Today, TongariDan is representing Ghosts ‘N Goblins for the Capcom Retro Idol title , and it would do you good to listen to his points! His blog post can be found here , and it’s also reposted below! You can check out Ghosts ‘N Goblins yourself through various means: by downloading it via the Wii’s Virtual Console, by playing it in Capcom Classics Collection (PS2, Xbox), Capcom Classics Collection: Reloaded (PSP), and Ghosts ‘N Goblins: Gold Knights (iPhone).

Also, you all can now head over to the official Capcom Retro Idol Experience forum thread to start posting about tomorrow’s game, Mega Man X3 !

There are a lot of things that draw one’s attention to the game of Ghosts N Goblins. The guy running around in his underwear on screen, the person in front of or next to the arcade machine looking at his empty wallet. But I think I should start with the most readily apparent and that would the fantastic music.

The moment the game starts up you’re treated to some great dramatic music (while your girlfriend is kindapped) that is instantly recognizable. In fact, that is true for not only all the music in this game, but the sound-effects as well. Whailing ghosts, the sound of your weapon being fired. Have someone play the game and just listen to it without looking and you can practically follow what’s happening. In fact, I’m betting the only music people might find unrecognizable would the background music for the later levels. That being because they’ve either never gotten that far or they’ve never gotten there enough times for the song to stick.

Hit the jump for more!

That, of course, is the other thing everyone remembers about this game. It’s HARD. It’s the kind of game that has speed-runs, but the speed hardly matters. Just managing to beat the game without dying ascends you to gaming godhood. The game design is the perfect combination of pick up and play and insane difficulty designed to suck quarters straight from your pockets in the arcade. In many ways I’d like to think it helped set the stage for games like Megaman, letting companies (and CAPCOM, obviously) know it was okay to make difficult games as long as they were freaking great.

But I’ve gone off-track. The beauty of the game is that it’s extremely simple to pick up and play, easy to learn, but insanely difficult to master. It’s no wonder a game in the series is released on portable systems whenever possible because it’s perfect to play in short doses. Get it for Wii Virtual Console and just start playing it with some friends some time. Either everyone will want a turn, or they’ll just start watching. Either way for a one player game it’s surprisingly fun in a group as everyone tries to yell out help, and laughs as you die in some crazy way, or congratulates you on a narrow escape.

Lastly, I feel I should bring up the game’s story and characters. For a game without much of a story, it leaves you wondering from the very start. Why is a knight half-naked in a graveyard with a princess at night? What exactly ARE those burrito ghosts in the forest? Is Arthur “THE” (king) Arthur or just a knight? How does the final battle being a “trap devised by Satan” send you all way back to the beginning of your adventure? Although I suppose making you start from the beginning on a harder difficulty to get the real ending is something Satan could come up with (that’s right, in case you didn’t know you must beat the game twice, once on a harder difficulty, to get the real ending).

Just as insteresting as what little story we get are the characters, like Red Arremer. How many generic badguy types in video games manage to get their own game? Much less their own trilogy like Red Arremer did. Poison is the most popular (once) generic video game baddy I know of and even he/she hasn’t pulled that one off. Then there’s the main character himself, a simple character but with a lot of recognizable little traits. The infinite lances, the armor (especially the special “Super Ghouls N Ghosts” versions), and of course the heart-print boxers. It’s no wonder he makes cameos in games like MvC, Cammy’s Cannon Spike (arguably my favorite look of his), and We Love Golf.

(Arthur in Cammy’s Cannon Spike)

Make Ghosts N Goblins your next (first?) Retro Idol, the game’s so hard that even just rooting for it makes you better at video games (guarantee void everywhere). And if you haven’t already, pick it up for the Wii Virtual Console.