Cosmic Spacehead

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Cosmic Spacehead

Developer(s)	Codemasters
Publisher(s)	Codemasters
Platform(s)	Mega Drive/Genesis, Game Gear, Master System, NES, Amiga, MS-DOS
Release date	1993
Genre(s)	Mixed
Mode(s)	Single Player

Cosmic Spacehead (released as Linus Spacehead's Cosmic Crusade on the NES) is a video game sequel to the Linus Spacehead. The first game only finding release in the USA as part of the Quattro Adventure cartridge. It was released in 1993 developed and published by Codemasters for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Game Gear, Master System, NES, Amiga and PC, featuring adventure game elements, with locations connected by platform sections.

Cosmic (Linus in the NES version) is an alien from the planet Linoleum who crashed into the legendary planet Earth. After returning home and expecting a hero's welcome, Cosmic soon found his fellow Linomen were skeptical of the existence of the so-called "planet Earth" and decides to return to it, this time with a camera. However, he is flat on the planets' currency, Linobucks, and must deal across the planet to get a new cosmic car and a camera. In his adventures, Cosmic deals himself out of Linoleum (including using a fake ID for Larry Flint to compete in a bumper car contest), quash a robot revolution in Detroitica and gets gas from an abandoned space station.

Each major location of Planet Linoleum has a teleporting device, which can be activated using a card. However, they often leave Cosmic with a side-effect, required to complete a puzzle. To travel between adventure sections, Cosmic goes through arcade sections, where he has to reach the other side of the level, avoiding free falls, enemies and collecting Cosmic candy at the same time (after collecting 10, an extra life is added). Cosmic dies at the smallest contact, so instead of speed running a level (which can be done, since the levels are small), it's more advisable to learn his foes' movement patterns and wait for a safe opening (this is particularly true in the NES version, where Linus can't change direction when jumping). Passwords are scattered at key locations.

Like other Codemasters games, Linus Spacehead's Cosmic Crusade was not licenced by Nintendo. It was released both as a stand-alone cartridge and as one of seven games for the Aladdin Deck Enhancer. The Mega Drive version was included in a "Codemasters 2-in-1" with Fantastic Dizzy.

All but the NES version include a two player mode named Pie Slap, reminiscent of Armor Ambush for the Atari 2600. While the Master System version is similar in graphics to the NES version, the gameplay is closer to the remaining versions. In the PC, Mega Drive/Genesis and Amiga versions, the art style is different from the NES version, much richer and closer to 60s cartoons like The Jetsons.