Avenging Spirit

How do you like these odds: You're up against dozens of ornery bad guys armed with submachine guns. You have no weapons, no lives, not even a body to call your own. The good news is you can't get killed; the bad news is you're already dead. Yep, from the moment you hit Start, you're gone. History. Finito!

Ghost Story

Avenging Spirit byjaleco is a seriously fun side-scrolling action/adventure game with a ghostly twist. You start the game as a fresh corpse, bumped off by the kidnappers who've taken your girlfriend. However, your spirit goes on as a ghost - and you want revenge! To get it, you fly through six stages of a mazelike city, from rooftops to streets, slaying kidnappers as you search for your girlfriend, Cennifer.

Here's the twist: You can possess other characters. You simply land your ghost on an unsuspecting host and use their skills and weapons to your advantage. Some characters have great jumping ability; others have special weapons, such as vampire bats or exploding snowballs.

Who Ya Gonna Call?

Avenging Spirit is a mean-spirited little game. Bad guys are everywhere, and they're a trigger-happy bunch. They immediately blast whatever body your ghost is inhabiting. A few medicine jars and heart capsules scattered throughout the city give you temporary pickups, but ghosts don't have much stamina.

At the end of each stage you encounter some kind of monstrous boss. You'll need plenty of practice before you can defeat them.

Get into the Spirit

The action in this cart is steady, which makes the diminutive sprites a problem. With 20 characters to possess, you must quickly identify who's who, which is hard with these tiny figures. The background details are otherwise impressive, and the bosses move with deadly grace.

The frenzied music only distracts you from the tasks at hand. If you turn it off, though, make sure you catch the cool fire-breathing hiss of the dragons.

The Ghost with the Most

Avenging Spirit isn't easy, so don't expect to go "ghost to coast" right away. It's definitely fun, though, and it will entertain all intermediate players until they're mere ghosts of their former selves.