{{Short description|1990 video game}} {{Infobox video game | title = Laser Ghost | image = Laser ghost.jpg | caption = Master System box art | developer = Sega | publisher = Sega | released = December 1990: Arcade<ref>{{cite web |title=Laser Ghost |url=https://mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp/id/M730640 |website=Media Arts Database |publisher=Agency for Cultural Affairs |language=ja |access-date=27 September 2021}}</ref><br>December 19, 1991: Master System<ref name='gamesx35'>{{cite magazine |title=On The Shelf|magazine=Games-X|issue=35|publisher=Europress Interactive|date=19 December 1991|page=6|url=https://archive.org/details/games-x-uk/GamesX_UK_35/page/n5|access-date=5 July 2023}}</ref> | genre = Light gun shooter | modes = Single-player, Multiplayer | platforms = Arcade, Master System | arcade system = Sega System 18 }}

'''''Laser Ghost''''' (レーザーゴースト) is a horror-themed light gun shooter arcade video game released by Sega in 1990. The game is patterned after the films ''Ghostbusters''<ref name="A">{{cite web|title=Laser Ghost Review|author=Brad Cook|publisher=Allgame|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=10407&tab=review|accessdate=June 2, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141115042436/www.allgame.com/game.php?id=10407&tab=review|archive-date=2014-11-15}}</ref> and ''Poltergeist III'', casting the player as a ghost hunter.<ref name="C" /> There are three mounted guns set up on the cabinet, representing the three members of a ghost hunting team. The game puts the players in the role of Bill, Max and Carol, who must rescue a little girl kidnapped by a blue gargoyle, as well as protect the city from the ghost menace.<ref name =Zzap /> A Master System game with the same title was released in 1991 exclusively for Europe, but was not based on the arcade original.

==Gameplay== thumb|left|Arcade screenshot

The game was distributed in a horizontally oriented cabinet with a standard resolution color screen that is reflected by a mirror. The game can be played by up to three players simultaneously. It is controlled by a positional gun with two buttons, one for regular fire and another for limited-use special weapons. In addition to the gun, the cabinet also features an on-screen aiming reticule in which a mirror projects a red light beam away from the gun each time the player makes a shot, giving the illusion that an actual laser ray comes out from the gun to the target.<ref name = "B">{{cite web|title=Laser Ghost|publisher=klov|url=http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8382|accessdate=June 2, 2009}}</ref> The game puts the three hunters in five stages where they must destroy waves of ghosts, each one ending with a boss battle. Each player's damage zone is represented by a third of the screen, where their stats are also located. A player receives damage if their third of the screen is hit by an enemy. Ghost attacks deplete the player's life bar, which can be replenished by shooting a medical kit that some enemies leave after they are destroyed.

''Laser Ghost'' for the Master System is completely different from the arcade original. In the game, players must protect a young girl named Catherine who is being held captive in the haunted White Manor. Using either the joypad or the Light Phaser gun, players eliminate the various hazards Catherine encounters as she attempts to escape with her soul.<ref name = "D">{{cite web|title=Laser Ghost|publisher=Moby Games|url=http://www.mobygames.com/game/laser-ghost|accessdate=June 2, 2009}}</ref>

==Development== The arcade version of ''Laser Ghost'' was exhibited at the UK Amusement Trades Exhibition International in 1991.<ref name=theone />

==Reception== In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Laser Ghost'' as being the seventh most-successful upright arcade unit of the month in their January 1, 1991 issue.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - アップライト, コックピット型TVゲーム機 (Upright/Cockpit Videos)|magazine=Game Machine|publisher=Amusement Press, Inc.|date=1 January 1991|page=37|lang=ja}}</ref>

The arcade game received positive reviews upon release. According to ''Zzap!64'', the game sounded good and played well, but it did not do enough to distinguish itself from similar games such as ''Operation Thunderbolt'', ''Space Gun'' and ''Mechanized Attack''.<ref name=Zzap>{{cite journal|title=Laser Ghost|date=August 1991|page=37|publisher=Zzap!64}}</ref> British gaming magazine ''The One'' reviewed the arcade version of ''Laser Ghost'' in 1991, comparing its gameplay to ''Beast Busters'' and its plot to ''The Real Ghostbusters''. ''The One'' calls ''Laser Ghost's'' gameplay "nothing out of the ordinary to play", but expresses that "the ghostly goings-on will get most players [excited]".<ref name=theone>{{cite magazine|title = Coin-Operated Corkers!|date = February 1991|url = https://archive.org/details/theone-magazine-29|magazine = The One|publisher = emap Images|last = Nesbitt|first = Brian|issue = 29|page = [https://archive.org/details/theone-magazine-29/page/n19 20]}}</ref>

''Mean Machines'' said that the Master System game was fun, but was critical of the low graphical quality.<ref name="C">{{cite magazine|title=Sega Master System|magazine=The Mean Machines Archive|url=http://www.meanmachinesmag.co.uk/review/234/laser-ghost.php|accessdate=June 2, 2009}}</ref> ''Console XS'' reviewed the Master System version in 1992, giving it an 84% score.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Software A-Z: Master System |magazine=Console XS |date=23 April 1992 |issue=1 (June/July 1992) |publisher=Paragon Publishing |location=United Kingdom |pages=137–47 |url=https://archive.org/details/console-xs-01/page/137}}</ref>

Retrospectively, Allgame opined that the arcade game was fun, but probably not worth the quarters players had to spend to play it.<ref name="A"/>

== See also == *''Beast Busters''

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/laserghost/laserghost.htm ''Laser Ghost''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925032906/http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/laserghost/laserghost.htm |date=2017-09-25 }} at Hardcore Gaming 101

Category:1990 video games Category:1990s horror video games Category:1991 video games Category:Arcade video games Category:Cooperative video games Category:Light gun games Category:Master System games Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games Category:Sega arcade games Category:Sega video games Category:Video games about ghosts Category:Video games developed in Japan Category:Video games featuring female protagonists