.
 * 6) Whenever Pepsiman takes damage the game places a humorous scene of him getting hurt, however these take up far too much time and levels have very strict time limits.
 * 7) The controls are very awkward.
 * 8) The Pepsiman theme song is played over and over which quickly becomes annoying.
 * 9) * In some levels, the music is glitchy sounding, which makes it even worse to listen to.
 * 10) Cheap level design that results in constant deaths until the player memorizes every obstacle via trial-and-error, especially in the already mentioned dark areas.
 * 11) The game often shows weird FMV snuff film cutscenes about a stereotypical North American man aka TV Game Guy (role by Mike Butters) telling the player to buy more Pepsi, which makes this game one big product placement.
 * 12) The game is very short and can be completed in less than an hour.
 * 13) False advertising: The game's cover art says "DRINK!" making newcomers believe that that's the game's name.
 * 14) The unlockable content is not worth it. Most of the unlockable content is just cosmetics and the way you have to unlock them can be tedious mainly because of BQ #6.
 * 15) Mediocre voice acting.
 * 16) Expert mode isn't much different from standard game as the only difference is that the player has less time to complete the level and Pepsiman can only take 2 hits before dying.
 * 17) Abilities like the speed boost and brake are not told to the player at all.

Good Qualities

 * 1) While repeated so much that it becomes annoying, the Pepsiman Theme is admittedly catchy.
 * 2) Unlike most Japanese games, it has English menus and voice acting, which can help those that imported the game to understand it easily.
 * 3) You can unlock three unique costumes for Pepsiman, such as Classic Pepsiman, Wire-Frame Pepsiman, and Stealth Mode Pepsiman.
 * 4) Pepsiman's model is still well-designed, despite being a bit pixelated.
 * 5) A lot of references to the Pepsiman commercials are present.
 * 6) TV Game Guy is entertaining to watch.
 * 7) When completing the game, you unlock Free Play, which works as a level select so you can play certain stages without having the to play the whole game again.
 * 8) * Free Play also gives the player 99 lives.
 * 9) At least, this is first game to innovative to brand the new Endless Runner genre.

Reception
Pepsiman received mixed reviews, however due to the oddness of the concept and being a Japan-exclusive game, it developed a cult following over the years.

Multiple YouTube game reviewers such as Caddicarus, The Completionist, and The Angry Video Game Nerd have reviewed the game in recent years, most of them pointed out the game's excessive amount of Pepsi advertising and frustrating gameplay as its biggest problems.

Trivia

 * The actor, Mike Butters, reprises his role as the Pepsi addict man in the cutscenes for the AVGN review.
 * Mike Butters is best known for playing the character Paul in the Saw movies.
 * Pepsiman appeared in Fighting Vipers for Sega Saturn as a playable character.

Theme song
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Reviews
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