i was just shy of 1cc'ing the original ghosts n' goblins a year ago and fell off practicing because life got in the way & it wasn't exactly the most pleasurable game to 1cc. i feel a lot more motivated to try and actually best this one after a couple of runs. in theory ghouls n' ghosts is easier than ghosts n' goblins but it's more accurate to describe the latter as uneven; across its campaign there were scenarios you could trivialize through exploits side-by-side with segments which were often brutally difficult. ghouls is a lot more consistently fair as an arcade title, but consequently there isn't a single segment you can cheekily sidestep here. you have to play by the game's ruleset, which naturally means there are still some quite onerous stages to overcome. aside from this now very natural difficulty curve, the movement is silky smooth, its aesthetic is immaculate, and challenge always resides in that idealized zone of strategy and reaction. the treasure chest system is hilarious once you come to grips with what's actually going on and will probably only continue to unfold its intricacies across repeat playthroughs, and unlike the original i never felt like my run became fucked just because i picked up a different weapon. might be the gold standard for the kind of arcade experiences i gravitate towards?