SS of the week: Ghosts & Goblins NES

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I saw this screen shot in a Nintendo book, and it looked awesome. Graveyard, zombies, being a knight in white armor, and items! 6 years old and my mind is just blown. I really wanted to play this game. Thankfully, places like flea markets and second hand video game shops were all the rage in the late 90s so I got to pick up some titles I could not afford or find at a younger age.

I had such high hopes. I really did. I mean, I knew it was tough, at least I heard it from one kid that my mom was friends with his mom and my sister and I had to go play with him and his little brother (you know how all that goes when you are a kid. Sometimes you get stuck hanging out with some real screwballs) but these two were not so bad. The older kid had this game in his NES in his room, on pause. It was paused on the map screen. He said it had been that way all weekend. I thought he was nuts. I just had a lousy NES which couldnt stand that kind of play. But turns out, this kid had the right idea. You do get infinite continues in the game so as long as it doesnt shut off, in theory you can beat it.

Take turns dying with your little sister who gives it maybe 30 seconds of a try.

(world map here if I felt like googling this crap one more time, which I dont. So go google it yourself if you need a refresher.)

So the bad news. One big issue is just the game is too hard. You only get 2 chances on a life throughout the level. You get hit once, you lose armor and you are forced to run around nekkid. Then, you die next hit. You can pick up the little items that sort of resemble armor, but they just give points. Plus your weapons are not so strong. 

And their Unicorns (boss) are fugly and not at all cute.

A weird graphic has always bothered me. Take a look at the mountain or cone cloud thing in the middle. It has half a fence growing on the side. Is this where the devil lives? Or Satan? Since there are both in the game, indicating there is a diference between Satan and the Devil. I think the Devil is the thing that kidnaps your woman at the beginning but Satan is the final boss. 

never gonna get there, gonna get there (not a NES ss) never gonna get there, gonna get there...womp womp wah wahh waahh

Anyway, in case you were living under a I hate video game rock in the 80s-90s, you must know this game. Its a classic, tough game and nobody usually beats it. The ending also is a huge let down. Boo on this game, but if someone else is playing it, I will have to watch.

Thanks for reading, until next time!