One of the most unique Genesis games you will ever play.
That was not the case with Haunting.
As soon as I turned on the game and realized what you actually do, I was in pure gaming bliss.
Created by early Atari programming and design legends Dave Ralston and John Salwitz, Haunting puts you in the shoes of a teen aged ghost 'Poulterguy' who seeks revenge against a sleezy business man that lead to his untimely death.
This game is presented in an isometric overhead view with art similar to Ralston & Salwitz earlier games Paperboy and 720 Degrees.
The purpose of the game is to haunt the aforementioned sleazeball and his family the Sardinis. You go from room to room following the family members and hop into objects to 'charge' it with a scare. Once the Sardini investigates the object it will have some sort of exaggerated spooky animation such as a bathtub filling up with blood or a chair to life and levitates around the room.
It sounds simple but there is a small but of strategy to eventually scare them each out of the home to win the level. There are literally hundreds of spooky animations for all of the objects and the families frightened reactions are often hilarious and over the top.
The only downside to the game is that you eventually run out of Ecto, which is used as fuel to charge each object. Once this happens you are taken to an underground dungeon-like level to obtain a full supply while avoiding obstacles like bats, skulls and claws reaching for you. It can be a bit frustrating but doesnt take much away from the game. The end game however is almost unanimously considered the worst part. I'll let you discover that on your own ;).
Overall Haunting starring Poulterguy is a one of a kind videogameing gem. I can only compare it to later games obviously influenced by it such as Geist and Ghost Master. If you enjoy spooky, unique, or just plain whacky old school games do yourself a favor and pick this up on the genesis or psp compilation. I still play it to this day.