Curse
From Sega Retro
| Curse | ||||||||||
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| System(s): Sega Mega Drive | ||||||||||
| Publisher: Micronet | ||||||||||
| Developer: Micronet | ||||||||||
| Genre: Shoot-'em-Up | ||||||||||
| Number of players: 1 | ||||||||||
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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.
Contents
Gameplay
The game plays like a standard shoot-'em-up: 
shoots a special attack and 
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 
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
+ 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
History
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, dated (for June 1990[1]) and even reviewed, the North American version did not materialise, probably due to the poor quality of the original Japanese release.
Production credits
- Program: Shi, Shaka, J Kitayou, Tara
- Design: Jiela, Oza
- Music: Shaka
- Special Thanks: Kitazawa, Takano
Magazine articles
- Main article: Curse/Magazine articles.
Promotional material
Artwork
Unused US cover art
Physical scans
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52 |
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| Based on 23 reviews | |
| Mega Drive, JP |
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 Cover
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   Cart |
Technical information
ROM dump status
| System | Hash | Size | Build Date | Source | Comments | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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512kB | 1989-09 | Cartridge (JP) | ||||||||||
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1990-06-26 | Page |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Electronic Gaming Monthly, "July 1990" (US; 1990-xx-xx), page 16
- ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "February 1990" (JP; 1990-01-08), page 68 (70)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 87
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Complete Guide to Consoles, "Volume IV" (UK; 1990-11-xx), page 28
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Computer & Video Games, "May 1990" (UK; 1990-04-16), page 102
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 MegaTech, "Xmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-06), page 77
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 53
- ↑ Sega Pro, "December 1991" (UK; 1991-11-21), page 19 (21)
- ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 53
- ↑ Aktueller Software Markt, "Avril 1990" (DE; 1990-03-30), page 77
- ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "February 1990" (JP; 1990-01-08), page 70
- ↑ Complete Guide to Consoles, "Volume Two" (UK; 1990-04-xx), page 22
- ↑ The Complete Guide to Sega, "" (UK; 1991-05-xx), page 45
- ↑ Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 128
- ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 303
- ↑ Famitsu, "1990-01-05,19" (JP; 19xx-xx-xx), page 20
- ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 91
- ↑ Mega Drive Fan, "December 1990" (JP; 1990-11-08), page 79
- ↑ Mega Play, "November/December 1990" (US; 1990-xx-xx), page 29
- ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 138
- ↑ Power Play, "3/90" (DE; 1990-02-19), page 103
- ↑ Sega Pro, "December 1991" (UK; 1991-11-21), page 21
- ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 64
- ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 12
- ↑ User, "Ioúlios-Ávgoustos 1991" (GR; 1991-0x-xx), page 87
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