In the end, on the occasion of the recent release of Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection on Nintendo Switch, I’ve spent the last few weeks giving Ghosts’n Goblins from 1985 and this Ghouls’ n Ghosts from 1988 another chance. Two Capcom classics that I always love. they had passed through due to its extreme harshness.
On this occasion, despite playing it in both the Amiga 500 and recreational games as well as the most recent Capcom Home Arcade, I have opted for its version for SuperGrafx, taking advantage of the fact that I recently bought a PC Engine Core Grafx Mini, to make use of the save option the game and correct all my blunders.
Once upon a time, a gentleman wanting to march
Three years usually go a long way … except for Capcom with this saga. The reason? He fully respected the formula devised in 1985 for this 1988 sequel, such as keeping the same behavior for the jump, without the possibility of rectifying the trajectory as soon as we let our feet off the ground; or that they kill us with two touches after seeing how Sir Arthur loses his armor and then his dignity when he dies in gayumbos. There were only slight tweaks to the gameplay .
So in Ghouls’ n Ghosts vertical shooting was incorporated , which made certain situations much easier, although it was still a hell of a game, of course. In fact, it does not give up with the enemies, like its predecessor, leaving monsters on both sides of the screen and without rest for the noble Sir Arthur.
To make matters worse, in this sequel there are also traps that force us to walk with leaden feet and to memorize the patterns of the enemies, the appearance of stairs being another trap in itself, by repeating the limitation of the 1985 classic, without being able to attack from them. Ghouls’ n Ghosts was still a very tactical game , having to measure every move … especially jump and attack.
The story, however, was still typical and similar to the original, again with the princess being captured, this time by Lucifer himself. And with Sir Arthur going for her to save the kingdom, having to go through five completely different phases from the first adventure, despite retaining certain elements, especially in relation to the first phase of the cemetery. Here, yes, instead of zombies there were skeletons with scythes, but basically the message remained the same: we are going to die many times and we are going to enjoy it strongly.
Ghouls’ n Ghosts, the sequel to a hellish game
Obviously, Capcom copied the most fundamental element of the first Ghosts’n Goblins : yes, having to pass the game twice to see the true ending against Lucifer, within a sixth phase directly in his quarters. And for this, in the second round, we had a new power for Sir Arthur to replace the shield of the previous one. But it was not the only change or other news, go.
The most striking addition was being able to drop spells depending on the weapon wielded … and after having previously obtained the golden armor. The latter was an essential requirement to be able to charge the attack and launch a magic, from a simple lightning bolt to creating a copy of Sir Arthur with the knife to attack twice. Now if they hit us, goodbye golden armor and hello Gayumbos .
Despite the advantage of keeping that golden armor, it was not easy to endure the entire journey without suffering the slightest damage, especially from the second phase, with those jumping rocks sometimes the most unpredictable, or the area with spikes of the penultimate, which today evokes a certain phase of the equally bloody Battletoads … Needless to say, it copied one of the unwritten rules of the games of the time, with a section like Boss Rush before the final enemy . But at least they were varied.
To top it off, we must remember the mythical SNES Super Ghouls’ n Ghosts released in 1991, but to clarify that it was not a “super version”, but rather another new game, with its own phases and another series of novelties, such as the possibility of making a second jump where we could correct the direction there.
Has it stood the test of time well?
Yes , except for a control considered too rigid and not very versatile today, as we said with its predecessor. For the rest, you have to put yourself back in the situation for all that this Ghouls’ n Ghosts meant in 1988 , being another of Capcom’s icons of that decade and what it means to be a tough game to crack if we want to complete it … twice. The “New Game Plus” of the eighties .
Ghouls’ n Ghosts
| Platforms | Arcade, Amiga 500, Mega Drive, SuperGrafx (analyzed version), Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Master System … |
|---|---|
| Multiplayer | Not |
| Developer | Capcom |
| Company | Capcom |
| Launch | 1988 (Arcade) |
| Price | Not available |
The best
- Another great adventure of the noble Sir Arthur
- The addition of new weapons and magic
- Lose your armor and stay in gayumbos
Worst
- The creepy trick at the end (again)
- Control was still stiff with the jump
