Ghost Rider Could’ve Been a Decent PlayStation Game

Marvel’s Ghost Rider may be raising hell in the new season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but the skeleton hero himself had a rocky time when it comes to media products. In the newest video for DidYouKnowGaming on YouTube, Unseen64 tells us the tale of Neversoft’s cancelled Ghost Rider Playstation game.

In 1996, Crystal Dynamics and Marvel had a publishing agreement that allowed for the release of games based on Marvel’s licenses. In an effort to make titles based on some of the darker characters of the franchise, the Ghost Rider Playstation game was commissioned to be done by Neversoft. It would be based on the engine from the team’s Skeleton Warriors game and have much of the same 2D side-scrolling element about it. Unseen64 was able to get their hands on an early demo for the game that was made during the early months of 1996, up through a few months after E3 that year. The Ghost Rider game had three-dimensional aspects to the experience – while the player was confined to a linear pathway, they could move the camera around and get a better view of the environment. Following the same vein as Skeleton Warriors even further, Ghost Rider was slated to have CGI cutscenes to help tell the game’s plot. It would’ve been centered around the mother of demons Lilith, along with Zarathos, and Centurious trying to escape the Shadowside by destroying the Circle of Baeloth and destroying the barrier between the realms. After invading Earth, they try and obtain pieces of a talisman of power, and the player would be the holder of the final portion. The game would have the protagonist trying to rebuild the Circle of Baeloth and restoring order by defeating this group of villains. Their main weapon was the signature chains that the Ghost Rider is known to carry, and not only could it be used to fight enemies, but it also could let the player have it act as a swinging device. Beyond the 2D side-scrolling levels, there was also plans for a 3D vehicle section with Ghost Rider’s bike, similar to what was seen in the Skeleton Warriors game. But everything with this project had unfortunately come to a halt. When Crystal Dynamics decided to focus on game development rather than publishing titles, they cancelled their ongoing agreements they had at the time. This meant that the Ghost Rider game wouldn’t have the funding needed to finish their project. Apparently there was an effort to try and save the game afterward, but nothing ever came out of it. Crystal Dynamics thought consumers had shifted their demands to fully 3D worlds and experiences.

If you want to check out more amazing video game history stuff, head on over to the DidYouKnowGaming YouTube Channel, and follow Liam Robertson of Unseen64 on Twitter.