 There are a myriad of reasons why certain Super Famicom games never leave Japan. Some maybe simply couldn't find a publisher, state side or elsewhere, but in a lot of cases, the original source material the game was based on, was never made available outside of Japan. For instance, Ghost Sweeper Mikami started as a manga, and was eventually adapted as a 45 episode anime, and it was pretty rare for stuff like this to get any exposure in the US at the time, other than what you might see at a place like Suncoast Video. Ghost Sweeper Mikami later received two video games, GS Mikami for the PC Engine, and Ghost Sweeper Mikami, Joraiishi One Ice Body for the Super Famicom. Your mileage can vary when it comes to licensed games, but thankfully this one was made by Natsume, who also made great games like Wild Guns, Ninja Warriors, and Pocky and Rocky. And no, I admit Ghost Sweeper Mikami doesn't measure up to those titles, but it's still a perfectly good action platformer in its own right, and it brilliantly captures the source material really well. There's seven total levels, each interspersed with a cutscene that tells the story of the title character, Rekko Mikami, who runs a poltergeist hunting agency. I should mention that no, you don't need to know Japanese to play through this one, and unfortunately there is no English patch available yet. There is however a text translation floating around out there, it's pretty easy to find if you just google it. Anyway one day a mysterious package shows up at Rekko's door, containing a statue with a note that says that there are hidden stones that you can find that when attached to the statue, can unlock a treasure of some kind somewhere, I guess? As you can see, Rekko and her partner Yoko Shima are pretty fired up about that, while Okinu, their ghost friend, isn't so thrilled. Unfortunately these other two characters aren't playable, but they're key components to how the story is told here, as well as the general vibe of the show, so fans should enjoy that. They do show up in the game to help you out with all sorts of health replenishments. At first glance, this game calls to mind another anime-style action platformer in Kendo Rage, but Ghost Sweeper Mikami has a lot more going for it. Yeah it's pretty standard stuff at first, a single player game with a health meter, three lives, and unlimited continues in a password system, but there's this odd little mechanic here where you can attach your wand or staff or whatever this is to the bottom of these platforms by doing a downward slash. Press the up button and you do a flip that doubles as an attack, and the game gets pretty creative with how these are utilized, like the last level here where you're actually creating your own platforms as you go, all while dealing with the changes of gravity the game throws at you, it's really well done, and it adds something slightly different to the genre. There's also three different power-ups for your staff, but they just really only add a projectile. They're useful for boss fights, but it's nothing special, and you lose them if you take just one hit. In addition to that, there's talisman you can pick up that serve as clear screen attacks, and during boss fights they will actually freeze bosses for a few seconds, and there's also a regular freeze talisman I guess, which freezes the entire screen for a bit longer? Seems kind of redundant, but whatever. The level design overall is quality throughout the game, it keeps you on your toes not knowing what to expect next. One level you're riding on the back of a giant cat, the next you're zooming around on a broom, you're at an amusement park dealing with these weird slopes, and through it all there's this kind of unsettling horror vibe. For instance, right away you've got these zombies coming at you and your initial attack only destroys their torso, their legs keep coming toward you. There's also whatever these things are, whatever this is, or these disembodied hands, or these weirdos peeking out from behind doors. Yeah, kind of weird. Most of the boss fights also have kind of an unsettling vibe to them like this ghost thing that comes out of the walls, or this giant possessed doll. Now that is creepy. One thing to keep in mind is to always, and I mean always hold up when you attack, because it does kind of an upward slash, and not only does it have the most range of all of your attacks, it also deflects enemy projectiles back at them, so it's an extremely useful attack. And that brings me to this game's one big flaw, the difficulty. There kind of isn't any. And don't get me wrong, that's fine. Not every game has to be Super Ghouls and Ghosts, but this game is a breeze to play through, and it's a pretty short game, which is both a good thing and kind of a disappointment in my eyes. I really like a lot of what this game has to offer, and there's just not enough of it, or not much of a challenge either, but whatever. Oh well. So yeah, Ghost Sweeper Mikami, Joraiishi, what a nice body, is well worth checking out. As you can see, a lot of effort went into making this game look like it's source material, and it nails the vibe of the anime. The sprite work here is fantastic, I mean that should be obvious to anyone watching. And the music is also well done. This one may not be all that well known, but it definitely has that polished feel to it you'd expect from a high quality developer like Natsume. So this is another one you're going to want to play any way you can. All right, I want to thank you for watching, and I hope you have a great rest of your day.