Cover art featuring the, er, Rambo inspired lead characterThe next cassette out of the box is an interesting one. From the collective genius of the Oliver twins we have Ghost Hunters, released around 1987. It’s a puzzle-platformer of the type that the Olivers just seem to have a knack for (Dizzy anyone?) but with a twist. You move around a mansion looking for the character’s brother and, once rescued, you must guide the hero back out. I say ‘hero’ for a reason; as ghosts, vampires and other assorted undead appear a ‘Terrometer’ fills up which drains your bravery (or ‘macho energy’ - this is 1987 after all). The character is controlled in two modes: moving the character or moving a crosshair around the screen to shoot nasties. It is in the same manner as Operation Wolf from the same era. The twist is that two players can operate the character simultaneously with one looking after movement and the other shooting. Cooperative multiplayer? In 1987? Lordy.
As the cover proudly announces, there is also speech synthesis in the form of a clip of someone shouting ‘Ghost Hunters!’ I’m not sure how rare this is - Splat features someone shouting ‘Yippee!’ when a level is completed - but fitting it into the 48k must have been a challenge. Now if you’ll excuse me I’ll grab some garlic and plunge in for another round.
