Psychic World

About Psychic World

Psychic World (1991) is Hertz and Sanritsu's ESP-powered platformer, a version of the MSX2's Psycho World, in which Lucia uses elemental psychic weapons to rescue her twin sister from escaped lab monsters.

Psychic World in Depth

In 19XX, at a remote laboratory, Dr Knavik and his assistants, the twin sisters Cecile and Lucia, are researching the exploration and use of ESP. One day, as Lucia gets ready for work, an explosion rocks the lab; Dr Knavik is unharmed, but Cecile has vanished. He explains that his experiments involved testing a variety of monsters, which rebelled and carried her off, and as Lucia sets out on their trail he gives her the ESP Booster, a device that lets its user wield psychic powers.

Lucia runs through stages blasting monstrous enemies with the ESP Booster, collecting power-ups from them and from ledges and platforms. A gauge limits how often items and abilities can be used, refilled by power-ups like her health. Picking up the same item upgrades its weapon, and new weapons are won from mid-bosses and bosses. Weapons must be used strategically with the elements of each level: in the ice stage, rocks doused by falling water can be frozen with the ice shot into stable platforms, and the sonic wave destroys foreground objects blocking her path. RAZE gave the Master System version 70 per cent and Video Games 69, while Joystick gave the Game Gear version 83 per cent.

Making Psychic World

Hertz and Sanritsu co-developed it and Sega published it in 1991 for the Master System in Europe and the Game Gear worldwide, adapting the 1988 MSX2 game Psycho World. Reviews were mixed but mostly positive.