Genesis

Haunting Starring Polterguy

Haunting har en härlig humor. De fyra familjemedlemmarna gallskriker, hackar tänder och kissar på sig av skräck, och det finns fyra hus att skrämma ut dem ur så det roliga tar inte slut i första taget. Buuuuuhskul!

Though Polterguy has looks and a vocabulary that might be laughable today, Haunting was a unique and very fun title for its time. In an era of platformers and every company scrambling to create a mascot character in lieu of the Sonics and Mario’s of the time, Electronic arts decided to create an original title that focused on something unique and new. While the game runs a little short, it could have paved the way for more games of its type if the gaming industry weren’t such a “me too” business to begin with. If EA were to resurrect (no pun intended) a franchise, they might want to look in this game’s direction. It just might make people think differently about them.

Haunting is a spookfest that's over all to quickly. It isn't going to give you nightmares (no gruesome graphics or crunching challenge). Just the same, this game qualifies as a fun fright to the finish.

Regardless of a few flaws and issues that may make casual gamers stay away after the novelty starts to wear off, Haunting is an iconic Genesis title that deserves more mention in the modern era. I'm not sure if it influenced anything or something to that effect, but the major issue is that it's so unique it simply needs to be seen because this is what true innovation looks like. I commonly refer this game to people who are just starting to collect Genesis titles because it's a good one to jump into and I strongly recommend it to anyone who's never really played retro titles or anyone who's never heard of it. You'll be amazed, though perhaps slightly annoyed after awhile, but the experience is definitely worth it in the long run.

As the title ghost, you must scare the Sardini clan out of their house, room by room. A neat premise hampered by so-so graphics and repetitive gameplay.

Haunting starring Polterguy ist an sich ein gutes Spiel. Der Humor ist klasse und es macht einfach Spaß, die Leute zu erschrecken. Technisch ist das Spiel eben relativ durchschnittlich, das stört aber nicht so sehr. Dagegen ist der geringe Umfang schon etwas arg enttäuschend und im späteren Verlauf, mit Hund und Ekto Monster, wird das Ganze auch ein wenig unfair. Eine Chance sollte man diesem ungewöhnlichen Titel aber auf jeden Fall geben.

Owners of the Nomad will want to stay as far away from this game as humanly possible. The Nomad's blurry screen makes the mansions look washed out, and makes navigation from one object to the next near-to-nigh impossible. The graphics, as you can imagine, take a huge hit due to the blurry screen. The once detailed game objects now appear squashed. The sound and control of the game remain intact in the transition to the small screen, but the gameplay and graphics take a huge hit.

"Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! ...uhh Genesis!" And upon the utterance of these fateful words, deep in Electronic Arts' software development labs, the afterlife belched forth this game. Almost a twisted version of The Sims, and one of the most original games made in the 16-bit era, Haunting casts you as a dead rocker's ghost, and tasks you with scaring all four members of a family out of four different posh houses. You do this by possessing objects in the house, and watching the comically frightening results.

Grafiken är otroligt välgjord. Snyggt animerad och följsam och spelet är en fröjd att spela till en början. Men ganska snart blir ma lite trött på alltihopa och det är inte direkt ett spel man återvänder till gång på gång. Visst, det har allt sina charmiga kvalitéer, men de olika nivåerna är alltför likartade.

Toying with the family is very amusing thanks to the sheer number of trap animations. Your victims react in a number of ways, including peeing themselves! Unfortunately, a few times per stage you'll find yourself running low on "ectoplasm", and this is where Haunting's gameplay takes a turn for the worse. You're dumped into an underground dungeon maze loaded with pits, flying objects, and grabbing arms. Here you must collect a number of green blobs before you can return to the house, and it's painfully repetitive. Haunting Starring Polterguy offers no continues and has no password feature. My buddy Steve and I played this game for what seemed like hours, but by the time it was over, we were absolutely sick of it! I enjoy the minor-key music that plays throughout the game, but the scream effects are rough. I love the concept behind Haunting, but it's long on novelty value and short on replay value.