Pulstar

Pulstar (パルスター, Parusutā) is a 1995 shoot 'em up developed by now defunct Aicom Co. Ltd and published by SNK for the Neo Geo, Neo Geo CD and arcade. It is the prequel of Blazing Star, and spiritual sequel of R-Type. Pulstar, as well as its sequel, are often regarded as among the best-looking shoot 'em up games for the Neo Geo.

Story
In the year 2248, the first recorded sign of extraterrestrial life was discovered coming from Mars. The signal emanated from the planet and from it an object travelled through space at light speed out of the Solar System. Earth scientists read the signal, but not knowing the nature of it, warned the world's defenses in case aliens traced the signal and followed it to Earth with the intent to destroy.

Eight years later, aliens followed the signal to the Solar System and began attacking the human space craft awaiting them along Neptune’s orbit. The battle between the humans and aliens spread throughout the Solar System; within two years of combat Neptune was disintegrated, Jupiter was turned into a star and more than half of Earth's continents sank from rising ocean levels and the planet's changing axis as a result. Kaoru Yamazaki, lone fighter pilot of the Dino-246, is one of the few survivors left of the Pulstar attack force founded to save the Solar System from the alien invaders; it is through her that mankind may have a chance to survive the alien menace.

Gameplay
The basic gameplay is simple: progress through the levels in the spacecraft, collecting powerups and protecting the spacecraft from destruction. The game has very obvious similarities in design and gameplay to R-Type, up to the point that it is actually believed that some ex-Irem employees left the company to join Aicom, which used to be a subcontractor for various coin-op manufacturers like Jaleco or SNK.

Despite the familiarities, Pulstar is not without innovations. There is the option of using the weapon power bar, which consists of two halves. The right-hand side of the bar turns blue when you depress the fire button, when fully charged your ship delivers a devastating emission of energy. Meanwhile the left-hand side turns red when it is continually pressed, shooting out a barrage of smaller, rapid blasts.

The in-game visuals are mostly pre-rendered 3D graphics, which gives the interactive elements a far more realistic appearance. Great care was taken to really place the player into the world of the game, with cinematic style cut scenes and pre-rendered movies.

There is a hefty reliance on strategy and not just blasting everything in sight. Using the charged weapon is key, and requires careful precision. Also, once a power-up is obtained, a small orb appears at the posterior end of the ship. This can be used to gain an advantage by deflecting/absorbing oncoming enemy fire and taking out small enemies that run into it.

Development & Release
Pulstar was released for arcades on 28 August 1995. It was developed by Aicom, a Japanese developer founded by former employees of Irem, and published by SNK. Produced for the Neo Geo AES arcade system, Pulstar was known under the codename of Project Dino during development, and was designed to be technologically-impressive for the time period. It is the first Neo Geo game to incorporate pre-rendered graphics, which are 3D models converted into 2D images to create the illusion of a 3D environment. The soundtrack was composed by Harumi Fujita and Yasuaki Fujita, both of whom were previously employed at Capcom and worked on their Ghosts'n Goblins series. Harumi Fujita composed the music for Pulstar under the mindset of its freedom from sound chip limitations, allowing her to create music that corresponded to the game's environment and match her vision.

A version of Pulstar was released for the Neo Geo AES system in September, followed by a home release for the Neo Geo CD in October. In France, the AES version was distributed by Guillemot International. The Neo Geo CD version adds a higher-quality soundtrack and cutscenes between stages. In 2012, Pulstar was digitally re-released for the Japanese Wii Virtual Console service, courtesy of D4 Enterprise. Pulstar is included in the Neo Geo 25th Anniversary Humble Bundle, released in 2015. Hamster Corporation re-released Pulstar for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch in 2017 under their Arcade Archives series.

Critical Reception
In Japan, Game Machine listed Pulstar on their 1 October 1995 issue as being the seventh most-popular arcade game at the time. Harumi Fujita claims that the game was received positively by SNK and Neo Geo fans.

Pulstar drew a wide range of opinions from critics, many of which drew comparison with the R-Type series. Maximum gave the Neo Geo AES version a rave review, particularly applauding the impressive-looking bosses and the extremely high and intelligently designed challenge. They also regarded the game as a sign that SNK was branching out from one-on-one fighting games. Major Mike gave it a more mixed review in GamePro, describing it as an imperfect and unoriginal shooter which manages to distinguish itself through its high difficulty and rendered graphics. He criticized that objects often blend into the backgrounds, but like Maximum, he particularly noted the visually impressive bosses. A reviewer for Next Generation panned the game, contending that the gameplay mechanics fail to surpass even shooters of the early 1980s. He concluded, "If it weren't for the molasses like pace of the game, then Pulstar could've been another generic shooter. Instead, it's even worse".

In 2014, HobbyConsolas identified Pulstar as one of the twenty best games for the Neo Geo CD. Likewise, Time Extension also listed it as one of the best games for the Neo Geo.