Fans of classic Capcom games were in for a pleasant surprise during The Game Awards when a Ghosts'n Goblins reimagining, titled Ghosts 'n Goblins: Resurrection, was revealed with a new trailer. This is a huge deal due to how little attention Capcom has been giving their older franchises as of recent, outside of Street Fighter and Devil May Cry.
The Ghosts 'n Goblins series is often hailed as one of the most difficult games ever, with many comparing the original game to Dark Souls. With the remake set to release next year, here's a breakdown of the classic Capcom game and why so many are excited to see it return.
The Plot of Ghosts 'n Goblins
As it was originally an arcade game, the plot of Ghosts 'n Goblins is fairly simplistic. The player takes control of a knight named Arthur, who is on a quest to save Princess Guinevere from a demon lord by the name of Astaroth. Arthur progresses through a series of dark locations, such as a graveyard and a version of Camelot infested by demons.
Ghosts 'n Goblins: Ressurection isn't just a reimagining of the original game. The game's sequel, Ghouls 'n Ghosts, is also stated to be part of Ressurection. The plot is fairly similar, with Arthur questing to defeat Lucifer and free the souls that the demon lord has captured, which includes the soul of Princess Guinevere.
It's The Dark Souls of Arcade Games
"It's the Dark Souls of..." is a phrase that's thrown around a lot when talking about difficult games. More times than not, this kind of statement often only considers the surface-level difficulty of the Soulsbourne series without taking why the game is difficult into consideration. However, calling Ghosts 'n Goblins the Dark Souls of arcade games is no exaggeration, though it may be more fitting to call it the King's Field of arcade games.
Much like Dark Souls, Ghosts 'n Goblins requires players to learn from their mistakes and master the game's movement systems. Arthur can take a total of three hits before dying, with death setting the player character back at either the start of the map or at the midway checkpoint. Dying costs a life, and once the player loses three lives, they must start the game over from the beginning.
Ghosts n' Goblins is all about learning from past mistakes and recognizing enemy patterns, all whilst finding new weapons and items along the way. The game is strikingly similar to what a 2D Dark Souls might've looked like on the NES. Even the setting and monster designs look similar to those fought by The Chosen Undead.
The game is famously difficult
Ghosts 'n Goblins has a reputation as one of the hardest games ever made for a very good reason. The main source of difficulty comes down to the lives and damage system, as certain traps will one-shot Arthur regardless of how many hits he's already taken. The player can only earn extra lives by hitting a score of 20,000, 70,000 and then every 70,000 points after that.
The player also has a time-limit to be aware of, as failing to complete a level before the timer runs out will result in Arthur losing a life. Losing three lives leads to a complete game over, forcing the player to start over from the beginning of the game. Much like with Dark Souls, the challenge the game provides is one that's meant to be overcome through practice, which is what so many fans love this series for.
There's a New Game+
Though this would be long before the term "New Game+" was coined, Ghosts 'n Goblins has one of the earlier examples of a second playthrough that offers a harder difficulty. However, whilst this mode is optional in most games, it's actually required to see Ghost 'n Goblins' ending. Once the player completes the game for the first time, they'll be told that the "final" boss they just defeated was actually an illusion and the player will respawn at the start of the first level.
Ghosts 'n Goblins has some mercy, as getting a game over after beating the game once doesn't send the player back to the previous difficulty, only back to the start of New Game+. However, according to some users, the NES and Arcade version of Ghosts 'n Goblins don't ever stop looping. The game increases various enemy stats to provide a harder experience each time the player beats the game.