In the early 80s the temples of video game worship were the local arcades and ruled by the coin-op champions, those gamers who not only excelled but fixated on becoming the all time high score winners. The documentary Chasing Ghosts focuses on that band of record breakers as they reminisce on their history, involvement and obsessions with conquering classic arcade games. Through it we learn the evolution of competitive gaming, the rise and fall of our nations arcade fanaticism, the lives these champions live today and the man at the center of it all - The charismatic, eccentric, musician and guru, Walter Day.
The Good
- A fascinating look into a nearly forgotten pocket of time in popular culture.
- Heartwarming and humorous journeys of the gaming champions from the 80s to today.
- Great 3D animated recreations of classic arcade games through the film.
- The personality exploding presence of Walter Day.
The Bad:
- Editing is disjointed, sometimes making it hard to follow.
- Some key pieces of information are left out, which at times make it unclear as to what is being discussed.
- Starts and ends strong, but wanes a bit in the middle.
The Film
In the brief pocket of time between the beginning of the video arcade craze in the late 70s, to the industry crash in 1983/84, arcades were a national phenomena. Grooving from recreation into obsession gamers began competing for the very top high score records at their local hangouts. In small towns teens could escape into the world of Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Frogger, Centipede, and not only become the best at what they do, but gain national recognition brought forth by Walter Day.
In 1981 Walter Day, avid collector of business cards, newspapers and owner of the Ottumwa, Iowa based video arcade Twin Galaxies, took the duty upon himself to become the official record keeper for the nations video game high scores. The void that Walter filled grew beyond all expectations where it has now gained a life of its own, long after the closing of the Twin Galaxies arcade in 1984.
In the heyday Walter became the center, and often mentor, to the arcade video game champions. Their fame building to a crescendo when in 1982, Life Magazine came to town to report on and photograph the champions in front of the games they conquered. A year later Walter and his Twin Galaxies reached yet another new height by organizing the first televised video game championship which aired on That's Incredible!
Although it is likely to the chagrin of director Lincoln Ruchti, it is nearly impossible to review Chasing Ghosts without mentioning the other classic arcade game high score competition documentary, The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. Both films were released the same time year, took place in the same locations, featured the same players and discussed many of the same topics. While King of Kong focuses on the modern "hollywoodized" journey of newcomer Steve Wiebe vying to take on Donkey Kong champion Billy Mitchell, the history behind video arcade high score competitions and its key players are more background to set up Steve Wiebe's bigger story. This leaves you wanting more on the events and people that end up mainly as dressing. This is what Chasing Ghosts delivers and in spades.
The key high score gamers that Ghosts focuses on include...
- Ron Bailey: Past - Berzerk
- Sam Blackburn: Co-champ of Victory (with Leo Daniels); Past - Battlezone,Eagle.
- Matt Brass: Current - Space Invaders Deluxe; Past - Donkey Kong Jr., Super Cobra, Scramble.
- Walter Day: Founder of Twin Galaxies; Past champ of Make Trax.
- Leo Daniels: Champ of Street Fighter EX Plus, co-champ of Victory (with Sam Blackburn); Past - numerous titles.
- Kent Farries: Past - Donkey Kong Jr.
- Ben Gold: Winner of the Video Game World Championship in 1983; Past - Q-Bert, Millipede, Stargate.
- Billy Mitchell: The rock star of the high score champions, the first to play a perfect game of Pac-Man and named Video Game Player of the Century at the 1999 Tokyo Game Show. Champ of Donkey Kong and Pac-Man. Past - Burger Time, Centipede, Donkey Kong Jr., Ms. Pac-Man, Zaxxon.
- Robert Mruczek: Former Twin Galaxies Referee (resigned after filming completed) and champ of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Easy Path), Lock On, Scramble, Star Wars; Past - numerous games.
- Darren Olson: Past - Centipede, Donkey Kong Jr., Millipede, Satan's Hollow, Super Pac-Man, Tron.
- Mark Robichek: Past - Frogger, Pengo, Bagman, Moon Patrol, Tutankaham.
- Todd Rogers: Champ of Drag Race, Gorf, Leprechaun, Monaco GP; Past - numerous titles.
- Steve Sanders: Author of The Video Master's Guide to Donkey Kong (1982); Past - Donkey Kong, Frogger, Joust, Super Pac-Man.
- Roy Shildt: Argues that he is the world champ of Missile Command, a claim that is disputed and unrecognized by Twin Galaxies.
- Todd Walker: Past - Congo Bongo, Donkey Kong Jr. Frogger, Millipede, Super Pac-Man.
- Joel West: Past - Berzerk, Rally-X.
