Ghostlop

Ghostlop title screen

Keep on fighting, Bruce! Don't give up, McCoy!

    Developer: Data East

    Platforms: Arcade

    Release Date: Unreleased (Planned for 1996)

An arcade game by Data East that was never released, despite being entirely finished! The ROM was leaked around 2003, and I'm very thankful for that. Ghostlop is my favorite take on a Breakout-style game I've played, mixed with some Puzzle Bobble mechanics. I love its presentation and legally distinct Ghostbusters theming just as much as the gameplay. Bruce and McCoy, two ghost hunters at Data Ghost, are taking jobs around the city. There’s a lot of very cute flavor with both the characters that need your help with their ghost problems, and the ghosts themselves.

    funny ghost dog named Friday ghostlop gameplay against friday the ghost dog

You play by moving your character left or right across the screen and angling your throws to destroy as many of the ghost orbs as you can. Breaking off a large chunk of pieces from the top will send garbage blocks to your opponents side. Your ball only clears ghosts of the same color as it, either red-orange or blue. You can switch the color of the ball at any moment, and when you get good at it you’ll be able to carve through the whole board like like butter. But it's hard to do perfectly, and your board keeps going down every time it returns to you- and if you don’t catch the ball, your board will fill much more quickly. It’s such a satisfying feeling to clear your whole board with a precise angle and some well-timed color changes, especially if you can manage to combo multiple groups of orbs in one throw.

    bruce ghostlop vs the eater, a trash can with sunglasses two kids in ghostlop, one has a cat or plush of a cat that looks like the fool's cat from magical drop

Halfway through the game you’ll face off against a rival exorcist, Lulu, who’s frustrated that Data Ghost is taking all her clients. After a couple more jobs you'll fight the Great King of Terror- a strange purple floating head- in the city streets. Power through the final battle and you’ll be the city’s hero! And you’ll get a girlfriend, or get a new car, or go play arcade games. Congratulations!

    lulu ghostlop extending her hand and giving you a choice to refuse or accept her offer Women, in general, tell a flustered Bruce that they all love him.

Between some levels, you’ll get a choice of alternate paths that determine which ghosts you'll go up against, and will lead you to one of eight different ending scenes. For example, if you always choose to help girls at every choice, you’ll get an ending where women, in general, proclaim their love for your character. Most are more nonsensical in regards to which choices get you which ending, but it’s a really cute detail all the same. Here’s a rough chart of what order of stages will get you which ending.

Click for Ghostlop Endings Chart

    rough flowchart showing which options give you which ending. Fighting Under the bed, The eater, and accepting Lulu's offer gets an ending where the president thanks you. Refusing gets you an ending where Rachel tells you to get back to work. Fighting under the bed, the horse, and accepting gets you an ending with Lulu. Refusing gets an ending where you play arcade games. Fighting the poltergeist and toy tank and accepting gets you an ending with Jennifer. Refusing gets you an ending with Rachel. Fighting the poltergeist and the dancing doll and accepting gets you the adoration of all women. Refusing gets you a car ending.

    Connie’s Challengers: Watch out! There’s a secret round in Ghostlop against an alien named Gray. I think you'll encounter Gray if the last three digits of your score are the same at the end of a round. Two times when I’d gotten the secret round, this was true, but I didn’t think to check the first few times. It’s possible other score ranges can make Gray appear as well, but that’s as much as I can figure it. When you start a new round, it will suddenly be interrupted by an alert for a new challenger! It's very jarring and funny, and I love it. It’s a tough fight, so be ready if you get this rare encounter. If you win, Gray will briefly fly by at the end of the credits.

    Gray the alien speaking in unreadable symbols in front of a field of cows. very wacky looking sprite of gray climbing one foot out of the ufo

I'm very glad this game made it to the public eventually. It's short, sweet, and simple, with incentive to play through it multiple times if you want. There’s no reward or change for getting 1CC, but I still felt very compelled to get good enough to do so. My best score is 87,350 points, if you want to try to beat that. Before I close this out, I should mention that Ghostlop's gameplay, and three characters (Bruce, McCoy, and a very different Great King of Terror more directly based on the Stay-Puft Marshmellow Man) also appeared in the now delisted Magical Drop V. It seems a little rough around the edges, but I have to respect it on that inclusion at least. I can't vouch for that game yet, but the original Ghostlop is a wonderful little game and one I'd quickly recommend.

    Bruce in a fancy suit and Lulu posing with hearts behind them. They started a ghost-hunting company and hunted ghosts together.

    Thank you for reading!

Testimonials

None yet. If you'd like to send in a blurb about this game, feel free to contact me! You can reach me at comboconnie @ gmail, or on Bluesky with the same name. I'd love to feature other people's thoughts on these games. Don't be shy!
Lip from Panel De Pon running gif