Ghosts & Goblins is often considered to be one of the most difficult arcade games, and the most challenging game for the NES. It was released in 1985, and sported a few sequels and spin-offs, such as Ghouls & Ghosts, and Gargoyle’s Quest. The game does feature a 2-player function, but by doing so merely alternates between the two players during regular game play at every other level.
The game is a simple platform game with simple abilities, such as moving left or right, (or up and down with ladders and stairs), firing your weapon, and jumping.
Ghosts & Goblins is often considered to be one of the most difficult arcade games, and the most challenging game for the NES. It was released in 1985, and sported a few sequels and spin-offs, such as Ghouls & Ghosts, and Gargoyle’s Quest. The game does feature a 2-player function, but by doing so merely alternates between the two players during regular game play at every other level.
The game is a simple platform game with simple abilities, such as moving left or right, (or up and down with ladders and stairs), firing your weapon, and jumping. The character of the game, a knight named Arthur, is on a journey to rescue a princess from Loki and his minions of demons, zombies, and other undead monsters. Boss names
and specifics vary from platform to platform, with the final boss’s name being changed to Astaroth and Lucifer for different consoles and systems. Throughout the game, Arthur can pick up new weapons and suits of armour, which will help in his adventure.
The commodore 64 version starts Arthur with five lives, where on other platforms he starts with three. An extra life is awarded after gaining 20,000 points and another at 70,000, with another life every 70,000 points after that. At the start of each level, Arthur will start off in a full suit of armour, but one hit from an enemy will result in Arthur being reduced to his britches, and the second will turn him into a skeleton, killing the character. If Arthur is killed, the character is returned to the starting of the level, or the midway point if he has reached that point in the level.
To add to the difficulty of the game, each level is timed, usually lasting only 3 minutes, so when the timer runs out, Arthur is forced to start the level again. Before you can save the princess, you must progress the various levels, such as a graveyard, a forest an ice palace, and a cave, each with an end boss that you must defeat, and each gradually growing tougher and tougher. When the game is finally completed, Arthur will be returned to the beginning of the game, but this time it will be set at a much higher difficulty level.
Although Ghosts and Goblins is considered one of the most difficult games of the time, it is also very addicting, for it does maintain a constant storyline along with constant challenges to keep the player entertained.
