Ghouls 'n Ghosts (1988)

Preliminary: What terrible jump controls for an arcade game and no mid-jump grabbing ladders nor can you jump off a ladder... So basic. Full of frustrating enemy mechanics too. Yet I finished the first stage without abusing savestates and kinda somewhat maybe enjoying it so far? I like the in-between-stage world map look and the overall Look too... we shall see.

The collision masks are pretty bad and I hate that you can't smack away projectiles.

Yeahhh it was at this point that I caught myself and remembered there's no point in pushing through a game that isn't fun.

Game was kinda neat on the SuperGrafx. It has a very nice crisp arcade sound and looks akin to a SNES game. The controls are kinda easy to fumble (in the context of directional fire sometimes it doesn't seem to work) There aren't that many levels (but you get to go through all of them twice!) and trust me you wont be wanting more if you manage to somehow get through them. This is the hardest game I think I've played. Everything about the game is tedious and difficult. You have some very tricky jumping puzzles and the game tries to fool you in different ways. Generally difficult games in this era are difficult due to oversight, bad programming or something like that but this one makes an art out of making it tough. The enemy placement and well, placement of everything is 100% scripted. I don't think anything is left to chance so you kind of have to memorize EVERYTHING. where the enemies are, where the items are, when things are going to shoot, etc. This is arguably the fun in the game. Get used to experiencing a mailsplosion when first hit. (You die when hit without wearing your armor).

There are a lot of different weapons you can equip in this game and it has a castlevania like vibe to it. I cannot say it's a fun game though, but i'm not one to appreciate a difficult game through the lens of its difficulty.

History:

For the most part, this is a game that associate to better times in my childhood. The Sega Genesis was always "the console my dad and I played together", and Ghouls 'n Ghosts was always one of those game. I remember watching him finally beat the final boss (Loki?) and getting that magic ability from the princess, only to be forced to beat the game a second time... which we never did. This game was actually one of the catalysts for my collecting retro games, when I found it along with several other memory inducing Genesis games in the back of a cabinet in our garage.

Expectations:

I'd really like to finally beat this game properly. I played it a few months ago, on practice, and still managed to get pretty hammered... I'll be playing on Professional this time though, and I'm already starting to have flashbacks of Castlevania on the NES.

Day 1:

Yep... this game well and truly spanked me. It took me nearly 15 minutes just to clear the first stage! Ghouls 'n Ghosts handles as tight as I remember, so I have no one to blame on my failing but myself, but that didn't stop me from shouting obscenities at my TV for most of the night.

I remember always being annoyed at the chest system in this game, never knowing if I was going to get that elusive magic armor... or be turned into a duck. It's almost always the latter.

Reaching Stage 3 meant getting both the dagger and the magic armor, which is awesome. Keeping them is another matter entirely. I did manage to defeat the boss in one attempt, but not without getting careless and losing my armor.

One... feature... this game takes straight from Castlevania is how weapons work. That is to say, if you accidentally move forward too fast and pick up holy water and replace your dagger, well, you're boned. That's exactly what happened in Stge 4.

Now, having the holy water (or is it a torch?) for Stage 4 isn't the worst thing in the world, in fact it's almost ideal. Taking it into Stage 5 is another thing entirely though, and that's where I had to call it quits for the night before I turned my Genesis controller into a boomerang.

Day 2:

Once again my night started with repeated failings on the first stage, and it didn't really let up until I got the daggers in Stage 3. The fifth stage still took some learning, but with the daggers it was MUCH more manageable. Eventually I was finally able to take down the weird fly demon at the end, only to be told my princess was in another castle...

Luckily for me, my second playthrough of the game would prove much easier with the completely overpowered Magic Bracelet Valkyrie Cannon in hand.

The game was also a thousand times more stressful. On my first playthrough, if a weapon I didn't want would drop in my path, I'd go find a way to die just so I wouldn't risk losing my daggers. With this new weapon, accidentally picking up an unwanted item would be even more devastating. In order to find another Valkyrie Cannon I would need to find a chest that would contain magic armor, while already wearing magic armor!

Seeing the game's true final boss for the first time in a couple decades sure brought back some memories. I had some issues at first but quickly realized I could easily dispatch Loki by simply spamming fireballs into his face. No real strategy required!

Conclusion:

I had a great time seeing this game all the way through, despite my almost giving up several times. Admittedly, the difficulty in Ghouls 'n Ghosts is somewhat negated by the fact that every time you die, even if you lost your last life, you'll be able to continue from your last checkpoint and keep your weapon. You do lose your score, so if you're playing for score there's that, but if you're just wanting to beat the game this system makes it quite doable.

For an early Genesis game I find the graphics to be very nice, and the music and sound effect are also quite iconic to me. It's probably the nostalgia, but playing Ghouls 'n Ghosts again, really playing it as opposed to dabbling, really does a lot to bring back some of those childhood feelings.

This is a game that will definitely be pulled off the shelf from time to time.

Liked:

- Great visuals and music.
- The game, while difficult, never feels entirely unfair. Quick reflexes and good aim are rewarded.
- Playing through the game the second time actually feels fun rather than tedious, mostly due to your new weapon.
- Game is short enough to never feel tedious, but still just long enough to be worthwhile.
- Controls are tight and fast, and provide excellent platformning.
- Getting turned into a duck.

Disliked:

- Hit detection can be a little weird, and you fly far when getting hit, so you'll often encounter some cheap feeling deaths.
- Chests are mostly frustrating and/or disappointing. Memorizing which ones contain Magic Armor (and when!) is key.
- The weapon system is horrible. Nothing is more heartbreaking than having the dagger and accidentally picking up a sword or torch...
- Getting turned into an old man.

Personal Score:

Playthrough: