Maximo: Ghosts to Glory

"Swords, Sorcery and Boxer Shorts"

Returning to the days of old, Capcom brings back to life one of the more impressive and time proven platform games in the form of Maximo. Much like Ghosts n Goblins, you’ll find that Maximo has all of the same themes and challenge, with a variety of enemies and strategy that you must undertake in order to be successful. With the change from a side scrolling adventure into a three-dimensional world filled with magic, swords and of course, the legions of the dead. You can find plenty of challenge and plenty of action here in Maximo that really makes it a perfect upgrade for an age-old classic.

Tell Me A Story…

After returning from a war in a distant land, Maximo finds that the kingdom he has spent his life defending has changed. His most trusted advisor, Achille, has taken it upon himself to twist the land with evil sorcery and curse everything with darkness and an army of the dead. The four Sorceresses who help to lead the ruling council have been banished and imprisoned throughout the land at the furthest reaches of the kingdom. To boot, Maximo’s beloved Sophia has been forced to marry Achille and now rules beside the false king. After a very short battle, Maximo is banished to the underworld, where he meets with the Grim Reaper himself and is sent back to defeat Achille and restore his lands to the greatness that they once were.

Adventure In A Dark World…

The first thing that you’re going to notice about Maximo is that it requires precision timing and some fancy footwork in order to get through the stages at hand. There is nothing more frustrating than making your way through the stage and end up getting yourself killed near the end and have to start over from the beginning. Much like the Ghost n Goblin games of old, the challenge and difficulty here is ramped up to the point of frustration if you’re not sure of where to go or what to do. Enemies come at you from all angles and in all types and sizes, giving more variation on the types of battles that you will encounter throughout the game.

While playing through the stages, you’ll be able to collect coins and spirits to help you further your quest into the lands that Maximo must venture. The coins can be found throughout the stages in plain view and can be collected in order to use some of the item circles that are located a different points. These item circles can contain different types of health items or a regeneration of armor if you happen to lose it. The spirits are important to collect, because if you run out of lives, then the Grim Reaper will come to collect a Death Coin. These Death Coins are the only way that you can be allowed to continue, so the collection of the spirits from glowing gravestones is important if you want to continue later in the game.

Stages and otherwise really don’t have much in terms of goals, though you might want to fully explore the different crevices and caves that the stages have to offer. As you progress through the game, the difference between partial mastery and full mastery of the game comes with the exploration of each and every stage. Collection of coins and spirits is important, and if you happen to get killed at any point in a stage, you don’t have to start at the beginning as long as you are able to activate various checkpoint graves in the stage. This gives a little more fairness to the game and doesn’t force you to start over from the very beginning if you happen to die.

Control in Maximo is a function that you have to master in order to be successful during both the enemy and boss battles. The different options that Maximo has at his disposal depend on what it is that you want to do to a particular enemy at any given point during the game. Attacking is done with either a weaker sword swing, or with a powerful overhead swing, both of which have their pros and cons depending on the situation at hand. Jumping is crucial throughout, and the timing that you need is only as good as the camera angle that you have working for you at the time. You might find that practice in the first couple of stages is critical simply because timing or how far Maximo will jump. This will spell either doom or success depending on where you land, especially near lava pits and crevices that will cost you a life.

Cartoons…

The world of Maximo is something that can be called a cartoon in terms of the way that the enemies and even the various cut-scenes throughout are drawn and created. You’ll find that the locations you adventure through are extremely well detailed, with fog effects and even rain drops that hit the ground. Smaller effects with Maximo include the way that his sword glows when going into a combination attack or when the sword that you’re using takes on a certain elemental value. Enemies themselves are well detailed and move fluidly, though some of the larger boss characters seem to have a little too much going for them in terms of simplicity in the way that they are designed. As with most themed games, the land is dark and moody, which really fits the base theme of death that Maximo seems to exude.

The Music Man…

Although the music in Maximo is themed correctly, you’ll find that there is something to be said for really remembering what the game music sounded like. In the background for most of the stages, the tunes are moody and dark with hints of adventure thrown in for a pleasant sounding game. However, the music seems to be a little too generic when compared to other adventure games of this type and the music really does fade into the background without giving way to anything memorable. Different sound effects, such as the voices of the Grim Reaper and even Maximo really do put emphasis on the theme of the game, but the sound effects also seem to draw into the background as you’ll be paying too much attention to the action rather than what the game sounds like.

Ghosts n Goblins Expanded…

Maximo is a great adventure game that has all the makings of a classic remake with plenty of modern additions. The world has been changed to give the game more depth and instead of Arthur, you have Maximo, who is just as much the hero. The visuals and the audio all have excellent points, but the lack of pushing the audio to the gamer and the cartoon qualities of the visuals might be a turn off for some. One of the more difficult points of the game comes with the ability to successfully make it through the stages without getting killed due to the lack of overall control on the jumping that Maximo does. All in all, Maximo is worth picking up for the weekend if you’re looking to get an adventure fix, but a purchase would be better for those who are fans of the Capcom line.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/22/03, Updated 02/22/03