Ghosts 'N Goblins

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Description

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.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Trailer

Alternate Titles

• "魔界村" -- Japanese spelling
• "Makai-mura" -- Japanese title
• "Ghosts 'N Goblins MOBILE" -- Android/iPhone/iPad title
• "Ghosts & Goblins" -- Alternate spelling
• "Ghost 'N Goblins" -- NES European title

Part of the Following Groups

• Classic NES / Famicom Mini / NES Classics releases
• Game Center CX challenge games
• Gameplay feature: New Game+
• Ghost 'N Goblins series
• Video games turned into board / card games

User Reviews

The legendary difficulty of this title is balanced by great gameplay	NES	J. P. Gray (120)
Rescue your beloved from the legions of hell	Amiga	Katakis | カタキス (39490)
Quite O.K. port for the Amstrad CPC. Kinda too hard and cut off though..	Amstrad CPC	Optimus (83)
An excellent Capcom platform game with a few cool features	Arcade	Katakis | カタキス (39490)

Critic Reviews

Zero	NES	Jan, 1990	89 out of 100	89
Crash!	ZX Spectrum	Nov, 1989	86 out of 100	86
Defunct Games	Wii	Jan 11, 2011	B+	83
The Next Level	Game Boy Color	Apr 29, 2000	B+	83
Computer and Video Games (CVG)	Commodore 64	Sep, 1986	8.25 out of 10	82
ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment)	Amstrad CPC	Nov, 1989		80
The Games Machine (UK)	Atari ST	Jul, 1990	79 out of 100	79
Power Play	Atari ST	Aug, 1990	61 out of 100	61
Commodore User	Commodore 16, Plus/4	Nov, 1986	6 out of 10	60
Retro Gamer	Commodore 16, Plus/4	Mar 31, 2009	Unscored	Unscored

Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
US Release for the C64.	1	Edwin Drost (1719) Mar 24, 2017
Wonderswan version should be split	2	Terok Nor (26757) Nov 30, 2012
C16 port - split entry?	1	Rola (8304) Aug 23, 2012

Trivia

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.

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)

Related Web Sites

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