Ghouls 'n Ghosts

Infobox VG
title = Ghouls 'n Ghosts


caption = Promotional flyer for the original arcade iteration of "Ghouls 'n Ghosts"
developer = Capcom
publisher = Capcom
designer = Tokuro Fujiwara
S. Yoshimoto
H. Yamamoto
release = December, 1988
genre = Hack and slash, Platform game
modes = Single player, multiplayer
platforms = Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation, SuperGrafx, Sega Master System, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Virtual Console, ZX Spectrum
cabinet = Upright
arcade system = CPS-1
display = Raster, standard resolution, horizontal orientation
input = 8-way joystick, 2 buttonsnihongo|"Ghouls 'n Ghosts"|大魔界村|Dai Makaimura|lit. "Great Demon World Village" is a platform game/run and gun developed by Capcom and released as an arcade game in 1988, and subsequently ported to a number of other platforms. It is the sequel to "Ghosts 'n Goblins", and forerunner to the Super NES game "Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts".

Gameplay

The gameplay for "Ghouls n' Ghosts" is similar to that of "Ghosts 'n Goblins". The player controls the knight Arthur, who must advance through a series of eerie levels and defeat a number of undead and demonic creatures in his quest to restore the souls stolen by Lucifer (Loki in the English-language Sega Genesis and Sega Master System versions), including the soul of his lover, Princess Prin Prin. Along the way, Arthur can pick up a variety of weapons and armor to help him in his quest.

While the core gameplay remains the same as its predecessor, the game now allows Arthur to fire directly upward and directly downward.

By jumping in certain spots, players can cause a treasure chest to erupt from the ground. By firing his weapon at the chest, players may uncover new weapons, gold armor or an evil magician that changes Arthur into an elderly man or a helpless duck. The gold armor allows players to charge up the weapon to release a powerful magical attack. Each armor as its own special attack.

Music

The original soundtrack for the arcade version was composed by Tamayo Kawamoto. Many computer ports of the game include the soundtrack by Tim Follin which consists of arrangements and some new songs. Follin's soundtrack — especially Commodore 64, Atari ST (which both implement each machines' 'chiptune' synthesizers although the selection of pieces and some scoring differs slightly between computers) and Amiga versions (of which the playlist is again slightly different) - is respected among computer game music listeners and also got appreciation from reviewers when the game was published.

Ports

* Ports of "Ghouls 'n Ghosts" were released in Europe in vgy|1989 for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. These ports were all handled by Software Creations and all omit a great deal of detail from the arcade version even on very capable 16-Bit machines like the Amiga (smaller sprites with chopped animation and color rendition, inferior quality background graphics with no parallax scrolling, reduced gameplay area, stuttering frame-rate, and much more).
* A Mega Drive/Genesis port of "Ghouls 'n Ghosts" was also released by Sega in vgy|1989 in Japan, North America and Europe. The Mega Drive /Genesis version omits color and background graphic detail from the arcade version, as well as the the opening intro. This version was re-released as a handheld TV game with "" in vgy|2005 and as a downloadable Virtual Console game for the Wii in vgy|2007 .
* Sega also released a Master System port in vgy|1990. This 8-bit version features an exclusive power-up system that allows player to enter secret areas and upgrade parts of their armor. This includes helmets which gives the player access to new weapons and magic spells; chest armor which extends the player's energy points; and boots which increases the player's speed.
* The Supergrafx port of "Daimakaimura" released by NEC Avenue in vgy|1990 was one of the five games released for the short-lived system.
* A pixel perfect version of "Daimakaimura" was released by Capcom in 1994 for the Sharp X68000.
* In vgy|1998, Capcom released "Capcom Generation 2" for the PlayStation and Saturn in Japan, a compilation which included "Ghouls 'n Ghosts" along with "Ghosts 'n Goblins" and "Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts". The PlayStation version of this compilation was released as a bundle in Europe with three other volumes titled "Capcom Generations" (in plural) under the title of "Capcom Generations: Chronicles of Arthur". Capcom later released in North America "Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 1" for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in vgy|2005 and "Capcom Classics Collection: Reloaded" for the PlayStation Portable in vgy|2006, which includes all the "Capcom Generations" titles.

References

External links

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* [http://amigamuseum.emu-france.com/Fichiers/sites/ghouls_n_ghosts/ "Ghouls 'n Ghosts" Dossier Titan] (French fan page)
* [http://gngseries.retrogames.com/ The Ghosts 'n Goblins Series Online]
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