Avenging Spirit

released on May 01, 1991

Avenging Spirit, known in Japan as Phantasm, is a 1991 2-player platform arcade game developed by C.P. Brain and published by Jaleco. Players attack (or possess) enemies, collect power-ups, and defeat bosses to advance. Players can possess one of four characters with unique abilities at the start of the game, but the library of enemies expands and changes with each level.


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Découvert et joué sur Evercade, ce jeu de plateforme est une petite pépite. Prendre possession de ses ennemis est un super concept d'autant plus qu'il y a une bonne tripotée de lascars en tous genres. En tant que fantôme vous ne risquez pas grand chose mais votre jauge d'ectoplasme fond comme neige au soleil : seule solution, la possession ! Et là, c'est le drame !...ou pas. Car prendre possession du premier venu peut certes sauver votre existence de revenant mais aussi rendre le sauvetage de votre petite amie compliqué. Tous les ennemis ne se valent pas, tant au niveau action que prise en main. Et se retrouver dans la peau d'un emplâtrer n'est pas de tout repos... Cela donne beaucoup de pep's et d'humour au jeu, et apporte du challenge supplémentaire ainsi qu'un peu de stratégie.

I thought this game was cute. I played it because I got curious about what the game was after seeing a meme comparing its cover art in various regions. Possessing enemies was fun and there was a large cast of unique enemies, with every level introducing two or three new ones. I only ever saw one variant of an existing enemy which made every level exciting. The bosses weren't so great, many of them being extremely difficult and causing the game to slow down. There is also a lot of slowdown in bigger rooms which are very common in the later levels. Sometimes this makes it feel impossible. I played the gameboy version and was surprised to see there was an arcade version where the ghost you play as is actually the dead boyfriend of the girl you try to save, I was just told she was some researcher's daughter. I'm not sure if I got a full experience and I couldn't enjoy the later parts due to the difficulty & slowdown, but I was still impressed.

PLOT

During a walk with your girlfriend, you're ambushed by agents of a mysterious crime syndicate! They take your girlfriend away and shoot you to death. Now, as a wandering spirit with the ability to possess others, you're summoned by your girlfriend's father (who researches ghost energy) and you're given a mission to save your girlfriend from the mysterious crime syndicate that holds her hostage, enabling the you to rest in peace.

MY THOUGHTS

The more you play the more you begin to fall in love with this games charm and premise. I mean you can become any enemy in the game(except bosses) And get to the end by continuing to possess enemies. Be careful though the more you lose health with enemies the more you have to possess using your actual spirit energy that will deplete as you look for a new body to possess. So make sure to keep that in mind when playing this game! ALSO important thing to mention but to get the good ending, Make sure to collect the keys in stages 2,5 and 6.

Besides that you will have a good time with this game. It doesn't get boring at all since there is a good range of enemies to possess as you go! So be sure to just have a good ass time as you embark on the player character's final task before they can go to the afterlife which is to save their girlfriend as asked by her father who researches ghost energy.

An unique arcade game where you play as a ghost and you can possess the enemies. And yes, this is before Kirby.The game also has two endings, which is pretty cool :)

Pretty fun. Didn't overstay it's welcome.

First GOTM finished for October 2022. Interesting little GameBoy platformer, where you play a spirit who has the ability to possess other enemy characters in order to obtain their specific abilities as you progress through the levels. The variety in the enemy abilities was nice, but the game felt clunky in the platforming and the bosses were pretty tough. Neat little game, quick and dirty at less than an hour.