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SUPER GHOULS & GHOSTS Company: Capcom Released: November 1991 Genre: Side-Scroller Graphics: 9.0 Control: 8.5 Sound/Music: 8.0 Storyline: 7.5 Review by: Corbie Dillard ©2008 SUPER-NES.COM

If ever there was a video game that could humble even the most expert of game players it's the Ghouls & Ghosts series of games. Right off hand I can't think of a more challenging or just plain difficult video game. The truth is, it's honestly a great game that has a lot going for it, but it seems that with each new release of the game Capcom not only doesn't turn down the difficulty a notch or two, but they actually increase it. Over the years the Ghosts & Goblins and Ghouls & Ghosts games have become one of the more popular game series, but those who are prone to frustration or controller-throwing fits, should probably leave this one alone. It's one difficult game to be sure. Since this was one of the first games released for the Super NES, you would think that it wouldn't be that graphically impressive. Somehow Capcom was able to syphon quite a bit of processing power out of the SNES, even this early on, as Super Ghouls & Ghosts has some high quality visuals. There's the trademark Mode-7 used in different places, some very impressive transparency effects, and a great amount of detail in almost every area of the game. There are a few occurences of slowdown, but it normally clears up pretty fast, and given the high degree of difficulty of the game, you'll almost be relieved when these times of slowdown occur just so you can survive what's going on around you. Most of the bosses are enormous, and there's generally at least two levels of scrolling moving in the background, all of which look pretty impressive. Let's just say that Super Ghouls & Ghosts continues the tradition of previous G&G games with it's vibrant and detailed visuals. Anyone that's ever played one of the Ghouls & Ghosts games is going to immediately recognize the music in this game. It's mostly remixes of past Ghouls tunes, and done rather well I must say. You'll notice not only tunes from the Sega Genesis game Ghouls & Ghosts, but also a few tunes from the old 8-bit NES game Ghosts & Goblins. This was really the first SNES game that impressed me as far as showing off the power of the Super Nintendo's much-touted sound chip. The music is mostly symphony-style music with the usual spooky overtones to it. Not that it really matters, because you're going to have enough to concentrate on in the game without worrying about listening to the music much. Overall very well done, especially for a side scroller. You may notice that I gave the game a 6.5 for this category and now I'll explain why. For starters, I've always been on the fence regarding the control style used in this series of games. When is Capcom going to ever use a more current style of play control and allow Arthur to be controlled and moved around in mid-air. As always, when you jump Arthur he jumps the same heighth and the same distance forward every time. And once you commit to a jump, there's no turning back or changing direction after you've hit the button. This can make some of the platforming elements in the game extremely tedious and frustrating until you get used to it, and that's if you ever do get used to it. At least this time around you do have the ability to double-jump which does at least allow you to change Arthur's direction upon pressing jump again after the first jump. This at least makes it a tad easier, but not much. As in previous G&G games, Arthur has the ability to throw a variety of weapons including Lances, Knives, Fireballs, and even Crossbow Bolts. Believe me you're gonna need every bit of that firepower and then some. What makes this game so insanely difficult is that your knight Arthur can only take two hits. The first hit knocks him out of his armor, leaving him in only his bare undies, and the second hit turns him into a pile of bones. As I said earlier, if you're easily frustrated my advice is stay away from this game. Stay far, far away from it. I've seen many a controller go flying at the wall from people attempting to play this game, and even my normally calm self once stomped one into little bitty peices. No joke. Despite the high level of difficulty of this game, it's always remained one of my favorites. I've had the sincere honor of actually playing through the game not once, but twice in order to beat the game. It was also over a year before I picked it up again to play. It's a game that looks great, sounds great, plays decently, and is harder than sticking a bowling ball up your ass, to beat. Play this one at your own risk...and your controller's own risk for that matter. A great but difficult game.