The Collection Chamber: GHOST IN THE SHELL

Wednesday, 11 March 2015

GHOST IN THE SHELL

In 1995, an animated movie from Japan was released to great critical acclaim. It has since inspired the Wachowski's Matrix Trilogy, spawned several sequels and television shows and is credited as being one of the movies to bring about a Japanime boom in the west. Two years later, it was adapted into a video game exclusively for the PlayStation. Unlike its cinematic counterpart, it eventually found itself amongst the forgotten residents of the Collection Chamber.

Ghost in the Shell, the movie, was many people's first introduction to Manga. It contained everything you'd expect from the sub-genre; a complicated adult plot, cool animation and existential soliloquies (apparently something Japanese animated entertainment cannot be without). It may be easy for most of this review to be overshadowed by the film (and it does deserve the discussion), but we're here to focus on the game.

Developed by Exact, Ghost in the Shell shares a lot with the company's previous effort; the PlayStation launch title Jumping Flash!. The floaty jumping mechanics and competent 3D engine were brought over from the cutesy first-person platformer, along with a plethora of new creative ideas. The gimmick here is the ability to climb on any flat surface, giving rise to some impressive level design. I have not seen a game since that uses this style of game-play beyond the odd mini-game or small artificially self-contained areas. Here the entire game-play revolves around this.

You control a spider-like vehicle known as a Fuchikoma or 'think tank' as you destroy targets and navigate through each of the levels. You may be thinking "what's this spider-bot doing in a Ghost in the Shell game?". Well, a completely new story is told here, one that's based on the original Manga as opposed to the movie (even though the original animation studio and voice actors have created the impressive all-new cut scenes). The tanks have a very satisfying control scheme and its a credit to the game and level design that you rarely get disorientated by the constantly shifting perspectives.

Another thing that is interesting about this game is the fact that it supports widescreen TVs. This was unheard of in 1997. It doesn't automatically migrate to this format though, so a quick foray into the options screen each time you boot it up is needed.

So why did it end up in the Chamber's vaults? Perhaps the initial buzz around the movie had died down when it was released at the end of 1997 (mid-1998 in Europe). Perhaps it was the surprisingly average review scores at the time leading punters to the current juggernaut sequels that were Tomb Raider II or Quake II on the PC. Either way, I believe time has treated this game kinder than many other games at the time with higher scores. The graphics are simple yet agelessly functional, the control scheme is tight and responsive and the level designs are varied and inventive. It is definitely a game that you should check out.

To download the game, follow the link below. This custom installer exclusive to The Collection Chamber uses Retroarch with a Mednafen_PSX core to emulate it on PCs. Keyboard controls are mapped to my preferred optimal specifications. Xbox 360 controllers supported. Manual included. Tested on Windows 7 and Windows 10.
01.07.2015 - Version 2 - Improved installer
18.03.2019 - Version 3 - Compressed ISO and improved menus

File Size: 470 Mb. Install Size: 528 Mb. Need help? Consult the Collection Chamber FAQ

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