When in 1985 Ghosts 'n Goblins entered the world of the arcades, the jump 'n run would never be the same again. Capcom had created a new standard for years to come with their knight in shining armour, slashing through creatures from the underworld.

It's a simple love story. Our hero Arthur has to rescue his woman Guinevere from that major bad-ass ruling the undead. Therefore he must go through six action packed levels to prove his woman he's the man who makes things happen.

And for Arthur making things happen is where Ghosts 'n Goblins proves to be a tough nut to crack. Baddies come in all forms creepy and freaky. Some are easy to eliminate, others are tougher then Mickey Tyson on speed (that #@$%# gargoyle!). And though a baddie may seem a simple adversary on his own, in group most are hard to beat. Add multiple routes, bonusses, secrets and a clock ticking, and we have what we call a situation. And behold, great level design makes that Capcom's classic oozes with situations...

As luck will have it, Arthur is pretty versatile. He can jump, duck, climb ladders, heck, even shoot backwards while jumping! Rocketscience in the mid 80s, but slightly dated for the 90s day and age.

What keeps me coming back to Ghosts 'n Goblins is not only the cool baddies or the great playability. The levels are varied and always make you want to see what's next. In his quest for giving Guinevere her freedom back Arthur will have to battle his way through a cemetary, a haunted forest, an icepalace, a forbidden city and much, much more. All graphics are designed in its typical cartoonish - dark medieval style, making optimal use of the hardware. This doesn't take away the feeling that the graphics look dated. For the trained eye the old style tiled-scroller is pretty visible, and most animations don't look as smooth as they should be (and I am being mild here).

Often dramatic and with a clear medieval feel, the music guides Arthur through his adventure, setting the atmosphere and helping the adrenaline flow. The sound effects are also well designed. Though the sound track is good, it is sorry enough generated by Programmable Sound Generators, which were customary during the 80s but are limited in audio capacity : the audio is jinxed with some severe limitations and it certainly would not pass a comparison with a modern system.

Capcom hit gold with Ghosts 'n Goblins, and two years later, Arthur was sent only once more on the warpath in 1989 with Ghouls 'n Ghosts. Sorry enough, and to the regret of many fans, Capcom never continued the series after that. Worth mentioning is the incredibly good conversion Nintendo made for their SNES, called Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts.

All three games (Ghosts 'n Goblins, Ghouls 'n Ghosts and Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts) were recently published again for the Sony Playstation and the Sega Saturn under the name Capcom Generations 2

Read a complete review at videogames.com and gaming-age.com. If you want to play these gems on the PC or Mac, you will have to check out your favorite emulation site, or if you feel adventureous, find an arcade who still features the game in some lost corner and toss in a few coins! I know I would!!

Graphics	10	9	Sound
Play Control	9	10	Challenge
Replay Value	10	10	Performance