is a platform game developed and published by

Riot A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targete ...

for the Super Famicom and released in 1992. Riot was a division of Telenet Japan.

Gameplay

The player takes control of either Ryō or Maria. Ryō is a swordsman while Maria is an

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

ic warrior who uses either a

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

, a

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

gun, or metal claws. Demons can even be summoned to destroy most of the monsters on the screen. Many of the stages are set against the backdrop of 20th century Japan. Having a limited amount of time to defeat enemies, the focus is on advancing through the stages as quickly as possible.

Plot

In the early 1980s, rumors begin to circulate about a new entertainment medium called "D Movie", which allows people to immerse themselves in a world of virtual reality. As D Movies gain traction, a trend emerges of disaffected young people taking permanent refuge in the virtual world while abandoning their physical bodies to atrophy. To retrieve these so-called "Sinkers", Japan's National Public Safety Commission establishes , nicknamed , in 1984. The agents who enter the virtual world and perform these rescues are known as Debuggers. In 1992, a seventeen-year-old girl named sinks into , a D Movie directed by David Visconti. Three days pass before she is discovered, and combined with her weak constitution, she is expected to die within twenty-four hours. Two Debuggers, Ryō Shijima and Maria Tobari, are dispatched to rescue her before that happens.

Development and release

''Psycho Dream'' was directed by Kenichi Nishi. It was released in Japan on the Super Famicom on December 11, 1992. A North American localization was planned by Telenet Japan subsidiary

Renovation Products was a Japanese video game and software developer founded in October 1983 by Kazuyuki Fukushima. The company had several video game divisions including: Wolf Team, Laser Soft, Reno, Renovation Products, Riot, Commseed, and Telenet Jr. Telenet J ...

, but it was never released. It would have been their second release following ''Doomsday Warrior''. In their 1994 SNES catalog, ''

Nintendo Power ''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninten ...

'' mistakenly listed ''Dream Probe'' as having been released in September 1993. ''Psycho Dream'' was made available through

Nintendo Switch Online Nintendo Switch Online (NSO) is an online subscription service for the Nintendo Switch video game console. Nintendo Switch Online features include online multiplayer, cloud saving, voice chat via a smartphone app, access to a library of Ninten ...

on February 17, 2021.

Reception

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...

''gave it an 18/40. Fan reception was mixed: readers of '' Famimaga'' voted to give the game a 17.43 out of 30 score, ranking at the number 292 spot in a poll, indicating a middling following. Reviewing the planned localization, three reviewers at ''

Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The m ...

'' gave a score of 5/10 and a fourth gave a 6/10. ''

Super Play ''Super Play'' was a British Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) magazine which ran from 1 October 1992 to September 1996. Overview ''Super Play'' covered in great detail the role-playing video game genre. Many of these games were ne ...

'' gave the game a 33% score. Italian magazine ''Game Power'' gave it 75%.

Notes

References

{{reflist

External links

''Psycho Dream''
at

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1992 video games Japan-exclusive video games Platformers Side-scrolling video games Super Nintendo Entertainment System games Video games featuring female protagonists Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Michiko Naruke Video games set in Japan Video games about virtual reality Single-player video games Nintendo Switch Online games