User Reviews

I remember playing this really hard game on my Commodore 64 years and years ago. The graphics were far from sophisticated but it was still quite fun. You would play Sir Arthur, a Knight on a mission to rescue a Princess of some kind from a bunch of monsters. If you touched the bad guys Arthur would jump out of his armor and run about in his g-string and if he touched them again his bones would jump out of his skin.

Mark Cooksey's music was the grooviest and coolest thing about it, definitely one of the most memorable tunes on C64 (which, surprisingly, had many cool tunes).

Later remade (practically) as Ghouls and Ghosts, which was equally as hard, if not harder as you had to finish it twice to TRULY finish it.

This game was sort of a childhood favorite of mine. I say sort of, because it also was a torturous, taunting nightmare of a game also. The game was brutally difficult...though that is sort of the norm for a game on the Nintendo system. A side scrolling game that is rather unforgiving; however, not as unforgiving as other games because this one allowed you to get hit once before you died getting hit the second time. The game was pretty much an arcade game first, so it is on the short side (though they make you go through the game twice) so it has all these ways to get extra points. Never was a big point fan, other than the Atari, it was kind of pointless...ha ha, get it!?!

The story has you as a knight. He is called Sir Arther, I think. Could be wrong, but what real difference does it make? He is the dude that is going to fight through hordes upon hordes of murderous zombies, dragons, Satan, devils and unicorns...seriously, why did they not call that thing a cyclops? Why must he fight these creatures of the dark world, you ask? Well, apparently he and his girl were about to make out in the local cemetery, when a Satan should appear and abduct the girl! Now, the hero or Arther if you will, must fight through the cemetery, fight through a haunted town and finally venture into the underworld itself to rescue the damsel in distress.

The game is pretty standard for the time period. It did something novel in that if your character gets hit once his armor is knocked off, hit again he is reduced to bones. Other than that it is a go to the left or right and kill everything that gets in your way. You have weapon upgrades, but the best advice anyone can give you is avoid all, but the knife. The knife is the best weapon and without it, your quest becomes even more insanely difficult than it already is with it. Granted, you have to pick up a shield and use it for the final battle, but that knife is the weapon to put you into position to do it. The game has a vast array of enemies to fight; however, a disappointment for me is the lack of variety when it comes to the bosses at the end of the stage. Level 2's boss is simply two level one bosses, level 3 and 4 has the same boss and the level 6 boss is two level 5 bosses.

So the game is hard, but it is winnable. It takes a lot of skill and a good deal of luck, but it is by no means impossible. Honestly, the driving stages in Battletoads caused me more grief and headaches than this game. Level one is a standard first level being somewhat basic to beat with an easy boss. Level 2 is a bit long, but once again nothing all that impossible to get through. The third stage is somewhat hard thanks to the red demons that are positioned in area that make them difficult to avoid when they begin their assault. The fourth stage is the easiest as it is short and the boss is laid out in a way making him ripe for the picking. Stage five is once again an easy stage, however level six is a nightmare! The way some enemies are positioned is quite irritating and very annoying! The final battle though is a breeze. Just be prepared to venture through the game twice to get the really awesome ending...I'm being sarcastic when I describe the ending.

This is one of my favorite video games of all time. This gave is pretty much the start of the Ghouls and Ghosts franchise and it's a very good start. I remember as a kid playing and seeing this in the arcade, I thought it was cool as I'm a fantasy fan and was into "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe".

It's your simple damsel in distress scenario, but it's really in how you rescue her that counts and in this game, you really have your work cut out for you. The graphical presentation I thought is very good, I like how they created a dark fantasy world, which wasn't common at the time this was before games like the "Dark Souls" series. The game always takes place in the night, there are some gothic and even dilapidated structure wherever you pass which adds to the spooky, isolated, and unfriendly atmosphere; this world just has death written all over it as it's just designed to kill you.

The gameplay is solid it's the typical platform action as it's going from point A to B, controls your basic attack and jump but there's nothing wrong with that. You have a decent variety of weapons, my favorite is the shield which you get in the latter levels, I just think it's cool being able to throw shields at your enemies much like Captain America.

Music is also very good there's a solid sum of tracks but the one track that stands out is the one from first level which is practically the theme song of the franchise. I really love that track because it's sort of a combo of a spooky fantasy horror and medieval action adventure tone.

I even like the character designs, which are cool. From the main character, but mainly it's the monsters I really like whom truly are the real stars of the game, hence it's title. I like that they look threatening but at the same time a bit comical much like with those monsters (or should I say fake monsters) in the "Scooby Doo" cartoons. This doesn't just add to the humor but also makes you feel like your playing through a Saturday Morning Cartoon.

There is a good variety of monsters like the zombies that are always in purple wardrobe, little flying demons whom kind of remind me of the Subspecies from that horror film series from Full Moon, just with a wingspan. The red Gargoyles whom is known as Firebrand, Tan colored ogres with a heart sailor tattoo, Venus fly traps that shoot out eyeballs, the list goes on.

And the bosses also look great and in good variety like a Cyclops, Flying Purple Dragon and my favorite Satan. I'm not kidding that is the final bosses name, it's a unique design on Satan (ok it's probably just the genuine article just another monster with that name) as he has a lion like head which consist of blue hair, another face which is on his chest and is wearing a kingly robe.

I really like how the game has a sense of humor, it's not one you take too seriously or take itself seriously. Like those heart tattooed ogres where one of their attacks is to puke maces balls from, the fact each zombie is always in blue attire (it's not like there a Macy's in that world) and just the fact that when you get hit you lose all your armor and have to fight in your boxers.

Yeah, this game is really hard, though that's because the game is actually by it's nature short as it has about six levels with two stages within them, which is to be expected from these games. Though I'll admit I remember the amount of frustration I felt as a kid having to go through the ordeal again and again which is a common staple to these game and most hard games in general.

But despite what I felt I was always still having fun, and the difficulty isn't totally unfair it actually is fair, sometimes when I died it was because I made a misstep, an error in judgement, or failed to do something at a certain time. The game operates on the trial and error principle, you can't expect to get it right the first time. Perseverance in this and the other Ghouls and Ghosts games is the key, if you keep with it long enough you be able to find the way though. I can get though the levels easily, ok not really but not with as many problems as before.

Ghost and Goblins is grave hopping fun.

Rating: 3 and a half stars

Ghosts'n Goblins is one of the most exciting action video games! The characters, the action, scariness, and the sure thrill of excitement makes this game a fun non-stop playing time! Below is a brief look how I think the game is!

Game Play: The game play is very good. There is really basic controls here and is easy to perform. Novice gamers should have a good time here!

Graphics: The graphics are wonderful especially for the Nintendo System! The backgrounds are really beautiful!

Difficulty: The game is easy but as it goes on you find out that it will become more difficult!

Music: The music is great! Just fantastic catchy tunes through out the game! In My opinion its some of the best music ever in a video game!

Sound: The sound is great. Nuff said!

Overall: I have always loved Ghosts'n Goblins! If you like spooky and fighting action adventure games then I strongly recommend you play this game!

To purchase this video game check out Amazon.com!