Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts

Dark Souls is for pussies.

Put that quote as my gravestone’s epitaph, all 400+ of them that I amassed while playing Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts.

The best way to describe Super Ghouls ‘n’ Ghosts difficulty is very hard but also very doable. The game is very deliberate in its challenge. Completing each chunk of level is very satisfying to do. It plays very well, although the game could have a few more platforming challenges to get the player used to the movement before the lava pillars in level 3.

My big complaint is the inability to choose your weapon. It’s very easy to accidentally pick up a weapon you don’t want and it could be frustrating. Also, some weapons just aren’t good, especially the bracelet. That leads me to my second big complaint: the second loop. After finishing level 7, you have to play the entire game again except when you get to the boss of level 7, you need this bracelet which has a short range and is a weak weapon. I didn’t beat the game properly; I beat level 7 and when the game looped over, I used the level select to take me to 8, where I beat that guy legit.

Other than those problems, this is an infectious challenging game that rewards caution and confidence. It looks great, sounds great, and plays great.

Super Ghouls and Ghosts is essentially an extension of the first game, its the same exact concept, 2 hits you die, cheap enemies spawning from off screen, needing to beat the game twice for the true ending. Super Ghouls makes improvements, now you can get super armor that powers up your weapons, its a little more fair in design, it is bigger than the first game, and the boss fights actually feel somewhat fair. However, the game really is full of the same annoying crap from the first game. The two hit kill is just annoying, there are tons of enemies that are almost impossible to avoid, you have the annoying Gargoyle enemies return, and of course to fight the final boss and get the true ending you have to play through the game a second time and find a special item. Super Ghouls is a better looking game, it controls a bit smoother, and is a tiny bit more fair. But it really is more frustrating than fun and brings back too much of what made the first game frustrating.