Avenging Spirit (1992). Play Free Online

Summary

Avenging Spirit (known as Phantasm in Japan) lets you hop from one foe to another, literally taking over enemy bodies to solve puzzles and press onward. At the start you choose among four distinct characters, each packing a different power set, and as you progress the enemy roster mutates, forcing fresh combos of attack and possession. The game crammed a solid load of power‑ups, boss battles, and a steep learning curve that Sinclair User praised as “superior action … with a rather odd scenario.” Despite its quirky premise it scored enough buzz to rank 17th in Japan’s July 1991 table‑arcade charts. Decades later the title resurfaced on the 3DS Virtual Console—June 7 2011 in Japan and August 11 globally—and even earned a new physical run from Limited Run Games in 2022, letting modern gamers experience that ghost‑hopping charm again.

Storyline

In Avenging Spirit, you are killed by a crime syndicate while out with your girlfriend and return as a wandering spirit. The mob has taken the girl hostage to force her ghost‑energy researcher father to cooperate.
Your only weapon is the ability to possess any of twenty different creatures scattered through six dangerous stages. By hopping from body to body you fight through the syndicate’s base, searching for the captive.
Keys are hidden on stages 2, 5 and 6; collecting all three lets you open the girl’s cell at the end of stage 6 and even possess her to help escape. Without the full set you must face the leader alone.
After defeating the boss the base explodes, and the spirit drifts onto a quiet field as its power fades. If the girl was saved she walks toward the horizon while the hero wishes her happiness before vanishing.

Edited by Maya Carter