The 1985 side-scrolling arcade platform classic Ghosts n’ Goblins is infamous for its punishing but fair gameplay. It focuses on Arthur, a knight in boxer shorts, as he keeps pushing forward to save his beloved princess. Over the decades, this Capcom series has had a large number of successful sequels, reimagining’s, spin-offs and cameos from its vast cast of characters that we could literally create a story just on those games and ports alone. Now enter Ghosts n’ Goblins Resurrection, a nostalgic reboot of the original title and its squeal Ghouls n’ Ghosts, but with updated gameplay, visuals and welcomed changeable levels of difficulty.

Gone is the classic 8 and 16 bit graphics of the arcade and SNES titles which has been replaced with a fresh coat of paint that stays faithful to the original games traditional artwork and charm. Many of the original enemies, large and small, have had authentic makeovers, making them not just recognisable but more intimidating. From the endless barrage of zombies, super fast Skeleton Murderers, Woody Pigs and the infamous Red Arremers, they all return and look menacing. The story follows the same tropes with Arthur once again battling through multitudes of ghouls, ghosts and goblins to save the princess from the Demon Realm. Like the graphics, music and sound design has had significant changes but the tunes continue the substantial undertone of the original games, with the opening levels being updated themes of their respective classics.

Fans will be pleased to know that the apple has not fallen far from the tree in terms of gameplay. Ghosts n’ Goblins Resurrection keeps its intense barrage of brutal enemies and projectiles that forces Arthur to keep moving. Arthur cannot just clear all enemies on a screen and take a breather, as enemy AI will continue to respawn and swarm our hero into submission. Arthur also has to battle enemies and dodge projectiles while platforming some vertical territory, or while riding on limbless dragons or even being surrounded by what seem to be the inclosing stomach of beast’s teeth.

Arthur’s controls are tight and responsive and for a game as unforgiving as this, it needs to be. While some jumps are very tight, and enemies crowd the screen, getting out of certain doom needs to be due to the responsive controls. Those new to the series will take some time getting used to Arthur’s floaty jumping mechanics and the lack of a double jump that was used in some of the sequels. It is easy to use the words, easy to pick up and hard to master, but the controls and difficulty follow those words.

Players will die and they will die again. It is fantastic that Capcom have included four difficulty levels, making is accessible for newcomers and super challenging for veterans alike. These difficulty levels include:-

• Page – the easiest of the difficulties, providing Arthur with immortality and respawning from where he falls. Arthur also has no time limit and can take 4 hits before perishing. Even though this difficulty will still cause frustration at certain points of the playthrough, players do need to note that this difficulty does not let players experience all the games’ content.
• Squire – while having unlimited lives; this mode has Arthur respawning at a checkpoint after each death. While there are slightly more enemies, the stress comes in the form of not taking that final hit and having to repeat tough areas. This and the harder modes also include a time limit.
• Knight and Legend – While Knight is for those players very familiar with the series and its difficulty, Legend is for those who are either insanely good or love punishment. These modes have the traditional one hit armour loss before trying to survive in Arthur’s boxer shorts, as well as an absurd about of enemies that just keep on coming.

While there are 5 zones to complete on a players’ “first” run-through, some of these zones allow players to choose a different path (stage) to take. The opening zone gives Arthur the option of taking the Ghost n’ Goblins inspired Graveyard, while the other path takes the Execution Ground, which is based on the opening level of my favourite game in the series Ghouls ‘n Ghosts’. Other stages throughout the game are homages to the past games, some fusions of them all and others being brand new. At the end of each stage, there is a traditional boss fight, with my favourite being with the Cyclops, while I found the Cerberbus fight to be frustrating which brought dozens and dozens of cheap deaths.

All is not done when each zone and stage is completed and like most games in the series, the game cannot be completed with just one playthrough. The “second” playthrough transforms the world into the ‘The World of Shadows’ and stages become “Shadow Stages” that significantly changes the form, enemies and even gameplay elements. Check out the two official brief videos below showing these changes.

Ghosts n’ Goblins Resurrection may be tough but it supplies Arthur with more tools than ever. Back is his trusty long-range lance, the arc thrown holy water that leaves a splash of holy fire in its wake, and the crossbow, that shoots two diagonal bolts. Other weapons include the ultrafast dagger, the short ranged but tough hammer, and rolling spiked ball. Arthur is also granted an extra special weapon for the second playthrough. Each weapon has their own strengths and weakness, so players need to be cautious when making decisions on changing them with other items on the battlefield; well that is until the Kitted Out skill is unlocked.

In Ghosts n’ Goblins Resurrection, Arthur can also unlock and upgrade skills and magic abilities. by finding glowing Umbral Bees throughout stages and returning them to the Umbral Tree, which is done between missions. Players need to choose between skill and magic carefully, as Umbral Bees are not easy to find and will quickly disappear. Skills include the mentioned ‘Knitted Out’ where Arthur can swap between two weapons on the fly or ‘Boxer Boxers’, which triples Arthur’s first attack after being knocked down to his boxer shorts.

There are nine magic abilities on offer, such as:-

• Thunderstorm, think Thor calling down a lightning strike.
• Doppelganger, which duplicates another Arthur for double or triple the firepower.
• Medusa, which turns all enemies on screen to stone.
• Transmogrifrong, my favourite, which turns enemies into frogs.

Using magic is as easy as holding down an attack but it does pause Arthur from attacking for a second, which is a long time in Ghosts n’ Goblins Resurrection. See the below video as an example.

New to the series is the two-player couch co-op that mixes up the gameplay by adding in the second player using not one but three interchangeable flying support characters known as the Three Wise Guys. Player 2 can drop in anytime and swap between the Three Wise Guys, using their unique powers and their flight, making it easier for Player 1. The Three Wise Guys include:-

• Archie, who can build bridges and platforms for Arthur to cross.
• Kerry, who can pick up Arthur and carry him to hard to reach areas to grab those items or skip past enemies.
• And Barry, who uses a magic barrier to surround and protect Arthur.

This mode is a very welcomed and created a number of laughs during frantic times for two retro enthusiasts who grew up with the Ghosts n’ Goblins series.

While Ghosts n’ Goblins Resurrection is harmless in its colourful horror department, it is not a children’s game. While I personally do not see an issue with said children watching, its intense difficulty may not be for them. The game can be paused at anytime if needed and does include its own achievement style checklist.

Pottsy for One More Game

Rating: 8 – Great – this is a standout game where some minor changes would make it amazing. You could easily justify your purchase of this game.

Please click the link here for a full rundown of our rating scale.

Ghosts n’ Goblins Resurrection was reviewed on a Nintendo Switch

Capcom and their PR Company kindly provided review code for this title. All thoughts on this game are ours and ours alone.