The Psycho Soldier Page/FAQ
by Carl Chavez (
[email protected])
Based on information provided by Dick Millikan.
Last updated 3 March 2000.
3 March 2000: I finally got around to correcting the song lyrics to "her
crystal is the answer". I won't give credit to any one person, since
hundreds of people (including myself) have reminded me to fix it...:-) I
also added some gameplay tips, but not much.
26 March 1999: MAME now emulates Psycho Soldier. ROMs will not be available
on this site.
30 July 1998: The original game's theme music (with vocals) is now available
in MP3 format (located at
http://www.bubandbob.com/psychosoldier/sound.html)
The vocals are scratchy; sorry, but that's the way they were originally
recorded!
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*CONTENTS*
-What is Psycho Soldier?
-Gameplay
-Lyrics
-JAMMA pinout description
-DIP switch settings
-Sound test values
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Introduction
Description
Psycho Soldier is a 1986 release by SNK. It is a side-scrolling shooter
featuring two-player simultaneous play. The major character is a girl named
Athena. She fires blasts of psychic energy as her main weapon. She can
collect orbs which she can control telepathically. These orbs protect her
from some projectiles and can also be launched at targets. The orbs will
explode on impact. Her companion, a boy named Kensu, can help her with his
own powers. Together they clean up a ruined city full of monsters and
mutants.
What makes Psycho Soldier so cool?
As far as I know, Psycho Soldier was the first game to feature vocals for
its in-game music. To do this, SNK put the game on one of the largest JAMMA
boards I've seen for its time: three boards connected together, containing
several dozen EPROMs which contain the sound data, graphics, and program.
There are also interesting powerups in the game. You can collect orbs,
which can protect you from some enemies and also act as a secondary weapon.
You can collect shot power-ups, which will help you destroy enemies faster.
You can collect items which change your enemy's form, speed up the orbs
revolving around you, drain you of energy, and more! See Gameplay.
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Gameplay
Movement
Move Athena or Kensu left or right along platforms. Make them move up or
down to jump to other platforms. They will not get hurt by long falls.
Attacking with Psycho Bolts
Press the primary fire button to standard bolts of energy. These can punch
through stone as well as through enemies. If you break a stone and it
contains a lightning capsule, you can power up your primary attack.
Using the Psycho Balls
Sometimes you'll find balls floating on the screen. If you grab them, then
they will circle around Athena. By pressing the secondary fire button, you
can launch them at your enemies. They can destroy anything in their path
short of a boss or some of the later creatures. Your ammo is listed at the
bottom of the screen, above your life count. Using psycho balls does drain
some energy from Athena. The more energy you have, the more powerful the
ball attack is. Psycho balls also act as a limited form of defense. The
more energy you have, the faster they revolve around your character. They
can block small projectiles and small flying creatures.
Using the sword
A sword is hidden in some blocks. When you get a sword, your shots will now
pass through stone. You must walk up to a stone and hit it with the sword
to break it (use the fire button). The sword lasts for a while (probably a
set number of strikes). The sword may also be used against enemies at very
close range.
Becoming a Phoenix
If your energy bar is full and you have collected lots of psycho balls, you
should break stones until a green egg pops out. When you break the egg, a
special item will appear that changes Athena into a phoenix. The phoenix
has a powerful breath attack and can ram enemies to kill them. The breath
attack has no penalty for use, but you use energy whenever you ram an enemy
or you get hit by a projectile. If your energy bar is not full, or you
don't have enough psycho balls, the egg will release a large number of
maggots. Therefore, try not to be close to an egg when you break it. If
you're too close, the maggots will swarm you.
The various power up/down capsules and items
* Lightning - if you get this, your shooting power increases.
* Balls - get more psycho balls for shooting or defense.
* Rainbow beam - increase your energy
* Sword - break stone with one hit, allow shooting through stone
* Skull in black lightning - drains energy (doesn't kill you)
* Infinity sign - ??? (can't remember)
* Arrow up - increases strength of enemies (AVOID)
* Arrow down - decreases strength of enemies
* Fire globe - extra energy
* Flying saucer - shoot this and a balloon comes out. Grab the balloon
for bonus points. The longer you wait before grabbing the balloon, the
higher the point value is for grabbing it (up to 3000 points). There's
probably a secret associated with the balloons.
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Song Lyrics
Athena's name is magic,
mystery... is what you see
her crystal is the answer
fighting fair
to keep us free
she's just a little girl with power inside
burning bright
you'd better hide if you are bad...
she'll get you
she'll read your mind and find if
you believe in right or wrong!
Fire, fire, psycho soldier
Fire, fire, psycho soldier
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JAMMA pin layout
PARTS SIDE CKT SIDE
------------ ------------
1 GND A GND
2 GND B GND
3 +5V C +5V
4 +5V D +5V
5 -5V E -5V
6 +12V F +12V
7 KEY H KEY
8 CTR 1 J CTR 2
9 COIN LOCKOUT K COIN LOCKOUT
10 SP + L SP-
11 M
12 VID RED N VID GN
13 VID BL P SYNC
14 VID GND R SVC
15 TEST S
16 COIN 1 T COIN 2
17 1 START U 2 START
18 PL 1 UP V PL 2 UP
19 PL 1 DOWN W PL 2 DOWN
20 PL 1 RIGHT X PL 2 RIGHT
21 PL 1 LEFT Y PL 2 LEFT
22 PL 1 FIRE Z PL 2 FIRE
23 PL 1 JUMP a PL 2 JUMP
24 b
25 c
26 d
27 GND e GND
28 GND f GND
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DIP Switch Settings
DIP SW 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
-------- ON TEST
X VIDEO FLIP
ON EXTRA MAN AT EVERY
BONUS
OFF 1ST & 2ND BONUS
ONLY
OFF 3 # OF MEN
ON 5
COIN/CREDIT
OFF OFF 1/1
ON OFF 2/1
OFF ON 3/1
ON ON 4/1
DIP SW 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
-------- DIFFICULTY
OFF OFF NORM
ON OFF EASY
OFF ON HARD
ON ON VERY HARD
OFF DEMO SOUND ON
ON DEMO SOUND OFF
ON FREEZE VIDEO
OFF NORMAL VIDEO
OFF OFF 50K, 100K BONUS
ON OFF 60K, 120K
OFF ON 100K, 200K
ON ON NONE
ON CONTINUE ON
OFF CONTINUE OFF
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Sound test - music vocals
C0 Athena's name is magic,
C1 is what you see
C2 her crystal is the answer
C3 fighting fair
C4 She's just a little girl with power inside
C5 burning bright
C6 You'd better hide if you are bad
C7 She'll get you
E4 She'll read your mind and find if
E5 You believe in right or wrong
E6,E7 Fire
E8,E9 Psycho Soldier
EA Mystery
EB To keep us free
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end.
