Psychic 5

Psychic 5 is the third game developed by Nihon Maicom Kaihatsu (NMK) for Jaleco (after Argus and Valtric), and was released in 1987. While it did not have huge success, it nevertheless became a ‘cult game’ for many players thanks to the brilliant gameplay, hard-to-find secret bonuses and anime-like plot. The inspiration for the design of the five ESPers comes from several Japanese cartoons of the ’70s where the physical aspect of main characters was strongly stereotyped to suit their psychological profile/fighting ability.

Psychic 5 was never ported to any home system. However, portions of the gameplay, including the cast of characters, did serve as the basis for the Jaleco published Famicom game, Esper Boukentai.

Psychic 5 Secret Bonus

Secret Bonus is one of the keys to high score in Psychic 5. All 8 of them total 2560k points, but if you miss any one of them, that’s one million points less. It is essential to be able to get the Secret Bonus consistently.

You need to match the thousandth digit of your score with the number of times you have already got the Secret Bonus in this game. Efficiently match your score, you need to know the score values of enemies and items, and also keep in mind the current score multiplier. Enemies are the obvious source of points, but when there are containers, items can help too.

When you have a x2 or x4 multiplier and there are no items, you’ll need to use the 500 point bonus for small enemies to change between odd and even digits, while if you have a x8 bonus, it may be better to hit the small enemies themselves. There’s also a Jewel nearby in most scenes. Matching the score is more difficult in the later scenes.

Controls

• Use the joystick to guide the Espers throughout each level in Psychic 5. Press left or right to make the Espers run or fall through the air in either direction. Press down to make an Esper squat. Hold the joystick up while falling through the air to make them hover, which slows down their fall.
• Press the first action button to make the Espers jump through the air. Hold the button down to make the Espers jump higher.
• Press the second action button to make the Espers swing their weapon, usually a hammer.
• 1~2 Players: Press either button to begin a one or two player game.