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| Ghosts 'n Goblins | |
| File:GhostsnGoblins flyer.jpg | |
| Developer(s) | Capcom |
| Publisher(s) | Capcom |
| Designer | Tokuro Fujiwara |
| Engine | Engine Missing |
| status | Status Missing |
| Release date | Arcade: September 19, 1985
Ports: From 1986 |
| Genre | Platform game |
| Mode(s) | Up to 1 or 2 players, alternating turns |
| Age rating(s) | Ratings Missing |
| Platform(s) | Arcade
Various home computer ports |
| Arcade system | Arcade System Missing |
| Media | Media Missing |
| Input | 4-way joystick, 2 buttons |
| Requirements | Requirements Missing |
| Credits | Soundtrack | Codes | Walkthrough | |
Ghosts 'n Goblins (魔界村 Makaimura, lit. "Demon World Village") is a 1985 platform game developed by Capcom for video arcades.
Gameplay
Ghosts 'n Goblins is a platform game where the player controls a knight, named Sir Arthur, who must defeat zombies, ogres, demons, armored giants, dragons, and other undead creatures in order to rescue Princess Prin Prin, who has been kidnapped by Satan, King of Demon World. Along the way the player can pick up new weapons, bonuses and extra suits of armor that can help in this task.
The game is often considered very difficult by arcade standards and is commonly regarded as one of the most difficult games ever released. The game is considered by Gametrailers.com to be the world's second most difficult game ever made.[1] The player can only be hit twice before losing a life(The first hit takes away his armor, and the player must continue on in his underwear until completing the level, or finding replacement armor). If the player loses a life, he is returned to the start of the level, or the halfway point if he has managed to get that far. Furthermore, each life can only last a certain length of time (generally around three minutes), the clock being reset at the start of a level. If the clock does run out, the player instantly loses that life.
After defeating the final boss for the first time the player is informed that the battle was "a trap devised by Satan". The player is then forced to replay the entire game on a higher difficulty level before finally reaching the genuine final battle.[2]
Ports
Many conversions to home computers were produced by Elite Systems.
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 version, released in 1986, is known for its music by Mark Cooksey, which borrows from Frédéric Chopin's Prelude No. 20. Due to the limited resources on the Commodore 64, it was somewhat different than the arcade version. It only features the Graveyard and Forest, The Ice Palace, The Floating Platforms and Firebridge and The Caves in that order. The player also starts the game with five lives. The demon that kidnapped the princess replaces Astaroth in the title screen. Additionally, the cyclops (or "Unicorn") is the boss of levels one to three, and the dragon is the final boss.
Commodore Amiga
A version for the Commodore Amiga was released in 1990. While the advanced hardware (for the time) of the Amiga allowed an almost arcade-perfect conversion, it failed to emulate the success of the Commodore 64 version. The player starts the game with six lives and no music is played unless the Amiga was equipped with at least 1 Megabyte of RAM. The standard configuration of an Amiga 500 was 512 Kilobytes.
Other platforms
Demo game screenshot (arcade version)
Ghosts 'n Goblins was also ported to the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, IBM PC compatibles, Commodore 16, Sharp X68000, Nintendo Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, NES and Apple's iOS.
The NES version was developed by Micronics. This also serves as the basis for the Game Boy Color version, which uses passwords to allow the player to jump to certain levels. The NES version was also re-released for download for Wii's Virtual Console service in North America on December 10, 2007 and in the PAL region on October 31, 2008.
The original arcade version of the game was also included in the compilation Capcom Generations Vol.2: Chronicles of Arthur for the PlayStation (in Japan and Europe) and Sega Saturn (in Japan only), which also contained Ghouls 'n Ghosts and Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts. The three games (based on their Capcom Generation versions) were later collected as part of Capcom Classics Collection.
This game, along with its sequel, Ghouls 'n Ghosts, is available for play on GameTap.
There is a short Ghosts 'n Goblins mini-game included in SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium for the Neo Geo Pocket Color.
Reception
The NES version of Ghosts 'n Goblins was rated the 129th best game made on a Nintendo System in Nintendo Power's Top 200 Games list.[3] It was also a best seller for the NES, selling more than 1 million units.[4] Ghosts n' Goblins is often cited as an example of one of the most unfair games of all time to beat, due to its high level of difficulty and the fact you must play through the game twice in order to fight the final boss.
Legacy
Ghosts 'n Goblins was followed by a series of sequels which includes Ghouls 'n Ghosts for the arcades in 1988, Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts for the SNES in 1991, Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins for the PSP in 2006, Ghosts 'n Goblins: Gold Knights (2009, iPhone) and some unreleased titles as Ghosts 'n Ghosts online[5].
A spinoff trilogy starring the enemy character Red Arremer was produced as well. This trilogy consists of Gargoyle's Quest for the Game Boy in 1990, Gargoyle's Quest II for the NES in 1992 and Demon's Crest for the SNES in 1994. In the English localization of these games, the Red Arremer character is renamed Firebrand.
A version of Sid & Al's Incredible Toons was released for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn in Japan titled Arthur to Astaroth no Nazomakaimura in 1996. While not exactly a game in the series, the PlayStation 2 game Maximo: Ghosts to Glory was inspired by Ghost 'n Goblins, which was followed by a single sequel titled Maximo vs. Army of Zin.
The characters of Ghosts 'n Goblins has also made cameos in other Capcom games. The shoot-em-up Cannon Spike features an alternate depiction of Arthur (dubbed King Arthur) as a playable character. Red Arremer (along with several enemy characters from Ghosts n' Goblins) appears as a hidden character in SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos. In We Love Golf!, Arthur appears as a hidden golfer, and in Marvel vs. Capcom, he is a partner character.
Arthur appears as a playable character in the strategy game Namco X Capcom. Other enemies also appeared as the game's enemies.
Adam Sessler has said that this is his favorite video game.[6]
Arthur appears in Sōki's ending in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars. The Gold Armor Power up appears in Knights of the Round as King Arthur's high level armor.
Arthur will be playable in the upcoming Mega Man game, Mega Man Universe.[7]
Grolla Seyfarth, a character from the doujin soft series developed by [erka:es], Rosenkreuzstilette, makes various allusions to Ghosts 'n Goblins in her own stage. In the sequel, Rosenkreuzstilette ~Freudenstachel~, her stage contains enemies that resemble Arthur and Astaroth.
Actor Sam Witwer, to illustrate to the hosts of the Order 66 podcast how excellent a strategic thinker one of his Saga Edition RPG players is, said that the player had beaten Ghosts 'n Goblins three days after buying it at the age of ten. [8]
References
- ↑ Top Ten Most Difficult Games. GameTrailers (August 12, 2008). Retrieved on January 1, 2010
- ↑ Classic Gaming: Ghosts 'n Goblins
- ↑ "NP Top 200". Nintendo Power 200: pp. 58–66. February 2006
- ↑ Capcom release lifetime sales figures - The Gamer Gene
- ↑ Retro Gamer magazine, issue 74. "The Definitive ... Ghosts 'n Goblins"
- ↑ Adam Sessler - G4tv.com
- ↑ http://www.capcom-unity.com/jgonzo/blog/2010/07/15/announcing_mega_man_universe_for_xbox_live_and_playstation_network
- ↑ http://www.d20radio.com/episode84.mp3
External links
- Ghosts 'n Goblins at Museum of the Game
- Ghosts 'n Goblins wiki guide at StrategyWiki
- 'Ghosts 'n Goblins' at MobyGames
- Ghosts 'n Goblins at the Open Directory Project
- Ghosts 'n Goblins at Arcade-History
fr:Ghosts'n Goblins ko:마계촌 pt:Ghosts'n Goblins sv:Ghosts 'n Goblins zh:魔界村