They still felt that the game was not bad, and that it was worth the price, which they noted was low. A reviewer for IGN also compared it to Crash Bandicoot, described the gameplay as 'simplistic rote memorization based', and said that the thing the game would be remembered for was its 'extremely bizarre premise'. Writers for Famitsu called the game 'super-simple', comparing it to Metro-Cross and Paperboy, and calling it a simplified version of Crash Bandicoot. According to Uchikoshi, the game did not sell well. Despite this, the game is entirely in English, not Japanese. The game was released in Japan by KID for the PlayStation on Mawhile an American publisher was looking into acquiring the rights to publish the game in the United States, it remained Japan-exclusive. This was Uchikoshi's first job he had been hired to plan video game adaptations of board games, but ended up being part of the development of Pepsiman instead, which was already in progress when he joined KID in 1998. The game also used 3D event scenes, which were modeled by Kotaro Uchikoshi, who would later be a scenario writer for visual novels at KID. It was made on a low budget, which led to the decision to make the low-cost video scenes of the American man drinking Pepsi. The game was developed by the Japanese video game developer KID. Following this, Pepsi decided to further promote the character with a video game. The character was featured in commercials in Japan, and in the Japanese version of the video game Fighting Vipers, and became popular in Japan. Pepsiman is based on Pepsi's mascot with the same name, which was created by comic book artist Travis Charest for Pepsi's Japanese branch. In between stages, the player is shown videos of an American man drinking Pepsi and eating chips and pizza while watching television. Each stage ends with Pepsiman being chased by an object, including a giant Pepsi can. Throughout each stage is a number of checkpoints if the player gets hit by obstacles too many times, they have to restart from the latest checkpoint. In some stages, Pepsiman's head becomes stuck inside a steel drum, which inverts the controls, and in some, he uses a skateboard. The player gains points by collecting Pepsi cans.

The player does this by using four different moves: running, dashing, jumping, and super-jumping. The player aims to dodge obstacles, such as cars, construction cranes, and people, as well as Pepsi-branded obstacles, including a Pepsi truck. The game is played from a third-person perspective, with Pepsiman automatically running forwards through the stage, sometimes running through people's living rooms. The stages are all based on real locations, such as San Francisco and New York City. Pepsiman is an action game that consists of four stages, each divided into smaller segments, and each involving the superhero Pepsiman saving a person who is in need of a drink, such as a military man in the middle of a desert, by giving them a can of Pepsi. The player tries to dodge obstacles while Pepsiman automatically runs forward. A writer for Complex included it on a list of company-branded games that 'didn't suck', commenting that it is not a bad game as long as the player can tolerate the large amount of advertisement in it, while a reviewer of Destructoid said that the game was funny but not great, calling it 'charmingly brain-dead'.

Reviewers frequently compared the game to other games, including Crash Bandicoot, and commented on its simplicity and its price, which was thought to be low. While an American publisher did look into acquiring the rights to publish the game in the United States, it ended up being a Japan-exclusive game. The game also features 3D cutscenes, which the future visual novel writer Kotaro Uchikoshi created 3D models for. The game was made on a low budget this prompted the decision to make videos in-between stages that show an American man drinking Pepsi, as they were cheap to produce. It is based on Pepsi's superhero mascot with the same name, and focuses the player on avoiding obstacles by running, dashing, and jumping, while Pepsiman automatically runs forward through each of the game's stages. Pepsiman ( Japanese: гѓљгѓ—г‚·гѓћгѓі, Hepburn: Pepushiman) is an action video game developed and published by KID for the PlayStation on March 4, 1999, in Japan. Cover art, featuring the titular Pepsiman

Pepsi man gameplay