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SNK has often been accused of seeing other developers arcade games (especially Capcom) and deciding to make their own versions. This might not be super off base, but sometimes they improved on those concepts dramatically. So, while Psycho Soldier is indeed a pretty straight up take on Capcom's SonSon, it pretty well beat the shit out of it in every possible way.

On the chance that someone is unfamiliar with either game, Psycho Soldier and SonSon are auto-scrolling platformers with several tiers of platforms in horizontal rows (there are four rows in Psycho Soldier). Players control Athena Asamiya or Kensu (Sie Kensou), and must avoid obstacles and defeat enemies along the way to kill the boss at the end of six stages. While Psycho Soldier employs two less tiers than SonSon, it uses this to employ larger sprites, more enemies, and more obstacles, which is an excellent change of pace, as SNK's effort really ratchets up the action.

Along with all of the enemies and obstacles such as destructible rocks, dead ends, energy draining skull beams, and a broad variety of evildoers, Psycho Soldier also adds more power-up and attack elements. These include a sword that offers improved vertical range, power, and heightened ability to break obstacles, power balls that can act as a shield or be fired as a powerful attack, and an energy meter. If filled to capacity by energy beams scattered throughout the game, this allows Athena and Kensu to transform into a Phoenix and Dragon respectively, which can fly through areas with ease and possess immense destructive power.

The graphics in Psycho Soldiers are pretty solid and colorful, though not necessarily top end for their time, but still appealing. The music, though, was very highly thought of in its day, being one of the earliest pcbs to feature a vocal music track and samples directly from the board. It's fun J-Pop in style, and especially commendable given its era. The game length is sound given the challenge level, and while it may seem like a quarter muncher at first, it can be skillfully played.

The version I play is on SNK Arcade Classics 0 on the PSP, though apparently there is a Commodore 64 port as well (I wouldn't bat an eye if I heard there was a PC-98 version or a Spectrum release I haven't heard about). The arcade pcb isn't cheap, but I hope to find one someday to really do authentically.

Played this one? Anyone familiar with the computer ports or have an arcade memory?