Lost In Translation/Psycho Soldier

This page is a stub for arcade games that are part of the Lost In Translation series using information based on MAME (version 0.113u2).
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Psycho Soldier
Manufacturer	SNK
Released	1987
Control Method	8-way Joystick 2 Button(s)
Main CPU	(3x) Z80 (@ 4.000 MHz)
Sound CPU	Mono YM3526 (@ 4.000 MHz) Y8950 (@ 4.000 MHz)
Video Details	Raster (Horizontal) 384 x 224 pixels 60.00 Hz 1,024 Palette colours
Screens	1
ROM Info	29 ROMs 1,414,144 bytes (1.35 MiB)
MAME ID	psychos · psychosj

About The Game

Psycho Soldier is an horizontally scrolling, two-player, arcade video game shoot-em-up.

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.

Trivia

Psycho Soldier was the first-ever video game featuring a vocal soundtrack. The Japanese lyrics for the Psycho Soldier theme is also used as the Psycho Soldier team's team music in KOF94 and 96, as well as Athena's theme music in KOF 97 and 02.

Psycho Soldier's Soundtrack was released as a bonus with the purchase of Nintendo Famicom's Athena. It also included a vocal version of the ending theme.

The main character, Athena, appears in The King of Fighters series. Kensu, wearing a different outfit, appears in The King of Fighters series as 'Sie Kensou'. Kensu, as he appears here in Psycho Soldier, appears as a striker character in "The King of Fighters 2000" as Psycho Soldier Kensou.

Updates

The Japanese and US versions have song lyrics in Japanese and English respectively.

Here is the lyrics for the Japanese version :

Psycho Ball ga hikari hanachi -

Athena no sugata terashi dasu no -

Psycho Soldier yami o saite -

Athena wa yume o suki dasu no.

Psycho Power o kokoro ni himete -

Hateshinai michi o hashiru -

Ima wa mo aozora mienai kedo...

Fire! Fire! Psycho Soldier! (x2)

Psycho Soldier ga yami o saite -

Athena wa yume o suki dasu no -

Psycho Beam no kagayaki nokoshi -

Athena wa mirai o motome tabidatsu.

Honoo no yoni moeru hitomi -

Kibo no kakaera o mitsume -

Ima wa moda namida misenai wa!

Fire! Fire! Psycho Soldier! (x2)

Psycho Beam no kagayaki nokoshi -

Athena wa mirai o motome tabidatsu.

Dare hitori shiranai ashita -

Hino tori no sugata karite -

Honoo no yoni moero hitomi -

Kibo no kakarea o mitsume -

Psycho Power o kokoro ni himete -

Hateshinai michi o hashiru -

(repeats)

Here's the English version:

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.

Weaponry

• Lightning flashing column : Shooting power increases
• Blue ball(s) flashing column : provides psycho ball(s) for psycho shooting and defense shield
• Red beam flashing column : Increases psycho energy
• Skull flashing column : AVOID. drains your psycho energy (doesn't kill you) Flashing rainbow square - Better jumping response and dexterity
• Red Sword : break stone with one hit, allows fire through stone and walls
• Large blue ball : Turns all enemies in psycho balls and their projectiles into ballons
• Orange ball with blue center : Increases fire speed
• Infinity sign : Ability increase : ???
• Arrow up : AVOID. Ugrades enemies into more advanced enemies
• Arrow down : downgrades enemies
• Large red skull : AVOID. Takes away all extra powers and leaves you with basic powers
• Large red ball with "F" : Instant maximum psycho energy
• Pillar formations : shoot these and a floating ballon or saucer comes out. Grab for bonus points. The longer you wait before grabbing, the higher the point value (up to 8000 points).

Tips and tricks

• 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.

• Forming Pillars : Don't walk on them. You'll trip and be vulnerable to attack!

• 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 defence. 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 the Psycho Creature : 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 (Kensu becomes a green dragon). 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.

Series

1. Athena (1986)
2. Psycho Soldier (1987)

Staff

Credits

Kaori.S

Hamashin

Kooyan

John. Guso

Gon

Dachi

Kikuhen

R. Aran

Hachisuka

G. Iwasaru

Cabinet and Artwork

• 

  Psycho Soldier flyer.

Ports

Computers

Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1987)

Commodore C64 (1987)

Amstrad CPC (1988)

Soundtrack Releases

Album Name	Catalogue No.	Released	Publisher	Comments
Game Music Now & Then	SCDC-00292~3	2003-12-17	Scitron Digital Content	2 CD version.
GAME SOUND SNK -G.S.M. SNK 1-	D28B-0006	1988-10-21	Pony Canyon, Inc.	CD version.
GAME SOUND SNK -G.S.M. SNK 1-	25P5-0006	1988-10-21	Pony Canyon, Inc.	Cassette version.
GAME SOUND SNK -G.S.M. SNK 1-	C22B-0006	1988-10-21	Pony Canyon, Inc.	Vinyl version.
Athena the Music	SCDC-00567	2006-12-06	Happinet Corporation	CD version.
Psycho Soldier Music Cassette	001-PS	1987-01-01	SNK	Cassette version.
SNK Original Best	SCDC-00055	2000-12-06	Scitron Discs	CD version.
Gaesen Oh - Scitron Game Music Mega Mix Vol.1	KGCD-0001	1994-01-01	Pony Canyon/Scitron	CD version.

External Links

• Sinclair ZX Spectrum version of Psycho Soldier at the World of Spectrum

References

The contents of this page are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
The sources used include MAME (version 0.113u2) and history.dat (revision 1.28 - 2008-10-18).
Please see http://www.arcade-history.com for credits.