An old arcade game by SNK is the source of this week’s music… The game where a character who got much more famous later made her debut. I am talking about Athena Asamiya, pop star extraordinaire in the SNK universe, a psychic fighter in the King of Fighters series, leader of the team that carries the same name as the game she debuted in, “Psycho Soldier”. Psycho Soldier is a fun, but difficult (hah, aren’t all arcade games?) side-scroller with stages generally split in 3-4 vertical levels Athena can switch between.

From the very first time I tried it (admittedly, already in the MAME days… didn’t come across this game at our local arcades), the first stage’s theme was stuck in my head. Aside from being incredibly catchy, it was also the very first vocal song in a game! There’s even an English version of it, but I’m featuring the original Japanese one. And I hope you like it!

Composer: Eikichi Kawasaki
Singer: Kaori Shimizu
Game: Psycho Soldier
Song: Psycho Soldier