History VideoGame / AvengingSpirit

* DiscardAndDraw: You can drop the character you are currently possessing at the cost of a bit of your ghost energy. It's useful for changing from a character to a more useful one. [[spoiler: You cannot do this with your girlfriend, as you're permanently locked with her for the rest of the game.]]

* LifeMeter: Aside from the characters you possess having health, you also have a "Ghost Energy" meter that gradually depletes when you're in your ghost form. If it runs out, you're called to the afterlife, meaning it's GameOver for real.

* MultipleEndings: Depending on whether or not you succeed in rescuing your girlfriend. [[spoiler:You need to collect 3 secret keys throughout the game (in levels 2, 5, and 6) in order to open the door to the room where she's being held captive; miss one, and the story won't end on a good note.]]

* MyNaymeIs: In the American version's manual, the hero's girlfriend is renamed from "Miss Darling" to "Gennifer". No, that is not a misprint, and no, [[NoPronunciationGuide they never state whether it's pronounced "Ghen-ifer" or "Jennifer".

The game was also released for the Platform/GameBoy in 1992, which received a rerelease in 2022 that restored content originally missing from the US release, as well as the original cover art.

* FriendlyGhost: Our hero is an adorable little ghost, who is trying to rescue his (still alive) former girlfriend from the crime syndicate who shot and killed him in life.

* TheMafia: The antagonists of this game are an unnamed Mob gang. Despite their [[AdorableEvilMinions quirkiness]], they're actually dangerously competent, as evident by actually ''killing the hero'' in the opening cutscene, and are shown to have immense power and resources to own a massive base.

** [[spoiler:If you complete Expert mode on the Platform/GameBoy port of the original ''Phantasm'' game, it shows the Girlfriend getting married, and the Spirit is shown as well. Whether or not he is getting married to her isn't quite made clear.]]

The game was also released for the Platform/GameBoy in 1992, which received a rerelease in 2022 that restored content originally missing from the US release.

* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: As you can see [[https://preview.redd.it/v4m39cgjnum11.jpg?width=1024&auto=webp&s=b9bc1ade7e3e52b3bcacd51469a17f3773fc488e here]], The japanese version features the player, a happy cartoon ghost, surrounded by pictures of the various enemies he can encounter and possess, altered only in the EU release only to create space for the new title. The US version instead opts to throw all this out and replace it with a photorealistic trench-coated gangster shooting wildly off the side of the box.

* DubNameChange: Apparently, The Girlfriend's name is "Miss Darling". The name that she is given in the USA manual for the Game Boy port is "Gennifer".

* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Or rather, kill your possessed body. The wide variety of enemies goes beyond the usual gun-toting gangsters, but you also have robed wizards, ninja, [[KickChick fighter girls]], baseball players, anthromorphic dragons, robots, and even [[{{Youkai}} Yuki-onna]].

* DubNameChange: Apperntly, The Girlfriend's name is "Miss Darling". The name that she is given in the USA manual for the Game Boy port is "Gennifer".

* GuideDangIt: Good news, there is an [[UnlockableDifficultyLevels Expert Mode]] that you can play for harder difficulty on the Platform/GameBoy port. Bad news? The instructions for entering the code (which features cute artwork of the Spirit and Girlfriend) only shows up in the original ''Phantasm'' version of the game. Even worse? [[spoiler:There is an exclusive ending card for the mode that only appears in the original version.]]

The game was also released for the Platform/GameBoy in 1992.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:You succeed in rescuing your girlfriend, but since you are dead, you have to say goodbye to her and the world, as you move on to the afterlife.]] This is the "good" ending, by the way. [[spoiler: But not in the Japanese version...]]

* ActionGirlfriend: Invoked into a literal example. [[spoiler: When you finally meet up with your girlfriend again, you ''possess her''. Good thing, because of all the different playable forms in the game, [[GameBreaker she's the most useful of them all]]. Go figure.]]

* DiscardAndDraw: You can drop the character you are currently possessing at the cost of a bit of your ghost energy. Its useful for changing from a character to a more useful one. [[spoiler: You cannot do this with your girlfriend, as you're permanantly locked with her for the rest of the game.]]

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:No matter what ending you get, the protagonist never gets his original body back, and remains a ghost at the end of the game.]]

* KIlledOffForReal: [[spoiler:No matter what ending you get, the protagonist never gets his original body back, and remains a ghost at the end of the game.]]

The game was also released for the UsefulNotes/GameBoy in 1992.

* GuideDangIt: Good news, there is an [[UnlockableDifficultyLevels Expert Mode]] that you can play for harder difficulty on the GameBoy port. Bad news? The instructions for entering the code (which features cute artwork of the Spirit and Girlfriend) only shows up in the original ''Phantasm'' version of the game. Even worse? [[spoiler:There is an exclusive ending card for the mode that only appears in the original version.]]

** [[spoiler:If you complete Expert mode on the GameBoy port of the original ''Phantasm'' game, it shows the Girlfriend getting married, and the Spirit is shown as well. Whether or not he is getting married to her isn't quite made clear.]]

* {{Bowdlerise}}: The opening scene of the Game Boy version skips your character being shot to death, instead opening in the lab where your spirit is being kept. The dialogue even skirts around the fact you were murdered. This may be because Nintendo were seen as the family-friendly alternative to competing consoles at the time and had a stricter content policy for their games than they do now.

* JackOfAllStats: The Blue Ninja is pretty much good at everything, making him very useful for most situations. His only weakness is lack of raw hitting power with his shuriken projectiles.

* Bowdlerise: The opening scene of the Game Boy version skips your character being shot to death, instead opening in the lab where your spirit is being kept. The dialogue even skirts around the fact you were murdered. This may be because Nintendo were seen as the family-friendly alternative to competing consoles at the time and had a stricter content policy for their games than they do now.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:You succeed in rescuing your girlfriend, but since you are dead, you have to say goodbye to her and the world, as you move on to the afterlife.]] This is the "good" ending, by the way.

* BreakablePowerUp: If you run out of health, your current body dies, turning you back into a ghost and losing all of that characters' abilities. [[spoiler: Dying with your girlfriend is an instant GameOver.]]

* DeadToBeginWith: You were killed, and are now a ghost.

* WhyDontYaJustShootHim: Averted. The criminals don't waste time entertaining you with any formalities by letting you live. They gun you down when they attack and kidnap your girlfriend. Unfortunately for them, it ''doesn't end there''.

''Avenging Spirit'' is a 1991 PlatformGame by Creator/{{Jaleco}}.

* DubNameChange: Apperntly, The Girlfriend's name is "Miss Darling". The name that she is given in the USA manual for the Game Boy port is "Gennifer"

* InfinityPlusOneSword: [[spoiler: Your girlfriend.]] She runs the fastest, jumps the highest, has the most health of all the characters, and has the strongest attack in the game that kills everything in one shot. Of course, once you unlock her, you're permanently locked with her until you beat the game.

See also ''Videogame/{{Geist}}'', a similar game about controlling a ghost. Or ''Videogame/{{Messiah}}'', although in Messiah, it's an angel.