Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts

About This Game

Gameplay

Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts is a side-scrolling platform game with reduced emphasis on run and gun and more on platforming. As in the predecessor Ghosts 'n Goblins, the player takes the role of the knight Arthur, who must save Princess Guinevere and rid the kingdom of the Ghoul Realm which is revived under a spell of Emperor Sardius (known as Samael in the Japanese version), who has kidnapped Guinevere in the Phantom Zone. The game has four difficulty settings (easy, normal, difficult and professional), and the player can set up to nine lives. However, there are also only six continues. In each of the eight levels (named Quests), five of them consisting of two sections, Arthur, has a time limit to fight ghouls before defeating a Foul Guardian that protects the gate to the next stage. The first five Quests (The Dead Place, The Rotting Sea, Vermilion Horror, The Ghoul's Stomach and The Deep Chill) take place in a variety of locations, such as graveyards, abandoned ships on sea, flame-filled caverns and locales consisting of ice and snow. The final three Quests (The Castle of the Emperor, Hallway of Ghouls and The Throne Room) are areas of Sardius's castle.

History

Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts is the third entry of Capcom's Ghosts 'n Goblins series, following Ghosts 'n Goblins (1985) and Ghouls 'n Ghosts (1988), it is also the series' first entry to not be released to the arcade. Leading the 50-member staff, in his first time managing a team, was Tatsuya Minami, who by then already took on positions as artist and producer for console ports of Rush & Crash (1986), Final Fight (1989) and Street Fighter 2 (1991). Capcom's boss assigned Minami to Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts following a two-week break that began after completing Final Fight. By then, the project was stagnant with only the first level completed. The following two years were very turbulent, and the master ROM was remade several times near the end of the deadline.