A Gaming Diary
Posts tagged ghosts’n goblins
GHOSTS’N GOBLINS GOLD KNIGHTS (iPhone)
Nov 17th
I was awake between 4am and 5:30am this morning, due to a combination of a dodgy stomach and a hungry cat. Mainly the stomach – the cat went back to sleep after getting some food.
I was using my iPhone in bed, after spending half an hour on the loo, and noticed that Ghosts’n Goblins, sorry, GHOSTS’N GOBLINS, had an update, which has added in a whole new game mode. That’s a bit of surprise so soon after release. And, even more of a surprise, it was free.
It’s Boxers mode, where you spend the entire game in your underwear, without armour, so one hit kills you. I also think the enemies might be faster and there might be more traps. It was hard to tell, it being five in the morning in the morning and all. However, even in the early hours, I was able to tell that the new mode’s an awful lot of brutal fun and should breathe new life into the game for me.
There’s also a new leader board for Time Attack. I don’t know if that’s for Boxers mode – unlike the standard mode, you get continues in this version so time-based leader board might make sense – or whether it’s for completing the main game in a single run, or what.
GHOSTS’N GOBLINS GOLD KNIGHTS (iPhone)
Nov 12th
So, yesterday afternoon I finished the third level of the game. And then in the evening I finished the fourth level.
The fifth level didn’t take long. And the sixth level simply consists of the world’s easiest boss fight.
And that’s the end.
Obviously, I can go back and play it again. (And I have done, mainly to test if the game gets harder after you’ve completed it. It doesn’t.) For only £1.79 I’m not going to complain too much, but it feels like there should be a bit more game here. Fun while it lasts, but shockingly easy.
GHOSTS’N GOBLINS GOLD KNIGHTS (iPhone)
Nov 11th
Been very much enjoying this game. It’s not earth-shattering and I don’t see it being one of my games of the year, but it doesn’t do much wrong. The challenge has ramped up now I’m on the third level, but it’s still not as hard as the games of old.
I’ve even made it to the third boss a couple of times now, but on both occasions I was down to my pants, so didn’t last long.
GHOSTS’N GOBLINS GOLD KNIGHTS (iPhone)
Nov 10th
THANKS FOR ONLY USING CAPITAL LETTERS IN THE NAME OF THIS GAME, CAPCOM! I ALWAYS ENJOY THAT! Anyway, yes, a new – new! – Ghosts’n Goblins game has appeared on the iPhone today. It’s only £1.79 at the moment, which is within my impulse purchase range for a much-loved series such as this, so I gave it a go.
First thing you notice is that it’s all been rendered in fairly cheap-looking 3D. Arthur’s animation, in particular, is laughable, but not charmless. (There’s another playable character, Lancelot, but selecting him would, of course, be sacrilege.)
The second thing you notice is that it’s all very easy. I doubt anyone will see the Game Over screen before the end of the first level. You might misjudge a jump and lose a life or two, but that’s it. The enemies are no trouble and the boss is a piece of cake, with a blindingly obvious weak spot and attacks that are harder to get hit by than avoid.
The second level is rather more challenging. The enemies are slightly more troublesome, yes, but the real difficulty comes from the jumps. There’s one near the end of the second level (I assume) that I keep failing. Yet, I still kept going back, stretching the definition of lunch time to breaking point. (And you can choose which level to start on, so there’s no need to do the first level again once you’ve completed it.)
I miss the hardcore punishment of the GBA version of the game, but I’m not sure if it’d work with virtual controls, good as these are. It took me a few minutes to adjust to the fairly small d-pad, but after that I didn’t have any issues.
So, any bad news, apart from maybe the difficulty?
Yes, I’m afraid so.
The graphics sometimes make it unclear where you can and can’t jump. It’s not a big issue, but it’s occasionally annoying.
More importantly, the game doesn’t do any auto save. Get a phone call of press the Home button while playing and your current game is lost. The level select feature makes this slightly less of an issue than it might be, but it’s still not good.
The final bit of bad news is the game’s approach to in-app purchases. Take a look at this screenshot.
That’s right, you can buy cheats for 59p each. Infinite lives, infinite magic attacks, things like that. No, you don’t have to use them – and I won’t be – but it all leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.
