3ERSG Ghouls

The follow-up to the 8-bit Ghosts'N Goblins, Capcom's Ghouls'N Ghosts
sticks to its 2D side-scrolling roots. Reprogrammed by Sega for the
Genesis launch, this game is considered by many to be an unforgettable
classic. I beg to differ. While it is fun (for awhile) and has its moments of
humor, overall, the gameplay flaws drag it down far enough to detract
from the positives.

You play as Sir Arthur, valiant knight off to rescue his fair maiden, the
princess, from the Prince of Darkness-(sighs) yes, it's as clichéd as it
sounds. But, to be fair, no one really played arcade games for their
storylines; they played them for their gameplay. And this is where
Ghouls'N Ghosts could've been so much more.

Gameplay

Controls are simple: A is Jump; B is Attack. You run through the level
and kill monsters to progress. Get hit once and you lose your armor
(nothing quite like wielding a sword in your underwear, but Arthur pulls
it off). Get hit again and you die. The problem with this is that there are
not enough armor power-ups around and you'll find yourself dying over
and over and over as enemies come at you from all sides and your
weapons are rather inadequate. There are hidden checkpoints, but
most of them are too far apart to matter and you will find yourself
repeating difficult portions of the level (there are 5 of them) over and
over and over.

There are 6 different weapons you can use: Sword (more like a lance;
flies straight), Big Axe (flies diagonally), Super Sword (can't be thrown,
but is supposedly more powerful), Fire Water (tossing it creates flames
near you), Discus (able to skim across the ground), Dagger (can be
thrown fast). The Daggers are the best, but the problem is that often
you will open a chest (power-up box) and you'll pick up a weapon
accidentally even if it sucks. What this means is that, in an already
difficult game, you will often be ill-equipped. And since most of the
weapons suck, it will take you a long time to get back a weapon that
works. Why the developers didn't allow you to collect all weapon types
and let you switch between them whenever necessary is beyond me. It
would have added a lot to the game. As it stands, though, most of the
weapons suck and it's is extremely frustrating having to use them while
you tirelessly search for a replacement.

If you're lucky you will find some Golden Armor (rather rare) and you will
have the ability to use magic based on which weapon you carry.
Unfortunately most of the magic is worthless (except for the Fire Water
magic…too bad the weapon itself sucks) and you will get hit by an
enemy so fast trying to launch magic that your Golden Armor will
disappear fast. Again, I cannot stress enough how difficult this game is.
The only saving grace is that you can continue from your last
checkpoint as many times as you want (if this wasn't so, beating the
game would be basically impossible). I first played on the easiest
difficulty level (which was ridiculously hard), only to find that when I
made it to the last boss, I had to beat the game on the harder setting to
see the ending. Ugh…

As for the controls themselves, well, they're not good. Arthur is not very
agile and it only adds to the difficulty. Unlike most games in the genre,
which allow you to shift your character mid-jump, when Arthur jumps it's
a full commitment (which usually leads to death by abyss). Given that he
can't jump very high as it is, and that landing on an enemy hurts you, I'm
amazed that I beat this game at all.

All in all, the basic formula is there, and it can be fun-for awhile-but the
difficulty and spotty controls will likely turn you away long before you
reach the end.

49%

Graphics

This is a first-generation Genesis title, and it shows. It pales in
comparison to later Genesis titles, but given its time of release, the
graphics aren't too shabby. Some of the character details are well done,
but the backgrounds are weak as are the character animations.
Nothing special, but it holds its own.

70%

Sound

Some people love the music; others hate it. I thought it complemented
the overall theme fairly well (which is eerie, just in case you didn't read
the manual). The sound affects are adequate as well.

80%

Replay

Don't get me wrong. Ghouls'N Ghosts can be fun. It has a lot going for it-
especially its unique style. But in my opinion, the difficulty level is too
high to warrant much of a replay factor. Its fun to come back to every
now and then, but it won't take long before you start tossing your
controller. Technically it's a rather short game, but you'll be hitting the
continue button so often it will seem much longer.

52%

Overall

Ghouls'N Ghosts is frustrating game. The potential is there. You can see
it. But there's no use fighting the flawed gameplay system for very long.
There are better sidescrollers on the Genesis and I am going to
disagree with those that call this game a classic. If you liked the
original, it's more of the same, but unless you have a lot of patience I'd
play elsewhere.

59%