Ghosts 'N Goblins

aka: Ghost 'N Goblins, Ghosts 'N Goblins Mobile, Makai-mura
Moby ID: 582
Arcade Specs
Buy on DOS
$97.46 used on eBay
Buy on Game Boy Advance
$224.00 used on Amazon
Buy on Game Boy Color
$312.46 used on eBay
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Conversion (official) Conversion (unofficial) Included in See Also

Description official descriptions

Ghosts 'N Goblins is a sideways scrolling action platformer spread over six levels, each of which must be completed within three minutes (or a life is lost), taking in forest, village, mountain and cavern settings with increasing difficulty.

Arthur the brave knight must rescue his beloved Princess from the Demon King Astaroth and his forces - amongst them are the various undead (ghosts, zombies), bats, ogres and goblins. Other challenges include moving platforms, ladders and water/fire hazards.

The player can walk left and right, jump, and is also equipped with a lance to use as a weapon. Getting hit by enemies causes Arthur to lose his armor and run around in his underpants, getting hit again will cause the player to lose a life. As in most games in this genre, the player can pick up power-ups such as daggers and bombs during the course of the game, giving the player greater firepower.

Spellings

  • Ghosts & Goblins - Alternate spelling
  • 魔界村 - Japanese spelling

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Credits (Arcade version)

This programe is programed by
Sound Composer (uncredited)

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 74% (based on 58 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.4 out of 5 (based on 192 ratings with 5 reviews)

The legendary difficulty of this title is balanced by great gameplay

The Good
This game is a classic because its immense difficulty can bring extraordinary payoffs. Arthur, the hero of the game, seems to be designed to give the player an idea of what it is like to be one of the weak, fragile enemies in other platform games. One hit will knock Arthur backwards and strip him of his armor, leaving him in his red skivvies. Another will reduce him to a pathetic-looking pile of bones. The more difficult enemies require from four to a dozen hits to kill, and, while you are facing these, innumerable weaker enemies that die with one hit are flying all around waiting to catch you at an awkward moment. Also, at the same time you must jump from platform to treacherous platform, face boss enemies that have immunity to certain weapons, and oh yes, there is a strict time limit.

Few games have ever asked so much of the player. Few games have unapologetically stacked the odds so much on the side of the enemy hordes. And this difficulty is there from the beginning. About a quarter through the very first level, one of the most devious foes in video game history appears--the red demon. This menace, once roused, will proceed to run back and forth hurling fireballs at the player. If the player shoots, the demon will fly up, again shooting fireballs, and perform a death swoop that is almost impossible to dodge. If you attempt to jump it, the demon will fly upwards into you. If you stand still or duck, the demon will still hit you solidly. The only viable option is to run like hell, jumping backwards and chucking javelins until the monster swoops. Then the player must flee in earnest, cowering in fear at the last moment as the thing rushes by overhead. The red demon takes four hits to kill, and very likely will take your first life if it hasn't been taken already. And this is just the first of his many, many appearances.

There are brown ogres that vomit purplish projectiles at you both horizontally and vertically. These can withstand over twelve hits from any weapon, and will continue to gain ground on you even if you fire your weapon as quickly as you can--if you catch them too late with your first shot and they get to you, it's all over.

Two of the boss opponents have immunities to a different particular weapon, and the last boss has immunity to all weapons but one of limited range. Two of the weapons are worse than useless--the axe is slow-moving and cannot be rapid fired while the fire shoots in an arc, has no range, and if the player misses twice, takes precious time before it can be fired again. The shield blocks projectiles but has limited range and cannot damage the cyclops, while the javelin is moderately fast and long range but cannot damage the dragon. The sword is an excellent weapon because it kills all but the last boss and is very fast-firing. If you lose one of the good weapons and receive a bad one, you will have very few opportunities to correct this mistake. Going through the game with a lousy weapon makes things even more difficult, and in some situations it will make the game impossible. When you finally beat the game the first time, you are greeted to poorly translated text saying everything was an illusion, and now you must beat it from scratch, only with faster moving enemies.

Sound impossible? Sound like it couldn't be any fun? Well, not so fast. The reason this never gets too frustrating lies in how good the play control is. Controlling Arthur is intuitive, simple, and always precise. While Castlevania fans might relive nightmares during this game when Arthur is knocked back in a most inconvenient spot, there usually isn't anyone to blame for a truly impossible situation but the player. When an ogre is hurling purple death at you and simultaneously a blue bird flies across the screen ready to knock you backward to allow the ogre an opening to finish you, Arthur is capable of dealing with the situation so long as you know what to tell him to do.

This is where the payoff comes in. When you waltz into one of the last stages and see the terrifying image of a red demon and an ogre sitting right next to each other, defeating both and surviving through a mixture of skill and luck is one of the great thrills of gaming. For once in a platform game, it isn't the sheer weight of weak enemies that are designed to wear you down, making it impossible to be skilled enough to escape untouched. In this game it is your own skill level that is most responsible for how you survive--it is possible to go through the whole game without getting touched, although it would take an enormous amount of skill and no small degree of luck. In a platformer like Actraiser 2, this would be impossible.

The Bad
The story is very dull, and the translation and ending are lousy, but that's not what this game is about. The story here becomes surmounting the incredible difficulty of the game, being able to survive video game Hell--if you are skilled enough to beat this game, no modern game should give you trouble.

The Bottom Line
Ghosts 'N Goblins is a great platformer with a horror theme. The knight Arthur has stripped to his underwear while he and his gal are having a pleasant cemetary picnic. Suddenly a mammoth devil steals the girl and vanishes. Art throws on his tinfoil-like armor and charges into the armies of the undead to save his girl. From the dimwitted zombies to the utterly devious and unpredictable red demons, this game will give your platforming skills the ultimate test. You will be intimately familiar with a dying Arthur. You will have the sorrowful pile of bones he forms burned into your retina, and the map theme music that heralds his next attempt wormed deep in your ears. The difficulty is extreme, but the payoffs are worth the trouble.

NES · by J. P. Gray (115) · 2004

Rescue your beloved from the legions of hell

The Good
In Ghosts 'n Goblins, you are the legendary King Arthur who is having a picnic with your beloved Princess Prin-Prin. Suddenly, a huge demon emerges from his castle and, for no reason, decides to steal her from you. You put on your shining armor and go after him. This will not be an easy task as Arthur needs to slay zombies and other legions of hell that get in your way using a series of weapons, including the lance, dagger, flaming torch, axe, and shield (or crucifix). Depending on what weapon you use, some of these weapons can take more damage to enemies. You start the game with a crap weapon, but you can get better weapons along the way, if you destroy the sack that some enemies carry.

There is one feature that is missing from other early games. GNG gives you a second chance at trying to complete all six levels without touching any enemy. You normally wear your suit all the time unless you touch an enemy or you are shot at. You don't die, but instead, lose your suit. If you get touched a second time, you turn into a skeleton. This feature means that unless you are bad at playing games, it is likely that you get to the restart point – the point where the game lets you continue from where you died.

The Amiga version looks and plays exactly like the coin-op version. You see, besides the fact that you can use the five weapons available in the original game, you have to go through graveyards, forests, ice palaces, villages, and castles. Get through all these locations and you get to fight the final boss and save the princess. The graphics are about as clear as the original version, although they look a bit brighter. Also, when you die, the game presents you with a map, indicating the distance you must travel in order to complete the game. The bosses that you defeat at the end of the levels are drawn nicely. I especially liked the flying demon at the end of level five.

The music is a real pleasure to listen to, especially in the later levels. I have played the coin-op version two years ago, and I remembered it quite well. It had you playing all six levels twice before you can actually rescue your girlfriend. The Amiga version, though, has you completing all the levels just once before you are declared victorious.

The Bad
For an eighties game, GNG is a bit difficult. Every now and then, you will find yourself falling down into hazards like fire or off the edge of the screen if you mis-time your jumps. In the first level, zombies have the tenancy to rise up from the ground at the spot where you are at, making sure that you lose your suit immediately. The only way not to let this happen is if you keep moving and don't stop.

The Bottom Line
Ghosts 'n Goblins is a classic game where you go through six levels in order to rescue the princess. Zombies and other enemies get in your way, but you can use up to five weapons, although only one can be carried at a time. However, the less effective the weapon, the more damage that enemies can take. As I mentioned above, the Amiga version looks and plays exactly like the coin-op version, including the game's interface, graphics, and sound. Unlike other games, GNG gives you a second chance at completing the level without taking damage. If you are looking for a decent coin-op conversion of GNG, then check out the Amiga version.

Amiga · by Katakis | カタキス (43092) · 2006

Maybe a Ghost or a Goblin

The Good
This port of the game has almost everything the Arcade game had to offer. The sounds are spot on. The graphics are not too bad. There's less colour variety but better use of colour and smoother textures. And there's no censorship, seeing as the developers chose to keep the Crucifix from the Japanese version. The instrumentation of the music is pretty different yet very eerie sounding to add to that hellish atmosphere Arthur goes through.

Gameplay carries a similar yet slightly less difficulty than the arcade version does. It is reassuring that you can get the Crucifix halfway through the game. If you don't have it, you automatically get it upon reaching the final stage. The biggest advantage is that you only need to beat the six stages once. Better yet, there is a proper ending to the game and no infinite looping. Huzzah!

The Bad
This game does carry the same clunky jumping as the arcade game, but that is to be expected. The only problem with the music is that it is lacking the boss themes. Also for some weird reason, the music track from the 3rd and 4th stage is also in the 5th one. Lastly despite the game having a proper ending, we never actually see Princess Guinevere reunited with Arthur, so it is a little anticlimactic. At least the text has correct spelling.

The Bottom Line
This conversion almost captures the look and features of the original arcade, so you can almost think of it as your own home-from-arcade game. I'd like to think that some of the proper ending and easiness of the game was made to compensate for the unfair difficulty of the arcade version, but it's more likely that those adjustments were due to software limitations. Anyhow, great port, great game and one of the very few fantastic Capcom Amiga games available.

Amiga · by Kayburt (30216) · 2022

[ View all 5 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Ghosts 'N Goblins released for Windows(via Steam) on Capcom Arcade Stadium Andrew Fisher (697) Aug 22, 2022
US Release for the C64. Edwin Drost (9238) Mar 24, 2017
Wonderswan version should be split GTramp (81965) Nov 30, 2012
C16 port - split entry? Rola (8486) Aug 23, 2012

Trivia

8-bit computer ports

The 8-bit computer ports made by Elite Systems and released in 1986 are all shorter than the original arcade game. The game is only 4 levels long (instead of 6) on Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64, only 3 levels long on ZX Spectrum, and only 2 levels long on Commodore 16. Interesting fact of all these ports is that they are rather average titles but each of them stands out for different reasons: The gameplay in the Spectrum version, the Amstrad version's graphics and the music from the Commodore 64 version.

Arcade version

If you check the arcade ROMs you will find the following hidden message. Left there by the programmer, Toshio Arima:

“THIS PROGRAME IS PROGRAMED BY TOSHIO ARIMA , IF YOU NEED SAME INFORMETION THEN FONE 0726-74-0943 , OR 2-14, YAWATAMACHI, TAKATSUKI, 569 OSAKA JAPAN”

Red Arremer

The famous Red Arremer mini-boss was actually based on Capcom programmer Toshio Arima.

1001 Video Games

The Arcade version of Ghosts 'n Goblins appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Atari ST MIDI music

The Atari ST version has a special trick. The developers programmed the MIDI interface to play the game music. If you hook a MIDI synthesizer to the ST, the game music will play over your MIDI device.

Commodore 16 version

The C16 port is even shorter than the C64 version, as it features only the two first levels, with simplified gameplay (one weapon, less enemy types). There's no music and no title screen picture.

Japanese title

Japanese title Makaimura translates into "the deceptively cute Demon World Village".

Sales

According to publisher Capcom, Ghosts 'N Goblins has sold 1.64 million copies worldwide since its initial release (as of June 30, 2016).

Spectrum version

The Spectrum version does not load on Spanish +2A or +3 models, as their ROM mapping is slightly different from the UK models. An unofficial patch is available however.

Awards

  • Commodore Force
    • December 1993 (Issue 13) – #68 “Readers' Top 100”
  • Commodore Format
    • March 1991 (Issue 6) - listed in the A to Z of Classic Games article (Great)
  • Happy Computer
    • 1986 - Runner-up as Action Game of the Year
    • Issue 04/1987 - #5 Best Game in 1986 (Readers' Vote)
  • Retro Gamer
    • October 2004 (Issue #9) – #39 Best Game Of All Time (Readers' Vote)
  • Zzap!
    • January 1990 (Issue 57) – 'The Best Games of the 80's Decade' (Phil King)

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  • The Ghoul Realm
    Fansite dedicated to the history of and information about Ghosts 'N' Goblins.

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  • MobyGames ID: 582
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by faceless.

Commodore 64 added by Quapil. Commodore 16, Plus/4 added by Rola. Wii U added by Michael Cassidy. Nintendo 3DS added by CrankyStorming. Arcade added by 666gonzo666. iPad, iPhone, Nintendo Switch, Android added by Kam1Kaz3NL77. FM-7 added by Infernos. NES added by Kartanym. PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 added by Sciere. BREW, DoJa, Windows Mobile added by Kabushi. Atari ST, ZX Spectrum added by Martin Smith. Game Boy Advance added by Freeman. Wii added by gamewarrior. Game Boy Color added by Satoshi Kunsai. Amiga, Amstrad CPC added by Katakis | カタキス. PC-88 added by j.raido 【雷堂嬢太朗】. Browser added by glik.

Additional contributors: Satoshi Kunsai, Guy Chapman, Scott Monster, Martin Smith, Freeman, monkeyislandgirl, Atom Ant, formercontrib, Rola, CalaisianMindthief, Patrick Bregger, mailmanppa, Kam1Kaz3NL77, FatherJack, RetroArchives.fr, Cogweasel.

Game added December 16, 1999. Last modified March 4, 2024.