Who remembers an old 80’s game called “Pang”? Well its back with “Run Ghost Run” a new PSP Mini also for PS3.
The premise is a guy stays over night in a haunted castle and must survive the night by getting rid of the ghosts in each level. The gameplay works identical to Pang from the 80’s. You are a man on the bottom of the screen and you can move left and right (on later levels you can also jump on springs to reach higher platforms) and you’re armed with a gun that fires a ghostbuster like ray straight upwards to the top of the screen. Ghosts bounce across the screen and when they hit the ray they shrink down in size but divide into two ghosts. The gameplay comes by tactically shooting and moving around the screen to avoid the bouncing ghosts but also to make sure you’re not overwhelmed by the sheer number of critters bouncing around the screen. It’s all to easy to be trigger happy and cause a mess for yourself. To balance things nicely however there is a time-limit on each level. Getting the balance right between shooting and avoidance is key to success.
Run Ghost Run! has cute, bold graphics and the controls are responsive making the mini a joy to play on the PS3 full screen. There are 36 levels to get through, each with multiple sections to them, and a few power ups to help you out when the going gets tough. It really does evoke the gameplay of Pang perfectly.
Positives
~Old Skool gameplay down to a Tee
~Cute graphics
Negatives
~ Occasionally unfair deaths
Conclusion
Great for a drop in and out play and great for on the move, Run Ghost Run is one of the best mini’s released in 2011 to date.