Curse

From Sega Retro


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Curse MDTitleScreen.png

Curse
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Micronet
Developer:
Genre: Shoot-'em-Up

















Release Date RRP Code

Curse (カース) is a 1989 Sega Mega Drive shoot-'em-up, among the first on the systen, by Micronet released exclusively in Japan. You play as a ship that has to save an alien planet from destruction caused by a neighboring planet that had mysteriously changed from friend to enemy over the course of centuries.

Curse was set to be released in North America by INTV Corporation, which had broken away from Mattel following the North American video game crash, and held the rights to the earlier Intellivision console. The game was one of the first non-Intellivision projects to be undertaken by the company (NES and Game Boy projects were also in development) and was announced in 1990, but despite being advertised, the North American version did not materialise.

Gameplay

The game plays like a standard shoot-'em-up: A shoots a special attack and B shoots a regular shot, with power-ups left by defeated enemies. One powerup is a subship which can either fire ahead of you, behind you, above you, or below you; use C to change its direction. Two of these can be carried simultaneosuly. The have the ability to absorb enemy bullets, a common design of the ear, also seen in e.g. R-Type or Whip Rush

A+ START  on the title screen opens the Options menu. The option screen features stage select (final stage is locked out) as well lives and continue manipulation. There is no difficulty level option.

The game has 5 stages and is thus rather short. Stage 5 is a bit of a curiosity as it returns the player to the start after losing a life. In all other stages, play can be resumed without being brought back to the start.

Curse is one of the few Sega Mega Drive titles that doesn't run at 60FPS but rather a significantly lower frame rate. The game runs smoother on overclocked systems.

There's a palette glitch in the first stage; a plant that rises up to the sky has non-blending colors.

Weapons

  • "V" is a spreadshot
  • "C" creates a circular spread on impact
  • "W" can penetrate walls

All weapons and the subships have three power levels

Production credits

Program: Shi, Shaka, J Kitayou, Tara
Design: Jiela, Oza
Music: Shaka
Special Thanks: Kitazawa, Takano

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
81 №2, p22
71 №4, p28[1]
85 №102, p102[2]
4 №5, p91
70 №1, p77[3]
40 №23, p53
25 №2, p19[4]
0 №18, p64
Sega Mega Drive
47
Based on
8 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
80
[5]
Aktueller Software Markt (DE)
42
[6]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
63
[7]
Complete Guide to Consoles (UK)
81
[8]
Complete Guide to Consoles (UK)
71
[1]
The Complete Guide to Sega (UK)
70
[9]
Console XS (UK) NTSC-J
28
[10]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
85
[2]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
73
[11]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU)
40
[12]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
58
[13]
Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) NTSC-J
4
[14]
Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J
62
[15]
Mega Play (US) NTSC-U
70
[16]
MegaTech (UK) NTSC-J
70
[3]
Mean Machines Sega (UK)
70
[17]
Power Play (DE)
23
[18]
Sega Power (UK) NTSC-J
25
[19]
Sega Pro (UK)
25
[4]
Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-J
0
[20]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
41
[21]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
62
[22]
User (GR)
62
[23]
Sega Mega Drive
52
Based on
23 reviews

Curse

Mega Drive, JP
Curse MD JP Box.jpg
Cover
Curse MD JP CartTop.jpg
Curse MD JP Cart Back.jpgCurse MD JP Cart.jpg
Cart

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 File:CGtC UK 04.pdf, page 28 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:CGtC UK 04.pdf_p28" defined multiple times with different content
  2. 2.0 2.1 File:CVG UK 102.pdf, page 102 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:CVG UK 102.pdf_p102" defined multiple times with different content
  3. 3.0 3.1 File:MegaTech UK 01.pdf, page 77 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MegaTech UK 01.pdf_p77" defined multiple times with different content
  4. 4.0 4.1 File:SegaPro UK 02.pdf, page 21 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:SegaPro UK 02.pdf_p21" defined multiple times with different content
  5. 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 53
  6. Aktueller Software Markt, "Avril 1990" (DE; 1990-03-30), page 77
  7. Beep! MegaDrive, "February 1990" (JP; 1990-01-08), page 70
  8. Complete Guide to Consoles, "Volume Two" (UK; 1990-04-xx), page 22
  9. The Complete Guide to Sega, "" (UK; 1991-05-xx), page 45
  10. Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 128
  11. Electronic Gaming Monthly, "July 1990" (US; 1990-xx-xx), page 16
  12. Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 303
  13. Famitsu, "1990-01-05,19" (JP; 19xx-xx-xx), page 20
  14. Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 91
  15. Mega Drive Fan, "December 1990" (JP; 1990-11-08), page 79
  16. Mega Play, "November/December 1990" (US; 1990-xx-xx), page 29
  17. Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 138
  18. Power Play, "3/90" (DE; 1990-02-19), page 103
  19. Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 53
  20. Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 64
  21. Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 87
  22. Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 12
  23. User, "Ioúlios-Ávgoustos 1991" (GR; 1991-0x-xx), page 87