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Jump Arthur, Jump.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: September 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

In the 1980s, when human minds are less sophisticated, many video game concepts were centred on the theme of "rescuing the princess, saving the world". Ultimate Ghosts `n Goblins utilizes the same concept, and it's hardly surprisingly - it's a modern take on the original Ghost `n Goblins from 1986. In this 21st century rendition of this classic game, Knight Arthur returns (with his armor and, ahem, underwear) to save Princess Prin from the undead, again. To make the adventure more up-to-date, however, Capcom have added several new features to it. These include the introduction of 3D graphics, and new in-game tools and techniques that allow Arthur to defeat the enemies that stand in his way.

Apart from his usual repertoire of skills, Arthur has a number of new moves up his sleeves. One of them is the ability to dash, executed when you double tap left or right quickly. This is helpful when you need to clear an area fast, but it usually ends up badly due to the large number of enemies that appear on screen. Arthur also has the aptitude to grab, which makes platforming a little easier, since he can now hang on the edge of a platform without falling to his death after a missed jump. Shields are also introduced into the gameplay, which allow Arthur to repel attacks by simply pressing the down button on the D-Pad.

Despite the new abilities, however, Ultimate Ghosts `n Goblins remains insanely challenging even when played on the easiest of its three difficulty levels. To put it simply, the game is hard. Enemies will attack you in quick succession. They will also re-spawn regularly, leaving you with hardly any room to breathe. Even the platforming is tricky, and it regularly requires you to take a leap of faith, which tends to result in a fall to death. Don't be surprised if you find yourself doing a level over and over again until you get it right. This isn't necessary a bad thing, but it may discourage the less patient gamers.

To make life a little better, the game throws in some much needed aid. During the game, you'll find treasure chests, which usually house weapons and magical skills. As expected, different weapons produce different effects and range. For example, the lance (a default weapon) attacks reasonably quickly, but flies only in a straight line. The Boomerang Scythe (a new addition, by the way), on the other hand, flies a little slower, but has the ability to return to Arthur, thus clearing enemies that are closing in. Magical skills are more sophisticated to use, as they require Arthur to be equipped with armor, as well as to have enough MP. They're, however, much more powerful in dealing with the undead. The Time Magic, for example, slows time for everyone except Arthur. The Invincible Magic wraps a force field around Arthur, rendering any enemy's attacks on him useless for a limited period. These abilities only reduce the difficulty level slightly though, since you won't be getting powered-up all the time. You'll still have to be on your toes regularly to deal with the game's deliberately high demands.

The high level of difficultly wouldn't be the only challenge you'd face when playing Ultimate Ghosts `n Goblins. Unlike many other games, the game actually forces you to be a completist. Throughout the game, you may encounter some hard-to-find golden rings. You may think that the collection of these rings is an optional side quest (think the Mario Bros.'s gold coins) that won't impact the grand scheme of things. Well, you couldn't be more wrong. The locations of these rings are usually fairly well hidden, and you'd probably not notice them when you're just running for your life in most of the levels. You can run for all you want though, but when you reach the end of 5th level, you'll find that you won't be able to proceed to the game's final level without a prerequisite number of golden rings. This is where the warp portals come in - they'll allow you to return to earlier levels to relive the nightmare. This time, however, the nightmare will be scarier, because apart from running for your life, you'll have to hunt for those damn rings as well. But wait, it's not over yet. Collecting a different required number of rings will also unlock different endings (three in all) for the game. Again, this could be a welcomed challenge for the more daring, but an absolute whammy for the uninitiated.

Ultimate Ghosts `n Goblins is essentially still a 2D platformer, but the 3D elements add depth to the already nice graphics. They may look less polished when compared to the more flashy presentations on other PSP games, but the unique art style and level of details still look great nonetheless, even by today's standards. The soundtrack, though remixed, also brings back some fond (and some not so fond) memories of myself huffing and puffing through a level of Makaimura (the Japanese version of the original Ghosts n' Goblins) back in those days. The sound effects, however, are a little weak, and could do with a little more variety. Not that I really mind though, because the music is good enough to keep me contented. The game also comes with in an old-school D-pad (attachable to the PSP's analog button) for those who wants to relive the experience of playing the game on the NES controller. This is a really nice touch that adds some nostalgic value to the overall package.

In conclusion, Ultimate Ghosts `n Goblins may or may not be your cup of tea, depending on whether you're in for a challenge. Some aspects of it are frustrating, and it's certainly not an easy one to complete. But in an era when games are perhaps giving too much leeway to the gamer, it's a game like this that really dishes out a nice challenge to those who're in need of one. Ultimate Ghosts `n Goblins is a testament of how solid, challenging gameplay is all about, and I'd recommend it to anyone who's yearning for a good title on the PSP.

Not the "Ultimate" Nostalgia

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: September 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Lately CAPCOM has just been throwing classics onto the PSP. Ultimate Ghosts n Goblins, while being a new game, is very reminiscent of the former Ghosts n Goblins games on your NES and SNES. Ultimate Ghosts n Goblins isn't nearly as hard as its older brothers, but in the process, there are some elements it refused to change that perhaps it should've.

There's no plot to Ultimate Ghost n Goblins. All you're doing is trumping through all these levels to save the princess. This isn't a bad thing, though. The game is supposed to have a fairly generic story. It's old school.

The game does manage to look beautiful. While it maintains being a 2D side-scroller, it's set up in a 3D world. The backgrounds, and your hero, Arthur, look dazzling. Watching many of these enemies in action is also a fantastic treat. Simply put, for a side scroller, games don't get any better looking than this. Good graphics, however, can't always save the short comings of gameplay.

Ultimate Ghosts n Goblins plays out exactly like it did twenty years ago. You'll start off with nothing but a suit of armor and an endless supply of lances. The game ramps up the difficulty right on the first level. Luckily there are difficulty levels to compensate. There's the novice, standard and ultimate mode. Anyone who mastered Ghost n Goblins and Super Ghosts n Goblins would do well to start on Ultimate, but newcomers will find novice to be to their liking. The enemies are slow on novice, there are checkpoints throughout the levels and you won't get torn up nearly as fast. In Ultimate, however, it's just the opposite. Your enemies move at lightning speed and there are no checkpoints.

You'll play through each of these beautiful levels until you find the boss at the end. As you play through these levels you'll be reduced to doing nothing but jumping outside of chucking lances at your enemies. The game is measured in taking two hits at first. The first time you get hit you'll lose your armor and be reduced to boxers. The second hit kills you. Eventually you'll find armor that ups the ante to three hits. Aside from that you'll also find boots that'll make you double jump--and you'll become very reliant on that really fast. There are also an assortment of weapons for you to use. Boomerangs, Torches and a couple of others. The new stuff presented is rather nice, but there are some old things in the game that really should've been done away with after the SNES days.

For one, the game is basically nothing but you jumping from one platform to the next. It wouldn't be quite so bad if a lot of these jumps weren't blind. In other words, you'll go through a lot of trial and error moments throughout the game. Also, you can't change which direction you go when you jump. You never could in Ghost n Goblins, but it's about time they let you. If you find yourself jumping to a platform you can't reach, you can't change direction, and so you'll have to die. At least with the double jump you can pull a 180. The game isn't really difficult so much as it is frustrating.

The game also throws in a quest that consist of you finding hidden gold rings. You're not given any ounce of hint that this quest even exist until the end of the game, though, and that's rather disappointing. It means you'll have to play through the other levels all over again to find them. I wouldn't mind this if the game weren't so frustrating. In the end the hidden gold rings are really worth it, seeing as how I didn't feel like dying over and over again. The game isn't very long, either. It'll take you maybe two hours to complete. Probably no more than three at the most.

There are plenty of good tunes, though. Most of which are pulled from previous installments. But they sound better than ever before, and it's a great way to get some nostalgia going. Some "good" nostalgia, anyway.

Ultimate Ghosts n Goblins is a nice trip down memory lane, but there really were some mechanics that should've been a lot better worked out. The game isn't really difficult, it's just frustrating in many areas. I normally love old school games, but many other games that are old school tend to at least work on the mechanics that made it frustrating. Ultimate Ghosts n Goblins doesn't do that.

The Good
+Good nostalgia
+The game looks fantastic
+It sounds fantastic
+There's challenge to be had

The Bad
-More frustrating than difficult
-Some old school mechanics, like the jumping, should've been worked out
-Not enough levels
-The side quest for the hidden gold rings is thrown in right at the very end of the game... and getting there was VERY frustrating... it makes me not want to do it.

Frustrating and difficult

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: September 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I'll reiterate what the other reviewers have said-this is a challenging game and I'm a Ghosts and Goblins veteran. I played the arcade game and beat it. I owned the Sega Genesis version called Ghosts and Ghouls, and I owned the Gameboy Advance version as well. Even on novice setting, this game is hard. There is a lot of trial and error caused by blind jumps and it seems at times there is no way to get through a section without taking a hit. The game is also short and as mentioned by the others, you have to collect gold rings to get to the final battle. So you get sent back to the beginning and keep playing until you collect 22 rings-gets old real fast. The game is similar enough to the original to satisfy the purists, but they've added a lot of magic and other junk to complicate the game. The game has good graphics and sound, but if there's more than 4 or 5 moving things on the screen the framerate stutters. I eagerly awaited this game and was the primary reason I got a PSP, but I am disappointed with it. It is probably the last time I will ever play a Ghosts and Goblins game.

one of the greats for psp! a must play!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

this game is the most fun i,ve had on psp so far. g.n.g is a retro 2d platformer that is ment to be played like one so dont use the save feature like the old days , plus it makes the game last alot longer. great gameplay sound and graphix they should make more 2d old school games like this for the psp.

Just like the old days - only updated

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: December 20, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game is like an update of the gold old days. Ghosts 'N Goblins was one of the first Nintendo games I had ever played, and Ghouls 'N Ghosts was the first Genesis game I purchased, for around $70. I played those games to death and still play them on occasion. I was very happy to hear that they were updating it in 2D for the PSP. I like the 3D PS2 series, but I don't enjoy them as much. I will just say this - despite the increased appearance of "upgrades" to your character, this game is still hard as all heck. There are more enemies than before and they attack more viciously. I've only played the game for an hour so far, but I can already say its a worthy update to the series in 2D. If you're a fan, this purchase is a no-brainer!

Nostaligic GnG Reborn

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: September 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

My video gaming began in 1986 on the NES. The first game we bought was Ghosts 'n Goblins (GnG). Back in those days, false advertising on NES game boxes often occurred in the form of arcade screenshots; GnG was no exception, but I was nevertheless very impressed with the game and have ever since maintained a fondness for the various 2D incarnations of the original (the recent 3D installments don't count!).

So I cannot help but to be biased in rating UGnG. For anyone wishing that quality 2D platformers would make a comeback, this game at least offers a glimpse of what can be done on modern hardware. The graphics and sound are both gorgeous and highly reminiscent of SGnG on the SNES. The difficulty is slightly frustrating, requiring suicidal jumps just to scope out a new area and multiple replays until the levels have, to a large extent, been memorized, but this is right on par for the series - certainly no more difficult than SGnG, for instance. I reached the "end" fairly quickly, but was then met with the series' infamous 2nd playthrough, this time with a new twist, requiring a thorough scouring of sections inadvertently glossed over during the initial pass.

If you have enjoyed any of the GnG games in the past, then acquistition of this latest installment is simply imperative. On the other hand, if you've never played a GnG game before, are curious as to what quality 2D gaming has to offer, and have a penchant for unfair challenge, repetition, and trials of patience, in other words - old school gaming, then UGnG should not disappoint. Although games like this are now few and far between, should they sell well, perhaps game designers will resurrect this noble line.

Old-school fun updated fantastically

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 04, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is one of my favorite games to come along for a long time on any recent system. The fact that it was made specifically for the PSP is a huge bonus to anyone who owns one. The original creator of the series returned to produce/direct this sequel and you can tell. If you ever enjoyed playing a ghosts n goblins or ghouls n ghosts game, you will simply crap your pants at how much better this game is. It plays like the old games, but there are more magic, more weapons, more challenge, etc. Also, the game continually gets more difficult every time you warp backwards to a previous stage, so you will be playing this for a long time. Frickin fantastic. Pure Genius. I love ultimate ghosts n goblins. PEACE.

stop being such a wimp, your fighting the DEVIL !!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: July 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

no matter who you are or how good you are at video games, this is just straight hard. not hard as in, wow, i finally beat that level, but hard as in, wow it only took me 30 seconds to die 5 times... continue? of course ! the shear number of times i have died playing this game must be in the near thousands, as each level only takes a few minutes to finish, and there are only 6 levels. how ridiculously easy it is to die is what make people freak out over this game. miscalculate a jump and you die, touch anything and you die (or loose armor and then die next time, just a matter of time, really) get knocked off a platform and you die. finding all the rings is a quest, some are hidden so well you will just be shocked that the game's creators had the nerve to make you look there (uhm, storm castle under the bottom of the screen for 30 seconds) and as for the "secret" where you can get unlimited lives and the knights soul if you get 2,000,000 or 30,000,000 points, hahaha! how about just trying to get 500,000 points !!! it is tough !!

now as to why it is sooo great... this game unfolds as you play and just makes you want to play more and more and more just to see what happens next (even though i admit the plot is thin) it is more a matter of what you find and what you get to upgrade art to the point that he has at least a chance to put up a good fight.

i have cracked out on this title for weeks and still need about 3 more of the 33 rings, which i admit i may never find as i have gone through every level at least 20 times and can imagine where to look that i have not looked.

the music rocks, will include in my halloween mix CD for sure.

best game i have ever played, maybe not, but i love it.

Fantastic Game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Outstanding graphics and animation! Outstanding sound! Difficulty is spot on. Its definitely pushing the PSP. Its an absolute gem in the PSP library. If you consider yourself a gamer this is a must have. If your into old games the SNES version "Super Ghouls and Ghosts" is a blast as well but much more difficult then this version. Hey Capcom how about a PS3 version of this game?

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