Ghosts 'n Goblins
Encyclopedia
is a 1985
platform game
developed by Capcom
for video arcade
s and has since been released on several other platforms. It is the first game in the Ghosts'n Goblins franchise.
where the player controls a knight
, named Sir Arthur, who must defeat zombie
s, ogre
s, demons, cyclopes
, dragon
s, and other monster
s in order to rescue Princess Prin Prin, who has been kidnapped by Satan, King of Demon World. Along the way the player can pick up new weapons, bonuses and extra suits of armor that can help in this task.
The game is often considered very difficult by arcade standards and is commonly regarded as one of the most difficult games ever released. The game is considered by Gametrailers.com to be the world's second most difficult game ever made. The player can only be hit twice before losing a life (the first hit takes away Arthur's armor, and the player must continue on in his underwear until completing the level, or finding replacement armor). If the player loses a life, he is returned to the start of the level, or the halfway point if he has managed to get that far. Furthermore, each life can only last a certain length of time (generally around three minutes), the clock being reset at the start of a level. If the clock does run out, the player instantly loses that life.
After defeating the final boss, but only with the cross
weapon (if the player does not have the cross weapon, they will be prompted that it is needed to defeat the boss and restart at the beginning of level 5 and must repeat round 5 and 6 again regardless if the weapon is obtained immediately or not) for the first time the player is informed that the battle was "a trap devised by Satan". The player is then forced to replay the entire game on a higher difficulty level before finally reaching the genuine final battle.
version, released in 1986, is known for its music by Mark Cooksey
, which borrows from Frédéric Chopin
's Prelude No. 20. Due to the limited resources on the Commodore 64, it was somewhat different than the arcade version. It only features the Graveyard and Forest, The Ice Palace, The Floating Platforms and Firebridge and The Caves in that order. The player also starts the game with five lives. The demon that kidnapped the princess replaces Astaroth in the title screen. Additionally, the cyclops (or "Unicorn") is the boss of levels one to three, and the dragon is the final boss.
of RAM
. The standard configuration of an Amiga 500
was 512 Kilobytes.
, Amstrad CPC
, Atari ST
, IBM PC compatible
s, Commodore 16
, Sharp X68000
, Nintendo
Game Boy Color
, Game Boy Advance
, and NES
.
The NES version was developed by Micronics
. This also serves as the basis for the Game Boy Color version, which uses password
s to allow the player to jump to certain levels. The NES version was also re-released for download for Wii
's Virtual Console
service in North America on December 10, 2007 and in the PAL region on October 31, 2008. The arcade version was released on the Virtual Console Arcade in Japan on November 16, 2010, the PAL region on January 7, 2011 and in North America on January 10, 2011.
The original arcade version of the game was also included in the compilation Capcom Generations Vol.2: Chronicles of Arthur
for the PlayStation
(in Japan
and Europe
) and Sega Saturn
(in Japan only), which also contained Ghouls'n Ghosts and Super Ghouls'n Ghosts. The three games (based on their Capcom Generation versions) were later collected as part of Capcom Classics Collection
.
This game, along with its sequel, Ghouls'n Ghosts, is available for play on GameTap
.
's Top 200 Games list. It was also a best seller for the NES, selling more than 1 million units. Ghosts n' Goblins is often cited as an example of one of the hardest games of all time to beat, due to its high level of difficulty and the fact you must play through the game twice in order to fight the final boss.
eventually becoming Capcom's 8th best selling game franchise, selling over 4.4 million units. Its sequels include Ghouls'n Ghosts, Super Ghouls'n Ghosts, and Ultimate Ghosts'n Goblins in addition to producing the Gargoyle's Quest
and Maximo
spin-off series. Though originating as an arcade
title, the franchise has been featured on a variety of PC
and video game console
s with the latest entries in the series, Ghosts'n Goblins: Gold Knights I & II, released on the iOS. Additionally, the franchise frequently makes cameo appearances--the character of Arthur in particular--in other Capcom titles, the latest of which being Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
.
1985 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* Brøderbund releases Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, the first game of the prolific Carmen Sandiego series* Nintendo releases Super Mario Bros. on September 13, 1985, which eventually sells 40 million copies making it the best-selling video game of all time until 2008.*...
platform game
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
developed by Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
for video arcade
Video arcade
An amusement arcade or video arcade is a venue where people play arcade games such as video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers , or coin-operated billiards or air hockey tables...
s and has since been released on several other platforms. It is the first game in the Ghosts'n Goblins franchise.
Gameplay
Ghosts'n Goblins is a platform gamePlatform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
where the player controls a knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
, named Sir Arthur, who must defeat zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
s, ogre
Ogre
An ogre is a large, cruel, monstrous, and hideous humanoid monster, featured in mythology, folklore, and fiction. Ogres are often depicted in fairy tales and folklore as feeding on human beings, and have appeared in many classic works of literature...
s, demons, cyclopes
Cyclops
A cyclops , in Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, was a member of a primordial race of giants, each with a single eye in the middle of his forehead...
, dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
s, and other monster
Monster
A monster is any fictional creature, usually found in legends or horror fiction, that is somewhat hideous and may produce physical harm or mental fear by either its appearance or its actions...
s in order to rescue Princess Prin Prin, who has been kidnapped by Satan, King of Demon World. Along the way the player can pick up new weapons, bonuses and extra suits of armor that can help in this task.
The game is often considered very difficult by arcade standards and is commonly regarded as one of the most difficult games ever released. The game is considered by Gametrailers.com to be the world's second most difficult game ever made. The player can only be hit twice before losing a life (the first hit takes away Arthur's armor, and the player must continue on in his underwear until completing the level, or finding replacement armor). If the player loses a life, he is returned to the start of the level, or the halfway point if he has managed to get that far. Furthermore, each life can only last a certain length of time (generally around three minutes), the clock being reset at the start of a level. If the clock does run out, the player instantly loses that life.
After defeating the final boss, but only with the cross
Cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...
weapon (if the player does not have the cross weapon, they will be prompted that it is needed to defeat the boss and restart at the beginning of level 5 and must repeat round 5 and 6 again regardless if the weapon is obtained immediately or not) for the first time the player is informed that the battle was "a trap devised by Satan". The player is then forced to replay the entire game on a higher difficulty level before finally reaching the genuine final battle.
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
version, released in 1986, is known for its music by Mark Cooksey
Mark Cooksey
Mark Cooksey is a Commodore 64 musician, best known for composing the music for the platform game Ghosts'n Goblins. He was employed by the UK video game developer and publisher Elite Systems....
, which borrows from Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
's Prelude No. 20. Due to the limited resources on the Commodore 64, it was somewhat different than the arcade version. It only features the Graveyard and Forest, The Ice Palace, The Floating Platforms and Firebridge and The Caves in that order. The player also starts the game with five lives. The demon that kidnapped the princess replaces Astaroth in the title screen. Additionally, the cyclops (or "Unicorn") is the boss of levels one to three, and the dragon is the final boss.
Commodore Amiga
A version for the Commodore Amiga was released in 1990. While the advanced hardware of the Amiga allowed an almost perfect conversion of the arcade game, it failed to emulate the success of the Commodore 64 version. The player starts the game with six lives and no music is played unless the Amiga was equipped with at least 1 MegabyteMegabyte
The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
of RAM
Ram
-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
. The standard configuration of an Amiga 500
Amiga 500
The Amiga 500 - also known as the A500 - was the first “low-end” Commodore Amiga 16/32-bit multimedia home/personal computer. It was announced at the winter Consumer Electronics Show in January 1987 - at the same time as the high-end Amiga 2000 - and competed directly against the Atari 520ST...
was 512 Kilobytes.
Other platforms
Ghosts'n Goblins was also ported to the ZX SpectrumZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
, Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
, Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
, IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
s, Commodore 16
Commodore 16
The Commodore 16 was a home computer made by Commodore with a 6502-compatible 8501 CPU, released in 1984. It was intended to be an entry-level computer to replace the VIC-20 and it often sold for 99 USD...
, Sharp X68000
Sharp X68000
The Sharp X68000, often referred to as the X68k, is a home computer released only in Japan by the Sharp Corporation. The first model was released in 1987, with a 10 MHz Motorola 68000 CPU, 1 MB of RAM and no hard drive; the last model was released in 1993 with a 25 MHz Motorola 68030...
, Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
, Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
, and NES
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
.
The NES version was developed by Micronics
Micronics
Micronics is a Japanese video game developing company which developed the NES versions of 1942, Athena, Ghosts 'n Goblins, Ikari Warriors, Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road, and Tiger Heli. Although uncredited in almost all their games, their work can often be identified by a distinct Pause sound...
. This also serves as the basis for the Game Boy Color version, which uses password
Password
A password is a secret word or string of characters that is used for authentication, to prove identity or gain access to a resource . The password should be kept secret from those not allowed access....
s to allow the player to jump to certain levels. The NES version was also re-released for download for Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
's Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
service in North America on December 10, 2007 and in the PAL region on October 31, 2008. The arcade version was released on the Virtual Console Arcade in Japan on November 16, 2010, the PAL region on January 7, 2011 and in North America on January 10, 2011.
The original arcade version of the game was also included in the compilation Capcom Generations Vol.2: Chronicles of Arthur
Capcom Generations
is a series of five video game compilations released by Capcom in 1998 for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn in Japan and Europe/Australia. Each volume contains three or four games from a particular series or game genre and were ported directly from their original arcade versions...
for the PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
(in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
) and Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
(in Japan only), which also contained Ghouls'n Ghosts and Super Ghouls'n Ghosts. The three games (based on their Capcom Generation versions) were later collected as part of Capcom Classics Collection
Capcom Classics Collection
Capcom Classics Collection is a compilation of arcade games released by Capcom for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox on September 27, 2005. It was developed by Digital Eclipse Software . A second volume, Capcom Classics Collection Vol...
.
This game, along with its sequel, Ghouls'n Ghosts, is available for play on GameTap
GameTap
GameTap is an American online video game service established by Turner Broadcasting System . Dubbed by TBS as a "first of its kind broadband gaming network", the service provides users with classic arcade video games and game-related video content...
.
Reception
The NES version of Ghosts'n Goblins was rated the 129th best game made on a Nintendo System in Nintendo PowerNintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
's Top 200 Games list. It was also a best seller for the NES, selling more than 1 million units. Ghosts n' Goblins is often cited as an example of one of the hardest games of all time to beat, due to its high level of difficulty and the fact you must play through the game twice in order to fight the final boss.
Legacy
Ghosts'n Goblins was followed by a series of sequels and spin-offsSpin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
eventually becoming Capcom's 8th best selling game franchise, selling over 4.4 million units. Its sequels include Ghouls'n Ghosts, Super Ghouls'n Ghosts, and Ultimate Ghosts'n Goblins in addition to producing the Gargoyle's Quest
Gargoyle's Quest
, is a platform/side scrolling adventure game with mild RPG elements from Capcom. It was released on May 2, 1990 in Japan and then in America and Canada in July. The main character Red Arremer made his debut in the arcade game series Ghosts'n Goblins...
and Maximo
Maximo: Ghosts to Glory
Maximo: Ghosts to Glory is a 3D hack and slash platform game developed by Capcom for the PlayStation 2. The game is based in the Ghosts'n Goblins universe and features original character designs by Japanese illustrator Susumu Matsushita. It's a part of PlayStation 2 Greatest Hits...
spin-off series. Though originating as an arcade
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
title, the franchise has been featured on a variety of PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
and video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
s with the latest entries in the series, Ghosts'n Goblins: Gold Knights I & II, released on the iOS. Additionally, the franchise frequently makes cameo appearances--the character of Arthur in particular--in other Capcom titles, the latest of which being Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
is a crossover fighting game developed by Capcom. It features Capcom's own characters and characters from American comic book company Marvel Comics. It is the fifth installment of the Marvel vs...
.