Retro Let's Play: Ghouls 'n Ghosts (Capcom 1988)

Ah, thank you for this as this was the home version I think I played most... maybe not the C64 version as I first thought. Info didn't show an SNES release when I was researching this writeup.

Playing this a few times recently certainly has reminded me how bloody hard this game is, but it strangely makes it more enjoyable as one really wants to try again to do better. Perfect design for 20c coins!



JSmith

 

On that topic, I was under the impression that "Super Ghouls n Ghosts" was a SNES exclusive, but learned just yesterday that it got ported to Saturn, PS1, PS2 and XBox. A quick YouTube search shows that it did indeed, minus all "licensed by Nintendo" notes.

The SNES version was famously plagued by slowdown, although several emulators and MiSTer can overclock the virtual SNES CPU and get rid of it, but I really want to compare these later ports to see if they were actually code level ports, or just emulation. Given that they were on PS1 and Saturn, I actually think they might be proper ports.

Anyway, back on the thread topic, I'll do a little MAME video guide later in the week for the arcade version of this game. Will document controller config, CRT emulation and dip switches to control difficulty (for those of us who aren't numbers).

 

Cool, will be looking forward to that.



JSmith

 

Thanks for the round up Elvis, Ive been in a position lately to pull the trigger on an X68k setup, however havent done so for a couple of reasons, one being that the ones on sale are mostly (non confirmable working units) listed as junk.. this is a huge gamble... there a nice desktop version on egay atm, which ive looked at a few times, but lacks a harddrive.. Ill keep on looking...

Very surprised at the rubbish C-64 version, Ghost was pretty darn one of the best ports on the 64, maybe a different software house ported Ghouls.. The ZX speccy, thats a suprise.. ill hunt that down myself and give it a spin...

The arcade versions for me are indeed the measure stick, probably because i never could afford to play much of them when i was little..

 

I don't know much about MAME, but here's what I figured out to get MT-32 music working in the X68000 port. I'm using a system-wide install of MAME on Linux (from deb-multimedia), so some paths are in .mame in my home directory, and common ones are in /usr/share/games/mame. On Windows I think it's all just relative to your "mame" folder.

• x68000.zip (X68000 ROMs) in the roms directory
• The game is on 2 floppy disk images (.dim files) in a single archive called daimakai.zip placed in a roms/x68k_flop subdirectory.
• I got the game from an archive.org X68000 collection, and the per-game zip files were full English titles, so I renamed this to the matching software title in the software list (mame/hash/x68k_flop.xml), which is daimakai. I think the common thing to do with MAME is get a huge software set and use library manager software to do the renames...
  
• You can optionally also specify the disks directly on the command line by unzipping them and using -flop1 daimakaimura-disk-1.dim and -flop2 daimakaimura-disk-2.dim on the command line.
• On Linux, I got the YM2151 and OKI sound working by using -sound sdl
  
• mame x68000 -listslots to list the slots in the emulated X68000. This gives:

Code:

SYSTEM           SLOT NAME        SLOT OPTIONS     SLOT DEVICE NAME
---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ----------------------------
[snip]
                 exp1             cz6bs1           Sharp CZ-6BS1 SCSI-1
                                  neptunex         Neptune-X
                                  x68k_midi        X68000 MIDI Interface

                 exp2             cz6bs1           Sharp CZ-6BS1 SCSI-1
                                  neptunex         Neptune-X
                                  x68k_midi        X68000 MIDI Interface

• mame -listmidi to list MIDI devices. If you're running a MUNT MT-32 emulator, it should appear here. On my machine this gives:

Code:

MIDI input ports:
Midi Through Port-0 (default)
USB Midi Cable MIDI 1

MIDI output ports:
Midi Through Port-0 (default)
USB Midi Cable MIDI 1

• So to run the game, the final command is:

Code:

mame x68000 daimakai -exp1 x68k_midi -midiout "USB Midi Cable MIDI 1" -sound sdl

• Default controls are U M H K for up/down/left/right, F11 for jump and F12 for fire
• In the options menu, you can remap them to something sensible like WASD if you're using keyboard
• In the options menu, change "module" from "internal" to "midi" to enable MIDI music.
  
• There's also a sound test if you're not that good at the game
• Insert then Esc to quit MAME (the Insert key enables MAME controls)

edit: my issue with not finding the .dim files is that the software list expects the .dim files to be in a zip file called softwarename.zip.

 

Video guide up. Please forgive the choppiness in the first section of gameplay. The game plays fine at 60FPS, but I chose a stupid profile in OBS and can't be stuffed redoing it.

Also the audio is a bit crap as the game is too loud. Sorry.

Links to everything you need in the video description. Make sure your watch it in 1080p60 to see the tiny text. If you have questions, reply to me here.

 

I've only ever played the C64 and Amiga versions of this, I always loved the graphics and the sound track is awesome but boy oh boy is this game hard, everytime I go to revisit it, I always think this time I'll get a little further only to be thoroughly disappointed with my abysmal performance

 

Yep it's a difficult one that's for sure... was just playing then and it's a struggle to even get to L2, trying to remember the gotcha's.

elvis cheer for the vid, didn't know about the crt-geo shader, very retro effect, noice.



JSmith

 

I might give the arcade version a crack again tonight and try and get to level 2

 

I just had my first go at this in many years using MAME for Linux on my PC. I was pleased that I actually made it to level 2 on the first credit. I ended up continuing on level 2 and didn't quite reach the second part of level 3. After mashing keys my old wrists and fingers are feeling a bit sore and wishing for more ergonomic controls so I'm going to play it on the PS3 I bought from Invariance and hacked last year. It also didn't help that MAME didn't grab the key strokes and my window manager interprets the control and alt keys (used by MAME for attack and jump) when pressed together as the windows key and switched virtual desktops on me. Remarkably the first time that happened I survived unscathed until I worked out why my game had been replaced with the desktop. I'm guessing there is an option to prevent that and I just didn't see it.

 

My video shows how to remap controls. You can use your PS3 controller natively (no drivers needed) in Linux MAME, and it's the same method for remapping controls as I have in the Windows version in this video.

Controller config starts at 13:56

 

In the name of fair play, here's some ways you can legitimately buy this game in 2021. All of these are arcade perfect. (For older systems, see my coverage on previous pages).

-------------------------------------------------------

PC/Steam, PS4, XBox One, Nintendo Switch: "Capcom Arcade Stadium":
https://www.capcom-arcade-stadium.com/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1515950/Capcom_Arcade_Stadium/

Includes a tonne of old classic arcade games from Capcom. Both "Ghosts n Goblins" and "Ghouls n Ghosts" are there as DLC items for a couple of bucks.

And if you suck at this game as bad as I do (level 2 stomping turtles kicking my arse every time!), invincibility is there for a laugh:



-------------------------------------------------------

PlayStation 2: "Capcom Classics Collection Volume 1":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capcom_Classics_Collection#Volume_1

Standalone disc title for PS2, includes "Ghosts n Goblins", "Ghouls n Ghosts", and a port (not emulated) of "Super Ghouls n Ghosts" (SNES version, slowdown removed).

-------------------------------------------------------

PlayStation Portable: "Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capcom_Classics_Collection#Capcom_Classics_Collection_Reloaded

Again, the three titles here. Ensure you get "Reloaded" and not "Remixed" which has different games.

-------------------------------------------------------

PlayStation 1 and Sega Saturn: "Capcom Classic Collections 2: Chronicles of Arthur"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capcom_Generations#Capcom_Generations_2:_Chronicles_of_Arthur

Once again, all three titles, no slowdown on the SNES "Super" port. There's 4 of these collections, so make sure you get number 2 if you're looking for this game.

-------------------------------------------------------

The PS2, PS1 and Saturn titles are all very likely on archive.org too if you're not interested in rewarding eBay scalpers. Best trick is to search the full name of the platform you want, and the word "redump" to find them.

 

Of course, you are right. I might give that a try. I just never thought to do that since I already have MAME running on the PS3 and it's easy to move the PS3 into the TV room for a big screen effect.

My MAME PC setup in Canberra actualy uses Playstation 1 controllers via a DIY parallel port adapter and a DIY VGA to SCART cable for an awesome picture. Playing GNG on it is very nice.

 

Can someone try to explain the workings of the super armor and how to get it? I shoot at the bloody chests, and all I get is the damn bloke that turns you into a frog or an old bloke.. I thoroughly suck at this..

 

Apparently there's a pattern to them, but I haven't quite worked it out yet. But you've got to open a few to get to bonus armour and weapons.

You can kill the evil magician before he turns you into something useless, you just have to be quick on the attack button.

 

I think if you kill ghouls quickly you get the 200 points for collecting the "shiny statues" and then seem to get the gold armour from a chest about 1/3 of the way through stage one... it's next to impossible to keep it during the boss fight though.



JSmith

 

I got to the boss in level 2 on mame version but lots of saving and continues.

Switched to mega drive version and its still a great challenge. At the start of L5. Thank god for saving options with modern emulation.

 

Tool Assisted Retro Let's Play

 

Learning where all the chests are is a pretty big deal for sure, this is what you get from them:

 

Is the master system version of the game the only one where you get silver, red, green, gold armour in that order and also seperate boots and helmets in that colour order? Haven’t seen anything similar in mame or mega drive versions and haven’t played any others.