"Capcom at their finest...."

Presentation: 10
Simple. Pop a quarter in, press the Start button and off you go. Opening sequence is simple and gets to the point for laying the basic story line. An evil demon has captured your love/princess and you must save her!

Graphics: 10
The art style is great, the detail is fantastic, and every stage looks phenomenal. Color palette is used amazingly for a beautifully painted cartoonish look. This is one of Capcom's most beautiful CPS-1 looking games. To this day, nothing comes close - there is just so much imagination in this game.

Sound: 10
The best soundtrack in the franchise (omitting Ultimate GnG - haven't played it yet). Brilliant and very catchy songs. Sound effects are appropriate and never annoying. I would love to hear an orchestral version of the songs, I wonder if it ever existed...

Gameplay: 10
Simple jump and shoot controls - the ability to shoot up and down is a huge welcome in this difficult and challenging game. Controls are simply perfect in Ghouls. In comparison, I wasn't a big fan of the first Ghost'n Goblins since shooting direction was restricted. The SNES Super GnG introduced double jumping which I find very annoying (and unrealistic) and also removed up/down shooting which was my biggest gripe about the game.

Lasting Appeal: 10
Hidden secrets/treasures, multiple gameplay strategies - so much to uncover in this beautiful and amazing platform shooter. Easily one of the most addictive games ever. Difficult, but practice and you'll learn the patterns to make it a very enjoyable and simple gaming experience.

OVERALL: 10
Nearly 20 years since release (1988) I have been a huge fan of this game from the beginning. Never a dull moment. I mastered Ghouls'n Ghosts in the arcade but was such a fan that I even bought it for the Sega Genesis when it was released...and now just recently playable on the PSP using the ROM and CPS1 emulator. Only thing I wished is that it was longer and had more stages in the game or that the crappy SNES Super GnG was simply more of the same greatness of the arcade GnG. The NEC PC Engine Super Grafx version of GnG is amazing as well - best home console version that is, but too bad the system had a quick death and was very expensive at the time (and only available in Japan).

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 09/07/06