Personal thoughts and Feelings about Super Ghouls and Ghosts:


YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGRAHH *Controller toss, childish stomping and yelling*


... yeah...

The game is THAT hard. Capcoms gem Super Ghouls and Ghosts is not to be taken lightly. It might look and play as a simple platformer, but its utterly devious to play. A single wrong move could get you killed, the enemies are at times utterly relentless, not only that but the environment is out to kill you too. There are times when you'll just sit there, slack jawed after you've lost your last life and go, 'Thats just not fair!'... then hit continue and play again.

Thats where the charm of the game comes in. It is absolutely, at times, punishingly hard! But its so much fun! You see, you start as Arthur, knight to save the princess (really, does knight have any other duties?) And you go about in gleaming suit of plate mail armor, ready to bash about foes... then a zombie hits you and your walking about in your red polka spotted knickers.

Yep, armor is good for one, and ONLY one hit. However you can get armor back via chests, or secret spots and containers. But what happens when you already have armor? Well you get better armor! It's still only good for a single hit, however you'll start getting the weapons you carry enchanted! Which is very very good... especially when you're going against the bosses of the game because they were just plain mean! And if you happen to get a third set of armor, it turns gold and you can charge your weapons to do some seriously devastating stuff! And some of them will clear the screen of weaker enemies and do damage to larger ones... but they don't help much navigating the environmental pitfalls of spikes, pits, churning water, lightning, and worse. And one saving grace with the armor is occasionally you'll get a shield which is good for one free hit as well, without loosing your armor that is.

The real Review:
Graphics 8: It's Capcom. Its pretty. Enough said. Well not really. The graphics for the game are as always for Capcoms work for the era, beautiful, slightly cartoony yes but that hardly takes away from the game. The game takes advantage of some parallexing backgrounds ( IE moving backgrounds, or multiple moving backgrounds), as well as some nice graphic effects. So definatly solid. However some of the animation does, at times look a little twitchy, but still great.

Sound: 6

This is, unfortunately, where I had to take a couple points off to make as just 'average'. Namely because of the sound effects are just.. well... bland, and a few more then a little irritating. (this is probably because you will hear them alot when you die alot... and you will die alot) And the music is not as good as it could be, compared to some of Capcoms other games where they had done much better. Sorry capcom, but you only get a 6 for this one.

Story: 5

Demon took the princess. Go save the princess.

Yep, that's really all it sums up to. Though to be fair the booklet had a little more story and turns out this was the princess you already saved in Ghosts and Goblins, and now the demons want her AGAIN.

Even Super Mario world had a LITTLE more story... oh well, still quiet a epic game!

Depth: 8

Was the chest here... or there? Gah! Shield! Must have!

Yeah, you'll be thinking like this soon. Hidden chests aren't just nice to find, they are a necessity! They will have life and progress saving armor or shields, new weapons, but occasionally have traps, like the magician that will turn you into a skirt wearing woman (which is rather funny if it wasn't for the fact that you'll likely die from it) or bear traps.

Also finding the best routes through levels becomes a obsession over time. Because the environment is constantly against you.

Difficulty: 10

If in this review I have ever given you the idea that this game was easy (even on the easy setting) I'm sorry. Because its not! Even on normal its a hair raising experience trying to just get through the first level! and this has Normal, Hard, Expert and Professional! (Like they really need to put that in!) So if you think yourself Hardcore, or 'L337' then give this game a try. You'll be running to your Spec Ops or Call of Duty soon. But those of you who crave a real challenge, then pick this up. Unlike games today it has no achievements, just beating the game would be a Achievement enough.

Good luck!