Linus Spacehead's Cosmic Crusade (1991). Play online

Summary

I’m always fascinated by how Linus Spacehead's Cosmic Crusade blends point‑and‑click adventure with old‑school platforming. The NES title throws you into the quirky world of Planet Linoleum where every major area holds a teleport device—activate one with a special card and you’ll instantly get a puzzling side‑effect to solve. Items you gather aren’t just loot; each is a key for later rooms, turning the map into a brain‑teasing breadcrumb trail.

Scattered throughout the adventure zones are arcade‑style stretches: you sprint across side‑scroll levels, dodge free‑falls and hostile critters, and snap up Cosmic candy. Reach ten of those treats and the game grants you an extra life, a sweet payoff for mastering the frantic runs. Hidden passwords tucked into key locations let you pick up the story where you left off.

What really stands out is the NES cartridge’s independence—it wasn’t Nintendo‑licensed and showed up both on its own and as part of the Aladdin Deck Enhancer’s seven‑game bundle, giving gamers a taste of Codemasters’ off‑beat flair.

Storyline

Linus Spacehead's Cosmic Crusade follows the misadventures of Linus, an alien from the planet Linoleum. After crashing onto the legendary planet Earth, he returns home expecting a hero’s welcome, only to find his fellow Linomen doubt Earth even exists. Determined, Linus decides to go back, this time armed with a camera, but he has no Linobucks to fund his quest. He roams the planet to earn a vehicle and the needed equipment, even borrowing a fake Larry Flynt ID to enter a bumper‑car contest. Along the way he suppresses a robot uprising in Detroitica and scavenges fuel from an abandoned space station.