The dead rise from the underworld. Royalty needs saving. Your underwear remains your last line of defence, as the Ghosts 'n Goblins series enters the third dimension in Maximo: Ghosts to Glory.
The jump from two dimensions to three is not always a pleasant one, but some games can pull it off. A hack and slashy platformer shouldn't have too many troubles in this generation, but will we? It is, after all, a homage to the no-nonsense, high difficulty Ghosts 'n Goblins, and I didn't get too far through that...
Fun Times
You are Maximo, a king on a quest to thwart the plans of King Achille, but the opening cinematic shows that he's quite the powerhouse, as he sends us into a meeting with Death himself.
It turns out that King Achille is so powerful that he's managed to drill a hole into the afterlife, and all the ghosts are escaping. Death doesn't like that, so he cuts a deal with you - until you get rid of the King, you won't find a permanent home in the afterlife. After that, I suppose Death defaults to his usual cheery self and will gladly claim you. Let's find out.
Maximo is a 3D platformer that tasks you, mostly, to collect coins and keys to progress through levels, while defeating any obstacles of the skeleton and ghost variety along the way. It's simple to understand, and the controls aren't too tricky, with buttons to jump and attack and interact with chests and gates and whatnot.
This first level is scattered with enemies to fend off, as well as some rather unsettling earthquakes that rip the level out from under your feet, requiring the good ol' double jump to come out and play.
Frustrations
At some point, I set my sword on fire, but making use of it was tricky when I didn't have a full grasp on the hitboxes, both my own and my opponents. Hits would come in at times when I didn't even think an enemy had attacked yet, but that was probably because I was so close to them, on the assumption that my sword was somewhat small and wouldn't have the range.
Like Ghosts 'n Goblins, Maximo has various stages of armour available to him, only here it takes a couple of hits before your layers are lost and you're left to wander this cemetery in your boxers. There are places where you can trade in the coins to buy health, but I'd come across three checkpoint markers already and thought I'd push my luck.
Huh. That's not a checkpoint. That's the start of the level. I've got upgraded stuff, but that's definitely the start of the level. What were those checkpoints even for?
After a couple more attempts and as many more failures, I called it a day.
Final Word
There was something not quite right with Maximo, and I couldn't put my finger on it until I found out that it was initially intended to be a Nintendo 64 title, before moving over to the PlayStation 2. It was the lack of camera controls that gave it away. Despite the hardware being capable, the game didn't offer anything more than a 'centre behind Maximo' button, and even that wasn't useful in helping to navigate the world.
I'm not going to blame my run on the camera though, because it does at least show most of the action when you need to see it. I could see the skeletons heading my way, and it was then up to me to time my attacks, which mostly worked but sometimes didn't. I could see the ghost screaming towards me from a long way away, but Lord knows how I'm meant to kill it. I never managed to get him. I could dodge the towers hurling purple energy skulls or something at me but had absolutely no idea how to destroy them, if such a thing was even possible.
I am, frankly, amazed that I didn't fall into lava as the ground was torn from beneath me. Somehow my reactions were always good enough for that, but for everything else, it was a coin toss.
I didn't make it very far through Maximo at all, and I don't care to. It looks alright, for what it is, but I've just played Jak & Daxter for the first time, and if you're going to compare a 3D platformer to that, you're going to have a bad time. Not comparing it with anything, Maximo can offer some entertainment and challenge, definitely.
If you're interested and up for it, there's nothing to stop you. I might watch a playthrough of it, and might then go back for a second attempt if I learn anything useful, but beyond that, I think that's me done with it. Apparently, the sequel is better, but it's not on this 1001 list. Don't ask me how they chose these titles...
Fun Facts
The character designs were done by manga artist Susumu Matsushita, who has worked all over the place in his career, even designing mascots for the Asian Games.
Maximo: Ghosts to Glory, developed by Capcom Digital Studious, first released in 2001.
Version played: PlayStation 2, 2002, via emulation.