Ghouls ‘n Ghosts

Developer: NEC Avenue     Publisher: NEC Avenue     Released: July 27, 1990     Genre: Platformer

The Turbo Grafx-16, much like the Genesis, was home to many arcade ports.  Many of these were arcade perfect or close.  But by 1991 the system was showing its age.  The Supergrafx was NEC’s answer to this problem.  Unfortunately it was one of the biggest failures in the industry with a mere seven games total.  But those seven games are pretty amazing.  Ghouls ‘n Ghosts was the star of the lineup, a purported perfect port of Capcom’s arcade classic.  It doesn’t quite live up to that but was the best version of the game at the time.

Even though the Supergrafx never left Japan there was still an air of mystery and hype surrounding it.  Most notably EGM spent many an article espousing the quality of a purported Strider port.  I dare say they might have been the ones to over hype it.  The majority would not get to see it for themselves until the new millennium with the rise of import shops and more importantly emulation.  What we learned is that Ghouls ‘n Ghosts significantly improves on the Genesis port while also suffering from flaws of its own.  It is the better of the two but not worth the three or four hundred dollars needed for the system and game at this point.

The presentation is the main reason anyone is interested in this version of the game.  Ghouls ‘n Ghosts is on an 8-megabit Hucard versus the Sega version’s 4.  With the added space many of the background details omitted from that version have returned.  Stacked up against the arcade there is less detail at times; there are less crucified bodies on stage one and the gargoyle statues are missing their claws.  But as a whole it looks great.  The music does not fare as well however.  The compositions are different and this is an area where the Sega game comes out on top.  The sound effects are also similarly weak.

Ghouls ‘n Ghosts featured a number of improvements over its predecessor.  Arthur can attack in four directions, an ability I wish carried over to Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts.  The number of weapons has been expanded although the usefulness of some is questionable.  The axe is strong but is thrown at a 45° angle.  Outside of stage three it is more or less useless.  The sword I’m of two minds about.  In a game where you want to kill enemies from long range due to Arthur’s fragility it seems suicidal to use.  But it is twice as strong as most weapons.  With skill it is effective.  The discus might be the best weapon in the game but is sadly rare.  There is no point breaking down the psycho cannon since it is mandatory.

The gold armor muddies these rankings up somewhat.  With the gold armor each weapon produces a different magic attack.  Some of these are devastating, like the sword’s thunder dragon attack.  The dagger’s mirror images are my personal favorite.  But their usefulness is questionable.  With the frequency of enemy spawns the charge spells aren’t worth bothering with.  They make boss battles shorter but outside of Ohme I never found any to be that difficult.

Although Ghouls ‘n Ghosts has five levels you will spend a lot of time on each one.  While it doesn’t have the rigid pacing of Castlevania it is similar in that every step needs consideration.  It is at odds with the game’s pace which is faster than the first game.  Ghouls ‘n Ghosts relies on gotcha style level design that works in the arcade but are frustrating at home.  The first run is tolerable, but the second loop to reach the true ending is especially infuriating.  This version is even worse than the others for a different reason however.

Ghouls ‘n Ghosts was already a difficult game as is.  The Supergrafx version is actually more difficult, mainly because credits are few.  Playing through the game twice to reach its conclusion is already hard as it is.  But doing so with a few continues is a complete slap in the face.  The unlimited continues in the Genesis version allowed you to make mistakes and slowly learn the level layout and enemy placement.  Here you need to be near perfect to do the first loop, let alone the second.  I am honestly baffled at this decision as it hurts the game.

In Closing

Ghouls ‘n Ghosts for the Supergrafx is a great port of a great arcade game.  Short of the later Capcom Classics collections and X68000 version this was the best home port of the game for its time.  That being said there are cheaper arcade perfect versions of this game now. Unless you are a completionist this remains a novelty.