Maximo: Ghosts to Glory

"Maximo: Ghosts to... can't think of anything funny."

“A new Ghouls & Ghosts? Surely you jest?” My first reaction upon hearing of Maximo.

“Hey, this is pretty fun.” After trading for Maximo, I pop it in, giddy as a schoolgirl.

30 minutes later – “Wait… was my file saved or what?”

Maximo has been out for a while now. At one time, I rented a copy but it was defective so I just acquired my own. So far, only one annoyance has bugged me: saving. You see, harking back to the days of NES and impossible games such as Contra, Capcom decided to bump up the difficulty of Maximo. How did they do so? By making you collect coins, and in return, having to use 100 of those suckers just to save your game. Now this would not be such a problem if there were say, a save point in every ‘sub-level’. Instead, one save pool (yes, pool as in pool of water) is placed in each level-hub if you will, the place where you go to select your stages. For example, you’re halfway through a stage, nearly dead, and you have no lives. Well, too bad my friend, for you will feel the wrath of many axe-wielding skeletons and old men zombies and have to restart from your last save. With that out of the way, let’s do the proverbial category break down.

STORY:
Maximo is murdered in the opening cinema, which is nicely done by the way. It seems King Achille, once Maximo’s loyal advisor, has turned on him much in the fashion of a wrestling swerve. While Maximo was away, Achille brought evil onto the lands by summoning the dead, all the while marrying our hero’s girliefriend. When he returns and sees what his former trustee has did, Maximo sets out to stop the madness. Two steps later, he is sent into Limbo thanks to a powerful blast from Achille. There, Maximo meets the Grim Reaper, who agrees to return him to the mortal world if he can send back the hordes of undead to where they rightfully belong.

GRAPHICS:
The most impressive in terms of graphics is the character design. Simply wonderful. To be such a dark game (both figuratively and literally), one can’t help but laugh at the somewhat cute enemies and characters. There are also some nice effects in game, such as the flame sword. Thankfully, I haven’t experienced any slowdown in Maximo as of yet, nor have I magically become stuck in walls or other objects.

SOUND:
I must applaud Capcom for giving us nice remixes of themes from the original games. These bring back glorious memories, memories of smashed controllers and tears of frustration. As for sound effects, I can’t really say much. Never really pay attention to grunts and groans. When Maximo swings down with his sword however, the bones from skeletons do sound cool as they scatter across the ground.

GAME PLAY:
Typical hack-n-slash game play, but I really don’t expect more from a Ghouls & Ghosts-type game. Let’s see… Maximo has some different sword maneuvers, such as an upward-slash or jump-in-the-air-and-come-down-with-a-mighty-blow-slash. Oh, and he can throw his shield like a boomerang. Sadly, after connecting with too many hits, the shield will disappear until you get new armor. Remember the flame sword I mentioned in the graphics? Same rings true for it. Too many strikes, and back to the normal sword you go.

What to buy: Maximo or a Mary-Kate and Ashley game?
I have to recommend Maximo this time. Seeing as how it can be found cheap in many stores, both online and retail, there is no reason why this game shouldn’t be in any PS2 owners collection.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/13/02, Updated 06/13/02