NES Ghosts and Goblins

Thomas Ennis

Thomas Ennis

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Super NES
An eerie feeling shot down my spine yesterday when I was playing Castlevania 4. My brother and I were talking about difficult games from times past. Castevania 3 was mentioned of course, but something else crossed my mind. From the darkest depths of my unconcious mind I got a memory so terrifying, that I nearly turned white.
My memory was Ghosts and Goblins.
One fine Christmas day, I opened up my first package. Resting inside, was a Nintendo game that I had never seen before. The cover looked cool, and the manual was filled with interesting tid bits. Eagerly I placed the game into my Nintendo console and hit the power button.
The experience I received, scarred me for the rest of my life. As I played this monstrousity, I began to curse the jolly fat man that delivered it under my tree. This game was harder then any I have ever played, and any I have played since. Through all the anguist and tears, I never made it past level 3. I recently got an oppurtunity to download the game onto my WII......with every fiber of my being, I refused.
 
I never played this game, but if we are talking about hard games, that Super Battletoads should definately come up. It was made by Rare for the SNES, and I have to say, there is no game more difficult ever made. It is absurd. There were time I woul literally cry playing that game it was so brutally difficult. I never beat it.
 
I would love to compare that one to Ghosts and Goblins, which made me cry on several occasions when I was younger. If I were to play it now, I would probably throw the controller across the room. Ghost in Goblins is so frustrating, that it literally put me in a bad mood for hours. There are flying enemies that take 5 hits and swoop down on you. Two hits and your character is dead-no life bar. If you pick up a crappy weapon you're stuck with it even if you die. The only fair part about this game is the ability to continue.
Angry Video Game Nerd reviewed this game and actually beat it. Upon defeating the master, he discovered you have to beat the game a second time to get the ending! What kind of sadistic garbage is that? Play an extremely difficult game and beat it twice? Wow, I'm never going to download Ghost and Goblins ever.
 
Get a CPS/2 emulator and play the original arcade version of Ghosts & Goblins. It's a gorgeous game--the graphics and sound were REALLY toned down for the NES version.

Not to mention you can press a button to insert more "coins" and continue playing. Definitely helps with the frustration. :)
 
Indeed that would have helped with the frustration factor. Ghosts and Goblins is an evil game, which I'm convinced was designed with the express purpose of pissing people off. On the other hand, beating that game could be considered a monumental accomplishment.
 
Ah, yes! Ghosts 'n Goblins, the game so devilishly evil... that it has three Satans and The Devil! (I know what the manual says, but isn't Satan supposed to be a singular entity? Who is also known as The Devil? Whatever; moving on!)

People regularly point out that you have to beat Ghosts 'n Goblins twice in a row to properly finish it, but that's hardly the only cheap trick Ghosts 'n Goblins pulls upon its players: If you attempt to fight The Devil with any weapon other than the cross (which looks a shield to me), you're accused of cheating and are whisked back to the start of the penultimate stage! The final stage also includes a "poison ladder" glitch(?) in which you'll be attacked by an invisible Red Devil if climb up it too early! And all of this is on top of Ghosts 'n Goblins being a straight-out difficult gauntlet of a game as is!

I salute any player who finished this game twice in a row, without using the level select code, a Game Genie, or an emulator!
 
Another interesting factoid about Ghosts 'n Goblins: A cursory examination of its manual will reveal that it does indeed feature ghosts... but there isn't a single goblin anywhere in the game! (In addition to the aforementioned strange use of the what-should-be-interchangeable terms "Satan" and "The Devil," and oddly referring to a cyclops as a unicorn!)

This reminds me of the infamous so-bad-that-it's-good film Troll 2, which contained no trolls but many goblins! (Or either of the two Troll 3's, which contained neither!)
 
Oh I remember Ghosts 'n Goblins! :D
It was, indeed, a game that made me really unhappy.

Sometimes I'd just go insane and throw the controller away, start cursing hahaha
I didn't hate the game though, I always loved a challenge. But this one was definitely not something I could beat! :rage:
 
Man, Ghosts and Goblins brings back so many fond memories. This was one of my favorite arcade games back in the mid-80's, alongside Green Berret / Rush'n Attack and Wonder Boy. I didn't own a NES during that time but I did have a ZX Spectrum 8-bit computer. I bought the ZX Spectrum version of Ghosts and Goblins as soon as it hit stores, fortunately it was a fairly accurate and solid port of the original arcade game.
 
The one thing worse then having to beat the game twice is having to beat it three times. If you are on the final battle for the 2nd time, if you die the same time you kill the boss, you will get the victory screen, Them the game over screen. If you continue and kill him again but without dying, you will have to play it a third time. I have no clue if this has happened to anyone else or not, but it is infuriating
 
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