| Psycho Dream | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Riot |
| Publisher(s) | Riot |
| Director(s) | Kenichi Nishi |
| Producer(s) | Masayasu Yamamoto Takashi Fukushima |
| Designer(s) | Marino Nishizaki |
| Programmer(s) | Masayasu Yamamoto |
| Composer(s) | Michiko Naruke |
| Platform(s) | Super Famicom, Nintendo Switch |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Platform |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Psycho Dream [lower-alpha 1] is a platform game developed and published by Riot for the Super Famicom and released in 1992. Riot was a division of Telenet Japan.
The player takes control of either Ryō or Maria. Ryō is a swordsman while Maria is an angelic warrior who uses either a whip, a laser gun, or metal claws. Demons can even be summoned to destroy most of the monsters on the screen. Many of the stages are set against the backdrop of 20th century Japan.
Having a limited amount of time to defeat enemies, the focus is on advancing through the stages as quickly as possible.
In the early 1980s, rumors begin to circulate about a new entertainment medium called "D Movie", which allows people to immerse themselves in a world of virtual reality. As D Movies gain traction, a trend emerges of disaffected young people taking permanent refuge in the virtual world while abandoning their physical bodies to atrophy. To retrieve these so-called "Sinkers", Japan's National Public Safety Commission establishes Public Security Division Four (公安四課, Kōan Yonka), nicknamed "Diamond Dog" (ダイアモンドの犬, Daiamondo no Inu), in 1984. The agents who enter the virtual world and perform these rescues are known as Debuggers.
In 1992, a seventeen-year-old girl named Yūki Sayaka (柚木沙耶香) sinks into "Story of the Ruined Capital" (廃都物語, Haito Monogatari), a D Movie directed by David Visconti. Three days pass before she is discovered, and combined with her weak constitution, she is expected to die within twenty-four hours. Two Debuggers, Ryō Shijima and Maria Tobari, are dispatched to rescue her before that happens.
Psycho Dream was directed by Kenichi Nishi. [1] It was released in Japan on the Super Famicom on December 11, 1992. [2] A North American localization was planned by Telenet Japan subsidiary Renovation Products, but it was never released. [3] It would have been their second release following Doomsday Warrior. [3] In their 1994 SNES catalog, Nintendo Power mistakenly listed Dream Probe as having been released in September 1993. [4]
Psycho Dream was made available through Nintendo Switch Online on February 17, 2021. [5]
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 21/40 [6] |
| Famitsu | 18/40 [2] |
| Joypad | 68% [7] |
| Super Play | 33% [8] |
| Game Power | 75% [9] |
Famitsu gave it an 18/40. [2] Fan reception was mixed: readers of Famimaga voted to give the game a 17.43 out of 30 score, ranking at the number 292 spot in a poll, indicating a middling following. [10] Reviewing the planned localization, three reviewers at Electronic Gaming Monthly gave a score of 5/10 and a fourth gave a 6/10. [6] Super Play gave the game a 33% score. [8] Italian magazine Game Power gave it 75%. [9]
The Magic of Scheherazade is an action-adventure/role-playing video game (RPG) developed and released by Culture Brain for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The game was released in 1987 in Japan and 1990 in North America. The plot is based on Middle Eastern folktales found in One Thousand and One Nights. It involves an amnesic hero traveling through time in an attempt to rescue the princess Scheherazade from the evil wizard Sabaron, who has summoned a horde of demons to bring chaos to the once peaceful land of Arabia. The Magic of Scheherazade is divided into chapters and incorporates elements of both action-adventure and RPG gameplay styles. In each chapter, the player character can freely explore an overworld in a top-down perspective. The player engages hostile enemies with various weapons and spells through both real-time solo action on the overhead map and random, turn-based battles fought alongside befriended allies.
1991 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Street Fighter II, Final Fantasy IV, Super Castlevania IV, Mega Man 4, Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, along with new titles such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Battletoads, Lemmings, Sunset Riders, Duke Nukem, Fatal Fury: King of Fighters, and Streets of Rage. The year's highest-grossing video game worldwide was Capcom's arcade fighting game Street Fighter II. The year's best-selling system was the Game Boy for the second year in a row, while the year's best-selling home video game was Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog, which was also the year's top video game rental in the United States.
1990 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, Dr. Mario, Dragon Quest IV, Final Fantasy III, Phantasy Star II, and Super Mario World, along with new titles such as Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and Magic Sword. The year's highest-grossing arcade video games were Final Fight in Japan and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the United States. The year's best‑selling system was the Game Boy, while the year's best-selling home video game was Super Mario Bros. 3 for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
1986 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Super Mario Bros. 2, along with new titles such as Arkanoid, Bubble Bobble, Castlevania, Dragon Quest, Ikari Warriors, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Out Run and R.B.I. Baseball. The year's highest-grossing arcade video games were Hang-On in Japan, Hang-On and Gauntlet in the United States, and Nemesis (Gradius) in London. The year's best‑selling home system was the Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom) for the third year in a row, while the year's best-selling home video games in Western markets were Super Mario Bros. in the United States and Yie Ar Kung-Fu in the United Kingdom.
Assault Suits Valken, also known as Cybernator, is a 2D mecha action game developed by Masaya and released in 1992 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The second entry in the Assault Suit series, it is a prequel to the first game, Target Earth. The game was localized and published overseas by Konami. The story follows Jake Brain who pilots a giant mecha and fights in a war engulfing the entire world.
Axelay is a 1992 scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Konami for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Set in the fictional solar system Illis where an alien empire known as "Armada of Annihilation" invades its planets including the Earth-like Corliss (Mother), players take control of the titular D117B space fighter craft as a last resort to stop the alien invasion by recovering its lost weaponry. The gameplay mainly consist of both vertical-scrolling and horizonal-scrolling stages in the same vein as Konami's own Life Force, with players choosing three different weapon-types that increase in number as they progress through the game.
HyperZone is a rail shooter video game developed and published by HAL Laboratory for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It used the SNES' Mode 7 capability.
Cosmo Gang the Video is a 1992 fixed shooter arcade game developed and published by Namco. A home conversion for the Super Famicom was released the same year. Controlling the Hyper Beat starship, the player is tasked with ridding the galaxy of the Cosmo Gang, a race of aliens that cause mischief across Earth. Gameplay involves shooting enemies and avoiding projectiles. Power-up items can be collected to grant the player additional abilities. It ran on the Namco System 2 arcade board.
Sky Mission is a 1992 combat flight simulation video game developed by Malibu Interactive and published by Namco for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. In North America, the game was rebranded as the sequel to the Commodore Amiga game Wings, titled Wings 2: Aces High, while in Europe it was renamed to Blazing Skies. As the leader of a British plane squadron during World War I, the player is tasked with destroying enemy planes under the command of German emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II in France. Gameplay involves gunning down enemies and performing bombing runs on enemy bases. The game was produced by Ken Lobb, best known as the co-creator of the Killer Instinct fighting game series, with music composed by musician George Sanger. Sky Mission was met with a mixed reaction from critics — although it was disliked for its short length and lacking gameplay, it was praised for its realistic visuals, soundtrack and sense of thrill.
Super Bomberman is an action, maze game, part of the Bomberman series, released for the Super NES in 1993. It is the first in the series to be released in Europe keeping the Bomberman title instead of being called Dynablaster or Eric and the Floaters.
Valis: The Fantasm Soldier is a 1986 action-platform video game originally developed by Wolf Team and published by Telenet Japan for the MSX, PC-8801, X1, FM-7, and PC-9801 home computers. It is the first entry in the Valis series. It stars Yuko Asou, a Japanese teenage schoolgirl chosen as the Valis warrior and wielder of the mystical Valis sword to protect the Earth, the land of spirits, and the dream world Vecanti from demon lord Rogles. Through the journey, the player explores and search for items and power-ups, while fighting enemies and defeating bosses to increase Yuko's attributes.
Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting is a competitive fighting game released by Capcom for arcades in 1992. It is the third arcade version of Street Fighter II, part of the Street Fighter franchise, following Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, and was initially released as an enhancement kit for that game. Released less than a year after the previous installment, Turbo introduced a faster playing speed and new special moves for certain characters, as well as further refinement to the character balance.
Valis IV is a 1991 action-platform video game originally developed by Laser Soft and published by Telenet Japan for the PC Engine CD-ROM². A vastly different version titled Super Valis IV was published in Japan by Telenet in 1992 and in North America by Atlus Software in 1993 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the fourth and final main entry in the eponymous series. Following on the events of Valis III, Yuko became a goddess and has watched over Vecanti since Glames' defeat. The dark world prince Galgear, who lost self-control after acquiring a magical ring, broke from his fifteen-year imprisonment by the gods of Vecanti, kidnapping Valna and being pursued by troops led by Cham. Lena, a member of Cham's band, is joined by her sister Amu and the prince's father Asfal on a journey to retrieve the titular sword and defeat Galgear.
Ranma ½: Hard Battle, known as Ranma ½: Bakuretsu Rantōhen in Japan and as just Ranma ½ in Europe, is a 2-D fighting video game released by Masaya and DTMC for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is based on the manga and anime series Ranma ½. Hard Battle is the second Ranma ½ game to be translated into English, this time keeping the original graphics, music, and names of the characters, though the voices were still dubbed into English. The game's English translation was provided by Viz Media.
Smart Ball is a platform game developed by Game Freak and System Sacom. It was published by Epic/Sony Records and Sony Imagesoft for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991. A sequel titled Jerry Boy 2 was in production, but was not released.
Whirlo is a side-scrolling action-platform released by Namco on July 23, 1992 in Japan for the Super Famicom video game system, and in Europe and Australia later during the same year. The game was re-released August 1, 1998 in Nintendo Power flash RAM cartridge format.
GunForce is a side-scrolling run and gun video game produced by Irem for arcades in 1991. The game was ported by Bits Studios and published by Irem for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992. The sequel, GunForce II, was originally known in Japan as Geo Storm.
Doomsday Warrior, known in Japan as Taiketsu!! Brass Numbers, is a 1992 Super NES fighting game developed and published by Telenet Japan's subsidiary Laser Soft in Japan on November 20, 1992 and later localized by Renovation Products in North America in March 1993. It was created during the fighting game trend of the 1990s that was popularized by Capcom's Street Fighter II.
Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden, known as Dragon Ball Z in Europe, is a 1993 fighting video game developed by Tose and published by Bandai for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is based upon Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball franchise, and was its first fighting game.