The most difficult game ever released comes back after two decades for another shot? Can it hang in the modern climate of HD graphics and portable gaming experiences? Does Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins have what it takes to survive 2006, and do I have what it takes to survive Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins?
Well, we all know the answer the last bit...
Frustrations
Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins serves as the great comeback, not for main character Arthur, who has been in plenty of games in the meantime, but for Tokuro Fujiwara, director of the first Ghosts 'n Goblins. It was only released on the PlayStation Portable, and it's a kind of remake/reimagining of that arcade classic. Three-dimensional characters locked to a 2D scrolling platformer. It's what an 'HD version' of Ghosts 'n Goblins might look like in players' minds.
But this blood-red story background scrolling up the screen sure isn't my idea of a remastered Ghosts 'n Goblins. Have we not figured out how to present a story in the two decades since the original release?
But if you want to play G'nG on the PSP, this is surely the best option, right?
Fun Times
When that music kicks in and those goofy run animations start going, it's easy to see why you might agree. Ultimate G'nG looks pretty good here. The screenshots don't really do a good job of capturing the 3D nature of the character models, but the colours absolutely pop like G'nG of old.
And then there's the difficulty...
There are multiple modes to play Ultimate G'nG in, but they are basically variations on the same game, one being easy, the other being truer to the arcade original. I say 'easy', 'easier'... For whatever reason, I started on the normal difficulty and was absolutely swamped by enemies, rendered armourless in seconds, churning through my lives like there's no tomorrow.
The controls are much as you'd expect. Either the D-pad or the analogue nub controls Arthur as he runs and jumps around the stage, the face buttons jumping or chucking your weaponry out, and the shoulder buttons having something to do, too, but I wasn't quite sure what.
Each life only offers you a few hits, but in this mode, respawns take place on the screen, rather than back at the start of the level, which is very good, especially for me. Like I say, I was getting swamped by enemies. I didn't know which way to turn, who to attack first, or whether I should even attack at all - should I just run forward and dodge everything?
Eventually, I stumbled into a mini-boss, or maybe even an end of stage boss, I'm not sure which. Like the arcade game, there's a string of levels between you and the big bad boss who has kidnapped the Princess. Just gotta get through them all. Hopefully only once this time, but come on, this is a G'nG game...
I'm emulating this, so I've only got a mushy Xbox D-pad or an actual analogue stick to use, and neither of them is making my time any easier. If I'm not struggling to deal with the enemies, I'm struggling to get Arthur to move where I want him - where I need him - and this is not a game that allows you to struggle without incident.
Making my way past the boss, who rewarded me with the ability to double jump, I was one my way through to a new stage of double jump puzzles and enemies that latched onto your head and prevented you from jumping very far if you didn't manage to kill them first. Great.
There's a giant snake to deal with early on, too, which I surprisingly managed to overcome really quickly. I guess he looks scarier than he actually is. I'd hardly call him a mini-boss, such was my ease at defeating him. Took me longer to jump here without drowning than it did to kill him.
Anyway, he rewarded me with some fancy armour. I've not talked about the armour and weapon pickups you can find on your travels, despite showing some of them off. Arthur comes with a lance as standard, but swords and vials of acid and crossbows can all be picked up to change your approach to the game.
There is some magical stuff as well, but I don't quite know how to use any of it. I pressed a button and Arthur turned into a walking explosion that he was invincible too, which is handy, but I don't know where I got that ability from.
As I was saying, this fancy armour allows you to-
Ehh... I wasn't that interested, anyway.
Final Word
Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins isn't my cup of tea, largely because the original Ghosts 'n Goblins and its many incarnations down the decades aren't my cups of tea either. It's a game that rewards the time you put into mastering it, but you need to do that to get the most out of it.
It's only ever fun to a point. Spamming the fire button to annihilate - or attempt to annihilate - everything in sight is fun. Immediately walking into a ghostly arm that strips you of your armour isn't. But seeing you run around in your heart boxers is fun again - until the next enemy inevitably catches you out and ends another one of your lives.
This looks great, and while it sounds a bit repetitive, it feels like a perfect little homage to a classic. It looks like it, sounds like it, plays like it. Frustrates like it... Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins appears to be successful in what it set out to achieve, though I won't be trying to get through it myself.
I'm not quite sure why it made the 1001 list. I guess it serves as an example of how you can bring old games to modern gamers largely unchanged, providing you do them justice while making that transition. A few years, two decades, it doesn't matter. If you go in with a clear goal of making the game work like it should, you'll be good.
Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins works like it should. I'd be happy with it, sure - if I had the skill to get anywhere in it.
Fun Facts
Ah. I read that the game has you go back through it again before being able to finish it, but not for the sake of just making players do it all over again. Instead, keys are hidden throughout the game that unlocks the final boss, but can't be collected on a single run. You need to hop back to old levels with your new skills to be able to gather them all. A sneaky little twist on the format there.
Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins, developed by Tose, first released in 2006.
Version played: PlayStation Portable, 2006, via emulation.