The original Ghosts'n Goblins and the sequel Ghouls'n Ghosts are remembered fondly by many videogamers as being cult arcade classics. What were the ingredients that made such games so special?
For the time of their release, they both had advanced graphics, with gorgeous and varied locations. The cemetery with the living dead for example had a unique atmosphere and the games managed to blend spooky settings with great humor. If Arthur (the main character) got hit, he would lose his armor and end up running around shooting knives and lances in his underwear!
This was not only very funny to look at but it was also a way to give to the player the chance to keep going before being hit for a second time, after which the player would lose a life. Of course, in some hidden chests, it was always possible to find a brand new armor to wear or to be turned into a duck or an old man…
The music and sound effects in the games were particularly attaching as they featured unforgettable little tunes that would immediately get into the player's head and that's not only because they were so good but also because the game difficulty level was high and you would learn each level theme by heart by the time you learned how to pass it!
The series was well known for its very high and unforgiving difficulty level so it was common thing to play the same chunk of a level over and over in an attempt to make progress.
The very original (at least for the time) progress map would constantly remind the player that the quest was still long and perilous but this somehow didn't have a discouraging effect as many players really felt like seeing what the next level would look and play like.
There also was a cool array of weapons from which to pick from although only one weapon could be held at a time. The best weapons were probably the javelots and the knives while the fire was most definitely the worst thing you could possibly get.
To successfully finish both games, the quest was supposed to be beat twice (!) and this factor alone pushed many players to never actually free Prin Prin (the pincess) from Satan / Loki.
Ghouls'n Ghosts (the sequel) introduced a couple of extras as compared to the 1st game. Arthur could also shoot up and down and he could find an interesting golden armor to allow him to perform a devastating magic attack. Ghouls'n Ghosts is one of the most ported games of all times since it saw the light on many home systems ranging from home computers such as C-64, Amstrad CPC, Spectrum, Amiga, Atari ST, PC and X68000 to home consoles such as Master System, Mega Drive, Supergrafx, Saturn, PS, PS2 and that should be it I think...
Years later, the 3rd game of this great saga came out on SNES / SFC and it introduced some interesting extras such as the ability to double jump and an additional magic armor (green). It also took advantage of the Mode 7 capabilities of Nintendo's 16bit console to deliver truly innovative and spectacular visuals. All these nifty extras came at a cost though: the game was plagued by almost unbearable slowdown as the game speed would drop to just a few frames per second when the screen was filled with too many enemies…
To see another true sequel to Arthur's adventures, we had to wait for Makaimura on the Wonderswan to come out. This time around, the game was much easier though but it had its fair share of inspired moments with cool never before seen cartoony bosses. Moreover, Arthur learned new skills in the process such as swimming (with the armor on…this guy is good!). Makaimura on WS didn't restore the series to its past glory simply because Bandai's console didn't really have a wide user base, so the game passed by unnoticed.
We had to wait for 2004 to see Arthur back in action on a console that had a wider appeal and cutting edge hardware: the GBA. Although not a true sequel but rather a remixed version, G'nG R introduced some interesting play mechanics based on the possibility to follow different paths depending on the armor with which the player finished the level. Noticeably, there were 4 entirely new areas to see and although graphically very inspired they didn't really manage to bring anything new to the series.
A s of today, the series has never switched to 3D with the exception of Maximo 1 and 2 on PS2. More a tribute than true sequels, these games borrowed heavily from G'nG while they took advantage of the 3rd dimension. Although not direct sequels, they still provided a solid gaming experience while baring a clear resemblance to their source of inspiration.
In 2005, Capcom re-released Capcom Generation Vol.2 on PS2 (it had already been released on PS and SS in 1998) as part of the Capcom Retro Collection lineup. As an extra, it includes a hard-cover book with a strategy guide for all 3 games.
M oreover, for a time there had been some talks of an online RPG based on G'nG and even a fighting game for X-box but these projects never actually materialized.
I nstead, a brand new chapter of the saga finally came out in 2006 on PSP: Goku Makaimura still plays like a regular 2D platformer but graphics are entirely made of polygons. Goku introduced a a fair amount of innovations such as magic spells untied to armor types and the ability to both glide and fly. Also, playing levels at least twice is again required to see the true ending and face the real final boss. This is less demanding though than in the past because it will be possible to teleport to any level in the map (by collecting hidden staffs).
A pparently, these new elements somewhat disappointed die-hard fans of the series in Japan. They were expecting the same gameplay structure of the previous games in the series. Capcom listened to fans complaints and decided to release a year later a revised version of Goku Makaimura only in Japan called Goku Makaimura Kai which de facto tied magic to armor types and introduced other mild changes to make the game play just like the prequels. It is really just an update aimed at purists although it also includes the regular version of Goku Makaimura, so it is definitely worth getting if you haven't got the chance to play the first game.
A side from the main games in the series, the most significant spin off was the Gargoyle's Quest series in which the player controlled one of the red devils from G'nG. There were 2 games released on GB, 1 on Nes/Famicom and 1 on SNES/SFC.
A lthough G'nG didn't have many sequels, it was not entirely forgotten at Capcom as Arthur made many cameo apperances like for example in SNK vs Capcom for Neo-Geo Pocket in which he starred in a fun mini-game, or like in Marvel Vs Capcom 1 and 2 in which he would jump in the heat of battles when summoned to throw his lance!
In SNK vs Capcom for PS2 and Xbox, Red Arremer (the red devil) was a boss and was unlockable as a playable character.
In Psikyo Gunspike, a hardly recognizable futuristic Sir Arthur was among the selectable heroes while in the more recent cross-over strategy-RPG Namco x Capcom, Arthur, Red Arremer and the Grim Reaper are present among hundreds of other Capcom and Namco characters…
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