Ghosts N' Goblins

I'm continuing on with the Nintendo games today with one that is arguably the most difficult game on the original system: Ghosts N' Goblins.  Developed and published by Capcom, Ghosts N' Goblins was released on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986.

The game begins with Sir Arthur and the princess sitting having a nice moment together before a demon (Satan) appears and kidnaps the princess.  Arthur grabs his armor and runs after them to save the day.  You must race through six side scrolling action levels before facing Satan to save the princess... but it doesn't end there.  The game reveals it was a "trap devised by Satan" and you must restart the game from the beginning on a higher difficulty and do it again. 

So I began in the first level, running forwards through the graveyard with my armor and my lance in hand, zombies ahead of me my first targets.  I was doing well enough stopping zombies that appeared in front and behind me, but then I ran into a problem, I forgot that the tombstones are actually part of the level, got stuck against one before being hit by a zombie.  And now I'm just running around in my boxers.

I'm serious, you get hit and Arthur loses his armor and runs around with only his boxers on. 

I can't make this stuff up. 

So I'm now killing zombies in only my boxers, have to make sure not to get hit again because the next one would make me lose a life.  So I reach a section where you have a choice of two paths (high ground or low ground) and I decide to grab the low because it's flat, but that may be a mistake.  There is a plant above me that may give me some problems, it's spitting fireballs at me... the dirty herb.  I keep moving forwards and unlock a new weapon: the torch.  It's pretty cool, you throw it forwards and it doesn't go the full length like the lance but when (if) it lands it creates a pillar of fire that kills anything that runs into it. 

As I keep moving, this ghost thing appeared and my torch doesn't seem to be hurting it and.... I'm a frog!  The ghost thing turned me into a frog.  Oh dear, this doesn't bode well.  And with absolutely no defense, the zombies get me quite quickly. 

So I continue on with my next life and I have my armor back and am not a frog, so I am definitely better off then I was.  I quickly switch weapons again (they just sort of appear randomly) and I have a knife; it seems to work just like the lance except throws faster.  So I run past where I was turned into a frog with no sight of the ghost and run into an enemy I know I don't want to deal with: the red demon.  It rises into the air and hovers in one end of the screen before spitting a fireball at me and diving down before going back to hover on the other side of the screen.  He follows me until I defeat him, so I continue on, hitting him when I can. 

As I continue, I reach the most dreaded thing I can face: water.  Yes, there are water and platforming with a floating platform that I have to cross and I still have to worry about the demon.  So I drop to the platform, and as I'm jumping out, the demon swoops down and squeaks by me.  I mean, I'm pretty sure the sprites touched it was so close.  So I continued and found a new enemy, some armored floating ghosts that I cannot hurt.  This game doesn't have a learning curve, it just gets harder...

But I'm getting better, with a dagger to the face I kill the demon!  Woohoo!  And the next floating ghost wipes me out.  On to the next life.  I start my next life about where I died, go past the water and enter some wooded area and find another new enemy: flying red spirits.  They appear from the mists and float across the screen, lower and do it again before vanishing.  And I don't get very far before one actually appears on me... and I'm done for.  Ouch.

So another day and game is complete and I shall move onto something else tomorrow.  I didn't actually play something I was good at today, but it was at least enjoyable, and isn't that the purpose of games (hey, it's why I'm doing this).  Adios for today though.