
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. 

