Ultimate Ghosts 'N Goblins Review
I am a prideful man. As a prideful man I tend to go headfirst into the Ghosts 'N Goblins games since I figured, "If Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts is the hardest one, then any others should be a peice of cake" UG'NG's Ultimate mode should be relatively easy in the sense that it plays like the originals except for the magic, shields and other misc. things.
I was TERRIBLY wrong.
I died about five seconds into Ultimate mode the first time trying. But I kept playing, not out of malice, but out of the same feeling I thought I had lost long ago, the feeling of accomplishment. That feeling seems to have fallen to the wayside in this century's video games but Ultimate Ghosts 'N Goblins seems to remember why hard games are hard. But seriously, Standard Mode is a cakewalk compared to Ultimate, trust me.
The 3D graphics have certainly not hindered the both frustrating and fantastic gameplay of the G'NG series. Although I do notice that the hit detection is a little iffy now that mostly everything is composed of 3D models. But that may just be whining on account of doing terrible in Ultimate Mode.
The music of the game has delightful Ghosts 'N Goblins flair, but since the only song for the G'NG lineage I'm familiar with is the first stage's tune, I find the other stage's music to be fresh and slightly less epic than the classic tune of the intro stage.
But enough about the stuff that you won't notice if being occupied by getting your ass kicked, on to the features!
First off, if you start off playing Standard Mode (which I didn't), you'll notice that you won't lose your armor if you take a hit, and adding consecutive armor(s?) you'll add more hits to your bar. This new feature to the G'NG makes it so it's possible to go through the game, getting hit a bit, but not losing all your armor in one blow like the old days.
Next off are the shields, if you use them they'll block projectile hits, and later on in the game you get other shields which enable you to fly, and other things. Also new to the series are several of the new weapons Arthur can pick up and use. These include bombs, a vine whip (Castlevania-style demon hunting!), a swallow blade that homes in on enemies, and the grand lance (it's just REALLY big).
As you'd expect for this series, you have to play through the game (at least) twice to get the ending. However, the warp staffs hidden along the way to the final boss' castle make looking for the stuff you missed easier the second time around. There's also sidequests for a bunch of witches, who give an item which is useful to have, but may not be worth the effort to get.
If you simply did not want to read all that, here's the bottom line: If you are into old school gaming which will literally shred your pride into confetti, play this game (Although the pride-shredding thing only applies to Ultimate). Although I must say, well done Fujiwara, it appears that a decade-long hiatus did not affect your masochisticly excellent series in the slightest (well, at least not gameplay-wise).
I was TERRIBLY wrong.
I died about five seconds into Ultimate mode the first time trying. But I kept playing, not out of malice, but out of the same feeling I thought I had lost long ago, the feeling of accomplishment. That feeling seems to have fallen to the wayside in this century's video games but Ultimate Ghosts 'N Goblins seems to remember why hard games are hard. But seriously, Standard Mode is a cakewalk compared to Ultimate, trust me.
The 3D graphics have certainly not hindered the both frustrating and fantastic gameplay of the G'NG series. Although I do notice that the hit detection is a little iffy now that mostly everything is composed of 3D models. But that may just be whining on account of doing terrible in Ultimate Mode.
The music of the game has delightful Ghosts 'N Goblins flair, but since the only song for the G'NG lineage I'm familiar with is the first stage's tune, I find the other stage's music to be fresh and slightly less epic than the classic tune of the intro stage.
But enough about the stuff that you won't notice if being occupied by getting your ass kicked, on to the features!
First off, if you start off playing Standard Mode (which I didn't), you'll notice that you won't lose your armor if you take a hit, and adding consecutive armor(s?) you'll add more hits to your bar. This new feature to the G'NG makes it so it's possible to go through the game, getting hit a bit, but not losing all your armor in one blow like the old days.
Next off are the shields, if you use them they'll block projectile hits, and later on in the game you get other shields which enable you to fly, and other things. Also new to the series are several of the new weapons Arthur can pick up and use. These include bombs, a vine whip (Castlevania-style demon hunting!), a swallow blade that homes in on enemies, and the grand lance (it's just REALLY big).
As you'd expect for this series, you have to play through the game (at least) twice to get the ending. However, the warp staffs hidden along the way to the final boss' castle make looking for the stuff you missed easier the second time around. There's also sidequests for a bunch of witches, who give an item which is useful to have, but may not be worth the effort to get.
If you simply did not want to read all that, here's the bottom line: If you are into old school gaming which will literally shred your pride into confetti, play this game (Although the pride-shredding thing only applies to Ultimate). Although I must say, well done Fujiwara, it appears that a decade-long hiatus did not affect your masochisticly excellent series in the slightest (well, at least not gameplay-wise).