@Swiggle nope, the genesis version I played had infinite continues so I just chugged on through in about two or three hours (I've played it here and there since but I haven't done another full run). imo it's fair if you're willing to learn a few level gimmicks here and there, like these tongue platforms in level 3 (?) that extend and retract with some wonky collision. movement and jumps are fluid, and you have a solid amount of control over where your projectiles go. I also will say that I know the nes port of ghosts n goblins is known for being a bit of a hack job, so maybe you'd have a different reaction to the arcade original. ghouls on genesis was contracted to sega and they did a rather admirable job on the port, so I ended up going with that one because I was too lazy to set up mame. it may be worth you giving the arcade versions a try instead though. I would def say from what I've read (and what vee said above) ghouls is definitely easier to get into than the original gng.