| Haunting Starring Polterguy | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Platform(s) | Mega Drive/Genesis, PlayStation Portable |
| Release date(s) | 1993, November 7, 2006, USA |
| Genre(s) | Action game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Haunting Starring Polterguy is a 1993 video game released for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis by Electronic Arts. It took advantage of Sega's Video Game Ratings Council to include various spooky themes, including blood. In August 2006, GameSpot reported that Electronic Arts would be porting the game to the PlayStation Portable as part of EA Replay. It was released in the United States on November 7, 2006.[1]
Contents |
In the single-player game the player controls a rebellious dead teenager, Polterguy, in a house occupied by a yuppie family, the Sardinis, through an isometric perspective. The player's task is to scare each family member out of the house by possessing various household objects. He then takes control of the object and frightens the member before possessing another until the family member is scared away. During gameplay Polterguy's "ecto" energy bar gradually depletes over time, which can be partially recovered after successfully frightening a family member out of a room. When it is gone he is sent down to the underworld.
There are four houses which Polterguy must drive the Sardini family from. Over the four houses Polterguy will encounter approximately 400 objects which he can possess and interact with. When Polterguy is in a house his ecto slowly decreases and can be further decreased by the barks of the family's dog, as well as by the ecto beasts.
The underworld is the only way in the game to receive a game-over sequence as it is the only place Polterguy may sustain damage. Polterguy's health in these stages is represented by a character portrait. Each time he sustains damage the portrait will shrink until only the eyes remain. To complete the stages all drops of ecto must be collected before the exit is revealed. When a drop of ecto is picked up another will drop from the roof and slowly shrink. There is an on-screen arrow that points to the next ecto drop or the exit, if the ecto or exit is off-screen. Once the exit is found Polterguy is returned to the house at the exact point where he left off. The dungeon is also the place where Polterguy may find special spells; these drop from the roof like ecto but disappear much faster.
There are twelve dungeon paths; once these have all been played they repeat.
In this mode (which is started up by pressing the 2nd player's start button at the title screen), each player takes turns at scaring the family. Player one starts by default and continues until his ecto is depleted, where player two takes over.
When both players' turns are finished they play head-to-head simultaneously in the underworld stage and try to grab as much ecto as they can before the other player. The player that hits the "finish" spot at the end gets first turn back in the house.
If one player dies in the underworld, the other player continues single-player for the entire game.
In the dungeon levels there are several hazards that may reduce the Polterguy's life portrait: these include steam vents, disembodied hands, bats, and bouncing skulls.
The ecto beasts are attracted to the ecto that appears after Polterguy chases a family member out of a room. These will pick up the ecto dropped, stopping Polterguy from doing so, after which they will attack Polterguy and reduce his ecto meter. At later levels these appear more frequently.
The family dog is the only living creature in the game that can detect Polterguy in the house. When the dog barks at Polterguy the ecto meter substantially drops, and the fear levels of any family members in the room go down.
Once all the members of the family have left the final house the dog moves to a square vacant room which has no objects the character may possess in it. At this point the dog transforms into a giant Ecto Beast, which Polterguy must defeat to complete the game.