If you are looking for a fun way to pass some quick time with an action arcade game, I recommend Ghost Grab 3000 for the Nintendo Switch to fill the bill.
The story behind the game is quite simple, which is fine for a single-player arcade-style title such as this. The narration at the start of the game explains that humanity is long gone, but their souls wander the earth. The humans’ souls are doomed to wander the ruined world forever. So, it is up to you, as Ghost Grab 3000, to destroy their cursed souls.
Players destroy the animated ghosts to score points and advance throughout the levels. If the retro-looking pixelated ghosts or their bullets collide with you, that will injure and eventually kill you, and it will be game over, so your goal is to survive as long as you can. The player uses the left analog direction thumb stick to avoid ghosts and bullets. The game mechanic consists of pressing the B button to grab the nearest ghost, then you chain more ghosts by touching them with the Grapple Beam. Press B again to destroy the entire chain, and the ghosts explode with a satisfying plop! The more ghosts you can succeed in chaining together before you destroy them, the faster you can multiply your score.
However, popping the chain of ghosts requires energy. In addition, energy is needed to use your special abilities. To keep your energy fully charged, you should collect batteries whenever you see them on the screen. Catching bullets with your Grapple Beam also fills your energy.
Besides being able to kill ghosts by chaining them, there are three special abilities available in the game, Boost, EMP and Nuke. The Y button creates the special ability called Boost. You move faster and take no damage, but your Grapple Beam is temporarily disabled.
Press the A button to use your EMP special ability, which stuns nearby ghosts and destroys bullets.
When these other abilities are insufficient, the player can the X button to “nuke” enemies.
Although I found chaining the ghosts together to be an enjoyable experience on my Nintendo Switch Lite, having to constantly hold down and move the left thumb stick throughout the game eventually became tiring to my thumb and hand over time, leading to cramping. So, I found it more enjoyable to play in brief spurts. I wouldn’t have minded being able to adjust the thumb stick sensitivity. There’s also a slight learning curve to remember in a fast-moving situation which button activates a particular special ability.
One good thing about Ghost Grab 3000, is you can enjoy playing it over again to chase your highest score. In fact, the game conveniently keeps track of your highest score even if you don’t remember, so you can always try to beat that. The game’s graphics and sound are very old-school retro, featuring cute cartoony ghosts and simple tones that sound like they wouldn’t be out of place on a 1980s arcade game. The combination of intriguing gameplay and its ability to create some instantaneous excitement at home, on the bus, or wherever, earns Ghost Grab 3000 a 7 out of 10 score.
Thank you to Publisher/Developer Matt Glanville for the review code!
