Ghost in the Shell is a video game for the PlayStation game console, and draws on both the film of the same name and the manga by Masamune Shirow in its style, environments and characters. It was released in July 17, 1997.
This shooting game was released following the huge success of 1995 Mamoru Oshii's movie Ghost in the Shell. The player pilots the intelligent tank Fuchikoma (later redesigned and renamed Tachikoma in the GITS: SAC series) to crush the terrorists using three kind of weapons: Vulcan, lock-on missiles, and grenades.
Production I.G produced the animated sequence for this game. At the time, animation production was mainly done with cell drawings, but I.G adopted a full digital coloring technique - a groundbreaking in the industry. This work set the standard for later animation productions.
The animation part is directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo (whose major works include JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and Blood: the Last Vampire) while Toshihiro Kawamoto (Cowboy Bebop and Wolf's Rain) joined the team as character designer and animation supervisor. Compared to the movie directed by Mamoru Oshii, the style is closer to Shirow Masamune's original manga, with a glamorous Motoko and a far more aggressive Fuchikoma.
The music score was created by ten top artists from around the world including Denki Groove's Takkyu Ishino, who contributed the opening score.
Story[]
The office building of Megatech Body, Inc., a developer of bodies for cyborgs, in New Port City is smashed. A terrorist bomber claims responsibility on the web. Ishikawa backtracks to the location of the terrorist. Kusanagi orders Togusa to dispatch the Fuchikoma.
Gameplay[]
Players assume the role of an unnamed Section 9 rookie (addressed simply as "Rookie") who pilots a Fuchikoma tank. The game plays in an action game fashion, using the tank's mobility to jump, climb walls, and hang from ceilings. Both first and third person cameras are available. The in-game cut scenes were produced by Production I.G, who produced the animation of the film version of Ghost in the Shell (as well as the animation for the sequel film and anime TV series).
Gallery[]
Staff[]
- Original Story/Character Design: Shirow Masamune
- Director: Hiroyuki Kitakubo
- Screenplay/Storyboard: Hiroyuki Kitakubo
- Animation Director: Toshihiro Kawamoto
- Key Animators: Koichi Arai, Toshiyuki Inoue, Hisashi Ezura, Toshihisa Kaiya, Toshihiro Kawamoto, Masahiro Koyama, Kazunobu Hoshi, Hiroyuki Horiuchi, Akiharu Ishii, Masayuki Kurio
- 3D Chief Director: Tokumitsu Kifune
- Art Director: Kazuhiro Kinoshita
- Visual Effects Supervisor: Hisashi Ezura
- Digital Animation Director: Shinji Takagi
- Music: Takkyu Ishino, Derrick May, Mijk van Dijk, Advent, Westbam, Brother from Another Planet, BCJ, Scan X, Dave Angel, Hard Floor
- Producer: Mitsuhisa Ishikawa
- Animation Production: Production I.G
- Produced by: Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
Cast[]
- Motoko Kusanagi: Hiromi Tsuru
- Batou: Shinji Ogawa
- Aramaki: Soichi Ito
- Ishikawa: Kiyoshi Kobayashi
- Togusa: Hirotaka Suzuoki
- Fuchikoma: Katsue Miwa
- Saito: Nobuyuki Hiyama
See also[]
- Ghost in the Shell: Megatech Body Co. - soundtrack for the game
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex video game