Asylum (prototype)

Asylum is a cooperative shooter from Leland Corporation, developed in 1991 but never publicly released. Players choose one of three characters – Rip (armed with knives), Rak (with a gun), and Rol (wielding a chain mace) – to navigate a maze-like asylum building controlled by the villainous Mr. G. The gameplay combines walking sections with overhead shooting, tasking players with eliminating unsettling creatures as they progress through increasingly challenging levels. The objective is to ascend the asylum’s floors, ultimately confronting and defeating Mr. G to secure their escape. Players must work together to overcome obstacles and enemies while traversing vertical game screens presented in a 240x320 pixel resolution. The game features graphic depictions of violence accompanied by custom sound effects utilizing both Zilog Z80 and I80186 processors alongside an YM2151 chip. Designed for up to three players, Asylum utilizes an 8-way joystick and two buttons for control. A promotional contest once offered a limited-edition t-shirt to those who successfully completed the game five times.