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List of Awesome (Finish the game once)
@nate38
@Jargon
@roykoopa64

List of Awesomer (Finish the game twice and get the true ending)
@nate38
@Jargon

List of Awesomest (Finish the game twice and any other game in the series)

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Oh man. Tempted to try to finally beat this sucker. I'd have to use a cheat code to get to the end though or at least buy it on VC so that when I do get to the end I can shut things off, leave, and come back right there.

I still have my old SNES cartridge for this... I never made it past level 4 or 5 in my life and the last time I played it I couldn't make it past level 2.

My prediction? Pain

Downloaded! Never played a G n' G game before. Feeling the mix of anticipation and dread...

@nate38 Ha ha wow man, be prepared!

I love this game... I mean, love. Excellent game. It's just nuts. It starts off hard and then just gets harder. And then you get to the end and have to do it all over AGAIN. And then you have to use the crappy bracelet to finish off the game which I was never able to do because it sucks.

Tempted to try again though. It's on VC, right?

Even though I said I wouldn't buy anymore VC games not on sale after the pay to upgrade bullshit Nintendo pulled, I caved so I could play this on the Gamepad.

@Jargon Is this out on Wii U VC?! If so I'm doubly tempted...

@Zero

Yes, although I should mention I bought Ghosts n Goblins since I've already beaten SGnG.

@Zero

Definitely recommend playing it on the VC so you can walk away after frustration and come back to it fresh. That's how I did it years ago.

Played for about an hour, made it to the third boss.

Initial impressions:

- Cool how there's so many weapons, and that they all upgrade (twice!), but I've definitely got my favorites (knives, arrows) and downers (scythe, torch).
- Stage design is very memorable, short and sweet themes that rapidly change several times per level and shake things up really well.
- First two bosses weren't bad at all, haven't spent quality time with the third yet.
- Lots of slowdown, especially with the upgraded weapons.
- Infinitely spawning enemies are super annoying, sometimes pop up in unavoidable places. Especially those pink balls of whatever in the second half of the first stage. Just appearing right in my way after I commit to a double jump. Ghost ship spirits suck, too.
- Some surprise hazards that seem nigh-unavoidable the first time.
- LADDERS GRUGH always seem to get stuck at the top/bottom of them.
- Is it cheating if I give myself 9 lives? It seems like I'm earning continues way faster than I'm using them, too...

So yeah, I just played Volgarr the Viking when it launched on PC about a month ago, and it's safe to say it got a fair bit of inspiration from SGnG. Same double jump movement, similar power-stacking upgrades, infinite-spawning enemy waves. If you're into Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, you should absolutely check Volgarr out, I loved it after the initial "holy crap this is impossible" adjustment period. It's PC-only, but it looks like a Genesis game, so I can't imagine that the minimum specs are that strict...

Holy shit, Ghosts n Goblins. It took me several hours just to beat the fucking second level. If the difficulty even stays the same, let alone getting harder, then it'll be by far the hardest game I've played. Beats out the likes of Mega Man, Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden by a longshot. This one might get the better of me.

@nate38 I don't remember ever running out of continues in that game and I died a LOT. I just assumed the continue system was broken or whatever and you could just keep playing forever.

Beat the next three bosses, on level 7 now. The game actually seems to get easier as you go, and I think I've beaten all the bosses on my first or second try. All the Firebrands in level 6 were pretty annoying, especially since I kept picking up crappy weapons.

So the Arrow's charge magic is...a chest revealer? Haven't had many chances to use magic in general, but they don't seem especially useful.

Aaaaand I'm back to 7 with the bracelet. Just need to finish off the second boss...so close every time

I dunno what you're talking about Zero, the bracelet's great. Huge damage when in close (Firebrand dead in TWO hits), decent range, fairly rapid fire, wide shot, and it diffuses some enemy projectiles when upgraded. The only weapon I like better is the arrow.

Terrible range!

I dunno, in a game that is basically the type of game that would generally have a life bar but instead you die in two hits, I tend to stay FAR away from enemies and try to take them out at a distance whenever possible. The bracelet sort of forced me to play an up close and personal game.

To be honest though, by the time I got to the end of my second run where you NEED to use the bracelet, it was super late in the morning and I was kind of burning out anyway. I don't recall how long I stuck at it but probably not long enough to really get used to it.

I took another crack at this yesterday. STILL couldn't get past the first area. God these controls are clunky.

Got washed away by the wave a bunch of times too.

@Zero The bracelet hits almost all the way across the screen! (for reduced damage, but still). The upgraded one definitely makes it to the screen edge.

Really, the only thing I'm finding harder with the bracelet is the two bosses in stage 7. Hitting them in the head with the bracelet is tough. I must have been at it for almost two hours, just that level. Didn't help that I kept accidentally grabbing other weapons and having to get the bracelet again...

@Shadowlink Stand on the stone totem things.

@nate38

Yeah I know but my character is sooo sloooow.

Made it to the boss of Stage 3 in Ghosts n Goblins. Of course I was down to one hit left and he killed me in about 3 seconds. Sigh.

Edit: Woah, just got back to him on my very next try. Maybe I am actually improving! And I think I got him down to his last hit. Soooo close.

Beat the boss. Another day, another 3 hours or so just beating one stage. God this game is insane.

Finished! Total play time: 6 hours, 56 minutes. At least three of those hours were playing Level 7 over and over again, trying to beat it with the bracelet. After that, I beat the final boss on my first try, in about three minutes. Never even got hit. I'd say it was anticlimactic, but after Level 7, I was happy to have a quick finish.

And then the game glitched out hilariously during the credits. During the cast roll, CPU Arthur's movements made no sense. He kept running right into enemies (unharmed, I guess he was invincible) and constantly tossing spears at nothing. And during this part (1 minute into the video, if the timestamp doesn't take you there), he walked off the edge, through the spikes, and died! The game even acted like it was a regular player death, going back to the Map screen and coming back to the beginning of the level! The cast roll and credits then continued in total silence, with CPU Arthur clearly drunk. I wish I'd recorded it.

Anyway yeah, pretty great game, if sort of dated by its technical hiccups and the occasional unfair choke point (and honestly, other than the Level 7 Bracelet Run, the game was pretty fair, certainly no worse than Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania, or Mega Man 1/2). As much as I liked it, I don't think I'll try any of the other GnG games, since this was apparently the best and least cheap one.

What's different on all the difficulty levels? I played on Normal.

Arrow >>>> Bracelet > Knife >>>> Axe > Lance >>>> Bladey Boomarang Thing > Scythe >>>> Torch



Also gonna plug Volgarr the Viking again because it's great.