Sometimes there’s no need to question how a game came to be. Back when Cool Spot launched on the Mega Drive in 1993, gamers never questioned how or why a platformer starring the 7-UP mascot was suddenly the hottest game around. We just accepted it and enjoyed it. The same goes for Mousebusters — a narrative-driven adventure in which you play as a mouse who zaps ghosts. It simply exists because that’s a fun idea. To think any harder would only complicate things.
There is a storyline here, though, and it’s one that leads to a few revelations during the game’s 3-hour (approx.) duration. Eager to find an inexpensive place to live, our adolescent pink-haired protagonist settles on a dilapidated apartment block. The price is low not just because maintenance hasn’t been kept up, but also because the building is allegedly haunted. It doesn’t take long to realise that supernatural forces are indeed at play, as during your first night in your new digs, you’re transformed into a mouse. It soon transpires that another resident has fallen foul of the same curse, wasting no time in setting up their own ghostbusting unit. All they needed was a second crew member, which is where you come in.
There’s a boss/employee relationship in place, with your newfound furry friend referring to themselves as Chief. They deliver plenty of words of encouragement as you set about ridding every apartment of ghouls, forever concerned for your general wellbeing. Eventually, you’ll learn more about Chief and the life they lived before becoming a mouse, along with how the curse came to be and the means of lifting it for good. As the storyline progresses, it becomes increasingly twisted, which contrasts well with the comical, cartoonish opening sequence.
Once our two heroes are introduced, the focus shifts onto the apartment block’s five residents, each of whom has a distinct personality carved from their mostly unfortunate backgrounds. You’ll be entering their rooms and getting to know them more personally by rummaging through their belongings, all in the name of coaxing out the ghouls making their lives a misery. There’s a slight puzzle-solving slant to all this as you set about avoiding their line of view — they don’t take kindly to a mouse scuttling around their apartment — while figuring out how to draw ghosts out.
One, for instance, is trapped inside a password-locked computer, tasking you with searching high and low for potential passwords. Another room has a cat that you’ll need to befriend. There’s also the chance to experiment in the kitchen, knocking up a tasty noodle bowl to turn a resident’s mood around — and to prevent them from running to the toilet every five minutes.
Once the ghost has been drawn out, a brief shooting sequence takes place. These are far from complex; there are no alternative weapons or upgrades, and every battle sees you positioned to the far left of the screen, with the enemy on the far right. They spew projectiles, and each has a weak point you’ll need to expose before destroying their core. Twists on the formula appear only sporadically, such as having to shoot projectiles down in a certain order. If you’re finding these sequences too tricky, there is a ‘story mode’ available that reduces the difficulty greatly.
Without wanting to spoil anything, Mousebusters’ storyline is split into two distinct parts, with the first involving ridding each apartment of ghosts, while the second entails removing the curse for good. The game’s second half is more narrative-driven, diving into the characteristics of each tenant before leaning more heavily into shooting as things wrap up. The storyline goes beyond this too, with a post-credit sequence that shows how everyone’s life changed once the curse vanished. Helping to extend the runtime is the chance to play shooting-based mini-games — aka training programmes — and mop up collectables, which are tied to discovering key items.
Essentially telling a short story while using shooting elements to break up the narration, Mousebusters proves to be quite poignant, fleshing out its cast with unique backstories before rounding things out with an emotional ending. While it does sport 16-bit visuals, it isn’t particularly retro-inspired, with its storytelling more contemporary. This is very much a narrative adventure foremost, sadly a little light on challenge and variety to satisfy anyone looking for a shoot ’em up.
Through its comical premise, curiously endearing boss/employee relationship, and eventful storyline, it manages to tell a compelling yarn — one deftly driven by compassion rather than explosive action. It’s definitely more Ghostbusters: Afterlife than Ghostbusters II.
Odencat’s Mousebusters is out now on Xbox Series, Switch and Steam.