Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts

The Good
Ahh, Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts...a game for big, burly, strong men! ^_^ Just kidding! Seriously though, this is one game that I can consider one for the hardcore freaks. You know the types: glassy eyes, twitchy fingers, can move their eyes like chameleons to see every last thing going on, and can beat this game...TWICE!!...on only ONE life! And on the HIGHEST difficulty! Why do I say that? Read on!

If you've been around the block enough times, you'll know that the Ghosts 'N Goblins series is one of the toughest, most notoriously hardest game series out there. You play the part of the brave knight Sir Arthur, who must save his beloved Princess PrinPrin from a bunch of evil ghouls, demons, and other rather unpleasent types. Arthur has one advantage: he's got one hell of an arm, or to put it in simpler terms, he can hurl his weapon at his foes. Anything from javelins, daggers, torches, axes, arrows, and what have you can be found and used against the undead denizens of this hellish world Arthur is in. But he also has one disadvantage! If any enemy or projectile hits him, he'll get knocked right out of his armor, leaving him clad in only heart-patterned boxers. Get hit a second time, and Arthur will be reduced to a pile of bones, a.k.a. dead. Sure, Arthur can double-jump, too, but that's not going to be enough! You've gotta use your wits to defeat some of these monsters, especially the HUGE bosses at the end of each stage (the nastiest of the nasty!) But Arthur can turn the tables if he can find a magically enhanced suit of armor, which will allow him to charge up his weapons and REALLY kick some demon arse!

So now that I've covered the gameplay, onto the graphics, sounds, and music. For a first-gen SNES title, the graphics were amazing! Sharp, creepy colors, fluid animations, and well-detailed backgrounds (and some snazzy Mode7 effects!) showed off to new SNES owner just what kind of power they had in that little gray box! The sounds were really cool (although I wish they had some cool pieces like maybe a zombie moan or two), and fitting, and the music? Let's say this: best remix of the GnG theme EVER, but every other piece deserves mention! Best GnG music EVER!

The Bad
Maybe one or two things. Here we go...

For one, this game is HARD. Not a little hard, but REALLY hard. And to make matters worse, you have to beat it TWICE to really beat it! You think I jest? Beat the final boss, and guess what PrinPrin says? THE WHOLE THING WAS AN ILLUSION!!! You've gotta beat it AGAIN!! And the second time around is TWICE (no, make that more like THRICE!!) as hard as before!! Heaven forbid you chose the Professional difficulty...

But you know what? If you can beat it twice, you are a real man (or woman!)

The Bottom Line
Wanted: Professional or hardcore freak gamers to play one incredibly hard, but way cool game. Must have twitchy fingers, patience, and a perchant for killing things that go bump in the night. Armor and weapons provided. Sign-up bonus: a princess for all the hard work. Call or apply in person. Please bring SNES (or GBA) on day of interview.

The Good
Some of the level design was truly inspired -- the ghost ship level was particularly well done, in my opinion. You can generally tell that a lot of work went into the design, artwork and development of this game. Also, for the most part, the game captures that hard-to-define spirit that the previous two games had, which is campy, arcade fun.

The Bad
Some of the levels were, honestly, way too hard. The overall difficulty level of this game exceeded it's predecessors (not surprisingly) and probably holds the title of "hardest GnG game ever" (unless you count Maximo?). It's somewhat fitting that it was the last in a series -- a 2D platformer of this family that was any harder would be pretty frustrating.

The Bottom Line
For the true GnG enthusiast who's finished Ghosts 'N Goblins and Ghouls 'N Ghosts, here's a whole new set of levels, some new (and some old) enemies, and a whole new set of super powers. Plus, you get that lovely double-jump.

The Good
As close as the GBA could get to a nearly perfect classic port. However, I most certainly cannot fault this game for being "just a port:" there are new cut scenes, 4 redone levels and 4 redone bosses from the former games: this is truly a "Remix" of the original. The extra levels, save feature and redone cut scenes certainly make up for these slights. In addition, the re-proportioned sprites make the game space seem more visually concise than in the SNES version.

The Bad
Only Ghouls'n Ghosts is, and remains the "10" of the series. There is still (although lessened) persistence of slowdown from the SNES version, and the fact that certain gameplay balance issues that were left unresolved in the original SNES game still remain. To name one, some odd arsenal choices truly never seem to have a proper use other than as a liability, whereas the extraordinarily powerful seeker x-bow is a nigh invincible ghoul hunter-killer.

The Bottom Line
Any true fan of the series (alas there are so few now) will be satisfied with more than enough new experiences (thanks mostly to the new levels) to warrant another go at the old graveyard.

If you've never played this series before, give it a try once on Practice so you can walk through and enjoy the amusing yet creepy scenery and beautiful music.

The Good
Every stage throws some sort of new gimmick, traps and tricks at you, ranging from currents in the latter half of stage two to the rotation of platforms in the former half of stage four. The ability to double jump does make for interesting strategies in the course of the stages. It's a relief that the stage bosses are a lot easier to take out after grinding your way in the progressively harder stages.

What comes as both a surprise and welcomed feature is the new armor system, making you want to get a new suit of armor more than ever. You really have the advantage upon getting the green armor, which magically enhances the weapons, making them stronger and phasing through walls. Upon getting the gold armor, the charged versions of the weapons are always helpful, even coming from the bad weapons. The shields are also useful for where better protection is due.

The Bad
While the difficulty in this game is what you'd expect from a GnG game, it can be incredibly unfair for the most part. The armor isn't so much protective as it is a weapon upgrade. It would have been better if the armor levelled down with each hit Arthur takes, because it takes forever to get the gold armor. Also the timer doesn't give you really that long to complete a stage, so you can't afford to take your sweet time against the Red Arremers. This game really could have done with a password or savegame feature to compensate for the difficulty.

The weapons that you get in this game are worse than the ones in "Ghouls n' Ghosts". Many of the weapons seem to do the same amount of damage. The only weapon you'll want to wield until you get the special bracelet in the second run is either the crossbow or the dagger, because everything else flies in awkward patterns and angles or can only be thrown one projectile at a time. It really stinks that you cannot launch your weapons up and down anymore.

The Bottom Line
It really shows that this third game in the series was a major step up in the world of Ghouls and Ghosts and Goblins. At the same time much of the good stuff from the prequel that makes for easier gameplay has been discarded. The previous two games just cannot prepare you for every enemy, trap and boss this game discharges at you. I can only recommend this game to hardcore platform players who can cope with Ninja Gaiden, Zelda II and Castlevania mixed together in one cartridge.