Game Review: Pulsoids aka Pulsoid (Commodore 64, Mastertronic)

Pulsoids is a game that has an identity crisis. On the cassette inlay, it shows as Pulsoids (plural), but during loading and indeed on the game itself it shows as Pulsoid (singular). Both of the titles are the same game, but the inconsistency is clear to see, especially as the logo for the game shows throughout. It does make you wonder how much information the designers of the cassette inlays had about the game, more so when you read the rear inlay blurb – but surely the game’s title would have at least been provided correctly for the front cover.

The plot effectively explains that various competitive exercises, including some sport known as football, as well as darts, archery and the javelin, were played across the galaxy. However, as other lifeform supporting planets developed, they developed games that could control a projectile (Breakout, anyone?) and then as they further developed, they could travel between galaxies and develop their own laser-based game, now called Pulsoid. This became the ultimate sporting challenge, where you deflect laser pulses with your energy mirror back into the arena to destroy the mirror blocks.  The whole convoluted story takes around one page of the cassette inlay and, to be honest, you just want to get to the part of the instructions to tell you what to collect, known as bonus batteries, that will drop throughout the game.

The Time Has Come to Make or Break

The game loads relatively quickly and you are presented with the game’s title, and a thumping Steve Barrett soundtrack which includes some sampled drums that kick pretty hard. It is definitely one of his best pieces and well worth checking out before you play. You can press F1 to start one player (fire also does so), F3 for two players with one joystick, or F5 for two players if you have two joysticks. It is nice to have those options, and although it is turn based, some consideration at least has gone into the gameplay there.

You start on an opening screen of mirror blocks and straight away you are into familiar Breakout, and more closely, Arkanoid territory. As ever, you need to destroy all the mirror blocks to be able to get to the next level, and there are thirty-two levels in all.  Some of the blocks are marked slightly differently, and these do have an effect on the game, as well as some that take multiple hits to break. The other thing you will notice is that you do not have a ball – you have a laser pulse. If that looks familiar, it may be because that and the sound effects are also from another Mastertronic game, Pulse Warrior.  You direct the laser pulse with your energy mirror and once it hits the mirror blocks, you start to make your way into getting those blocks bashed.

Batteries Are Included

The bonus batteries will come down towards you when you hit certain mirror blocks. These are often very useful, and the letters differ from the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad versions. In alphabetical order this is as follows:

B – places a plasma barrier below your energy mirror. Press the fire button when a pulse laser hits it to deflect it back.

C – allows the energy mirror to absorb most of the pulse energy, increasing the bonus score

D – slows the laser pulses down for a limited period of time

L – makes the energy mirror twice the size

N – deactivates the reflective powers of the mirror blocks, meaning the laser pulse can hit through them. Your energy mirror goes yellow to reflect this

X – extra life

The bonus score can ramp up considerably if you have collected the battery and then a large pulse laser, reducing it to be smaller again but also absorbing plenty along the way.

Some of the other mirror blocks have different effects: the red mirror blocks have to be hit twice, and on first hit they change colour, so you can easily see what needs to be hit. There are grey blocks which are indestructible, and also blocks with plus and minus symbols which makes the laser pulse larger or smaller.  The real dangerous block is introduced later, which has a lightning bolt symbol. When hit by a laser pulse, the game plays at a rapid speed until you collect the next bonus battery – however it can also drop a useful N battery too which if you collect that may prove to be the key to completing a level too.

Break Out and Shout, Day In, Day Out

There are also pulse capsules that feed into the levels from the hopper at the top of the screen. Effectively these are like the enemies on Arkanoid. However, if you hit one of them, the pulse laser splits in two and goes off in different direction. This can be particularly useful if you are attempting to clear some tricky mirror blocks that may be behind a grey block, or indeed where there are some ones which are just avoiding the diagonal only bounce of the laser pulse – and a change of direction can be helpful here. The laser pulse only going at a diagonal angle can be a little bit off putting at times as you can be waiting around to bounce around the arena before it finally hits the last block, so something worth noting. Also, the laser pulses do speed up without any warning of your current bonus battery expiring, so you will need to have your wits about you in order to keep the pulse laser active.

You start with three lives, and although the joystick controls are responsive, the movement of the energy mirror could be a little smoother when you move. It would have been a nice bonus option to have paddle or mouse control, as these are generally a better method for these sorts of games, but at a budget price I would imagine that sticking with just joystick was an easier option. The other point to note is that on rare occasions I was able to hit a mirror block from a barrier and then for some reason the level completed. It did not happen very often, but definitely something that happened to me a couple of times during play, so not sure if that was a bug or a hidden feature that was not documented in the instructions.

Finger on the Pulse

The basic gameplay mechanic here is of course classic Arkanoid, with the added laser pulse being a different enough alternative to make it interesting. The fact that you can make that laser pulse bigger and that in turn means hitting the capsules can give some impressive effect of multiple laser pulses attempting to hit everything in their way. The satisfaction you get when having multiple of these clearing the level in quick fashion is really positive, and after a few goes and getting used to the controls, you will progress nicely through to the later levels. I have not completed the game yet, but around level twenty of thirty-two is my best. Just to see what the later levels were like, I did produce an infinite lives cheat, and the last two levels are absolutely rock hard.

That said, the prevalence of extra lives with the X bonus battery really does help the gameplay considerably. On the second level I was easily able to collect at least two of them and bump up the lives counter nicely, and that does help. Especially as some of the levels have mirror blocks quite close to you, and as your energy mirror only moves at one speed, this can mean that you have limited time to react and be able to reflect the pulse laser without it going past you and losing a life. One other notable element is that if you do lose a life, the red blocks do not reset their counts, so if you have hit it once, it remains hit once and that eases the frustration well – a good positive in my view. When you do complete a level, any bonus gained by absorbing the laser pulse when the C bonus battery was collected is added to your score

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in Pulsoids are functional – the mirror blocks do have a nice sheen effect on them and the pulse lasers move well, especially as they expand. The capsules that appear at the top are reasonably well drawn and animated – and everything such as the lettering on the bonus batteries are well defined, and with different colours for each of those, so you know what you are collecting. The sound effects themselves are the same as in Pulse Warrior – functional and do their job, but somewhat limited. What does excel though is the superb title theme from Steve Barrett, complete with electronic drum samples that give the whole tune its thumping back beat, and a really nice lead instrument that resembles a good vocal with some nice feel to it. Well worth a listen if you get the chance before playing the game

Final Thoughts

Pulsoids (aka Pulsoid) is one of a range of budget Arkanoid type clones that appeared across the home 8-bit systems. The addition of using the laser pulse, similar to that in Pulse Warrior, is definitely a nice idea and when a few of them have been created by hitting the capsules, they really do move well and give a sense that you may be able to complete a level quicker. Although the controls are responsive and may need to be a touch smoother for the movement, it works as well as it can do. The extra bonus batteries are plentiful for you to ramp up the score, and with a number of those being the extra lives, you are never too far away from gaining an extra one. This increases the longevity of the game. With touches such as the red laser blocks not resetting their count when you lose a life, the game is a little difficult but fair with it, and the one more go factor is strong. It may not be the absolute best game of its type, but it is different enough to warrant a good look, and plays well too.

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