Play Avenging Spirit Online

Summary

Avenging Spirit (known in Japan as Phantasm) turns the usual platform‑shooter formula on its head by letting you hop from one enemy body to the next. When your current host is slain, a nearby non‑boss foe can be possessed—though each transfer drains a finite spirit meter, and running out means game over.

At the start you choose from four characters, each with a distinct move set, and as you progress the roster of possible hosts swells, forcing you to adapt your tactics on the fly while hunting power‑ups and taking down each level’s boss.

Critics in the early ’90s noted the game’s quirky premise and lasting appeal; Sinclair User called it a "superior action game with a rather odd scenario," while The One praised its originality despite warning that the steep learning curve might deter casual players. In Japan it even cracked the top twenty arcade tables in July 1991.

Storyline

In Avenging Spirit, a casual stroll with his girlfriend turns deadly when agents of a mysterious crime syndicate ambush the player, kidnap the girl and shoot him. His spirit survives, gaining the power to possess almost any enemy. Summoned by the girl's father—a researcher of ghost energy—he is tasked with rescuing her from the syndicate, which is also after the same spectral power.
The game spans six stages; three hidden keys must be collected on stages 2, 5 and 6. If all keys are gathered, the player can open the girl’s cell in the final area and possess her to fight alongside her; without them, he must face the syndicate’s leader alone. Defeating the leader triggers a massive explosion, and the spirit drifts onto a quiet field as its power fades. Should the girl be saved, she approaches the field and the spirit wishes her happiness before vanishing; otherwise, she presumably perishes in the blast.