Ratalaika Games is known for bringing classic titles back to life in their amazing virtual console and their latest release is the 1990s classic Avenging Spirit or known as Phantasm in Japan. The game was originally developed by C.P. Brain and published by Jaleco back in the 90s however now, Ratalaika Games has done their magic on the title and brought the game back to life for modern consoles. This is our review of Avenging Spirit on PS5 in which we take control of enemies and use their own skills against their own selves to defeat them.
The story of Avenging Spirit involves your girlfriend getting kidnapped and you getting murdered and getting transformed into a ghost. This little ghost might appear harmless however he has a neat trick up his sleeve which is enemy possession. Throughout the six-level story, you will be possessing a lot of enemy soldiers and using them as your primary weapon. Avenging Spirit takes less than an hour to complete and it is the perfect title if you are looking at something for a short gaming session. Sticking true to the classic arcade games, Avenging Spirit is not really a huge game in terms of post-completion as well however its different secrets, two endings, and tons of enemies do make you want to return for trying all of them out.
Avenging Spirit combines both platforming and shooting into one fun package. By looking at the visuals and its gameplay, one title that comes to mind is Contra however there is one unique element here that really takes the cake. Since you are basically a cute little blue ghost in Avenging Spirit, you can possess any enemy in the game, and then you can control that enemy for taking out other enemies and bosses for progressing in the game. The gameplay is really simple two-button gameplay where you shoot with Square and jump with X. You use the left joystick to move around however you cannot aim up or down so you can only shoot left and right. This makes platforming more vital than ever because you will be jumping around a lot to take out enemies who are not on the same level as you. You begin the main story of the game by possessing an enemy of your liking and then you play the rest of the levels as it is.
Depending on your playstyle, you can pick your own character as well because when you possess an enemy, you inherit all of their attacks and skills as well. For example, if you possess a soldier, you will get their machine gun and normal jumps however if you possess a ninja, you will throw stars at your enemies and you will jump higher than others in the game as well. Similarly, there is a wide variety of enemies in the game and you can pick whatever enemy you like and possess them. After you possess an enemy, you have to make them die first before possessing another enemy. You cannot leave them of your own will. There are two separate life bars, one for the current character that you are possessing and one for the ghost.
If you lose all of the health of the character that you are currently using, you will leave their body as a ghost, and then you possess another enemy. However, you have to be really quick because in your ghost form, you will continue to lose your health. If your health goes to zero as a ghost, your game will be over and you will need to restart. However, since there is no coin system now, you can just continue from that very sport without paying a dime. This is what is cool about the modern ports of these classic titles since these classics were really tough back in their days. Now you have modern mechanics that make these titles a lot more accessible to a large group of players and Avenging Spirit is no different.
There are plenty of different enemies in the game and they are completely different from each other as well so when you are possessing an enemy, you are really going for something completely different. You have various acrobatic girls that look similar but some are completely melee in their attacks while some have a sonic wave type of attack, you have small fire-breathing dinosaurs, an old woman throwing large ice boulders, and whatnot. Then you have your traditional Mafia goons with their checkered suits and big guns and also star-throwing ninjas. The enemies in the game do not follow any sort of theme and the only thing common between them is that everyone just wants you dead. Similarly, the bosses are different as well. On one level you will be fighting a rogue excavator and then on another level, you will be fighting a huge goo monster inside a sewer.
Avenging Spirit comes with the original Japanese release of the title as well. When you start the game, you are given the option to choose whatever version you want to play. You can choose between Phantasm, the Japanese release of the title from 1991, or Avenging Spirit, the global English release of the game. Both versions are the same in everything else apart from the language in the cutscenes. Phantasm has the English language inside the game as well and the only difference I remember seeing is the Japanese language in the title’s cutscenes. Apart from this, both titles are the same however both games have their own saved files but the Trophies are the same for the title so you can play whichever version you want to play and you can unlock all of the Trophies without any problem. The game comes with full Trophy support and they are fairly easy to unlock as well. For Trophy hunters, this is an easy Platinum to achieve while experiencing a great classic title as well.
Since the title is another Ratalaika Games port, you will see the familiar console which runs the title on modern consoles here as well. You have modern features in the game thanks to this console such as pressing L1 to rewind and correct your mistakes or pressing R1 to fast-forward the game. You can also Save and Load the current state of the title if you want to quit in the middle and start another game instead. You also have the option of assigning custom controls and choosing from various video filters such as CRT and more. The features are the same across both Phantasm and Avenging Spirit so you can use them in any version of the game you want. As I mentioned earlier as well, you will get different Save Slots for both titles giving you complete freedom of how you want to play the game.
On the PS5, the game runs exceptionally well without any sort of hiccups. I normally review Ratalaika Games’ ports on Nintendo Switch so I was fairly used to the virtual console running on it however this is my first review on the PS5 console of a similar port and I am happy to see that not only it is identical to the Nintendo Switch version but it also runs perfectly. There are no visual or technical hiccups of any sort and every feature of the game runs without any problem. The game is not really a hardware pusher but still, it runs as it should. After choosing the version of the game, you can pick to choose the console variant optimized for consoles or the original Arcade version of the game as well. It requires coins for starting the title but you can add as many coins as you want by pressing the L3 button.
Final Verdict:
Avenging Spirit features an amazing concept for its time and I am surprised that very few titles actually utilized it. We have seen some titles go along the direction of using mind control to bend the enemies to your own will but Avenging Spirit takes it to another level. The concept is really simple and the game completely nails the execution. The gameplay is nostalgic yet extremely fun and the upbeat soundtrack ensures that you are always moving your feet along with your fingers too. The only problem is that this is a short ride however, it is perfect for short gaming sessions when you can just in the game and play it all the way to the end in a single setting. You can go after your own highscores in the game because there is no online high score chasing so you will be going after your own personal records. If you never played Avenging Spirit back on the arcades, now this is your perfect chance to experience this brilliant platforming shooter on your favorite console.
Final Score: 8.5/10
