Avenging Spirit

Most action games cast you as a hero of flesh and blood. Avenging Spirit, however, has one fundamental catch: you are already dead. You play the ghost of a murdered person who survives thanks to a single brilliantly morbid mechanic — he must possess the bodies of enemies and use them as temporary vessels and as a source of abilities. It is an idea so original that it is worth trying on its own.

The entire gameplay revolves around this premise. As a defenseless ghost you cannot exist alone for long; you need to slip inside an enemy and take over both his body and his arsenal. Each opponent works differently — one can shoot, another jumps higher, a third is tougher — so you are constantly weighing which body is worth grabbing right now. And when a host runs out of health, you have only a few seconds to jump into the next one, or your soul dissolves for good. This race against the clock adds a tense tactical dimension to otherwise straightforward action.

Avenging Spirit is a port of an arcade game, and its pace reflects that — brisk, action-focused and about pushing through levels. But the cutely dark premise of a ghost borrowing other people's bodies lends it a distinctiveness that a lot of period platformers lacked. It is not just more running and shooting; it is an idea that changes the way you think about playing.

Interestingly, this game's main character eventually found its way into the modern era too. It appeared as a cameo in one of the games in the Shantae series, a lovely nod to a title that would otherwise easily fade among hundreds of other GB games. It is a small thing, but for fans a pleasant bridge between forgotten classic and the contemporary indie scene.

In the end, Avenging Spirit is exactly the type of game worth rediscovering — proof that a creative idea can create an unmistakable experience even on limited hardware. If conventional action games tire you, this possessed expedition offers a refreshing change of perspective.

Why play it: The original enemy-possession mechanic turns an ordinary action platformer into an unexpectedly tactical and unforgettable experience with a morbidly clever idea.