Laser Ghost

{{Infobox video game

| title = Laser Ghost

| image = Laser ghost.jpg

| caption = Master System box art

| developer = Sega

| publisher = Sega

| released = December 1990: Arcade{{cite web |title=Laser Ghost |url=https://mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp/id/M730640 |website=Media Arts Database |publisher=Agency for Cultural Affairs |language=ja |access-date=27 September 2021}}
December 19, 1991: Master System{{cite magazine |title=On The Shelf|magazine=Games-X|issue=35|publisher=Europress Interactive|date=19 December 1991|page=6|url=https://archive.org/details/games-x-uk/GamesX_UK_35/page/n5|access-date=5 July 2023}}

| genre = Light gun shooter

| modes = Single-player, Multiplayer

| platforms = Arcade, Master System

| arcade system = Sega System 18

}}

Laser Ghost (レーザーゴースト) is a horror-themed light gun shooter arcade video game released by Sega in 1990. The game is patterned after the films Ghostbusters{{cite web|title=Laser Ghost Review|author=Brad Cook|publisher=Allgame|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=10407&tab=review|accessdate=June 2, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141115042436/www.allgame.com/game.php?id=10407&tab=review|archive-date=2014-11-15}} and Poltergeist III, casting the player as a ghost hunter. There are three mounted guns set up on the cabinet, representing the three members of a ghost hunting team. The game puts the players in the role of Bill, Max and Carol, who must rescue a little girl kidnapped by a blue gargoyle, as well as protect the city from the ghost menace. A Master System game with the same title was released in 1991 exclusively for Europe, but was not based on the arcade original.

Gameplay

File:Laser ghost screenshot.jpg

The game was distributed in a horizontally oriented cabinet with a standard resolution color screen that is reflected by a mirror. The game can be played by up to three players simultaneously. It is controlled by a positional gun with two buttons, one for regular fire and another for limited-use special weapons. In addition to the gun, the cabinet also features an on-screen aiming reticule in which a mirror projects a red light beam away from the gun each time the player makes a shot, giving the illusion that an actual laser ray comes out from the gun to the target.{{cite web|title=Laser Ghost|publisher=klov|url=http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8382|accessdate=June 2, 2009}} The game puts the three hunters in five stages where they must destroy waves of ghosts, each one ending with a boss battle. Each player's damage zone is represented by a third of the screen, where their stats are also located. A player receives damage if their third of the screen is hit by an enemy. Ghost attacks deplete the player's life bar, which can be replenished by shooting a medical kit that some enemies leave after they are destroyed.

Laser Ghost for the Master System is completely different from the arcade original. In the game, players must protect a young girl named Catherine who is being held captive in the haunted White Manor. Using either the joypad or the Light Phaser gun, players eliminate the various hazards Catherine encounters as she attempts to escape with her soul.{{cite web|title=Laser Ghost|publisher=Moby Games|url=http://www.mobygames.com/game/laser-ghost|accessdate=June 2, 2009}}

Development

The arcade version of Laser Ghost was exhibited at the UK Amusement Trades Exhibition International in 1991.

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed Laser Ghost as being the seventh most-successful upright arcade unit of the month in their January 1, 1991 issue.{{cite magazine|title=Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - アップライト, コックピット型TVゲーム機 (Upright/Cockpit Videos)|magazine=Game Machine|publisher=Amusement Press, Inc.|date=1 January 1991|page=37|lang=ja}}

The arcade game received positive reviews upon release. According to Zzap!64, the game sounded good and played well, but it did not do enough to distinguish itself from similar games such as Operation Thunderbolt, Space Gun and Mechanized Attack.{{cite journal|title=Laser Ghost|date=August 1991|page=37|publisher=Zzap!64}} British gaming magazine The One reviewed the arcade version of Laser Ghost in 1991, comparing its gameplay to Beast Busters and its plot to The Real Ghostbusters. The One calls Laser Ghost's gameplay "nothing out of the ordinary to play", but expresses that "the ghostly goings-on will get most players [excited]".{{cite magazine|title = Coin-Operated Corkers!|date = February 1991|url = https://archive.org/details/theone-magazine-29|magazine = The One|publisher = emap Images|last = Nesbitt|first = Brian|issue = 29|page = [https://archive.org/details/theone-magazine-29/page/n19 20]}}

Mean Machines said that the Master System game was fun, but was critical of the low graphical quality.{{cite magazine|title=Sega Master System|magazine=The Mean Machines Archive|url=http://www.meanmachinesmag.co.uk/review/234/laser-ghost.php|accessdate=June 2, 2009}} Console XS reviewed the Master System version in 1992, giving it an 84% score.{{cite magazine |title=Software A-Z: Master System |magazine=Console XS |date=23 April 1992 |issue=1 (June/July 1992) |publisher=Paragon Publishing |location=United Kingdom |pages=137–47 |url=https://archive.org/details/console-xs-01/page/137}}

Retrospectively, Allgame opined that the arcade game was fun, but probably not worth the quarters players had to spend to play it.