Psycho Fox (c) Sega Action game for 1 player Stages : 3 Rounds : 7
Psycho Fox is an adventure game centering around the entertaining and thrilling escapades of a very special fox. Psycho Fox ventures into many strange worlds to conquer the strange beasts and boss monsters he encounters.
* Introduction
In Japan, it has been customary since times long ago to worship the Inari Daimyojin (Fox Deity) as the god of harvests at Inari Shrines. It is said that groups of foxes having supernatural powers act as special priests at these Inari Shrines.
One time, an evil fox became the special priest of an Inari Shrine and devised an evil plan to conquer the world. This evil fox, known as the Madfox Daimyojin, created strange creatures and finally was successfully able to conquer a country for his own evil purposes.1
The other good foxes of the Inari Shrines ordered one of the younger foxes to fo out and rid the world of the evil Madfox Daimyojing who has caused so much trouble.
The fox that was choosen was named Psycho Fox. He began his mission by entering a strange world in order to defeat the many bizarre creatures and boss monsters found in each zone and finally conquer the Madfox Daimyojin using powerful punching technique and the ability to transform himself into other animals. What is more, Psycho Fox also has a powerful friend named Bird Fly who can help him in dealing with attacking creatures. However, Bird Fly is currently hidden inside an egg and the location of that eff remains unknown.
It is up to you to lead Psycho Fox on his adventure to defeat the evil Madfox Daimyojin and conquer his evil world. You control his punching ability and you decide what forms he should transform intro to take advantage of the situation at hand.
You are now ready to begin your journey with Psycho Fox. Your first task should be to find Bird Fly bu cracking open any eggs you find. But he prepared! The zones you travel through will become increasingly treacherous and the creatures you encounter will become increasingly to defeat.
* Taking Control
- D-Button: Pushing the D-button to the right or left moves Psycho Fox in those directions. Holding the button down in either direction makes Psycho Fox accelerate in that direction. Pushing the D-button in the downward direction makes Psycho Fox crouch down when he is stangin still. The D-button is also used for selecting items.
- Button 1: - Game Start - Punching - Releases Bird Fly when he is sitting on Psycho Fox's shoulder.
- Button 2: - Jumping - Confirms a selection
- Pause Button - Displays the ITEM screen.
* Getting Started
When Button 1 or Button 2 is pressed when the Demonstration Screen is displayed, the display will change to the Title Screen. The game will start when either Button 1 or Button 2 is pressed when the Title Screen is displayed. When a game is being played for the second time or more, "START" and "CONTINUE" will be displayed on the Title Screen.
Select "START" or "CONTINUE" by pressing the D-Button up or down to move the cursor and then pressing Button 2. When "CONTINUE" has been selected, the game will start from the beginning of the stage where the previous game ended.
* Playing the Game
Objective: The world that Psycho Fox enters is a world that has been thrown into turmoil by the evil Madfox Daimyojin. The land is filled with dangerous traps ans devices, and there are strange creature that roam about seeking to give Psycho Fox a hard time. Your objective is to guide Psycho Fox through this bizarre world, eliminate all the strange creatures that try to stop you and finally conquer the Madfox Daimyojin who resides at the end of the final stage, Stage 7.
End of Game: At the start of the game, you, as Psycho Fox, have three lives to last you through your mission. Each time you make contact with an ennemy creature, fall intro water or disappear below the scren, the number of lives you have will be reduced by one.
The Stages: There are a total of 7 stages which you and Psycho Fox have to pass through. Each stage is divided into 3 rounds. At the starting point of every round, there is a panel which indicates the current stage and round. When Psycho Fox is defeated, you will start from the location of that panel for that round.
Stage 1: Mystical Mountains This stage is filled with stairways and islands floating in the sky. Besides moving along the ground, there is also a route which goes through the sky. You might find some surprises up there. Also be on the lookout for the many lakes. You will also come across what are known as "jumping boards". When you jump onto a jumping board, the board will cause Psycho Fox to jump into the air automatically. By timing your jump just right and pressing Button 2, you can jump even higher.
Stage 2: Skull Land This stage is filled with eerie-looking skulls perched on top of poles made of bones. Sometimes, a skull will come down from his columns of bones when you pass and attack. The bridges that run through the sky are very fragile. If you stop while going over them, they will crumble at your feet sending you plummeting back to the ground, so keep moving!
Stage 3: Diabolical Desert This stage has deserts that make movement tough! The sand makes you lose speed. Also, be carefull not to fall from the trick stairways. At the top of some trick stairways, are pipes out from which come huge balls that crush the life out of you. Be carefull and move with caution.
Stage 4: Wind Zone In this stage, the groud contain tubes which intermittenly blow out strong gusts of wind. When jumping onto theses tubes, by timing your jump just right, you will be able to jump up to places high in the sky. However, as you are moving along, if you should happen to land on a floor of needles or get blown up into a ceiling of needles, you will lose one of your lives.
Stage 5: Underground Passageway Stage 5 consists of an underground passeway intertwined with pipes. Along the way, there are horizontal tubes that intermittently blow out very powerful gusts of wind. Proceed through these areas with the greatest caution as these gusts of wind can blow out intro dangerous places where you definitely do not want to go! In addition, there are also teeter-totter boards from which you can jump from by waiting for a heavy iron ball to fall onto the other end sending you flying through the air. Getting good at using these lets you go places you couldn't otherwise go!
Stage 6: Ice Zone In this stage, the ground is covered with ice creating a slippery surface for bad footing. So, waht you have to watch out for here is trying to stop quickly after you have picked up speed - you won't!
Stage 7: Underground Cavern This undergronud cavern is dark and treacherous. ou will encounter sharply inclined steel structures making you lose control as well as escalators that coul take you where yo ud'ont want to go. What is more, you will find all of the traps here that yo uhave encoutered in the other stages.
* Bonus Game
The bonus game screen will appear at the end of each round. The bonus game that Psycho Fox will encounter is a king of lottery called "Amida". In Japan, an "Amida" is a way of conducting a lottery to get prizes. In the bonus game, you have 5 pathways from which to start from. As Psycho Fox proceeds along the pathway selected, each time he reaches a junction, he must turn to the right or to the left following that pathway. After he turns, he then proceeds in the upward direction, continuing to turn each time he reaches a junction until he reaches the top of the "Amiga". You then get the prize that is at the end of the pathway Psycho Fox is following. In order to play the bonus game, you have to have accumulated money bads along the way during the previous round to bet with. The more money bags you have, the more routes you can bet on to get prizes. If you did not acquire any money bags during the previous round, "No Bonus" will be displayed on the screen and the bonus gam will not be played.
* Bonus Game Procedure
5 pathways to follow will appear on the screen. Select the pathway you wish Psycho FOx to follow with the D-Button. When you have made your selection, press Button 2 and Psycho Fox will appear at the starting point of that pathway.
Once you have no more money bads left to bet with, Psycho Fox will automatically begin moving thtough the "Amida" until he reaches the end of that particular pathway. At the end of each pathway, there is a shrine, prize items and one hole. If Psycho Fox arrives at the location of an item, you get that iem. If Psycho Fox should follow a pathwat that leads him to fall intro the hole, no item is received. If you have two or more money bags, you can increase the amount you want to bet or the number of routes you select.
* Increasing Your Bet
By increasing your bet on a particular pathway, you can receive more of the items at the end of that pathway. In other words, you receive 1 item for each money bag that was bet on that pathway.
In order to do this, when Psycho Fox appears at the starting point, by pressing Button 2 again at that same location, the amount of the bet will be doubled. If you want to decrease the amount of the bet, pressing Button 1 will take back the money bag that was bet.
* Increasing the Number of Pathways
After the first Psycho Fox has appeared at the starting point, by selecting another pathway by pressing the D-button to the left or right and pressing Button 2, a second Psycho Fox will appear at the second pathway that has been selected. If you still have money bags remaining, the number of pathways can be increased even more.
* Shrine
When Psycho Fox follows the pathway that you have selected and arrives at the shrine, numbers on the shrine will begin to spin around like a slot machine. To stop the numbers from spinnig, press Button 1. The number that is displayed after the spinning has stopeed indicates the number of bonus lives you receive.
* Items
Accumulating various items that are located along the way will make your mission through this strange world much easier. Items are contained within eggs that have failen along the way, and sometimes appear after you have defeated one of the weird creatures.
When you come across an egg, move close to it and punch it to crack it open. However, there are times when the egg may not contain any item. What is worse, some eggs contain enemy creatures!
You can acquire the item that has appeared by moving Psycho Fox in contact with it. There is no limit on the number of items you may carry. You can see how many and what types of items you currently have by referring to the numbers displayed on the ITEM screen.
* Use of items
Items are used to defeat enemy creatures as well as to transform Psycho Fox into other forms. When desiring to use an item, press the Reset Button on the console. The ITEM screen will appear. Press the D-Button to move the arrow to the right or left to select the item you wish to use. Then press Button 2 to use that item. The following section provides an explanation of the functions of each of the items.
- Psycho Stick (stick of the Shinto Purification): Psycho Stick allows you transform Psycho Fox into other animals. When this item is selected and Button 2 is pressed, one of the frames surrounding the anime pictures will turn orange. Move the D-Button to the left or right to move the orange frame to the picture of the animal you wish to transform into. When you have made your selection, press the D-Button. The game will return to the Game Screen with Psycho Fox in the form of the animal you selected.
- Straw Effigy: When this item is selected, you will immediately return to the Game Screen. The display will then begin to shake and appear wavy as beams of energy flow through the entire region. The Straw Effigy will appear in the center of the screen and destroy all enemy creatures that are currently appearing on the screen.
- Magic Medicine: When this item is selected, again the game will return to the Game Scren. Once you have returned, a star will appear around Psycho Fox for a fixed period of time only. During that time, you will become invincible. All you have to do is simply make contact with an enemy creature to defeat it.
- Money Bags: These are used to bet on pathways in order to get additional items and lives in the bonus games at the end of each round. When you have 2 or more money bags, you can either bet on a multiple number of pathways or increase the bet on a single pathway.
- Additional Life Figures: When a figure identical to the form Psycho Fox is currently transformed intro appears on the screen with the numbers "1 UP", by catchig up and moving over it, you can increase your number of lives.
- Bird Fly: Bird Fly is a special bird that will prove to be a big asset to you. It is a rare bird that has tremendous power to defeat enemy creatures. When Bird Fly is perched on Psycho Fox's shoulder, by pressing Button 1, Bird Fly will be released to fly out and get rid of enemy creatures. Then, after a little while, he will come flying back to do more dirty work for you. During the time Bird Fly is perched on Psycho Fox's shoulder, even if you make contact with an enemy creature, you will not be damaged. However, Bird Fly will disappear until you find him again. In that case, once again try cracking a few eggs to find one that contains Bird Fly.
* Let's Go!
The game begins with you, as Psycho Fox, at stage 1-1. Proceed by punching the enemy creatures as they appear to attack you. Once you are able to find Bird Fly inside an egg, attack the creatures by releasing Bird Fly to destroy them. At the end of eaech stage, there will be a Boss Monster waiting for you to test your skill and bravery.
During the game, you are only able to proceed from left to right. You are not able to go back to those areas that have disappeared from the left side of the screen.
Along the route you follow, there will be lakes, cliffs, floating islands, cloud islands and jumping boards. In addition, there will also be various kinds of obstacles such as hazardous traps like disappearing bridges, trick stairways, slippery slopes as well as needle-studded floors and ceilings. All of theses will cause the number of lives you have to be reduced.
You task is to find the route you believe to be the best in order to get pass those obstacles. Whether you go directly over them or find a route high in the sky is completely up to you skill and judgement.
* Route
The world that Psycho Fox travels through is much bigger than wait it appears. When you find places suspended in the air that you can get to, try jumping up to find out what is up there. After all, you might find a better route through the sky. Rather than trying desperately to get through one route, it is better to try different routes to determine which is the best one. What is more, you should also be trying to find as many eggs as possible.
* Transformation
Once Psycho Fox finds a Psycho Stick, you will be able to transform him into any of three different animals. Each of those animals has their own unique characteristics. By transforming Psycho Fox into each of the animal forms, you will be able to take advantage of their individual traits allowing you to get past difficult parts of the route.
For further information on how to use transformation, read the section on "Use of Items".
- Fox: This is the original form of Psycho Fox and is the form at the beginning of the game. All of its characteristics such as walking, acceleration, punching power, long jumping and high jumping are standard.
- Hippopotamus: The hippopotamus has tremendous punching power for breaking down walls. However, since he weights so much, all of his other characteristics are the worst among all the other animal forms.
- Monkey: High jumps are his speciality. All of his other capabilities are of a level that is slightly lower than the fox.
- Tiger: The tiger specializes in long jumping and running speed. These two traits of his are tops among all the animal forms. Punching strengh and high jumping are standard.
Boss monsters appear at the conclusion of each stage. If a tool appears on the screen, use it to defeat the boss monster.
- Mad Tumbler (Stages 1 and 5): This Boss Monster is defeated by using an air gun that lowers down from the top of the screen. By jumping onto the air gun, bullets will be shot from the barrel. Shoot the bullets to knock out the middle sections of the monster. When all the middle sections have been knocked out, the monster will disappear.
- Robo Fly (Stages 2 and 4): Robo Fly is a mechanized fly. Once the pesticide spray can lowers down from the top of the screen, jump on the button to spray pesticide onto the fly. Remember that the pesticide is only effective when Robo Fly comes close to the spray can.
- Doramary (Stages 3 and 6): This innocent looking character which was holding the panels in the previous rounds now turns out to be the Boss Monster! However, his weak point is his soft head. You will be able to defeat him by jumping on his head.
- Madfox Daimyojin (Stage 7): Madfox Daimyojin will put up a fight to the death by showering lightning bolts all around you! However, when the launcher lowers down from the top of the screen, you can finally put an end to his evil rule by launching bombs at him by puncing the handles on the side of the launcher.
* Helpful Hints
- When you encounter a lake that is too wide to jump across, you can get over the lake by accelerating to a fast enough speed to glide over the top of the water without sinking. You can use this method in many others situations, also. In addition, you can jump farther and higher by getting a running start before jumping.
- It is very important to be familiar with the individual traits of each of the animals so that you can transform into them to take advantage of their skills. Use the animal that can jump high when desiring to get up to high spots and select an animal that is fast when you need speed. When you see a wall in you way, transform into an animal that can break down walls.
- Use the whiplash poles that you encounter to take advantage of their recoil action to jump higher and farther. Being able to jump farther is determined by the speed and height at which you grab the pole as well as the timing with which the D-Button is pressed.
- There are Warp Zones hidden throughout the route. You can look for these by sending out Bird Fly into space. When Bird Fly flies out and appears to bump into something even thought there is nothing there, this means that there is a Warp Zoe there. In order to break through, repeatedly send out Bird Fly to that same location until you break through.
- If you proceed too far ahead after having released Bird Fly, Bird Fly will not return.
- The items that you acquire along the route, inside eggs and in the bonus games cannot be used against the boss monsters.
- By timing your jump just right, Psycho Fox is able to stomp enemy creatures into the ground by jumping on top of them. Jumping on them several times will eliminate them completely.
