Ghosts 'N Goblins

Ghosts 'N Goblins

Arcade - USA - Cabinet - Taito.

Developer Capcom Publisher Capcom, Taito Published 1985-09-19 Platforms Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Arcade, Atari ST, BREW, Commodore 16, Commodore 64, DoJa, DOS, FM-7, NES, PC-8800, Windows Mobile, ZX Spectrum Genres Platform shooter, Platformer, Shooter Themes Fantasy, Horror Series Ghosts 'N Goblins Multiplayer Alternating versus Distribution Commercial

Ghosts 'N Goblins is a Gothic fantasy-themed platform shooter video game developed and published by Capcom originally for the arcade on 1985-09-19 as the first game in the Ghosts 'N Goblins series. As it is a pioneer in the genre, the game became quite popular and was ported to about a dozen other platforms.

In Ghosts 'N Goblins, you control Arthur who must rescue princess Prin Prin who has been kidnapped by demons.

The NES port was published on 1986-06-13, and, like with Capcom's other early games for the console, they outsourced the port to Micronics who made a faithful, yet inferior product. This is a shame because, in a years time, Capcom discovered the wisdom, not only of programming their NES ports in-house, but also retooling their arcade games to better suit the home console.

Personal

Own?	Yes. NES USA.
Won?	No.

I learned about Ghosts 'N Goblins because of its inclusion in The Official Nintendo Player's Guide, but I never played the game in its heyday, not in the arcade or on home consoles. Looking back, I'm glad I didn't spend any money on it because it is so obscenely difficult it would only cause me frustration. I have tried my skill at the arcade and NES ports of this game a couple of times, but I always get frustrated and give up. The game has never been that important to me personally, however, I do have to give the game credit for being so influential, both to platform shooters and Gothic fantasy.

Review

4	4	6	6	3

Best Version: Arcade

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• For 1985, the game has really good graphics and sound.
• I like the Gothic fantasy theme.
• Though it has many faults, this is one of the first platform shooters, and it pioneered a lot of elements of the genre.
• Having Arthur's armor shatter to reveal his boxers underneath is a good gag, and the death animation is great.
• The NES port thankfully gives you unlimited continues.
• Stage 6 features one of the first boss rushes in video game history, though, with only 3 bosses, it's not that impressive.

Bad

• Being able to only take two hits before dying is not nearly enough for such a difficult game. This could be forgiven if the game was more liberal in rewarding replacement armor, but it's stingy.
• The weapons are not very evenly matched. The dagger is objectively better than the lance, and the torch and axe are both pretty awful.
• Most ground-based enemies are allowed to walk through solid walls, which hurts the immersion.
• The game has terrible engrish.
• The NES port, which was arguably the most played version, is pretty buggy.

Ugly

• The game is stupid difficult; partly because enemies move way too fast, suffer very little knock back, and attack at odd angles, partly because the player is slow and unresponsive. Even on it's easiest setting, the game is very hard, and, if you're good enough to beat it, it unlocks harder modes which are even more ridiculous!
• Punishing players for not keeping an inferior weapon in the last couple stages by sending them back two levels is very mean.
• Requiring players to beat the game multiple times in order to see the proper ending is cruel.
• The home computer ports are especially terrible, and some of them cut out large portions of the game.

Media

Box Art

• 

  Arcade - USA - Cabinet - Taito.

• 

  Arcade - USA - Marquee - Taito. Even more childish, and doesn't even show Arthur.

• 

  Arcade - USA - Bezel - Taito.

• 

  Arcade - USA - Control panel - Taito.

• 

  Arcade - USA - Marquee - Romstar. A bit childish, but effective.

• 

  Arcade - Marquee - Unknown. Very dull.

• 

  Arcade - Instructions.

• 

  Famicom - Japan. A cute painting of Arthur protecting Prin Prin from monsters. Great art, but it makes the game out to be for kids, which it certainly is not.

• 

  Most US releases. Great painting, and my favorite art. Has Arthur and many of the baddies, with Prin Prin held in Astorath's hand. But why is Arthur facing away from all of them?

• 

  European computers used this strange painting. It has the graveyard, zombies, and the eyeball plant, but what's up with the fuzzy cape-clad monster? Is that supposed to be the Red Guard?

• 

  Game Boy Color, USA. Great cartoon, my second favorite. I don't know why they switched the typeface to Serpentine.

Documentation

• 

  Manual - Arcade - USA.

• 

  Manual - Famicom - Japan.

• 

  Manual - Famicom - Japan - Digital.

• 

  Manual - NES - USA.

• 

  Manual - NES - USA - Rev 1.

• 

  Manual - NES - USA - Digital.

• 

  Manual - Europe - 8-bit computers.

• 

  Manual - Europe - 16-bit computers.

• 

  The Official Nintendo Player's Guide - part 1.

• 

  The Official Nintendo Player's Guide - part 2.

• 

  The Official Nintendo Player's Guide - part 3.

• 

  The Official Nintendo Player's Guide - part 4.

• 

  Arcade flyer - Capcom.

• 

  Arcade flyer - Capcom.

• 

  Arcade flyer - Taito.

• 

  The Official Nintendo Player's Guide - blurb.

Maps

• 

  Arcade, overview.

• 

  Arcade, stage 1.

• 

  Arcade, stage 2.

• 

  Arcade, stage 3.

• 

  Arcade, stage 4.

• 

  Arcade, stage 5.

• 

  Arcade, stage 6.

• 

  Arcade, stage 7.

• 

  NES, overview.

• 

  NES, stage 1.

• 

  NES, stage 2.

• 

  NES, stage 3.

• 

  NES, stage 4.

• 

  NES, stage 5.

• 

  NES, stage 6.

• 

  NES, stage 7.

• 

  Commodore 64, stage 1.

• 

  Commodore 64, stage 2.

• 

  Commodore 64, stage 3.

• 

  Commodore 64, stage 4.

• 

  Amstrad CPC.

• 

  ZX Spectrum.

Graphics

• spriters-resource.com/arcade/gng - Arcade.
• spriters-resource.com/nes/ghostsngoblins - NES.
• spriters-resource.com/amstrad_cpc/ghostsngoblins - Amstrad CPC.

Screenshots

• 

  Arcade, stage 1.

Fan Art

• 

  Fan art by Deimon-Remus.

Videos

Angry Video Game Nerd.

Longplay, Amiga.

Longplay, Amstrad CPC.

Longplay, arcade (Japan), all difficulties.

Longplay, arcade (USA).

Longplay, Atari ST.

Longplay, Game Boy Color.

Longplay, DOS.

Longplay, NES.

Longplay, Commodore 64.

Longplay, ZX Spectrum.

Game play, Commodore 16.

Game play, PC-8801.

Play Online

Arcade (Japan), Arcade (USA), Commodore 64, Famicom, MS-DOS, NES

Representation

Strong female character?	Fail	The only woman is a damsel in distress and reward.
Bechdel test?	Fail	The only doesn't talk.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	There are no persons of color.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no queer characters.

Titles

Language	Native	Transliteration	Translation
English	Ghosts 'N Goblins
Japanese	魔界村	Makai Mura	Demon World Village

Links

             

• arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7938 - International Arcade Museum.