Ever wondered what Game Freak did before Pokémon? Game Freak's 1994 classic Pulseman released this week for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack

Earlier this week, four games for the Sega Genesis were added to the list of games available on the Nintendo Switch to buyers of the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack bundle. One of these games is Pulseman, a game developed by Game Freak which originally released in Japan in July 1994, roughly one and a half years before the Japanese release of Pokémon Red & Green. It is an action platform game starring the titular Pulseman on a journey to stop Doc Waruyama from conquering the galaxy, with Pulseman being able to move freely between the physical world and computer network to aid him on his adventure across the globe.

In terms of international releases, Pulseman saw a short-lived North American release via the Sega Channel in 1995, among other titles such as Mega Man: The Wily Wars, but did not see a physical release outside of Japan, making the game elusive to players who did not wish to resort to emulation or other illegitimate methods to obtain it. The game had also previously been released for the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console internationally in 2009, but was delisted due the the shutdown of the Wii Shop Channel on January 30, 2019. Not even the Sega Mega Drive Mini / Genesis Mini consoles featured it as one of the available games despite including other elusive Genesis titles. This makes this release the first time Pulseman has been made available for purchase outside of Japan in over four years.