Psycho Soldier (lost build of cancelled Famicom/NES platformer port of arcade game; 1987)
Original arcade poster
Status: Lost
Psycho Soldier is an arcade platformer released by SNK on March 19, 1987.
The game is a sequel to Athena and tells the story of Athena Mamiya, a descendant of Athena, the protagonist of the previous game, and her friend and helper Shī Kensū (Sie Kensou), a Chinese martial arts master who protects Japan from the threat of evil entities. The most distinctive feature of the game is that the background music is a vocal sound by Kaori Shimizu, an idol singer of the time. Marketed as "the industry's first game that sings," the English-language voice for the overseas version was also by Shimizu. The game was ported to the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and Amstrad home computers under Ocean Software's Imazine label in 1988, and was scheduled to be ported to Famicom and NES a year earlier. However, they were never released.
Famicom/NES port
Little significant information or documentation on this Famicom/NES port is available, but the Summer 1987 Nintendo Fun Club News Volume. 2 indicated that it would be available in the fall of that year. In addition, a review article appeared in the May 1, 1987 issue of Family Computer Magazine. This was the only review that appeared in that issue, and after that there was no further information, just a title that continued to appear on the "TBD" list in the release date calendar.
While it is unclear as to why the game was cancelled, it is likely because the original was marketed as the "first game that sings" and it was nearly impossible to insert a vocal sound into a Famicom/NES game at the time.
Gallery
Review article from May 1, 1987 issue of Family Computer Magazine.
Title is listed on SNK's list from Nintendo Fun Club News #2.
