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Psycho Soldier (サイコソルジャー Saiko Sorujā?) is an action video game developed by Japanese software company SNK that was originally released in 1986 and internationally in 1987. It is somewhat of a sequel to Athena released a year earlier, Psycho Soldier continues the adventures of Athena, and is noteworthy for being the first video game with a vocal in-game soundtrack. Ocean Software on their Imagine label released home computer versions of the game for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad in 1987.
Story: Psycho Soldier takes place many years after the plot of the Athena arcade. In the Athena arcade, the title character of it was a mystical, almost divine figure loosely based on the goddess of Greek myth who fought her way through several otherworldly lands in order to destroy various monsters and evil beings who threatened the peace of the land. After her journey was complete, she returned to heaven, only to fade completely from the minds of the mortals who lived below.
In the modern times of Psycho Soldier, a young girl named Athena Asamiya, who is actually the descendant of the original Athena, displays special psychic abilities that allow her to unlock a number of hidden powers within herself, and hopes to one day use these skills not only to help others, but to advance her stage career as a future pop idol. It is believed she is the reincarnation of the Athena of lore, but this is speculation. What is known, however, is that several evil beings have been appearing in her hometown in Japan, and along with her friend and fellow gifted psychic Sie Kensou, attempts to use her talents to protect her friends and home from this new menace.
Gameplay: Psycho Soldier is an action sidescroller. While advancing through the game’s levels, the player may come across rocks and other destructible objects that have a chance of holding items that either increase Athena or Kensu’s power, or make enemies more difficult to defeat. The game is advanced by traveling horizontally across the screen, transversing several harmful objects and enemies and utilizing a special force known as “Psycho Energy” to perform a number of attacks, including creating a shield of rotating spheres around the character’s body to protect them. The amount of Psycho energy is measured by the energy bar located to the left of the player’s health bar, and can be increased by obtaining certain items.
Both Athena and Kensu share the same abilities, and whichever one the player chooses has no real bearing on the difficulty of the game. The only real difference comes when the player happens upon a special item resembling a green egg which, if the player’s energy bar happens to be full, will transform them into a powerful “Psycho Creature”, in Athena’s case a phoenix and for Kensu a green dragon, yet they share the same abilities: a powerful fire breath attack that hits enemies in front of them, or a move which rams them into a single nearby enemy.
Soundtrack: Psycho Soldier is noteworthy for being the first video game to utilize a vocal track during in-game play, with vocals provided by Japanese pop idol Kaori Shimizu. The Japanese and English versions of the game have different vocals for the main song.
The Japanese version of the song was released as a single in 1987 on a special cassette that was available only to those who purchased the Nintendo Famicom version of Athena in Japanese retail stores. The cassette also included a special vocal version of the ending theme.
The Japanese version of the theme song used in this game (sans vocals) became the theme song for the Psycho Soldiers team in The King of Fighters ’94 and The King of Fighters ’96. It also served as Athena’s individual character theme in The King of Fighters ’97 and The King of Fighters 2002.
Developer(s): SNK
Publisher(s): SNK
Series: Athena series
Platform(s): Arcade, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, PlayStation Network
Release date(s): JP 1986, NA 1987
Genre(s): Action
Mode(s): Single player, Multiplayer
Cabinet: Upright
Display: Raster, standard resolution, horizontal orientation