Ghoul Panic (Oh! Bakyuuun in Japan) is a Light Gun Game developed by 8ing/Raizing and released by Namco in 1999 in Arcade Game form, and then ported one year later to the PlayStation. It is considered a Spin-Off of the more popular Point Blank (1994) and sequels, and in fact it has the same structure comprising various mini-games. This time it also includes full 3D graphics, boss battles and (in the PS1 port) an Adventure Mode.
The game is about a witch's curse that turned people into cats. Kevin and Lisa are two kids who try to rescue them, but the witch caught them and turned them too into humanoid cats. Now they need to free the mansion not only from the ghosts but also from the family of monsters that inhabit it.
Not to be confused with Zombie Panic
or with Ghoul Patrol, the sequel to Zombies Ate My Neighbors.
Ghoul Panic provides examples of:
- Adaptation Expansion: The Playstation version has "Adventure mode" other than the default arcade mode. Unlike in arcade mode where the players have to complete four minigames before boss encounters, the adventure mode plays like a typical mansion expedition where the players have to complete all minigames in the whole floor to get MacGuffin items before they can enter boss encounters and progress to the next floor. Also, unlike in arcade mode where the type of minigames always change for every gameplay, minigames in adventure mode are fixated.
- Anime Hair: The main characters, in both human and cat form.
- Attack Its Weak Point: Bosses' weak points are always signaled.
- Barrage of Bats: In his first phase, Vlady the vampire sics swarms of bats at you as a projectile attack.
- Blue Boy, Pink Girl: Lisa has pink hair/fur and Kevin's is blue/dark purple.
- Color-Coded Multiplayer: Just like in Point Blank, in some stages you have to shoot the targets in the same color of your player character. Failure in doing so results in the loss of a life.
- Cute Witch: Witchina.
- Cute Kitten: The people turned into yellow kittens you need to rescue (i.e. don't shoot them) and of course the players.
- The Dead Can Dance: One stage has disco-dancing skeletons and ghosts partying out. The skeletons even have afros!
- Dem Bones: Disco dancing skeletons!
- The End... Or Is It?: The ending shows Witchina very much alive and pissed off.
- Frankenstein's Monster: The first boss, Frankie, is based upon him.
- Giant Spider: One of these shows up in a stage, and you'll need to shoot it enough times (between 30 to 40, depending on difficulty settings) before the time runs out.
- Goggles Do Nothing: Kevin sports a couple of them.
- Haunted House: The entire game is set in one.
- High-Class Glass: Vladie sports a monocle.
- I Want My Mommy!: After Witchina is defeated and shot out the air, she then whines that you've beaten her brother, father, and her before name-dropping this trope nearly in-verbatim. And then Mamma Mia shows up.
- Lighter and Softer: Compared to every other monster-killing light gun video game ever made.
- Mama Bear: Mama Mia, natch. Right after Witchina is defeated, Mama rises from the ground to provide the final boss battle.
- Mineral MacGuffin: The Holy Gems. One is available in each set of four stages; successfully complete its stage and you get it. If you have the Holy Gem when you reach the boss of that set, the gem burns off a quarter of the boss's health. Get all three and you get the same benefit against Mama Mia.
- Noblewoman's Laugh: Witchina starts her boss battle with one of these, and will taunt you with a similar laugh throughout her boss fight.
- Non-Indicative Title: Are there any ghouls in this game? Why didn't they call it Ghost Panic (because, you know, ghosts are about 99% of the enemies)?
- Non-Mammal Mammaries: Mama Mia. It's always a bit unsettling seeing a huge dragon with equally huge, bouncy breasts.
- No Ontological Inertia: After Mama Mia's defeat, the witch's curse is lifted (so the players and the other people revert to their human state) and the ghosts are free to leave the mansion.
- One-Winged Angel: Frankie goes from a toddler hopping on a pogo stick to a huge burly guy throwing cinderblocks, and Vladie the vampire turns into a giant bat.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Mama Mia, who somehow gave birth to a human witch and a Frankenstein's Monster.
- Quirky Household: The bosses (a construct, a vampire, a witch and a dragon) are all part of the same family, which is possibly the weirdest example of this trope since The Munsters.
- Shout-Out: The battle against Vladie the vampire is similar to the fight against the Hangedman, the bat-winged creature from the first House of the Dead game. They both attack by flinging bats at the player, have similar poses and an annoying high-pitched voice.
