Maximo: Ghosts to Glory

"Thank you Capcom Thank you very much."

Alright before I get started it is important to understand my position with this game. I have been playing Video Games for a very long time and was always the best on my block. I've seen it all and have probably played well over a 1000 games in my lifetime.
When you look at most games now-a-days things have really changed. For one, everything is in 3D, very rarely a game comes out that is a 2D side-scroller. One of the many other revolutions in gaming was created by the memory card. Once the memory card was invented for game systems things completely changed. In old school games,like Super Mario and Castlevania, gamers were forced to play completely through a game on the first try or start over. These games were hard and demanded alot from the gamer. If you were not perfect on a jump or ran a little too fast it was curtains.
This brings me to my first point of Maximo. This game is so old school it brings tears to my eyes. Maximo is based on the old 2D classic Ghosts N Goblins. GnG games have spawned many incarnations in the arcade, sega, genesis, nes, and snes. Throughout all these years there has been one thing that has remained constant, the difficulty. GnG games were hard! and I mean really difficult(but never impossible). They always tested the true hardcore gamers to there limits. It was games like these that really took your time and as frustrating as they were, you loved every second of it.
When I first heard they were making a new GnG game I almost wet myself. It had been so long since I had played one and from what I remember all of them were great. Alas I started thinking about how games were today and how much easier they had become and sighed. I will admit I was VERY SKEPTICAL about how this game would turn out.
This game has soared over all my expectations. For one everything that made the old GnG games great is in here. The constant swarms of zombies, the insane jumps,hidden treasure chests, giant bosses,even the limited number of hits (gotta love those boxers). It's all here and in great form.

Graphics 9/10
When you first see this game you may not be blown away, and the screen shots aren't too pretty. Once you get into this game however you'll realize just how good the graphics are. The most impressive being the level changing effects. A giant tree or building will just crumble in front of you completely unexpectedly with flawless animation and a giant lava pit will open underneath you. If you played GnG games this is quite a common thing in those games and Im glad they continued the tradition. The fog effect is also really good and all the characters and enemies have great play design and are completely life like in a cartoony kind of way. There are better looking 3D platformers out there Jak and Daxter comes to mind, but that won't bother you very smooth animation with a Very small sense of slowdown in some parts(that's why it got a 9) but nothing that will bug you

Gameplay 10/10
Here's where some people may disagree with me. I find the control flawless. Many people will disagree with me because Maximo controls kind of sluggish. In my opinion this is what makes this game so great. It's almost as if they took the old play mechanics of GnG and converted them to 3D. Absolutely brilliant!!! I will say there are problems with the camera and the ability to judge distance but this I DO NOT COUNT as a problem due to the fact ALL 3D games have this problem so it's very well expected. And it really isn't much of a problem at all if you are used to 3D platformers. The last and most important detail is about difficulty. MAXIMO is NOT EASY, BUT it is one of the most rewarding games due to it difficulty. 1. To save a game you must collect 100 coins every time 2. Every other time you continue the cost of a the continue will go up a death coin. A lot of people have been complaining about this but I personally think it's great. It is important to realize that a 100 coins is found Very easily same with 50 fairies(gives you 1 death coin). And you can always go back to collect more. Last note you can only save in certain places in the game making it even more difficult.Oh and the Sword power-ups are great as well
Sound 9/10
Not much to say here but solid and I love the new renditions of teh old GnG classics. Sound effects are also spot on.
Value 9/10
If you try hard you will beat Maximo it is not impossible. and to make it even harder you can try and get 100% on each level I don't know how long that will take but I rate this game to be in the 10-30 hour category to complete everything. depending how good you are and how much patience you have. There are about 20 stages in this game.

Small negatives: Cut scenes are humorous but not really well integrated, and the story isn't really strong. But if this is a true old school remake it shouldn't be

Final Note: Old school and Hardcore gamers the time has come to truly enjoy an action platformer again. Go and buy Maximo or rent it at Blockbuster like I did and then buy it you will not be disappointed

Overall 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/23/02, Updated 01/23/02