When you look at this game today, it's hard to believe that it was one of the very first Megadrive releases. Sega did an amazing job of reprogramming the Capcom arcade original for their 16-bit console - the port isn't quite arcade perfect but you have to look closely to spot the (minor) differences. Graphically it's brilliant, with nice bright colours and some lovely bold sprites. The only seriously negative point is the sprite flicker, which gets quite bad on some of the larger bosses, but this was a common problem in many early Megadrive games so it's forgiveable.
The music is simple, but effective - the main theme is a real classic and will stick in your head for weeks. Sounds effects are also nicely handled.
Set over a series of horizontally (and sometimes vertically) scrolling levels, G'n'G puts you in the armour of Arthur - a bold knight trying to rescue his accident-prone better half. Thankfully there's a wide range of weapons available to assist Art in his quest - lances, knives and throwing stars, to name just three. You can also pick up a suit of gold armour which boosts the attack power of Arthur's projectiles and allows him to release a 'super move' by charging up his power meter. Contact with a baddie results in our plucky hero losing his armour, continuing the fight in nothing but his underpants!
Conclusion
The game certainly packs a stern challenge - once you've completed it you have to go through the levels all over again - a fact that some people may find annoying, but others will love. The G'n'G series is infamous for its difficulty and this conversion is 100% faithful in that respect!
Only bettered by the excellent Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts on the SNES, the game remains one of the best MD platformers and is worth checking out even if you've already downloaded the aforementioned Nintendo classic.
Comments 4
There used to be an invincibility code for this one. In the day I liked to use it just so I could run through the game and see the graphics. Pretty freaking hard game without the code, but not impossible.
This is a pretty challenging game but it has added check points the arcade version did not have which helps ease the difficulty level. Its a great port of the arcade game but the graphics suffer.
There are two difficulty settings in the options "Practice" and "Professional". I would recommend "Practice" mode even for advanced platform gurus- you can beat the game with that setting- and in Round II it gets definitely more than hard enough.
There are unlimited continues and you always start at the last checkpoint. Even after continuing. For example if you loose all your lifes in a boss battle you start directly in front of the boss after continuing. This reduces the frustration level a little bit.
Just been playing this Megadrive version of ghouls n ghosts. Went into it knowing it was a difficult game and didn't know if I was up for it but dived in anyway. Yes, it's a frustrating game. It's best to go into each level and learn a section at a time. You'll die alot, but unlimited continues means you can carry on from checkpoints. The first level isn't that hard once you get to grips with Arthur's move set. The second level with the bouncy heads is incredibly annoying. But bit by bit you start to actually enjoy the challenge and begin to love the game. Recommended
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