Written: 4.7.07
Acquired: 9.24.06
Status: Cart only
Price: $13.51

Beat 'em up fan
are ya?  Here's
a title that you
may possibly
have never
heard of before

.....

GHOST
CHASER
DENSEI  !!!

......

And it happens
to be one of the
better examples
of this genre!

               Ever since I
               saw it being
               previewed in
               a 1994 issue
               of EGM, I've
               been curious
               about it

It's funny, the preview mentions ghosts and spirits... the title has Ghost in it, yet the game is seriously lacking any sort of ghoulish atmosphere

Select from 1 of 3 characters -- the all-rounder male, the strong robot and the quick token female. In most of these games I prefer the strong dude, but the main guy here is actually quite a hoot. What makes Ghost Chaser Densei different is the power meter system. Below your energy bar
is another bar that depletes any time you perform a special move. But your health meter is not compromised in exchange!

The power meter slowly regenerates, but if you stand still you strike this pose here and the power meter recharges at quite an alarming rate

So, if you ever wished a beat 'em up would allow you to do 360° spinning specials without penalizing your health, you will LOVE Ghost Chaser Densei!

Some may call this system cheap, I call
it lots of fun!

Plus, there are MULTIPLE special moves at your disposal, giving this game far more range than its breathen

                                                                               SPECIAL DELIVERY

                           Here's his running
                           special... a deadly
                           chain attack!

... That culminates
in this ace uppercut
swing!

                                  In a grapple? With Mr.
                                  Roboto you can either
                                  do a regular jumping
                                  piledriver or hit R for
                                  his special move... it
                                  will really shock the
                                  competition!

                                  [Oh dear -Ed.]

That hits the mark!

                   Her running special
                   on display

In a tight pinch?
Merely hit R for
the swing-around
special!  As long
as your special
meter has some
juice, you're good
to go!  Your health
won't be reduced!

This guy is the best choice. Knee 'em twice, flip over and german suplex!  Streets of Rage you say?  Hey, I never said the game was ORIGINAL, just loads of fun!

The window
shatters!  2
thugs try to
ambush our
hero

               Surrounded,
               he calls upon
               the Double
               Dragon II
               whirly kick

A sweeping
kick ends the
animation...
ace!

                His running
                special sees
                this killer
                projectile!

My personal
favorite. This
is one of the
best beat 'em
up moves ever

      It has the potential
      to connect multiple
      times, charring the
      victims to a crisp!

      Told ya it was sick

How many beat
'em up's do you
know that has
blocking?  This
game's got the
lot!

THE BAD GUYS

Some roll out in eggs before hatching. One breed emits electricity...

The other breathes fire!

            Token fatties.
            Each baddie
            type has two
            or three breeds

Exploding
machinery
abounds...

Meanwhile,
two chums
get it good,
real good!

              
               These tough
               blokes are,
               as you might
               guess, the
               Andore type

The sweeping
hurricane kick
special will
score you lots
of hits

These are tough
hombres, but they
ain't that tough

          War knights are
          nimble hardened
          warriors trained
          to maim

          Nothing that the
          flame kick can't
          take care of,
          though!

Some enemy
entrances are
brilliant, like
the eggs and
this fella here

             And of course,
             the low tier
             chaps and
             token female

Moments like this why I love the genre so much!

                      Bonus round. Be
                      sure not to nail
                      the civilians...

BOSS ACTION

The 1st boss becomes
a regular toughie after
stage one... rats

           "Whatever you
           can do I can do
           better!"

Puh-lease. Other than
that nasty trident, what's
he really got, eh?

                         Oh my...

Geez, can't a
guy catch a
break in this
day and age?

                   Somewhere, I
                   smell a Chuck
                   Norris joke

.......................

              "HADOKEN!"

"Look, I'm sorry
for mocking you
earlier k?  I know
a great seafood
place down the
pier where we
can catch up on
those ole wild
college days,
yeah?"

             "I'm afraid I'm
             gunna hafta
             kill you now"

             "That's quite
             alright. I just
             saved a bunch
             on my car
             insurance by
             switching to
             GEICO"

Damn, hands in
pocket, even.
Talk about cold
blooded!

                  And this is
                  just plain
                  scorching!

[Boy lemme tell
ya, in my day I
used to do that
and more -Ed.]

                          Yikes

You remember
that ole timers'
saying...

Life is unfair

Yeah?

Yeah, well, this
is one of those
moments....

                      This too

Might as well go out in a blaze of glory!

                   Notice the
                   nice lush
                   effect in
                   the ground
                   here, good
                   stuff

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Ghost Chaser Densei is an excellent game, as far as beat 'em up's go. It is quite derivative in many facets: enemies, stages, the heroes, etc. But there are touches that help make it stand out, such as the separate special move meter, the ability to block, and yes, even tag team special moves! These have to be seen to be believed, trust me. Heck, when you're knocked down, you even kip-up and take out whoever's in your way! Now that's cool. It's sort of a shocker that this game is still somewhat obscure in the SNES community. It's not a classic, but it's more than competent. I dare call it very good. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that it is very fun and the moveset is larger than the average beat 'em up. Definitely worth buying! A brawler from the halcyon days...