Ghosts 'n Goblins (NES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

A playthrough of Capcom's 1987 action game for the NES, Ghosts 'n Goblins.

This playthrough shows both loops through the game to get the true ending.

Ghosts 'n Goblins is the perfect game for someone who loves to play games that hate them. The reputation the series carries for its unrelenting difficulty level is well deserved, but very few of the GnG games manage to match the NES version for the sheer ability to frustrate, to infuriate, or to spark a full-on nervous breakdown.

I really like the arcade version of Ghosts 'N Goblins. It's extremely hard, but I always thought that it felt reasonable if you had practiced enough. The graphics were excellent for 1985, the music was instantly hummable, and the whole thing played well.

Now, I know that the NES version has its staunch supporters, however, I am not one of them. The core game is intact, sure, but there are a number of issues with it that make an already trying experience a thoroughly miserable one. I've only ever gotten the true ending to this version of the game three times - the third was when I recorded this - and that's because I've never found it to be worth the effort. It took an absurd amount of time to learn it well enough to play through both loops - there was lots of super careful memorization of enemy spawning and movement patterns in those final two stages!

But anyways, the NES version suffers from two major flaws that turn me off of it. First is the framerate - why does it feel so choppy, and why are the controls not as responsive as they really should be? I'm guessing because this one was made by Micronics. That's not a good thing - most of their early NES games were plagued by slow-down and flickering, and most of them ran at a locked 12fps. Yes, 12. It seems like GnG is probably one of those titles. Things flicker in and out of view so that sometimes you can't see projectiles as they're flying at you, and on rare occasions enemies disappear entirely if there are too many sprites on-screen at once. The other issue is the number of glitches in the game - I was lucky to not run into any major ones while I recorded, but the game is riddled with problems that make the game even harder. Sometimes you'll end up being killed by a ladder, while other times you have two bosses waiting for you instead of one. That can end a good run in a hurry, let me tell you. Few games can test my patience like this one does.

Still, I love the arcade game, and I suppose this version could have been worse. It should have been much better, but that's neither here nor there. I don't have a lot of nostalgia for this one - I hated it as a kid, but as an adult I can see some merit in it. Not enough to make me ever want to play it again after this, but I certainly can't accuse it of being as bad as many Micronics games: that honor goes instead to Ikari Warriors and Athena.

At least the Engrish is fun.

That's about the best endorsement I can give the NES version of Ghouls 'n Ghosts. The arcade game is great and the sequels on the Genesis, SuperGrafx, Wonderswan, and SNES are all well worth playing.

With Halloween coming up so soon, I figured that I might as well pull the trigger and upload this one.
_
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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[budbundy]

I remember playing this game when I was 14 years old. We stayed up and played until 2am. I'm 49 now. Thanks for the memories

[Itsscottstudios]

It must’ve taken LOTS of practice and agility to create such a flawless gameplay such as this with ZERO deaths!

[MFields]

Fun fact: When I was little, I had surgery done and had my adenoids taken out and missed the rest of school. As a gift, my parents got me this game. I loved monsters and such so I absolutely loved this game. I managed to beat it one morning before leaving for my grandparents house. Not until the internet did I learn that you have to beat it again. No thanks. I’m not that good anymore.

[Steventhend]

1. Get the knife
2. Get The Knife
and 3. GET THE KNIFE!!!!

[NintendoComplete]

Ghosts'n Goblins on the NES is miserably hard and riddled with glitches, but people still seem to love it. As for me, I'm a fan of the arcade game, but this Micronics port?

No, thank you.

[boynextdoorman]

16:49 This game was so hard, Nintendo couldn't even check this game had a reference to literal Satan!

[sahilkhan]

i played this game in 1996, couldnt make it far. In 2009 i tried it again. I failed at school, but i cleared Ghosts n Goblins!

[FLATEARTHPANDA]

This is by far hands down my most favorite game as a kid back in the 80’s… I would play it late at night on the late summer nights weekends trying to beat it… the creatures were scary and the fights were so intense…. One night I completed it within 7-8 hours the best feeling ever but, the sun came out and realized I haven’t had any sleep since… I slept in but, my mum tried to make me get up and out of the house for the day but, I explained it to her… she was disappointed that I was up late at night but, proud I accomplished something that meant the world to me… she let me get some sleep and I still went out later that afternoon. Great memories.

[glennsewell]

Was completely obsessed with this game growing up. This and Blaster Master were easily the two games I played most.

[me-xzzf]

Wait, I thought you needed the Knife to beat this game!!!

[itsonlymejosh]

I remember when I was 10 years old my best friend was over for a sleepover. We were taking turns playing games. When it was my turn I put this game in and proceeded to play through the entire thing and beat the game. (My friend just sat there bored to death because I just kept playing and not dying on this ridiculously hard game!) I was so excited that I’d beat the game that I ran to the bedroom and woke my dad up just to tell him (it was late at night by then). Good times.

[POLE]

The game that will make you say:

"I beat two Satans in my underwear."

[EFILNAISREP]

This game was hard as fuck, but the ending that says this story is happy end is so touching

[regularguyreviews]

Thank you, I got this game when I was 9 and I could never get past level 3. I tried and tried and nothing . I’m 41 now and I can finally see how it’s done!!

[jamesg]

One of the best soundtracks of any NES game. Many times I watched my older brother throw the cartridge into the trash because he would get so frustrated playing it. I rescued it every time.

[nintendorakyamato]

One of the most hardest nes games ever

[davidwilsonjunior]

Soundtrack forever burned into memory.

[TexasAggie]

The amount of patience needed in this game is astounding!

[michaeljoseph]

This game was so hard that even after you beat it, you still get "Game Over".

[jonathanmarkham]

It's hard to believe once upon a time this was the pinnacle of gaming, and I was the sweaty kid....