The Psycho Soldier Page/FAQ by Carl Chavez (carl@bubandbob.com) 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! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *CONTENTS* -What is Psycho Soldier? -Gameplay -Lyrics -JAMMA pinout description -DIP switch settings -Sound test values ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- end.