Ghosts 'n Goblins

Ghosts n' Goblins is basically the harder, darker cousin of Super Mario Bros. And when I say harder I mean it's absolutely brutal.

Story/Campaign

You play as knight Sir Arthur, who must fight his way through creatures of the underworld to rescue his lover, Princess Prin Prin, from Satan, The King Of Demon World.

Overall

Pretty standard affair for the time, short but sweet. There's a little bit more depth with the couple of twists that are thrown in (for better or worse). Basically the same as Super Mario Bros. But with a darker medieval gothic setting. This came first and there wasn't a great deal of time between releases. Can't say it's anywhere close to Super Mario Bros. With it's characters being as likable though.

GAMEPLAY

An unforgivingly brutal 2d sidescrolling platformer focusing more on ranged combat. You can run, jump and duck to make your way across the six harrowing levels, picking up various different weapons such as javelins, fire bombs and throwable daggers to defeat the various creatures of the Demon Realm. You will fight a variety of monsters like Zombies and Cyclops, until you reach the end of the level and face off against a boss. Sir Arthur will die in two hits, the first hit removing your armour and leaving Arthur to continue wearing nothing but underwear. Levels must be completed within the time limit or the will also lose a life. Losing all lives requires starting from the beginning of the game.

Pros

For games of this era it's one of the better ones actual gameplay wise. The monsters are varied, the level design is good and it's fun to play. Weapons also feel varied.

Cons

When I say it's fun to play, I want to iterate that I mean the actual gameplay. The way the game plays. NOT the ridiculous and completely unfair nature of this game. You will be left in impossible to progress positions. You will fight tooth and nail to reach the end of the level only to be broken by the realisation that you have ten seconds left to defeat two very difficult bosses simultaneously. You will get cheated over and over and over again with cheap deaths. It is brutal, not in a good way which unfortunately ruins the twists the story throws at you.

Overall

There's some good gameplay and design that I personally think is ruined by difficulty that, to be fair, is absolutely criminal.

GRAPHICS/DESIGN

Across the six levels, you will journey through dark graveyards, dense forests and haunted villages, fighting your way through a large variety of monsters and creatures from the demon realm.

Pros

The graphics and design of the levels and enemies are definitely my highlight of Ghosts n' Goblins. Each area is striking and well done with great use of colours and look vastly different from the last. The design of the characters especially the enemies were definitely peak for the time and are my personal favourite aspect of this game.

Cons

I can't say there is any really, very solid all round.

Overall

A very aesthetically pleasing game. Great design and use of colour. Varied and keeps things pretty fresh throughout.

AUDIO

A few various medieval horror themed tracks, often with a high tempo.

Pros

Well made for the time. Definitely higher quality than a lot of games back then. The higher tempo of the soundtrack does a good job of building intensity.

Cons

The soundtrack is also quite repetitive. All the tracks sound similar to each other and aren't memorable to me.

Overall

High quality but with little variation between the music.

VERDICT

A game that for it's time, has great gameplay and design but is hard to a point that for me is far beyond being enjoyable. I can't deny the level of quality however for the era this game was made. I only recommend this for people into gaming history, or that want to punish themselves with the near impossible task of completing it.