Ultimate Ghosts'N Goblins

aka: Goku Makaimura
Moby ID: 23835
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Description

Once again, the brave knight Arthur is called into action to face the Dark Lord in order to rescue the princess.

The fourth title in the series, Arthur must make numerous ghouls and monsters on his quest to save Princess Prin Prin before her life is taken by the newest Dark Lord's evil plan.

Possessing the familiar moves that Arthur is known for, he must go throughout numerous levels in this latest 2D quest with new 3D rendered elements. New abilities and upgrades allow Arthur a new set of moves to face this difficult platformer, and Warp Keys allow Arthur to go back and revisit completed worlds in order to find more secrets and weapons. Ever present are the classic cast of zombies, the shape-changing magicians, and the infamous Red Devil.

Spellings

  • 極魔界村 - Japanese spelling

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Screenshots

Promos

Credits (PSP version)

112 People (107 developers, 5 thanks) · View all

Producer
Project Coordinator
R&D Manager
Quality Control Manager
Head Planner
Planners
Main Programmer
System Programmers
Character Programmers
Map Programmers
Design Director
Character Model Designers
Character Art
Character & BG Art
Character Animators
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 72% (based on 25 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 14 ratings with 1 reviews)

UG'nG is a problematic, beautiful risk undertaken by Capcom.

The Good
Ultimate Ghosts’n Goblins is not a step backwards, but it is also not the sequel that could have been made. Over a decade later and Capcom continues right where it left off. This is only half of what was expected. What they present is a troubling dichotomy within this game, that of nostalgia versus innovation.

Moments of wonder, however, do slowly invade this troubled sequel in the form of exciting expansions to Arthur’s repertoire, to remind us of the fact that the originator was at the helm of this project. In short, quite good but much more worthy of being made great.

The Bad
Capcom could have taken many of the crazy-paced arcade game mechanics that have made them famous since 1992, but has puzzlingly decided to exclude them: a combo system, multiple characters, extravagantly showy magic effects, and baroque bosses that take up a whole stage rather than a whole screen, as well as multiple tiers of levels and skill/technique-based rewards. Capcom has the technology these days to implement the sprite-heavy, manic gameplay of the late 90’s-early 00’s, seen in their Versus games. Instead, we get more environmental effects (which are admittedly good) but the ponderously fragmented magic/armor/weapon system is needlessly clunky…what belongs in a proper sequel to Ghouls’n Ghosts is the arcade sensibility and not the collection adventure sensibility.

The Bottom Line
This game may be unapproachable to many casual gamers. I would like to think the new levels, monsters and surprises would be enough to hold interest; but to the hardcore among us, we will be in familiar ground, with new twists that stretch the boundary of rewards and punishment even further, the collection aspect being the most frustrating.

Stick through the tough parts and you will find the gems in this game. It's most worth it to see (and fight) the spectacular bosses and find your own way through.

PSP · by DQG (7) · 2010

Trivia

1001 Video Games

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

Awards

  • 4Players
    • 2006 – #3 Best Remake of the Year

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Guy Chapman.

Additional contributors: erbaltan, Patrick Bregger, FatherJack.

Game added September 5, 2006. Last modified June 17, 2023.