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With Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon recently released, I tried to think of my favorite ghosts from the first game, as a lot of them had quite a bit of personality.  But it’s been such a long time since I played that game that I couldn’t think of enough to write about.  But then I started thinking about my favorite ghosts in other video games in general.  I think ghosts are kind of neat.  You know those dumb ghost hunter and ghost story shows you see on TV?  Yeah, I watch those sometimes.  It’s a guilty pleasure thing.  I might also watch a stupid ghost movie on Netflix from time to time, and of course, Ghostbusters is one of my all-time favorite films.  So in honor of Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon coming out, here’s a list of my top five favorite ghosts in video games!

Inky (Pac-Man)

Most people reading this, and especially people who know me, probably also know how much of a Pac-Man fan I am.  I have a full-size Pac-Man arcade machine in my garage, and countless Pac-Man items I’ve collected over the years.  I probably borderline on being obsessed.  But what you may not know is that I like the ghost monsters just as much, if not more than, Pac-Man himself.  Probably some of the first video game characters to showcase personality, too.  If I had to pick a favorite one, I’d say Inky because he was the silly one in the cartoon.  Speaking of which, while the original Pac-Man cartoon was pretty awful, I still liked the ghost monsters in it.  I hope they give the ghosts top billing in the new CG Pac-Man cartoon coming to Disney XD this fall. 

Of course, there are more than just the four ghosts, Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde you know.  There’s also Sue from Ms. Pac-Man, Yum-Yum and Tim from Pac-Man Jr., Spunky and Funky, the green and black jumping ghosts from Pac-Mania, and Kinky the bespectacled yellow ghost that gave the other ghosts special powers in Pac-Man Arrangement.  Pac-Man World’s final antagonist was Orson, and the sequel had Spooky.  Not to mention young Dinky from the Pac-Man cartoon, who befriended Pac-Baby in the same way Yum-Yum and Pac Jr. were pals.  And I think I may know why I like the ghosts from Pac-Man so much.  My grandfather’s middle name was Clyde, and my grandmother’s name is Sue.  So it runs in the family!  Just don’t eat a power pellet, I might turn blue!

Hsien-Ko (Darkstalkers)

My favorite character to play as in Darkstalkers is the Chinese girl ghost Hsien-Ko.  Some call her a Chinese vampire, while others say she’s just a ghost.  Since I don’t like vampires, we’ll call her a ghost because this is my blog and I can do what I want.  She’s actually a pretty silly character with all her weapons and attacks.  I also play as her a lot in Puzzle Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom 3.  She can also be found in Pocket Fighter and Namco X Capcom.  She’s a cute character, too!

Sissel (Ghost Trick)

Ghost Trick is one of the most inventive games on the DS. I highly recommend playing it.  It’s made by the same folks who brought us Phoenix Wright, another game series I love that actually has ghosts in it, too.  Ghost Trick plays like a cross between Phoenix Wright and The Incredible Machine, as you have to solve puzzles and manipulate objects by possessing them as Sissel the ghost.  One of Phoenix Wright’s alternate colors in MvsC3 is actually Sissel’s color scheme.  The surprise ending to Ghost Trick is pretty funny, too.  You’ll just have to play it and see!

Maya (Spirit Camera)

Spirit Camera is a gimmicky 3DS game that mostly uses the AR functions of the handheld.  It’s actually a sequel/spinoff of Fatal Frame.  I never got around to playing the Fatal Frame series, so I’m glad I at least got to play this one.  Since you play Spirit Camera mostly with the 3DS camera, you view a lot of the action in your surroundings.  In the game you have to help out a ghost lady named Maya, and she’ll pop up in the silliest of places (non-intestinally, of course).  She appeared standing on my kitchen table, or sitting on my desk at work when I was on lunch break.  “Hey, get off my computer desk, Maya!  Silly ghost lady!”  Plus, she’s kinda purdy, too.  Ha ha!

Slimer (Ghostbusters)

Slimer is really more popular in film and TV media, but I was glad to see his appearance in the Ghostbusters video game from a few years ago. Some of you younger readers may not realize just how popular Slimer was back in the day.  He was in The Real Ghostbusters cartoon that came out after the movie, and a few seasons later, even got his own cartoon that was more slapstick and geared toward a younger crowd.  Remember Hi-C fruit juice boxes?  They had a flavor called Ecto-Cooler that had Slimer on the box that I drank tons of as a kid.  Man that stuff was good.  Ecto-Cooler juice actually lasted way longer than the initial popularity of Ghostbusters!  And when the sequel came out in theaters, all the kids cheered when Slimer appeared!  You know how in many games you can name your main character or save file?  When I was a kid, I had a friend who ALWAYS named his characters Slimer!  I knew when he would borrow one of my games because when I got it back, one of the save files always had Slimer on it!  I wonder if he still does that? 

Honorable Mentions

There are tons of other ghost characters in video games that are neat, too.  The Boo ghosts from Mario games are quite versatile, so much so that they even get their own ghost house stages now, and even their own games like Luigi’s Mansion.  I guess some ghost-type Pokemon are cool, too, like Haunter and Duskull.  Cranky Kong’s wife Wrinkly Kong also became a ghost in DK64, which was kind of sad since she was alive and well in DKC2 and 3.  Just goes to show you that we should appreciate our elderly family members as much as we can before they pass away.

ConBOOsions

And that’s all I feel like writing today!  I wonder if there will be any ghosts in Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon that I’ll like.  In the comments section, tell me your favorite video game ghosts.  Have you ever seen a ghost in real life?  Let me know that, too!  Later!  --Cary