This review was originally published on the Console Purist Facebook group on September 22nd, 2018. It has been edited slightly for grammar and formatting.
Welcome to Playstation Basement #4! I’m here every Saturday, usually in the afternoon, reviewing obscure, weird, and unknown games for the original PlayStation. I use a nine-point rating system: 9-7 is Good, 6-4 is Neutral, and 3-1 is Bad.
This week, I’m talking about a licensed game – Ghost in the Shell. This game is based on the manga and movie of the same name. The game came out on Halloween 1997, not too long after the American VHS release of the film in 1996, and it even uses the same voice cast as used in the English dub. Developed by Exact (Jumping Flash), Ghost in the Shell was published by Sony themselves in Japan and THQ in America. The manga’s creator, Masamune Shirow, even did the story and art design. Does the game live up to all of this cool hype here, though?
Well, you can’t judge a book by looking at its cover, but the cover art to Ghost in the Shell sets the tone nicely. I like the American cover art the best, displaying a strong Major Kusanagi with an overall dark color scheme. The Japanese art has some pretty wild colors and looks kind of gross. Here the Major is scrunched up and scowling, appearing much more animalistic. The European art is pretty bad, lacking the general art style of the series and making Major Kusanagi look like an angry crab, though it is the only one to actually show the Fuchikoma robot controlled by the player. In terms of all of these covers, I should mention that Major Kusanagi is not actually the character controlled by the player, so they are all somewhat misleading.
Ghost in the Shell has some pretty nice graphics. The visuals are a bit dark and jagged, and I do wish some of the enemies were larger or more animated. However, the environments look nice with large buildings, signs, and other details. The larger enemies, such as helicopters and large robots, move nicely and are well rendered. The player character is a bright red, working with the overall grim tone but also standing out enough to be visible. There are even a few quality cutscenes in the game that look very close to something you might see in the film, though all of these scenes and story are new.
The soundtrack is quite a highlight for Ghost in the Shell. I love the eerie, ambient electro track that plays on the title screen, and the musick in the game is good too. It’s all on the electronic side and pretty dancey. The musick is sort of like a combination of Perfect Dark, Robotron X, and the previously reviewed Notam of Wind. It really gets your adrenaline pumping! The sound effects are well done too, with some cool blips, bleeps, and explosions. The voice acting is similarly excellent and, as mentioned above, by the dub cast for the film.
Now on to the main target here, the gameplay. As I also mentioned earlier, the player does not control the main character of the franchise, Major Kusanagi. Instead, you play as an unnamed recruit piloting a spidery robot called a Fuchikoma. I think this was probably the best decision as it allows the player to move from basic missions up to more complicated ones and not feel somewhat out of the canon; think of Metal Gear Solid 2. It also allows the game to be its own thing and not be a playthrough of the movie or manga.
Playing as the Fuchikoma really makes this game unique. The robot has your standard machine guns and missiles, but it can stick on walls and ceilings, allowing the player to scale buildings and climb over walls. Though it is somewhat strict in control, the Fuchikoma can also strafe by sliding around, allowing quick and more tactical movement. It’s a shame that this came out before the DualShock controller was available. It’s pretty fun to navigate the mazes and cityscapes as it is though. There are even a few chase levels that scroll automatically. These levels are much quicker and more based on memorization and sharp reflexes. I had a lot of fun with this game and was able to finish it fairly quickly. Towards the end it did begin to get repetitive, mashing the Square button all day. It was also very easy; I only had to continue on a few of the stages (the last skyscraper level in particular).
I really enjoyed playing through Ghost in the Shell, and I think it’s certainly a worthwhile game despite its brevity and low difficulty. I still have to master the training level and see all of the cutscenes for that, but it was also just a very fun game to play. I really liked being able to stick to the walls of all of these cyberpunk settings, and I also really enjoyed the musick. I recommend action game fans or fans of the Ghost in the Shell franchise to check out the game. Unfortunately, it is somewhat pricey, ranging from around $55 to $80 for a complete copy.
Ghost in the Shell receives a rating of Good (8).
Welcome to Playstation Basement #4! I’m here every Saturday, usually in the afternoon, reviewing obscure, weird, and unknown games for the original PlayStation. I use a nine-point rating system: 9-7 is Good, 6-4 is Neutral, and 3-1 is Bad.
This week, I’m talking about a licensed game – Ghost in the Shell. This game is based on the manga and movie of the same name. The game came out on Halloween 1997, not too long after the American VHS release of the film in 1996, and it even uses the same voice cast as used in the English dub. Developed by Exact (Jumping Flash), Ghost in the Shell was published by Sony themselves in Japan and THQ in America. The manga’s creator, Masamune Shirow, even did the story and art design. Does the game live up to all of this cool hype here, though?
Well, you can’t judge a book by looking at its cover, but the cover art to Ghost in the Shell sets the tone nicely. I like the American cover art the best, displaying a strong Major Kusanagi with an overall dark color scheme. The Japanese art has some pretty wild colors and looks kind of gross. Here the Major is scrunched up and scowling, appearing much more animalistic. The European art is pretty bad, lacking the general art style of the series and making Major Kusanagi look like an angry crab, though it is the only one to actually show the Fuchikoma robot controlled by the player. In terms of all of these covers, I should mention that Major Kusanagi is not actually the character controlled by the player, so they are all somewhat misleading.
Ghost in the Shell has some pretty nice graphics. The visuals are a bit dark and jagged, and I do wish some of the enemies were larger or more animated. However, the environments look nice with large buildings, signs, and other details. The larger enemies, such as helicopters and large robots, move nicely and are well rendered. The player character is a bright red, working with the overall grim tone but also standing out enough to be visible. There are even a few quality cutscenes in the game that look very close to something you might see in the film, though all of these scenes and story are new.
The soundtrack is quite a highlight for Ghost in the Shell. I love the eerie, ambient electro track that plays on the title screen, and the musick in the game is good too. It’s all on the electronic side and pretty dancey. The musick is sort of like a combination of Perfect Dark, Robotron X, and the previously reviewed Notam of Wind. It really gets your adrenaline pumping! The sound effects are well done too, with some cool blips, bleeps, and explosions. The voice acting is similarly excellent and, as mentioned above, by the dub cast for the film.
Now on to the main target here, the gameplay. As I also mentioned earlier, the player does not control the main character of the franchise, Major Kusanagi. Instead, you play as an unnamed recruit piloting a spidery robot called a Fuchikoma. I think this was probably the best decision as it allows the player to move from basic missions up to more complicated ones and not feel somewhat out of the canon; think of Metal Gear Solid 2. It also allows the game to be its own thing and not be a playthrough of the movie or manga.
Playing as the Fuchikoma really makes this game unique. The robot has your standard machine guns and missiles, but it can stick on walls and ceilings, allowing the player to scale buildings and climb over walls. Though it is somewhat strict in control, the Fuchikoma can also strafe by sliding around, allowing quick and more tactical movement. It’s a shame that this came out before the DualShock controller was available. It’s pretty fun to navigate the mazes and cityscapes as it is though. There are even a few chase levels that scroll automatically. These levels are much quicker and more based on memorization and sharp reflexes. I had a lot of fun with this game and was able to finish it fairly quickly. Towards the end it did begin to get repetitive, mashing the Square button all day. It was also very easy; I only had to continue on a few of the stages (the last skyscraper level in particular).
I really enjoyed playing through Ghost in the Shell, and I think it’s certainly a worthwhile game despite its brevity and low difficulty. I still have to master the training level and see all of the cutscenes for that, but it was also just a very fun game to play. I really liked being able to stick to the walls of all of these cyberpunk settings, and I also really enjoyed the musick. I recommend action game fans or fans of the Ghost in the Shell franchise to check out the game. Unfortunately, it is somewhat pricey, ranging from around $55 to $80 for a complete copy.
Ghost in the Shell receives a rating of Good (8).
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