Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts

aka: Cho Makai-mura, Cho Makai-mura R
Moby ID: 6730
SNES Specs
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Description official descriptions

4 years after Arthur saved Princess PrinPrin from the evil demon Loki, a wonderful celebration is about to take place! Arthur and the Princess are engaged, and the wedding is to take place at last! Thousands from around the kingdom have come to witness this joyous event!

But somewhere in the darkness of the forest lurks a horrible evil...

Arthur and PrinPrin are spending a quiet moment locked in embrace, when she is suddenly snatched away by a huge demon! As her screams echo through the night, Arthur rushes from the castle, and pursues the demon to the graveyard, where he is greeted by hundreds of horrible ghouls and monsters!

Now, this time, they've gone too far...Arthur is ready for them...

Spellings

  • 超魔界村 - Japanese spelling
  • 超魔界村 - Traditional Chinese SNES spelling

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Credits (SNES version)

21 People (18 developers, 3 thanks)

Planners
Actor Designers
Background Designers
Programmers
Music Composer
Sound Composers
Special Thanks
  • Cho-Suke
  • Take-Pon
  • and Capcom all staff
Producer
Presented by
  • Capcom
Cover Art by

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 81% (based on 38 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 64 ratings with 4 reviews)

Now this is a game for a man!

The Good
Ahh, Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts...a game for big, burly, strong men! ^_^ Just kidding! Seriously though, this is one game that I can consider one for the hardcore freaks. You know the types: glassy eyes, twitchy fingers, can move their eyes like chameleons to see every last thing going on, and can beat this game...TWICE!!...on only ONE life! And on the HIGHEST difficulty! Why do I say that? Read on!

If you've been around the block enough times, you'll know that the Ghosts 'N Goblins series is one of the toughest, most notoriously hardest game series out there. You play the part of the brave knight Sir Arthur, who must save his beloved Princess PrinPrin from a bunch of evil ghouls, demons, and other rather unpleasent types. Arthur has one advantage: he's got one hell of an arm, or to put it in simpler terms, he can hurl his weapon at his foes. Anything from javelins, daggers, torches, axes, arrows, and what have you can be found and used against the undead denizens of this hellish world Arthur is in. But he also has one disadvantage! If any enemy or projectile hits him, he'll get knocked right out of his armor, leaving him clad in only heart-patterned boxers. Get hit a second time, and Arthur will be reduced to a pile of bones, a.k.a. dead. Sure, Arthur can double-jump, too, but that's not going to be enough! You've gotta use your wits to defeat some of these monsters, especially the HUGE bosses at the end of each stage (the nastiest of the nasty!) But Arthur can turn the tables if he can find a magically enhanced suit of armor, which will allow him to charge up his weapons and REALLY kick some demon arse!

So now that I've covered the gameplay, onto the graphics, sounds, and music. For a first-gen SNES title, the graphics were amazing! Sharp, creepy colors, fluid animations, and well-detailed backgrounds (and some snazzy Mode7 effects!) showed off to new SNES owner just what kind of power they had in that little gray box! The sounds were really cool (although I wish they had some cool pieces like maybe a zombie moan or two), and fitting, and the music? Let's say this: best remix of the GnG theme EVER, but every other piece deserves mention! Best GnG music EVER!

The Bad
Maybe one or two things. Here we go...

For one, this game is HARD. Not a little hard, but REALLY hard. And to make matters worse, you have to beat it TWICE to really beat it! You think I jest? Beat the final boss, and guess what PrinPrin says? THE WHOLE THING WAS AN ILLUSION!!! You've gotta beat it AGAIN!! And the second time around is TWICE (no, make that more like THRICE!!) as hard as before!! Heaven forbid you chose the Professional difficulty...

But you know what? If you can beat it twice, you are a real man (or woman!)

The Bottom Line
Wanted: Professional or hardcore freak gamers to play one incredibly hard, but way cool game. Must have twitchy fingers, patience, and a perchant for killing things that go bump in the night. Armor and weapons provided. Sign-up bonus: a princess for all the hard work. Call or apply in person. Please bring SNES (or GBA) on day of interview.

SNES · by Satoshi Kunsai (2020) · 2003

Arthur not so suited up

The Good
Every stage throws some sort of new gimmick, traps and tricks at you, ranging from currents in the latter half of stage two to the rotation of platforms in the former half of stage four. The ability to double jump does make for interesting strategies in the course of the stages. It's a relief that the stage bosses are a lot easier to take out after grinding your way in the progressively harder stages.

What comes as both a surprise and welcomed feature is the new armor system, making you want to get a new suit of armor more than ever. You really have the advantage upon getting the green armor, which magically enhances the weapons, making them stronger and phasing through walls. Upon getting the gold armor, the charged versions of the weapons are always helpful, even coming from the bad weapons. The shields are also useful for where better protection is due.

The Bad
While the difficulty in this game is what you'd expect from a GnG game, it can be incredibly unfair for the most part. The armor isn't so much protective as it is a weapon upgrade. It would have been better if the armor levelled down with each hit Arthur takes, because it takes forever to get the gold armor. Also the timer doesn't give you really that long to complete a stage, so you can't afford to take your sweet time against the Red Arremers. This game really could have done with a password or savegame feature to compensate for the difficulty.

The weapons that you get in this game are worse than the ones in "Ghouls n' Ghosts". Many of the weapons seem to do the same amount of damage. The only weapon you'll want to wield until you get the special bracelet in the second run is either the crossbow or the dagger, because everything else flies in awkward patterns and angles or can only be thrown one projectile at a time. It really stinks that you cannot launch your weapons up and down anymore.

The Bottom Line
It really shows that this third game in the series was a major step up in the world of Ghouls and Ghosts and Goblins. At the same time much of the good stuff from the prequel that makes for easier gameplay has been discarded. The previous two games just cannot prepare you for every enemy, trap and boss this game discharges at you. I can only recommend this game to hardcore platform players who can cope with Ninja Gaiden, Zelda II and Castlevania mixed together in one cartridge.

SNES · by Kayburt (30392) · 2021

A great--better, even--version of Super Ghouls'n Ghosts made portable.

The Good
As close as the GBA could get to a nearly perfect classic port. However, I most certainly cannot fault this game for being "just a port:" there are new cut scenes, 4 redone levels and 4 redone bosses from the former games: this is truly a "Remix" of the original. The extra levels, save feature and redone cut scenes certainly make up for these slights. In addition, the re-proportioned sprites make the game space seem more visually concise than in the SNES version.

The Bad
Only Ghouls'n Ghosts is, and remains the "10" of the series. There is still (although lessened) persistence of slowdown from the SNES version, and the fact that certain gameplay balance issues that were left unresolved in the original SNES game still remain. To name one, some odd arsenal choices truly never seem to have a proper use other than as a liability, whereas the extraordinarily powerful seeker x-bow is a nigh invincible ghoul hunter-killer.

The Bottom Line
Any true fan of the series (alas there are so few now) will be satisfied with more than enough new experiences (thanks mostly to the new levels) to warrant another go at the old graveyard.

If you've never played this series before, give it a try once on Practice so you can walk through and enjoy the amusing yet creepy scenery and beautiful music.

Game Boy Advance · by DQG (7) · 2010

[ View all 4 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
The whole "going back to stage 1 to get a secret weapon" Andrew Fisher (697) Nov 16, 2022

Trivia

References to the game

The game was used in A Bit Of Fry & Laurie comedy sketch show. It was involved in one of the sketch belonging to the last episode of the Series 4. The game was a subject of debate between a sullen teenager and his father, played by Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry respectively.

Another interesting piece of trivia is that in the show, the character played by Laurie claims that the game ends after level nine (and actually stops playing, when he supposedly finishes it), whereas, in fact, Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts has only eight stages.

Sales

According to publisher Capcom, Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts has sold 1.09 million copies worldwide since its initial release (as of June 30, 2016).

Version differences

The crosses featured in Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts are altered from the Japanese version of the game. In the Japanese version, they look just like church crosses, but in the American and European versions, the the crosses are altered to have a circle-shaped top. This is obviously due to Nintendo of America's strict censorship system at the time.

Awards

  • Electronic Gaming Monthly
    • 1992 Buyer's Guide - Best Sequel
    • November 1997 (Issue 100) - ranked #22 (Best 100 Games of All Time)
  • GameSpy
    • 2002 – Too F*@$ing Hard Award (Game Boy Advance)
  • Retro Gamer
    • Issue #37 - #17 in the "Top 25 Platformers of All Time" poll

Information also contributed by PCGamer77 and St. Martyne

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Satoshi Kunsai.

Wii U added by Michael Cassidy. Nintendo Switch added by Kam1Kaz3NL77. New Nintendo 3DS added by Harmony♡. Wii added by Sciere. Browser added by glik.

Additional contributors: Alaka, Alexander Michel, Игги Друге, CalaisianMindthief, Patrick Bregger, A.J. Maciejewski.

Game added June 15, 2002. Last modified March 4, 2024.