It all started when someone in late 90's thought it was a good idea to turn a drink commercial into a Video Game.
Pepsi Man is a 3D Arcade/Runner game for PS1. The main thing about this game however is that it's actually a commercial for Pepsi drink. Starring Pepsi Man the real life mascot of Pepsi company in Japan. Oh, did I mention that Pepsi Man is Japanese exclusive even thought the voice acting is in English?
You can find the game on Internet Achieve. Playable but not downloadable.
The game follows Pepsi Man, who saves the day by giving people in need drinks. Each stage is divided into three levels and each level is divided into parts seperated by a checkpoint. All you do though is run around avoiding obstacles, while listening to the catchy "Pepsi maaaaaaaan" song in the background, which is used for all levels.
Pepsi Man for PS1 is a strange game. It's not a masterpiece nor a technical achievement. The game doesn't take itself too seriously. The gameplay is part challenging, part unforgiving. Despite all that, it provided me with a few of the most fun moments I had in PS1-era ever!
The story is stupid at best & some parts (including every TV cutscene never make any sense.) Levels stories range from delivering Pepsi to a vending machine, saving civilians from fire, running away from a giant Pepsi bottle.
What makes Pepsi Man a memorable game to me, is the fact I played with with my brother and cousins for a whole day as children. It's special to me because that day was Eid, (an Islamic Festival) and we had more people than usual home. We took turns playing and losing since no one of us knew what he was doing.
Making a game about a walking Pepsi is bound to make it funny without even trying. The cartoonish way Pepsi Man bumps in the obstacles, adds the much more to the fun. I can't forget the image of Pepsi-man holding his head while grunting "Ueghhh" after bumping into iron bars in the construction level.
What do you think?
Sometimes a bad game can ascend to be one of your favorites for some reason and another. I don't think Pepsi Man is a bad game, but I know it's not good either. That doesn't mean I don't have a lot of fun memories of it, and that I don't hear the music inside my head every time I see the picture of the game's cover online.
If you're interested in Pepsi Man, I found a 35-minute full-run of the game on YouTube. Another video I recommend is this one by the completionist which works both as in-depth Review & History lesson. I mentioned the game in one of my earliest articles online too.
- This article is an entry to #HivePizza's contest: Most Memorable Game.
- *First image uses the game's cover taken wikipedia. Screenshots are taken from here.
- This article is also on Read.cash.