Makaimura for WonderSwan (Japanese: 魔界村?, "Demon World Village for WonderSwan") is a game for the WonderSwan developed by Capcom and published by Bandai in 1999 and is part of the Ghosts 'n Goblins franchise. Sharing similar gameplay to its predecessors, Makaimura also shares enemies, weapons and backgrounds from the previous three games. Unique features include double paths from the second till the fifth levels, swimming in water and a level which requires the player to rotate the wonderswan by 90 degrees as Arthur climbs and swings down a rope in a vertical shaft. Unlike other games, the player is not required to repeat the game after the penultimate level in order to get the one weapon to defeat the final boss Azrael.
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It is a continuous tribute to predecessors operated with the stylistic and technical maturity of modern times. The beginning of our adventure is the classic one: the little princess alone in the ever-present graveyard and the valiant Arthur who joins her to romance, only to have her taken away because of the usual spoilsport demons. The familiar map of the various levels follows, after which the real action begins. It's all just like 1985. Fortunately, this is only a quote, though self-celebration is one of the dominant themes of the entire production, with more than one playable section resembling moments from Ghosts'n Goblins or Ghouls'n Ghosts. What this Makaimura does not inherit from the progenitor is, thank goodness, the imprecision of the controls, unchanged in setting but largely revised in responsiveness. The pace of the times is underscored by other aspects as well: the animations are prodigious in frames, Arthur's pacing is very well done, the stages are numerous and varied, and the weapons are increased though some are decidedly negligible. Too bad for the music, which is cute but penalized by the console's unexciting audio capabilities, while the choice not to repurpose additional armor to the basic one, as in Ghouls'n Ghosts and its sequel for Super Nintendo, is significant, as is the exclusion of double jumping. "Back to the roots," in short.
The gameplay, then, would not seem to feature significant introductions, and instead... What impressed you most about Ghosts'n Goblins? Wild guess: the difficulty. Monstrous, daunting, for many unacceptable. Fujiwara reintroduces it, but offering us a new opportunity: saving. This feature is in obvious contrast to the arcade platforming philosophy, which dictates the need to be flawless from the early levels onward, so as to save precious lives, gain more lives, while also contemplating the endurance factor that will see players' concentration fail in the advanced stages of the game. The ability to simply restart from the last level reached is a double-edged sword: Makaimura opens the door wide to even the least gifted players, it can last a few more levels because breaks are allowed, but to do so negates all its elitist charm. This for Wonderswan is the Ghosts'n Goblins for everyone, probably the only one, certainly the one most bastardized by the times and market rules. A fine platformer, paradoxically not much recommended for fans of the series.
The gameplay, then, would not seem to feature significant introductions, and instead... What impressed you most about Ghosts'n Goblins? Wild guess: the difficulty. Monstrous, daunting, for many unacceptable. Fujiwara reintroduces it, but offering us a new opportunity: saving. This feature is in obvious contrast to the arcade platforming philosophy, which dictates the need to be flawless from the early levels onward, so as to save precious lives, gain more lives, while also contemplating the endurance factor that will see players' concentration fail in the advanced stages of the game. The ability to simply restart from the last level reached is a double-edged sword: Makaimura opens the door wide to even the least gifted players, it can last a few more levels because breaks are allowed, but to do so negates all its elitist charm. This for Wonderswan is the Ghosts'n Goblins for everyone, probably the only one, certainly the one most bastardized by the times and market rules. A fine platformer, paradoxically not much recommended for fans of the series.
This review contains spoilers
A good GnG title that no one talks about. No double jump, no special armour, so a lot more akin to the original GnG. Controls are smooth and give you a lot of control. Has some difficult bosses, namely 4th and 6th bosses, but in a fun way imo. Graphics look good for a monochrome handheld. Also, there is a "tips" menu that allows you to activate cheat codes and a stage select, but to unlock them you have to complete certain tasks, which gives a little incentive for replaying the game. There's also a split path at one point. One of the stage leadibg off that has you rotate the Wonderswan 90 degrees for a stage, which is pretty cool imo! Even saves your progresd, so it's not as bs as GnG nes. However most of the music is pretty bad (cough cough title screen cough). It has a rendition of the classic GnG theme in Stage 1 but it's slowed down and doesn't carry the same oomph as the original. The track for Boss 6, Tiamat, does slap though. Perhaps it's a little easy, but honestly it was perfect for my skill level. All in all, a brilliant little game. If you like the look of the original GnG but find the difficulty a bit too daunting, give this game a try. It might be just right for you