Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts (SNES) - Part 2

Previously, Arthur meet Princes Prin Prin then she kidnapped by flying demon. Arthur goes to rescue her through hazards, demons, ghosts, and Firebrand/Red Arremer. That's always the premise of Ghost 'n Goblins game. What else did you expect? Anyway, Arthur reaches stage 6 now.

 

What's worse than boss rush? That's right! Firebrand/Red Arremer rush.  This stage is filled with 3 of him and you're forced to defeat them. Running away just make things worse. But i discover something amazing. Like Hercules slay Stymphalian Bird on his 12 task story, i slay Firebrand/Red Arremer with arrows. They're not dipped in poison first, mind you. As long as he's on top part of the screen you can hit him with arrow quite easily.

The bird is back but he only serves as equivalent of Castlevania's White Dragon. Scout_domination15.wav

 

The boss is Astaroth that once a final boss of the first game now being demoted to boss 3rd final boss. Pretty sucks to be him. But his bottom face looks cheerful even though it chin doubles as crotch. Imagine if your genitalia is in your chin! Ok, i'm sorry for horrible illustration. Anyway, Astaroth here can shoot laser from his head's mouth and his stomach's mouth can breathes fire. Both attack has rather strong tracking. You can only hurt him by attacking -you guess it- his head. Therefore the bow is perfect weapon for this boss fight.

The bird's head also appears in next level but this time it appears more than once and has ability to puke blue fireball.

After passing ghosts, i encounter Astaroth again! But this time there's ditch and he can't walk into it so he can't corner you with his big body like in previous opportunity.  

After Astaroth defeated, i have to fight King Astaroth. He wears crown so he must be the king, right? Unlike his vassal, King Astaroth's attacks have fixed angle/direction therefore you don't need to bait his attack to dodge it. You can duck under the triple laser. When he shoot fire stream (which is twice longer than Astaroth's fire breath), you move out of its way. He naturally has bigger health than Astaroth but keep chucking arrows into his head and he eventually explodes.

"...also wear more cloth, please!" So he needs this Goddess' Bracelet to defeat the final boss. So i need to find this bracelet. But where can i find it?

 

On those previous stages, of course. This is what i mean with the real stage count is twice from what it looks like. To be more accurate, 7 X 2 and plus 1 which means 15 stages total. It's not that i miss the bracelet on my way to penultimate stage, no. The goddess' jewelry is unlocked on 2nd loop so the stage repetition is inevitable. At least, i get opportunity to talk about this section full of vine on 1st stage. It's filled with foreground vines (obviously), flying explosive flesh that comes out of thin air, and flaming bone cart. The cart only moves on slopes and there's sudden terrain change everywhere.

I remember one of speedrunner for this game recommend the upgraded bow weapon and it's proven. The upgrade version of bow fire 3 arrows that homing on enemies! Sniper_mvm_loot_rare01.wav

If you get the golden armor, next chest that should contains armor will contains blue shield instead. It can block enemy's projectile as long as you don't move. Unlike the yellow shield that come up along with golden armor, it doesn't break after successful block. The armor upgrades are all worth to have but keep in mind that obtaining them is extremely hard. Not only you mustn't take even one hit in levels where everything is eager to damage you relentlessly but also all the chests are hidden. They are revealed once you reach some certain point in the screen. So you have to jump around the screen while dodging enemy's attack and hope that you trigger the chest somehow and somewhere. Plus the chest can contain jester demon as i mentioned before, instead of armor or weapon.

I find a fairy within a chest. If i take long enough to get her, she turns into bracelet! That means she's the bracelet that the Princess Prin Prin talked about so i take her. I'm going to miss you, bow. -_-

 

With the bracelet equipped, i can throw magic energy ball and i quite regret that decision because it has limited range and i can only have 1 projectile at a time. Even with the golden armor equipped, the magic bracelet aren't upgraded and doesn't have the special magic. On the brighter side, you don't miss anything good from the weapon with upgraded armor.  

 

I forget to tell you that sometime opening chest reveals a bear trap as you can side on left side. It's probably the lamest form of trap as it stays there and does nothing. It only works if some doofus runs hastily toward opened chest...or a bear. That's why it called bear trap, you know?  

 

I take a risk by getting another weapon for show off. People believe that the torch is the worst weapon. The mechanism of the weapon is: you throw torch in short distance and fire will burn the ground where the torch lands and you must wait for the fire to die before throwing another torch leaving you defenseless. On contrary with Castlevania's holy water that has the same mechanism but it's considered the best weapon in that game. That's because Simon Belmont (or any Belmont or even Alucard) can performs melee attack while Arthur can't do anything else but dodge. All thing considered, the torch has some strength. It potentially deal most damage than other weapon. The upgraded version of it can create blue flame pillars. While its special magic is 3 orb that surrounds you which is perfect for defensive method.

 

The magic bracelet deals damage varies to distance between Arthur and enemies. The closer it is, the bigger damage. He can defeat Firebrand/Red Arremer with 2-3 projectiles  of the magic weapon but good luck hitting the infamous demon with it! I think the key to defeat it is to react in counter manner. Taking initiative usually doesn't work unless using bow weapon. Wait for him to swoop down at you and act accordingly. As for Astaroth, he's much easier target obviously.

 

I found out the difference between the real chest and the fake ones that contains little ghost. The real in bottom has more contrast color and bigger lock. Also the fake ones like to jump by its own. Creepy!   

 

This what happens if you beat the King Astaroth second time while not using Goddess' bracelet. The game kicks you to the start of this level but at least the princess gives you "Good Luck" expression for finding the bracelet and not being pushy jerk unlike me.

 

I realize that if you crouch at the of this ditch like this you will be save from both triple wide laser and the long fire stream. If you do this, you can cut the distance between you and King Astaroth big time than standing at the other end of the ditch. Thus you can retaliate faster and it's important. Did i mention that there's timer on this game? Because there's one. It takes much longer time to defeat this big boss by using bow compare to using magic bracelet. So the magic bracelet isn't complete bust.

 

Here's the final boss The Demon King with unthreatening name: Sardius. In fact, his name makes me crave for canned sardines. This final boss is stupidly easy. He launch glass platform from his stomach's mouth that you need to ride on so you can hit his head. Don't be faltered by Danmaku-like style laser that he shoot from his mouth! If you keep crouching while riding the flying platform, you will be fine. Once you near his head, jump and throws the magical thingamajig at his face and then wait for next platform. Rinse and Repeat. It doesn't take long time to destroy him. Because i have measly gaming skill, i'm sure you can do this easily too.

 

Even i didn't know that the bracelet is powerful weapon but i knew that it's the raison d'être for second loop from some wiki page. So, yeah. Like in other Ghosts 'n Goblins game, Arthur get a kiss from the princess for the good ending. It's sensible course of action. You don't want to make love in palace full of violent demons, do you?  

 

Then there's character cast. So the bird is Cockatrice, huh? He doesn't have stare that cause death to anyone who look at him. But if you stare him long enough, he suddenly stretch his neck and peck at you until die. Fair enough. The green Astaroth with crown turns out to be Nebiroth or maybe Naberius. Sadly there's no cast for that coral demon or ice demon. I'm curious what their name are.

 

Then Arthur along with Princess ride on the horse. Credit rolls and everyone is happy including that horse. Maybe he's saved from turning into demon's snack just in time.

 

Yes. There will be Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins on PSP but that's another story.

Capcom's Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts (1991) is Ghosts 'n Goblins exclusive for SNES and apparently the continuation of Ghouls 'n Ghosts on arcade cabinet. It has more improvement than the predecessor but lose important basic feature in return: ability to aim up and down. If i'll be harsh, that's on purpose because every Ghosts 'n Goblins'  selling point is the cruelty and agonizing difficulty so they can't be bothered to fix that. I can understand why they don't fix the Arthur's flight. Maybe altering the jump move is complex than it looks. But aiming up or down should be manageable because they add it in  Ghouls 'n Ghosts! Moreover in Super Castlevania IV on the same console as this game, Simon Belmont can whips vertically and diagonally even! But there's fun feature in this game such as armor and weapon upgrade. The arsenal range from good to cumbersome. I think axe and scythe are lack of damage power to be recommended. The mandatory magic weapon is hard to use but with precise shooting it can be very powerful weapon. The armor system is less friendly than in Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins. Whatever  armor type you equip, it will breaks with one hit leaving Arthur with his underwear. But as this is the first game that implement more than 2 armor type so i let it passes. The timer is fairly generous. Couple it with short stages (on later part), it feels not pressing on you too hard and rather friendly. The music are fairly dimmed but can be noticeable especially the famous Makaimura theme on first level. The presentation is pretty good. The stage's visual, sound effect, and enemy design are well mixed. But i'm disappointed with boss design which is in lower level than Castlevania's boss design. The base design of bosses look like made by staff's children that tell being told to draw "monster". On the other hand, Castlevania's boss design has more engaging look. Fine. Let's have more reasonable comparison! Demon's Crest boss design is definitely better than in this game.

Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts (1991) is highly difficult platformer game as usual in the series. There's certainly good gameplay elements on it but you must have big patience and skill to get them. I can only recommend this game to hardcore platformer gamer or fans of the series. Or even Firebrand/Red Arremer fans. I like him too but not good enough to finish his game: Demon's Crest, mind you.

Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts (SNES) - Part 1

I finished all Cuphead's bosses in Hard difficulty and i still love Capcom even though i haven't played Devil May Cry 5. Those mean i have to play one of Ghost 'n Goblin game. Or is it just me? To spice things up, i will play the one that i haven't finished yet. It's Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts (1991) that's exclusive for Super Nintendo console only! 

I have no idea why Capcom keep using that Blue Demon as the logo throughout the series. It's definitely not the infamous Firebrand/Red Arremer or so i think. Some wiki page tells the otherwise even though Firebrand/Red Arremer has red color all over his skin. What if, just what if. The logo demon represents Capcom itself because Capcom logo is blue! *gasp* Or just the producer of this game.

 

The option setting is pretty standard for 90s game. Changing the game difficulty level to higher than normal is very inadvisable because the game is well-known for its rock-solid or maybe steel-solid difficulty. What really bothers me is the life count setting that is common for its time. Of course, i want the maximum amount of life! Maybe it's for cases like "I want have some quick fun so i only need 1 life" or no-miss challenger. But that's extremely rare case at the time.   

 

The game starts with Arthur (the protagonist knight) run to castle through fireworks festival. Citizens are fixated with fireworks while those 2 guards just stand still stoned and let Arthur passes them easily. Maybe they're festival's statues and not real human.

 

Then Arthur meet the princess Prin Prin and have some lovely reunion. Like in first Ghosts 'n Goblins, a big red demon flies in and kidnaps the princess. This what you got if your castle security (that only consists of 2 festival statues) is very lacking, you highness. Put some anti-demon barrier, AA guns, or something!

 

Before the level starts, you will be presented with the map of all stages. I see there's 7 levels but wait! We're talking about Ghosts 'n Goblin game here! The real count could be the twice of it! For those who are new about Ghosts 'n Goblin series, the game doesn't end with finishing the final level. You will be forced to play the same levels again once more to see the ending with some difficulty boost. This "trick" is adopted by Taito in Saint Sword's gameplay design. With double playthrough and aggravating difficulty, no wonder Ghosts 'n Goblin series is considered hardcore game but it becomes cult classic to some people. Finishing a Ghosts 'n Goblin game sounds tedious task but don't you worry! I play Mobile Legends that filled with toxicity and frustration experience, everyday. Making playing Dark Soul 2 feels like a walk in a park so my mental is -more or less- ready for this game. Also savestate is at my disposal like usual.

Like its kin, Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts is 2D platformer with spooky theme. But unlike Konami's Castlevania, Arthur the protagonist doesn't whip enemies. He hurl lances by default, instead. Clearly he has better attack range than any Belmont by comparison but that's the only braggable thing that Arthur has. As you can see in controller setting, Arthur can jump and shoot, and that's pretty much of it. Looks like Capcom underutilize the capability of SNES' controller by only have 2 action button implemented but as they said "if it isn't broke, don't fix it!"

 

You can't control Arthur while he's in air, and he can't aim up or down like its predecessor game Ghouls 'n Ghosts. So the word "Super" on the game's title, sounds baffling except it implies that the game only for Super Nintendo console and i can't argue with that. But there's more to it. First, Arthur can do double jump from beginning! I can't recall any game that doesn't implement double jump at the start for the time except this game. So it's big something. Medic_positivevocalization01.wav   

 

Other thing that proves the superness of the title is: this green armor. Once Arthur dons it, his weapon become powered version of the original. For example, the default lance becomes this lance with jet booster. It deals more damage but he can only throws 1 projectile at a time instead of 2 like the original lance.   

 

There's a section in the level where a tide rises and then falls into you. You will die unless you stand on these rock pillars. The idea is they're more solid ground than the soil that they remain stand still and serves as your safe footing. This reminds me a boss battle of Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia where this mermaid/sea demon summon a tide on you and you have to take shelter inside the rock pillars.

 

The first boss is this giant bird. The reason why he's half naked probably because he was half-way boiled inside a cauldron by other demons for dinner but the head honcho demon suddenly decide to give him task to deal with Arthur instead. Either way, he will practically dies. He can only stretches his neck to peck Arthur hopefully. Hit his head several times and he will die. Strange thing is: his attack only that beak attack as i remember. But this time he can occasionally spit eggs that later spawn his kids. Maybe if i wear this green armor, the boss will have one more move. Therefore the game gives you slight fairness if you don't get the special armor.  

 

The bosses always drop key that unlock end of level's gate, after their demise. I think the gate unlocking part is half-baked. But "Searching randomly spawned chest in the middle of difficult stage, to find key to end level" sounds really awful. Good thing i never been in Capcom's developer team. I might suggest horrible idea one after another in Capcom's game development.

 

2nd stage takes place in ship graveyard and the game decides to prove the "ghosts" part of the title. I appreciate that but i don't think swinging blades that can be found throughout the level, are necessary because they're unrelated and annoying. Mostly, annoying.

Oh, shoot! A small ghost that comes out from chest got my special armor! If you don't know about the life system in any Ghost 'n Goblin game, i can make some quick recap about it. Arthur can withstand 2 hits. First hit will break his armor making him knocked back while wearing only his underwear. If Arthur get hit while he wears no armor, he will turns into skeleton and die. Do mind that Arthur can get killed immediately after his armor break by Ninja Gaiden's "trick"! Some people think the system is frustrating But in aesthetic point of view, it's amusing. Not many knight still go forward dauntlessly while in boxer short and the death animation gives humorous vibe instead of horror. Plus the sound effect of both armor break and death are really funny. So i rarely feels deeply frustrated when get hit. I even chuckle a bit.     

 

If not for that monstrous ship. The game could be mistaken for "Adventure of A Lost Surfer" or any possible heartwarming title. In this section, the tide rises and falls allowing you to move up and down to pass the hazard harmlessly or get item like that bow & arrow for instance. There's other weapon that you can pick up, some are good and some are bad. Mostly bad. Bow & arrow shoot arrows (obviously, duh!) that much faster than lance in 2 direction: diagonal & shallower diagonal. See the problem there? There's no arrow that flies straight horizontally! So you will have a bad time aiming enemies in front of you at the same height, which is obviously troublesome.

 

Here's what Arthur becomes when dies. A pile of lifeless bones which is pretty iconic. Capcom also use this death animation in Pocket Fighter/Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix along with Megaman's orb explosion. The raft follows Arthur so you don't need to worry about drowning. Apparently, it has the same technology use in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle's hoverboard. So you only need to focus on  spiky reefs, spitting anemone, and any aquatic monster.

The boss is this coral monster that can spawn projectiles but can be easily and swiftly defeated with knife weapon. So James Rolfe's (A.K.A Angry Video Games Nerd) advice proves well which is "Get the knife!". The knife deal less damage than lance but you can throw 3 of them at the times and flies very faster too. Because of its high fire rate, the knife is perfect to stunlock bosses. Sniper_meleedare01.wav   

 

3rd stage takes place in this cavern where they produce lil' devil from lava furnace around here. Fairly adorable if you ask me.

It also home to these fire bears. But he doesn't know about "Don't bring a firebreath into knife fight!" Especially if the knife is upgraded to laser knife. 8D

The platforming section in this stage is no less challenging than in previous stage. You have to navigate this spiked conveyor belt made of meat and bone and these stone pillars that erect from lava river. You need perfect plan and timing to jump from pillar to pillar. As i have mentioned before, Arthur is stiff while jumping. Although you can use the second jump to alter his jumping but not by much.

 

Soldier_negativevocalization04.wav. It's the infamous Firebrand/Red Arremer, sitting there while cynically judging Arthur's new look. While sitting, he's easy target...for only 1 hit. Once he's flying, he's hard to hit like imagine if you try to swat a mosquito that has been injected with steroid and you get the idea.      

Therefore i'm running away from him and he relentlessly chases me. His stubbornness could be inspiration for Nemesis in Resident Evil 3. So i keep running for several screen...

...until i find the golden armor that allow me to conjure magic dragon! I believe this is the same golden armor with Ghost 'n Goblin arcade game which is essential for true ending. By holding the shoot button and release it after the weapon indicator is flashing, will unleash magic depends on equipped weapon. Lance's magic is lightning that come down to Arthur and then travels left and right. Bow's magic is revealing hidden chest within a screen.

Not every chest contain good thing, more often than not a jester demon appears that can turn Arthur into quite fine lady. I thought this what happen to The Blue Saber but on closer inspection lady Arthur there more resembles to Alice Margatroid instead.

This time the boss stage is demon worm that like to spin around Arthur with some occasion spits rock that will come after him. If you stand still you won't get hit by the demon's body but you have to hit his head to damage him which can be tricky. The magic dragon that come from knife, moves fairly erratic and sometime can hit the boss' head.  

 

Next stage is cavern that made by flesh and teeth. There's section when Arthur stand on a platform that turn to cage and the level rotates by itself to reveal next path. This is like in the level of Super Castlevania IV where Simon hang into a hook and level rotates! But the level is less tooth-y for sure.

On next section, Arthur travel on a moving platform in auto-scrolling section. This reminds me of that section in Hagane but the protagonist is on hoverboard instead of long platform. I notice that compare to 1st or 2nd level, this level is less busy with enemies but the hazards are located accurately so that they can harm you with high accuracy. I call these annoying section "gua kentut iblis" (translate: demonic fart cavern)    

 

The stage boss is 3-headed Hydra. I know what you're thinking. For Hydra this monster lacks of 6 more heads, yeah. But that's what Capcom defines Hydra. See another 3-headed Hydra in King of The Dragon game if you don't believe me. The boss is significantly easier than the entire stage. The monster spit fireball and sometime split itself into smaller demons to move to other side, that's it. This boss has the same weakpoint as the giant worm: their 3 heads.

 

On to 4th stage. After traveling through snowy forest that inhabited by ice flowers which are the equivalent of flaming skull in 1st stage, i reach the ice cavern and encounter icy vines that grow by themselves and flying knight demon that can only be harmed from behind.

 

Then i met another Firebrand/Red Arremer and i get killed by one of the wolves while running away from him. He doesn't get the kill but he jigs anyway. He's one cheerful bastard.

There's section where avalanche occurs and you have to either get on higher ground or grab ladder, to save yourself. I haven't encountered avalanche myself but i don't think clinging to ladder within its coverage, can save you from it. The idea sounds bad to me.

 

What's the proper boss in ice level other than ice demon? My thought. The boss can shoot ice dust that can freezes you temporarily (and you have to mash the shoot button to break away from frozen status), or throw his arm twice. Again, his weakpoint is: his head. To be continue on next part. Speaking of continue...

 

You don't get unlimited continue like in NES version of Ghosts 'n Goblin or Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblin. But there's a way to get extra continue. You see that money bag counter on left-bottom corner? For every 10 money bags collected, you get extra continue or so i believe. But the credit counter will increases, that's for sure. So the game is quite generous with continue. There's also the usual "Getting score high enough, will yield extra life". But compare to 1 life, 1 credit is more valuable and important.