Psychic World (Master System)

For the Sega Game Gear game, see Psychic World (Game Gear).

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Psychic World
System(s): Sega Master System
Publisher: Sega (EU) Tec Toy (BR)
Developer: Sanritsu
Original system(s): MSX
Developer(s) of original games: Hertz
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code EU 1991 7066 BX 199x PT 199x UK 1991 £29.9929.99 7066 AU 199x BR 199x
Non-Sega versions MSX

Psychic World is a Sega Master System action platform game developed by Sanritsu and published by Sega in early 1991. It is an abridged port of Hertz's 1988 MSX game Psycho World.

Story

At a remote laboratory in the year 19XX, a research team consisting of Dr. Knavik and his assistants, the twin sisters Cecile and Lucia, is studying the exploration and usage of ESP. One day while Lucia was getting ready for work, an explosion burst from the lab. When Lucia arrived, she found Dr. Knavik there, but Cecile had disappeared. Dr. Knavik explains that part of his experiments involved running tests on a variety of monsters but that the subjects rebelled and took Cecile with them. As Lucia follows the monster's track, Dr. Knavik gives her the ESP Booster, a device he created that will enable the user to wield psychic powers.

Gameplay

Psychic World is an action platformer where players control Lucia on her quest to save her sister. Lucia runs from one round to the other using her ESP Booster to blast monstrous enemies while obtaining item power-ups through them or by jumping on various ledges and platforms. Lucia moves around with and . She breaks into a run after a few seconds if either button is held down. She can jump with and crouch with . She enters doorways with . She climbs ladders with and descends them with . She can switch to a standing pose on a ladder with or (allowing her to fire her weapon).

Lucia is equipped with a projectile weapon (initially, a Psy Blaster) that she can fire with . She can fire while crouching or jumping. Lucia obtains new weapons through defeating mini-bosses and end-level bosses. The player can change Lucia's weapon at any point by holding and pressing , selecting the desired weapon from the ESP Window in the bottom-left corner of the screen, and releasing . Weapons are held in the blue, cross-shaped portion in the center of the ESP Window. Her weapon is weak at first but can be upgraded over the course of the game. Any weapon can be upgraded by picking up an item of its type.

Different weapons are better suited to different enemies and environments. Some enemies are immune to certain weapons (indicated by a high-pitched, ringing sound on impact). The player has to use Lucia's psionic weapons strategically in levels using different elements to their advantage. For example, in the ice round, rocks being doused by falling water can be frozen and used as a stable platform for Lucia to jump on by blasting the rock with the Hydro Wave shot, while the Ultra Sonic weapon can destroy certain foreground objects blocking her path.

Lucia has a hit point bar in the bottom-right corner of the screen that indicates her health. It decreases as she takes damage from enemies and hazards. It can be replenished by finding items or using the Shield ability. Unlike most platform games, Lucia does not receive temporary invulnerability when she takes damage (though she is knocked back if there is room), so it is possible to take a large amount of damage from a single foe if the player is not careful. If Lucia loses all of her life, she dies and the game ends, but it can be continued any number of times from the beginning of the current round. The player's score is reset, but items and upgrade levels are retained.

Lucia also has four special ESP abilities that are selected from the ESP Window by holding and pressing . For instance, one ability provides her with temporary invulnerability and another gives her the ability to levitate for a short time. Using these abilities properly is critical for completing the challenges in the later rounds. Like her weapons, these abilities are upgraded each time Lucia collects their items again (with the exception of Teleportation). These abilities are held in the red corners of the ESP Window and cost ESP, a limited resource, when they are used (Lucia's regular weapons do not cost ESP). Lucia's ESP is shown in a gauge above her hit point bar. Similar to her health, it can be replenished by items. Additionally, the ESP gauge is fully replenished every 10,000 points accumulated.

Rounds

	Prairie
	Volcanic Area
	Ice Field
	Ruins
	Fortress
	Final Boss

Attack Capabilities

	Psy Cannon
	The starting weapon. Damages all enemies.
	Hydro Wave
	Gives Lucia the ability to freeze moist air.
	Burning Bullet
	Gives Lucia the ability to break blocks of ice.
	Cooling Down
	Freezes smaller enemies but does not damage them. Lucia can pass through frozen enemies.
	Ultra Sonic
	Gives Lucia the ability to break metal and other barriers.

ESP Capabilities

	Shield
	Activates a temporary shield that renders Lucia invulnerable initially and then drains ESP instead of health for the rest of its duration. Lucia can still be knocked back by enemies while invulnerable. If used again while the shield is active, it heals Lucia for a small amount. It can be used repeatedly to fully restore Lucia's health if the player has enough ESP.
	Explosion
	Damages all enemies on the screen.
	Levitation
	Allows Lucia to levitate briefly by holding , enabling her to reach platforms she cannot reach by jumping. Cannot be used simultaneously with the Shield ability.
	Teleportation
	Teleports Lucia back to the beginning of the round. Meant to be used to escape dangerous situations or to be used if the player gets Lucia stuck.

Items

	Partial Heart
	Restores a small portion of Lucia's health.
	Full Heart
	Completely restores Lucia's health.
	Partial ESP
	Restores a small portion of Lucia's ESP.
	Full ESP
	Completely restores Lucia's ESP.
	Bomb
	Destroys all enemies on the screen.
	Bonus
	Awards the player with 1,000 points.
	Psy Cannon
	Upgrades the Psy Cannon weapon.
	Hydro Wave
	Gives Lucia the Hydro Wave weapon or upgrades it if already possessed.
	Burning Bullet
	Gives Lucia the Burning Bullet weapon or upgrades it if already possessed.
	Cooling Down
	Gives Lucia the Cooling Down weapon or upgrades it if already possessed.
	Ultra Sonic
	Gives Lucia the Ultra Sonic weapon or upgrades it if already possessed.
	Shield
	Gives Lucia the Shield ability or upgrades it if already possessed.
	Explosion
	Gives Lucia the Explosion ability or upgrades it if already possessed.
	Levitation
	Gives Lucia the Levitation ability or upgrades it if already possessed.
	Teleportation
	Gives Lucia the Teleportation ability or upgrades it if already possessed.

Production credits

• Original Planners: K・Matumoto, H・Maejima
• Planner: Kou
• Programmers: Kou, T・Asano
• Designer: Kou
• Sound: Ippo
• Special Thanks: T・Asano, Nonchan
• Presented by: Sega

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: Psychic World (Master System)/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in K (IT) #25: "Febbraio 1991" (199x-xx-xx)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Ação Games (BR) 92 Console XS (UK) PAL 48 Game Power (IT) 88 Games-X (UK) PAL 60 Joystick (FR) PAL 77 Player One (FR) PAL 75 Power Play (DE) 69 Raze (UK) PAL 70 Sega Power (UK) PAL 68 Sega Power (UK) PAL 50 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 68 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 48 User (GR) PAL 47 Video Games (DE) 69

	66
Based on 14 reviews

Psychic World (Master System)

Master System, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, PT

Master System, BX†
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, AU
Cart Manual

Master System, AU (Not for rental sticker)
Cover
Cart

Master System, AU (Not for rental/hotline stickers)
Cover

Master System, BR
Cover

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
?	CRC32 5c0b1f0f MD5 1076f6358527d1cec1e1e75143997293 SHA-1 5fa54329692e680a190291d0744580968aa8b3fe	256kB		Cartridge (EU)

External links

• Interview: Tsunetomo Sugawara (2009-02) by Game Developer Research Institute