Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts
Super Nintendo
Nostalgia Factor:
I grew up a fan of the Ghosts 'n Goblins series. I wouldn't say I was a rabid fan or anything like that, but I enjoyed the games and I had a decent time with them. I played the heck out of the original game for the NES. I also really liked Ghouls 'n Ghosts for the Genesis, and in many ways considered that to be superior to the original.
I've always known about Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, but seeing as how I never owned an SNES, I never got the chance to play the game. As an adult, I picked up a used copy of this title somewhere in the 2010s. I tried to play the game on my Hyperkin Retron system, which played NES, SNES, and Genesis titles. Everything worked fine until about midway through the game, when the screen and the background turned black, and all I could see was Arthur. I didn't know where the ledges were, I didn't know where the bottomless pits were, I didn't even know where the enemies were. Was it a glitch in the game? I simply could not progress any further because I could not freaking see anything.
Turns out it was some kind of anti-piracy setting that was triggered by playing the cartridge on my Hyperkin Retron. It thought I was pirating the game or playing it illegally somehow, so it made the game unplayable so I could not progress any further. Huh. I legally purchased the game and the system with my own money. Very weird it would do this.
I ended up putting the game down and moving onto other things. This was about 6 or 7 years ago. I randomly decided, now that I have a RetroPie, to give the game another shot playing it on different hardware. Turns out the game works fine playing it this way (oh, the irony - the physical copy of the game doesn't work because of piracy issues, but the downloaded ROM works fine. Whatever).
So how would I feel about Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts? Would it be as good, and as HARD, as everyone says? Time to find out!
Story:
This game easily has the best introduction sequence in the series. There is a group of villagers outside a castle, partaking in what looks like a festival of some kind. Fireworks are exploding in the sky. It seems like a nice, fun evening.
The action takes us inside the castle, where good ol' Arthur is hanging out with the princess. A flying demon crashes through the window and spirits her away, while lightning flashes reveal even more demons hiding outside. Oh noes.
Thus begins Arthur's adventures, as he battles the demons and tracks down the missing princess. In true Ghosts 'n Goblins fashion, once you've beaten the final boss, you are sent back to the beginning of the game because you don't have the proper equipment to defeat the true final boss. The princess says she dropped her armlet on the way to the castle, as she was being abducted. Starting from the beginning of the game, you have to find the armlet that she dropped and use its powerful magic to defeat the true final boss and rescue the princess once and for all.
Gameplay:
Gameplay is very similar to other titles in the series. You make your way through a series of stages, which are represented on the game map that is shown to you in-between stages. You progress through each stage jumping over obstacles and fighting monsters and bosses until you locate the key that unlocks the next stage. There are eight of these stages in total.
What this game is known for is its difficulty. Now, I used to play the regular Ghouls 'n Ghosts quite often for the Genesis when I was a kid. The game was challenging, sure, but I never considered it to be hard or nearly impossible to beat. Ghosts 'n Goblins for the NES was a lot tougher. This game falls somewhere in the middle. It's definitely tougher than the Genesis game, but not as tough as the NES original.
The big difference between this and other games in the series is in your ability to double jump. This is definitely a big improvement over other entries in the series. Normally in these games, once you commit to a jump, you are stuck with your decision. The double jump allows you to jump backward, in case you need to avoid an enemy that pops up. It also allows you to reach areas that normally would be out of reach to you. Another difference is how you can't shoot up or down in this game. I do not like this. You can only shoot left or right. I lost track of how many times there was an enemy above me that I couldn't shoot because you can only fire left and right. Very annoying, especially when you are trying to fight the red flying demons. At least there aren't very many of them this time around.
This is a game where you are going to die quite often. You start with a standard suit of armor. Get hit once, and you lose your armor and drop down to your undies. Get hit again, and you are dead. You can recoup your armor through treasure chests you find hidden throughout the stages, but just surviving long enough to find one is a challenge in its own right. This game also gives you opportunities to upgrade to gold or green armor, where you can hold the fire button down and unleash a super charged attack. Nice feature, but I never was able to keep this armor long enough for it to really make a difference.
To me, the best thing about this game is its stage design. You see so much in this game that you don't see in other versions of the game. I love the pirate ship level, and how you have to survive big waves while floating on the sea and fighting enemies. There is another level with platforms that rotate the entire level. That's a nice touch. Small things like that help to keep the game constantly fresh as you are playing.
While the game is fun to play, the cheap nature of its difficulty does start to get old over time. Things will pop up, or enemies will appear with NO warning whatsoever, and the only way to avoid them is to have already played the level and know they are coming in advance. Trial and error your way through it. Is that fun, or is it even fair? Eh. That is debatable. I ended up resorting to using save files to make my way through the game. I tried to get through it the "fair" way, but I figured if the game wasn't going to play fair, I wasn't either. I had a much more fun time with the game once I started doing this. But the fact that I even had to resort to such tactics is a major problem.
Graphics:
This is a gorgeous game. It's probably my favorite looking Super Nintendo game, and that is really saying something. The graphics are big and bright and cartoony. Each stage and each environment has its own unique feel. Part of my desire to keep playing was tied into seeing what areas I was going to get to explore next. I already mentioned the pirate ship area earlier in my review. That stage is freaking beautiful. And so is the snowy stage. Some of the best snow effects I've seen in a video game. Outstanding stuff. This game really looks terrific. I was constantly impressed my whole way through this game.
To think that this game was released over 30 years ago and it still looks so good. This is an art style that has a timeless appeal.
Sound:
This game has some decent music, but to be honest it is probably the weakest sounding game of the entire series. I just doesn't have that "iconic" feel to it, at least in my opinion. I never caught myself humming along to the theme music. Maybe because it is because I grew up with the NES and Genesis games. Those games have great soundtracks that I would add to my video game playlist any day of the week - particularly the Genesis version. This game's music just doesn't quite do it for me. Feels a little bit watered down, to be honest. Not that the music is bad or anything. It just isn't as strong as the other games.
The sound effects? They are fine, too. Again, there is nothing really wrong or bad to be found here. It just doesn't do anything for me.
Overall:
This is a really fun game, and I am glad I finally got off my butt and decided to play through the whole thing. I think tales of its difficulty had scared me away from it. But it isn't that bad (especially if you decide to save scum your way through it, like I did). I think even without the save scumming I would have been able to finish this with a few more days of practice. I just really don't have time for that anymore. I'm getting old and I still have a countless number of games out there that I need to play through before I die. It's definitely not as tough as Battletoads, or a few other games I've recently made my way through. It's completely manageable with a little practice.
I found myself enjoying the stage design and the brilliant visuals a lot more than I thought I would. Everyone talks about this game's difficulty and how you have to play through it twice to see the true ending. No one talks about how fantastic the game looks. Even if I didn't like the gameplay, I would have been enthralled by the game's visual design.
Is Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts worth playing? Absolutely. How does it compare to other titles in the series? Let's see. I gave the original Ghosts 'n Goblins for the NES an A-. To be honest, I probably gave the game too high of a grade. It's not an A- title. Nostalgia played too big of a factor in that review. Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts is definitely the better game, although it is going to get a lower review score.
It's definitely better than Ghosts 'n Goblins for the arcade, as well as Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins for the PSP. I didn't like either title. What about Ghouls 'n Ghosts for the Genesis? This one's close. Both games are a lot of fun to play, and I would consider both games to be the pinnacle of the series. But which one is better? Super GnG is the better looking game, with the better stage design. But regular GnG is probably the more fun and accessible game. Plus it has nostalgia going for it, since I grew up playing the game. Regular GnG gets the nod from me, but it is a lot closer than I would have initially expected. In fact, they are going to get the same review score of B+. Neither game is good enough to crack the A range for me, but they are both about as close as you can get to doing so.
Now that all is said and done, I can safely say I am glad I played this game. It's a shame I dragged my feet on it for so long. It's a fun game, and I can easily see myself returning to play through it again someday in the future.
THE GRADE:
B+
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