Creepy Classic of the Month - Ghosts 'n Goblins

Manufacturer:	Capcom
Genre:	Platformer
Board:	Capcom Z80 hardware
Year:	1985

Halloween is upon us once again, which means it's time for another spooky Classic of the Month.  Last year I talked about the dreary Splatterhouse, which can hardly be called a classic, unlike this year's game, Ghosts 'n Goblins.

The game begins with our hero, Sir Arthur and his beloved Princess Prin Prin, relaxing in a graveyard (for some reason) when a winged demon swoops down and steals the girl.  Who hasn't been there - am I right?  Quick as a flash, Sir Arthur dons his armour (did I mention he's just in his boxers at the beginning?) and immediately finds himself waist deep in the undead.  And so begins an epic and absolutely rock-hard run and gun (well, javelin) adventure, which quickly cemented itself in the collective conscience of arcade gamers around the world.  A big part of its appeal was it's personality, like the way Sir Arthur could take two hits from enemies, but the first hit knocked off his armour.

If you play it today, you will still enjoy it, but you may well be put off by its difficulty - especially since part of that difficult is imposed by the sluggish controls.  You cannot actually fire javelins and run at the same time; instead, Sir Arthur pauses for a split second, which gives the zombies, demonic crows, skeletons, vampires and other monstrosities plenty of opportunity to do you in.

Three years after its release, Capcom brought out a sequel, Ghouls 'n' Ghosts, the one and only arcade sequel.  Capcom did bring out numerous ports, sequels and updates, across dozens of different platforms, but for me, the one to play was the Maximo series on the PlayStation 2.  It was the perfect reimagining of the game for (then) modern consoles, with gorgeous 3D polygonal graphics, but all of the gameplay, charm and of course difficulty that made the original so great.

MTW

Daytona USA port hits consoles

Sega's Daytona USA hit the arcades in 1993 and at the time it was a technical marvel, as it was one of the first games to use textured polygonal graphics.  If you have any fondness for the clunky, but nonetheless historically significant racer then you can now play it on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network.  Unlike Sega's ports of After Burner, Outrun 2 and Sega Rally, Daytona USA has not been given a makeover, beyond upping the resolution.  To be honest, taken out of its arcade environment and placed on a platform that has a lot of its equally nostalgic, but significantly updated brethren, some people may be put off of Daytona's dated looks. However, it's still a fast-paced and thrilling game, plus there's a demo (at least there is on the Xbox), so it's worth checking it out, if only to marvel at how far 3D graphics have come and to sing along to the title music.

MTW

What is screen burn?

Back in the 70s and 80s, people were not quite so energy conscious and as such arcade machines would be left on for 12+ hours a day, with the phosphor on the back of the monitor sizzling away from the constant beam of the cathode ray in the back of the unit. If an image was left firing at back of the screen for long enough, the phosphor layer would erode, leaving a ghost image known as screen burn, burn-in, after image or ghost images, pictured below:

Domino Man title screen (left) and the "screen burn" effect on a CRT monitor (right)

The mainly affected early arcade games, as manufacturers quickly discovered what was happening and started adding "attract modes" to their games, with constantly moving images to prevent the phosphor damage. This, incidentally, is precisely why computers have screen savers.

MTW

Raiden Fighters compilation finally coming to UK

Back in March 2008, Japanese Xbox 360 gamers were treated to a compilation of Seibu Kaihatsu's sublime shmup series, Raiden Fighters.  The compilation was called Raiden Fighters Aces and contained ports of Raiden Fighters, Raiden Fighters 2: Operation Hell Dive and Raiden Fighters Jet, which were released in arcades between 1996 and 2000.

The compilation came to America in 2009, but I had given up hope of it coming to Europe.  However, several online stores here in the UK are saying it's out in July and priced between £14 and £20, which is a bargain as far as I'm concerned.  And talking of concerned, if you're worried these are shoddy ports, just check out the American reviews.  Other than the short length of the games, the lack of online multiplayer and the fact the gamees look there age, nobody can fault Gulti's conversions.

So until July, here's a video to whet your appetites.

UPDMTWE (02/07/2011): Looks like the release date has slipped.  Most online stores are now saying September, but the actual date varies, which makes me think it won't be out that month either. Oh well.

UPDMTWE (01/10/2011): September has come and gone and still no EU release for this compilation.  I think it's vapourware and I won't bother covering it again until I have a PAL copy in my Xbox!  Thank you for your time.

MTW

Game Room round-up

Last year, for just a few months, it seemed as though us arcade throwbacks had got finally got a respectful, forward thinking retro coin-op collection for our home consoles. And more than just being a load of old arcade games slapped together on a disc, Microsoft's Game Room promised to be an ever evolving service, with new games and features emerging on a weekly basis. But it was not to be. Not only did the lacklustre line-up mean Xbox and Windows gamers quickly dismissed the service, but developers Krome went bust, taking their emulator and the licences they'd acquired with them.



I must admit, I only bought four games: Battlantis, Yie-Ar Kung-Fu, Juno First and Yar's Revenge - and that's not even an arcade game.  Nonetheless, I still like to nip in and play every now and then, send the odd challenge to my son or rearrange my arcade and a quick look at the highscore tables in ranked more shows there are many other arcade and retro enthusiasts out there who are still holding a candle for what could have been.

If you haven't tried the service yet, check out Retro Collect's new article 'Top 5 Games to Try on Microsoft's Game Room'.