While it may have a reputation for being one of the hardest games from the 8-bit era, the original Ghosts ‘n Goblins, especially the NES version, wasn’t too good. Yeah, there were some admirable qualities about it, and you felt completely unstoppable for conquering what the game throws at you, but it was a pretty ugly and poorly designed product at the end of the day, and only really serves to kickstart the series and lay the groundwork for what other games would do going further. The sequel Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, on the other hand, is a completely different story. That game was a wonderful way to continue the series, making sure to keep things pretty similar to what came before it, while also improving upon it in every way, such as with better graphics, better controls, more weapons, more powerups, and more options for survival. Of course, it still kept the bullshit difficulty and two-playthrough requirement, but it still managed to provide a very entertaining and incredibly satisfying experience. So, after one miss and one hit, Capcom thought it was time to make another game, one specifically for the new hot sensation sweeping the nation, the Super Nintendo. After a few years of development, they would then bring the torturous terror of GNG to this console with Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts.

I had wanted to check out this game for a LONG time, not only because I was already a fan of the Ghosts ‘n Goblins series, but because it was the most iconic title in the series, right alongside the original, and from what I have heard, it is considered to be the best in the entire series. I do feel somewhat bad that I put it off for so long, especially after I had covered the first two games, as well as Gargoyle’s Quest, a long time ago, so to make it for it, I finally checked it out. After playing through it, I can definitely see why people would consider this to be the best in the series, but honestly, I may prefer Ghouls ‘n Ghosts just that liiiiiiiitle bit more, as that one just felt more fun and more satisfying for me. Either way, I still though that this was a pretty good way to bring this series to consoles, and while it does have its issues, both familiar and new, it still managed to deliver in all the ways you would expect it to.

The story is the exact same as the previous two games, so there is no need to go into it further then that, the graphics are pretty much the exact same as Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, but of course, it doesn’t look as good since it had to match the SNES’s limitations, but even then, it still looks pretty damn great, the music is that same ol’ menacing, yet delightful goodness you would expect from a game from this series, and the tracks do get you pumped up, while still being nervous enough, to take out any of these ghouls and ghosts that stand in your way, the control is what you would expect from a Ghosts ‘n Goblins game, so if you didn’t like it in the previous two games, you aren’t gonna like them here either, and the gameplay is pretty similar to the original two games, which in this case, I don’t really mind as much, as it still manages to be fun and satisfying.

The game is your typical 2D platformer, where you take control of Sir Arthur, go through plenty of colorful, yet deadly levels that will get in your way as much as the enemies do, defeat plenty of ghoulish creatures of all shapes and sizes that want nothing more then to see you suffer and perish, gather plenty of points, weapons, and suits of armor to help give you that slight edge over the horrors you will face, and take on several large bosses that will… not give you that much trouble in comparison to the main enemies. That seems like a recurring theme with this series as well. But anyway, it is your basic Ghosts ‘n Goblins game, which takes everything from the original game and Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, combines them all, and manages to deliver another brutally challenging package for the SNES. There really aren’t that many new elements to be found here, but honestly, unlike other games like Splatterhouse 2, I actually don’t mind it too much here. No, I swear, it is not because of my undying love for Capcom. Not this time, anyway.

As I have mentioned previously, the brutal challenge these games provide, as well as the immense satisfaction you get from conquering them, is one of the biggest appealing aspects of this game. I hate to make this comparison, but I feel it has the same appeal that a game series like Dark Souls has, except it is more suited for retro gaming fans. There isn’t much versatility or variety to be found here like in Dark Souls, but it does still manage to provide extreme challenge time and time again that you must overcome, and when you do, nothing could ever come close to that feeling of triumph you get afterwards. And even then, the game itself still manages to be fun. Like with Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, it manages to provide a pretty difficult experience, yet also gives you enough help and support to where you can take on everything the game throws at you, such as with all of the powerups you get, as well as the options you get, like difficulty options and the amount of lives you can give yourself.

Of course, there are still those problems that this series carries around with it like badges of honor. Yes, the game is absolutely brutal, so if you aren’t used to hard-as-hell games, then I urge you to stay as far from this as possible, as it will show you almost no mercy. Not to mention, like with the last two games, you have to play through the game twice to get the true ending, and while you still get this new weapon that makes going through it feel like a breeze, it can still be a bit of a slog in that sense. Unrelated to those two issues however, there are several other issues with this game, such as with the continues. In the first two games, you had infinite continues, as long as you had enough credits, so that is all good, but in this game, you only get six continues. That may seem like a lot, but trust me, any fan of this series knows you need TEN TIMES that amount in order to even get close to beating the game. Aside from that though, there is one more major issue I have with the game: the slowdown. Yes, it is to be expected, not just because it’s a Capcom game, but also because it is an early SNES title, but it gets pretty obnoxious as points, and does show up much more often than you think.

Overall, despite the usual GNG problems being present, as well as the continues and slowdown not helping things, this manages to be a pretty good way to bring the series onto home consoles, and it is definitely one of the best entries in the series. I would definitely recommend it for those who are fans of the series, or for those who want another challenge to face, because this game will certainly give you that, but for those who are more casual gamers, then you should probably avoid it like the plague. But anyways, glad I finally got that taken care of. So, when’s the next mainline title gonna come out?.......... 2006? Well great, guess we gotta deal with all the weird stuff before we get there.

Game #353

Ghosts and Goblins is one of those series that was made entirely difficult at the time because they started on the Arcade, so making the game incredibly tough would have let people spend more coins on it.
Super ghosts and Goblins wasn't designed for arcade, but consoles, so you can imagine maybe Capcom added an option to change the diffcìiculty-NOPE THEY WENT HARDER.

The brutality of this title is insane and it can turn a normal session into a bad time.

THe issue is not the difficulty itself; tons of titles can result completely enjoyable while also rank up the difficulty: DK Country Returns, some of the classic megaman titles... even other games designs for the arcade, like Metal Slug 3, are able to be difficult while also providing a fun experience.

What makes Ghost and Goblins different is, in my opinion, the unfairness: most of its levels designs are full of surprises, in the forms of traps, bottomless pits, dangerous hazards and enemies with bizzarre patterns are everywhere, and even things like mimics hidden as treasure chests, and some upgrades are literally debuffs for Arthur moveset.

Ironically the levels can become so pranked with things that can oneshot you at any time that some of the bosses can feels easier.
I Played this one thanks to the Nintnendo Switch Online.... I grew irritated by some of these designs even with a option to Rewind, I can't imagine how it would have been for people that played it at the time.

The thing that absolutely kills this title for me.... is the fact that finishing the game.... doesn't finish the game! You beat up Astaroth, you rescue the princess and she goes "Thank you my hero, but I think I forgot my holy bracelet or something, PLEASE REDO THE WHOLE GAME with that one. Miss it or change weapon and you gotta go the whole game all over again".

I honestly gave up on the second run. Even with a rewind option I kinda felt like miserable.
I still have some respect for this title: it got some great spritework and atmosphere, and these types of brutal experiences are hard to find nowadays.... but also I am not really a fan of it. Still, it's worth a shot, even if short

It suffers from almost unbearable slowdowns, and the framerate is absolutely inexcusable. Gameplay-wise, Arthur loses his ability to shoot up and down, which makes defeating enemies way more difficult and annoying than it should be. You do have a brand new double jump, which lets you escape from troubling situations, but I still won't consider it a good trade-off. 

And yet somehow, Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts manages to balance out their flaws in every other aspect.

The graphics are gorgeous and very detailed for a 1991 game; the franchise has never looked any better on consoles, and the music is delightful from start to finish, making it one of the best video game soundtracks in the Super Nintendo's early days. 

Levels are big and inspired; there's no two quite alike, and each and every one has their own unique gimmicks, making the experience never boring. 

I still think it's not as memorable as its predecessor, but it's a really good addition to the series.

Holy crap this game is hard. I'm shocked I even beat it. Super Ghouls'n Ghosts is a sidescrolling action game devised by Capcom, like many SNES greats are. You play through 7 levels to save the princess. Super original plot, I know. But, Super Ghouls'n Ghosts really shines with its meticulously tuned levels and difficulty. The theming of each level is pretty cool, The spritework is goregeous for an early snes game, and the music is unique and memorable.

From the very beginning, this game isnt afraid to show how difficult the journey will be. You can take 2 hits before you die, and your weapon can be swapped out for a different one through random drops. You've got a double jump, but it takes some getting used to as you have zero air control. It asks for constant spacial awareness and focus so that you don't get hit after a bad jump, or from a poorly telegraphed enemy attack. But... there is just enough leeway in the control scheme to get good at handling the stiff movement.

Once you've gotten used to the controls, found a decent weapon and have memorized most of the levels, the game tells you that you need to beat it again. As if it wasn't difficult enough to make it to the end once, you also need to find a new weapon exclusive to the second playthrough to beat the final boss. Doing the second runthrough was much more challenging, as the weapon you need drops randomly only when you have gold armor. Yeah, you can't get hit at all, you've gotta get two random drop armor upgrades, and THEN you can get the randomly dropped weapon to beat the game.

Plenty of people havent been able to beat level 1, let alone all 7, and hearing the news of a second playthrough is enough to make anyone stop playing. It cannot be understated how challenging this game is and how much focus it requires. The boss at the end of level 7 is notoriously difficult to beat with the required weapon too, so you might run out of time and die before you can get the boss's health low enough.

I haven't even mentioned that Super Ghouls'n Ghosts doesn't have a save or password system, so you need to do two playthroughs in one sitting to have a chance of beating it. Capcom, would it have killed you to put in a password system like some of your other snes titles!?

So... yeah. It's a great game if you like challenging titles, but it firmly sticks in the "NES hard" category of games. It is unfair at times and can be pretty BS too. I will admit I used NSO's rewind feature sparingly to be able to finally beat it. On original hardware, I only ever made it through the first playthrough.
I'd love to hear what others think of Super Ghouls'n Ghosts in the comments and any tricks you might have to beat the game without rewind!

It's kinda crazy what designing a game for home consoles first does for overall game design, because Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts is far and away the most well designed, consistently good game in the franchise thus far. Levels are longer, more varied, and Arthur's moveset's gotten tweaked once again to accomadate. He can't fire weapons vertically anymore, but he can double jump now, and the levels feel designed around that lack of vertical firing. The bow also exists, firing two projectiles diagonally upwards, filling the void somewhat.

Playing this reminded me a lot of beating Castlevania 1 without savestates for the first time, since the player movement actually feels like a deliberate design decision and not just to make the game harder. It was genuinely fun learning level layouts and just getting better at the game, for once in this franchise. The limited continues scared me initially, but it quickly becomes apparent how quickly continues rack up. You also die a lot, but with enemy positions and spawns being mostly fixed, it serves as a learning experience as opposed to uncontrollable RNG bs.

Also yeah, there's slowdown; admittedly a lot of it, in fact, but I don't think it's enough to really mess with the core experience. If anything, it probably made certain sections a lot easier. Still an extremely solid 16-bit platformer for anyone in search of a challenge.

Dark Souls is for pussies.

Put that quote as my gravestone’s epitaph, all 400+ of them that I amassed while playing Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts.

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Attribution: https://erockreviews.blogspot.com

the inclusion of the double jump is genius. it gives you a degree of freedom that makes the game super fun, because it's a jump that you have to commit to, but you can still modify your trajectory to the options the game gives you WHILE wrong decisions punish you for not having strategised adequately. every decision you make with the jump has future consequences with risks and rewards depending on what you choose to do.
including the typical GnG gameplay loop about showing you a challenge with minimal randomisation to maintain variety while setting on stone how you can complete it, it hooks you in... Simple- challenging fun!

I don't have much experience with Ghouls 'n Ghosts, and there's an obvious reason for that. Because the series's whole point is as a masochist game. Entirely possible to master with weeks of practice, but that's assuming you have those weeks to spare and wouldn't rather save state your way through.

Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, is in many ways like the NES game, but this time around, it doesn't feel like shit to play. The controls are still limited in the same ways, but at least they feel a lot smoother this time around, and wrapped around a pretty stellar presentation. The production value has seen an immense jump in quality, and is full of neat memorable setpieces to have each of the game's 8 levels stick out.

So the problem isn't the controls, or the graphics. It's everything else. At its core, it's still a very relentless and punishing game, where the brave knight Arthur with his full set of metal-plate armor feels about as fragile as my patience when I attempt this game fair and square. But perhaps wording this as a "problem" isn't quite right, it's obvious that there is a particular niche for this sort of game, and I fall heavily out of it. More than Ninja Gaiden, more than Contra, Ghouls 'n Ghosts is an extreme challenge designed for the extreme sorts.

Also, listen, this may be a hot take, but making me play the game twice to get the true ending is a serious kiss-my-ass moment. I'm not doing that. Nobody should have to do that. The series making this a staple of the franchise, no. No, don't do that. You're already asking too much as is.