Prime / Microcosm
From Sega Retro
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| Prime / Microcosm | ||||||||||
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| System(s): Sega Mega-CD | ||||||||||
| Publisher: Sony Imagesoft | ||||||||||
| Developer: Malibu Interactive (Ultraverse Prime), Psygnosis (Microcosm) | ||||||||||
| Genre: Compilation | ||||||||||
| Number of players: 1 | ||||||||||
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Prime / Microcosm, for lack of a better name, is a compilation for the Sega Mega-CD released exclusively in North America. It contains Ultraverse Prime and Microcosm on separate discs. Ultraverse Prime was set to be released separately as both a Sega Mega Drive[1] game and Sega Mega-CD game[2] but was ultimately only released in this compilation.
Ultraverse Prime is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up developed by Malibu Interactive.
Contents
Story
Prime is the superhero form of Kevin Green, a fifteen-year-old boy. His parents had trouble conceiving a child and turned to a government program for assistance. The government put his mother through experiments related to his research to create a super soldier. This gave Kevin the power to transform into the physical form of a super-powered adult but with his adolescent mind unchanged.
Kevin's teenage crush, Kelly Cantrell, has gone missing, so he sets out to find her.
Gameplay
The game is a single-player beat-'em-up. Prime moves with 
and 
and jumps with 
. He moves backwards and forwards in the plane with 
and 
. He punches with 
and kicks with 
. Each attack combos into a stronger attack when pressed repeatedly. He can attack while jumping. He can grab opponents by holding when near them and then pummel them while holding them or throw them. He can grab two enemies at once and bash their heads together. By finding Stars, Prime can use his Big Burst ability with ++, where he flies into the air and explodes with energy. This damages all enemies on screen and also stuns enemies as well as Prime for a short time.
There are two flying segments. In these segments, Prime flies forward automatically. He can be moved in any direction with the D-Pad, punches with , and kicks with .
Prime's life is indicated by a health bar at the top of the screen. When he loses all of his health, he loses a life. An extra life can be obtained by collecting all of the "EXTRA BONUS" letters throughout the game. If the player runs out of lives, the game ends. Opponents occasionally drop healing items when they are defeated.
Items
| Little Heart | |
|---|---|
| Restores a small amount of health. | |
| Big Heart | |
| Restores a large amount of health. | |
| Star | |
| Gives Prime another use of his Big Burst ability. | |
| Letters | |
| Collect letters throughout the stages to spell "EXTRA BONUS" to gain an extra life. |
Acts
Each Act contains three Scenes, the last of which contains a boss encounter.
| Act 1 | |
|---|---|
| Act 2 | |
| Act 3 | |
| Act 4 | |
| Act 5 | |
Comic viewer
The game includes several issues of the comic book as a bonus. zooms out, zooms in, and turns to the next page. START selects a comic or exits.
- Prime #1
- Prime #2
- Prime #3
- Prime #4
- Prime #5
- Prime #6
- Prime #7
- Break Thru #1
- Break Thru #2
- Prime #8
- Mantra #7
- Prime #9
- Prime #10
- Prime #11
- Prime #12
Versions
A version of the game was under development for the Super NES but not released.[3]
Production credits
Ultraverse Prime
- Programming: Allan Shortt
- Background Art: Simon Butler, Robert Hemphill, Terry Lloyd
- Animations: Jon Eggelton, Neal Sutton, Simon Butler
- Title Art: Jon Eggelton, Bill Harbison
- Music/SFX: Tim Follin, Geoff Follin
- Comic Programming: David Pridmore
- Comic Conversion: Helen Jones
- Video Processing: Tom Higgins
- Testing/QA: Mick Thompson, Tony McColgan
- Management: Ian McGee, Steve Wahid
- Based on a design by: James Higgins, Gerry Jones, Len Strezewski
- Prime Creators: Gerry Jones, Len Strezewski
- Executive Producer: Rich Robinson
- Producer: Nathan Rose
- Assistant Producers: Mark Smith, CJ Connoy
- Testers: Jose Cruz, Andre Leighton, Bruce Cochrane, Tobin Russell, Seth Luisi, Andrew Stein, Kurt Schwengal, Jody Kelsey, CJ Connoy
Magazine articles
- Main article: Prime / Microcosm/Magazine articles.
Physical scans
| Sega Retro Average | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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55 |
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| Based on 2 reviews | |
| Mega-CD, US |
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  Cover
|
 Manual  Ultraverse Prime disc  Microcosm disc |
Technical information
ROM dump status
| System | Hash | Size | Build Date | Source | Comments |
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References
- ↑ Sega Force, "Summer 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 18
- ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "August 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 159
- ↑ https://snescentral.com/article.php?id=0927
- ↑ File:Ultraverse Prime MCD credits.pdf
- ↑ GamePro, "April 1995" (US; 1995-xx-xx), page 53
- ↑ Game Informer, "March 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 42
| Prime / Microcosm | |
|---|---|
|
Main page | Hidden content | Magazine articles | Reception | |
| Malibu Comics games for Sega systems | |
|---|---|
 |
Ex-Mutants (1992) | Dinosaurs for Hire (1993) | Firearm (unreleased) | Prime (unreleased) |
|
Prime (1994) | The Strangers (unreleased) |
 |
The Incredible Hulk: The Pantheon Saga (1997) |