If you ever wanted to play a version of Ghouls 'n Ghosts that feels like a bootleg, then good news, it's on the Sega Genesis.
A lot of my hangups here are with the controls, which feel like total junk. This isn't a knock against Arthur's stiffness clashing with the unforgiving nature of the game's platforming or anything, in fact I really like Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts and I'd say a lot of aspects of that game's design are present here, even if it lacks Super's satisfying double jump. No, it's that Ghouls 'n Ghosts consistently fails to recognize inputs, so most of the time it just feels like Arthur isn't doing what I tell him to.
The majority of my deaths were the result of inputs being eaten, which happened with such frequency that I thought something might be up with my Genesis controller. I traded out one OEM for another and was still having issues, then switched to a Retro-Bit pad (I have a lot of backup controllers, I know) and it still felt like a total crapshoot getting Arthur to behave in a predictable manner.
At that point I assumed something was up with the cart I bought and decided to try Ghouls 'n Ghosts in emulation, but no, it still plays pretty bad. It is moderately better with a firmer D-pad, so I think that's my preferred way to play the game and it's how I finished up the first run, but I have absolutely zero patience for a second, so I decided to put this down.
I've bought a lot of legit and repro carts for the Genesis and I think this is the first time I've genuinely felt swindled. The only thing stopping me from selling it is the hassle and the only thing preventing me from chucking it is that I'm a pack rat. Ghouls 'n Ghosts controls with such grace it made me think multiple Genesis controllers were broken, and beating it only provided a sense of accomplishment in spite of the game. At least Yuji Naka went on to do better things, like Sonic the Hedgehog and Balan Wonderworld.
A lot of my hangups here are with the controls, which feel like total junk. This isn't a knock against Arthur's stiffness clashing with the unforgiving nature of the game's platforming or anything, in fact I really like Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts and I'd say a lot of aspects of that game's design are present here, even if it lacks Super's satisfying double jump. No, it's that Ghouls 'n Ghosts consistently fails to recognize inputs, so most of the time it just feels like Arthur isn't doing what I tell him to.
The majority of my deaths were the result of inputs being eaten, which happened with such frequency that I thought something might be up with my Genesis controller. I traded out one OEM for another and was still having issues, then switched to a Retro-Bit pad (I have a lot of backup controllers, I know) and it still felt like a total crapshoot getting Arthur to behave in a predictable manner.
At that point I assumed something was up with the cart I bought and decided to try Ghouls 'n Ghosts in emulation, but no, it still plays pretty bad. It is moderately better with a firmer D-pad, so I think that's my preferred way to play the game and it's how I finished up the first run, but I have absolutely zero patience for a second, so I decided to put this down.
I've bought a lot of legit and repro carts for the Genesis and I think this is the first time I've genuinely felt swindled. The only thing stopping me from selling it is the hassle and the only thing preventing me from chucking it is that I'm a pack rat. Ghouls 'n Ghosts controls with such grace it made me think multiple Genesis controllers were broken, and beating it only provided a sense of accomplishment in spite of the game. At least Yuji Naka went on to do better things, like Sonic the Hedgehog and Balan Wonderworld.
2 Comments
joever
thephilosopher
6 months ago