VC in Brief: Secret Commando (SMS) and Pulseman (Sega Genesis)

by David Hinkle { Jul 13th 2009 at 7:00PM }

It's been a while since we've seen two games released for Virtual Console in one week, let alone two import titles. But here we are, playing these games for you in another edition of VC in Brief. Be sure to check out the video above, and head past the break if you're looking for more. This is one of those have your cake and eat it too situations.

Secret Commando (Sega Master System, 1 - 2 players, 600 Wii Points)
We say: Not worth the extra $1

Secret Commando is actually Rambo: First Blood II, and save for a title screen swap, there's little-to-no difference between the two. So, for an extra $1, you get to play a Rambo game without Rambo in it. Does that sound appealing to you?

Pulseman (Sega Genesis, 1 player, 900 Wii Points)
We say: Pretty good run-and-gun action

Now Pulseman is what every import title on the Virtual Console should be like. Not a run-and-gun experience, mind you, but just a pleasant surprise of a game. Although it appears to be a bit on the short side (only three levels?), it's still a blast, through and through. If you've got nine bucks burning a hole in your pocket, check out this fun run-and-gun platformer.

Every week, we like to check out what's new on the Virtual Console. We offer these videos as a sort of taste to help you decide whether or not you would want the game in question. We also toss in our own two cents because we're pushy jerks.

Tags: pulseman, secret-commando, sega, sega-genesis, sega-master-system

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Roto13 @ Jul 13th 2009 7:38PM

I'm probably gonna buy Pulseman.

mindmap62 @ Jul 13th 2009 7:46PM

In Pulseman, after you beat the first 3 stages, you get another 3 and then you go onto the final,. Oh yes just so you know, Gamefreak also made Pokemon, and many homages to Pulseman are made to it such as Pikachu's final smash and many music tracks.

Shadow Hog @ Jul 13th 2009 11:06PM

Yeah, I'm still not sure why he keeps glossing over Pokémon. Is it to be cute? Because it's not. I'm practically screaming at the screen every time he fails to mention it.

And yeah, there's more than three stages. Seven IIRC. Still one of the best titles on the Genesis. Totally worth the $9.

Evil Richard Mitchell @ Jul 14th 2009 12:42AM

Who cares? Bring us Super Smash Brothers and Super Mario Kart. I'm tired of having to wait until some monumental number in the VC releases to get a big game like these. Europe and Japan have had them for months. I hate Reggie and his marketing morons! Listen to what we want for once big N!

ChibiKawase @ Jul 14th 2009 1:38AM

So instead of finding a new classic game, you just want a bunch of hits?

You bore me. And you'd be bored yourself if all the hit games came out now, and you were left with years of lesser-known games.

nintendo1889 @ Jul 14th 2009 10:15AM

A game with only seven levels is not worth 800 points, IMHO. Mario RPG (several hours long) and Breath of Fire 2 (10-15 hours), yes. Pulseman? No freakin way. It's no wonder people resort to VC .WAD injection and/or using the HBC. Although I no longer resort to piracy, I still play Snes games (I own), such as Earthbound on the Wii! Sure Nintendo has a so-called "zero tolerance" to unofficial emulation on their hardware, etc, I still stand by what I do! I will not stop playing Chrono Trigger, either (since I got a copy of it for 800 yen in Japan)! What's Nintendo going to do about it? The worst they can do is not release it, but if they release it, then all is well. If my tirade is incoherent, it's because I woke up no more than 10 min ago.

Mark @ Jul 14th 2009 10:44AM

Pulseman is a fantastic game.

nintendo1889 @ Jul 14th 2009 1:38PM

Yeah, but 900 wii points?! That's about 129 points per level, maybe if it were 10 or 15 levels, that would mean something. I don't doubt that it's a good game (many Genesis/Megadrive games are). But the fact that charge extra for an import is asinine. They need more RPGs/VC games that last more than 20 minutes.

WhatIsThatThing @ Jul 14th 2009 7:44PM

I haven't actually bought Pulseman for VC, but the video says it's in Japanese. If so, that's a disappointment, as there is a free translation patch floating around for the ROM image at http://mijet.eludevisibility.org/Pulseman/Pulseman.html

Now, I can't legally advise anyone to get the ROM of this game, but given the circumstances...the Homebrew Channel for your Wii is freely available to download.