Gameplay
''Pulse Racer'' is a conventional kart racing game, cart racing video game in which players compete in races across a series of tracks. The gameplay features a novel concept of "heart rate", in which players are able to "speed boost" using the joystick, but must maintain their heart rate below a threshold to prevent the driver having a heart attack, where the driver will enter cardiac arrest and lose the race. Races also feature several power-ups, including "plasma orbs" that allow players to turn corners at no loss of speed, and collectables including offensive weapons including missiles and mines, shields, speed boosts and health power-ups. The game features several modes of play. In 'Career Race', players can complete a series of three leagues of races in increasing difficulties, with completed races leading to unlockable characters and options for the track creator. 'Quick Race' allows for custom races for one to four players. 'Time Trial' is a single-player mode in which the player races against the clock. The game features five tracks, with an additional track creator titled INFINITRAX, which allows players to generate tracks based on a series of parameters unlocked through the 'Career Race' mode, including setting the "location of the track, how curvy, wide, and far it is, as well as how many hills and dips there are."Development
''Pulse Racer'' producer Quincy Roach stated that the game was influenced by "a number of kart racing game, cart titles on the market", with the game's primary inspiration being the 1988 arcade game ''Power Drift''. Roach stated that the game was released for the Xbox (console), Xbox to avoid graphical limitations and support a four-player split screen (computing), split screen mode, and used anti-aliasing and per-pixel lighting to smooth the design of the graphics.Critical reception
''Pulse Racer'' received negative reception from critics, with the Review aggregator, review aggregation website Metacritic noting the game received "generally unfavorable reviews", receiving an average score of 24% across 7 reviews. The game remains the third lowest-scored title on Metacritic for the Xbox (console), Xbox. Many critics condemned the game, including Hilary Goldstein of ''IGN'', who faulted the game's basic design, stating the game "never hits on the essential needs of a cart racer" and was "almost unplayable", and Ryan Davis of ''GameSpot'', who described the game as a "derivative" and "cheap-looking, unenjoyable game", finding "there's really nothing that ''Pulse Racer'' does that hasn't been done before and much better." Several reviewers critiqued the poor execution of the game's novel features as a hindrance to the game, including the turbo system. Hilary Goldstein of ''IGN'' dismissed the turbo system as a "stupid idea", stating it "goes against what a racer should be - driving fast and being fun." Similarly, Brad Kane of ''Xplay, X-Play'' stated the system was "not an intuitive process" and noted the "speed of the vehicles is far too slow...you'll spend way too much time at the painfully dawdling default velocity." Ryan Davis of ''GameSpot'' critiqued the game's plasma orbs, stating "none of the turns are so outrageously hard that you ever really need to use (them)...the plasma orbs will often fail to activate for no apparent reason." Ryan Genno of ''Gaming Target'' found the controls difficult, stating "it's very awkward to move when you have to use the analog stick to (use) turbo or extra acceleration options." Critics were also disappointed by the design and presentation of the game's tracks and track editor. Brad Kane of ''XPlay'' noted that whilst the track generation system was "interesting", the tracks featured a "lack in real creativity" and resulted in a "bland set of courses that reuse many common visual elements." Ryan Genno of ''Gaming Target'' found frustration in the requirement to use points to operate the track editor, and found the "minor adjustment options" of the editor underwhelming. Ryan Davis of ''GameSpot'' found the editor's usefulness "limited by the generally dull designs it produces and by the fact that you have to play through all of the career mode and then some to accumulate enough points to unlock the different variable controls."Notes
References
External links
* {{moby game, id=/xbox/pulse-racer 2002 video games Jaleco games Kart racing video games Multiplayer and single-player video games Science fiction racing games Video games developed in Russia Video games developed in the United States Xbox games Xbox-only games