Way back in the day when your's truly was only a wee (wee as in tiny, not the human effulent wee) lad upon I happened one day on a machine of greatness at the local pinball arcade, which was Time Zone if anyone cares, the machine beckoned to me and my friends with shiney 8 bit color. As I was watching the story unfolded before me: Arthur (your character) was having a leisurly sunday afternoon picnic in the local grave yard with his missus, not long before a demon from hell decides to bust in as mess up your romanic afternoon. Now poor old arthur is a bit on the pissed side. Here he is with a nice expensive $10 bottle of Soho, some cheese and crackers and some wise guy starts breaking his nuts. As the demon flies off Arthur curses his fluro red but and starts on the daunting task of getting his sure fire poon back and kicking some pink ass demon.Way back in 1986 the orignal G'n G had mad it's way into almost every home in the universe on numerous games consoles following up on it's arcade sucess. It even a rivaled Super Mario Bros at the time, the main difference being that G 'n G was so fucking hard. It was damn near impossible to play it for the first time and not be reduced to bones withing 4 seconds by the first pissed of skeleton that comes your way. No one expected that! But that's what just made is to ridiculously addictive and entertaining and 20 years later it's back for it's ultimate re-incarnation and it's not going to dissapoint.
Playing any G 'n G game is like playing non moving version of a DDR machine. It requires massive concentration, strict memorization, and is still hard as hell when you get good at it. But you'll still keep coming back for more. G n' G is undoubtedly a phenomenal game, but it isn't that that keeps you playing. It's the rage that drives you, the game hates you, it knows how easily you've beaten every other platformer you've ever had and it's going to kick your ass. Now Difficulty of this game has always been a pretty long standing issue for fans of the series, as it infamous Viewtiful Joe game puts it "Some like it Red Hot" and then there are others that don't. So Capcome being as nice as the are have included 3 difficulty settings in the game "Novice", "Standard" and "Ultimate". Don't think that the Novice setting makes this game any easier, all it does is delay the enevitable: Swearing, beating and throwing your PSP while crying out how raped you have just been.
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with enough beer and $5, arthur would do anything
So you take control of the hero Arthur and in doing so he's added a few new moves to his repitour. Now not only does he throw knives, torches & lances. Arthur also has access to bombs, crossbows, whips, boomerang scythes, and homing do hickies etc. the list goes on. Now you'll find that some weapons are far better in certain situations than others of course. No weapon doesn't have it's time to shine...except the Vine/Electric Whip and Grand Lance. The whips are just as bad as the swords from the older games, if not worse since they will only hit enemies directly in it's path, both frustrating and pointless, the Grand Lance could of been great if they made its fire rate identical to that of the standard Lance. The Grand Lance pierces through enemies hitting as many as it can before it goes off screen, but you can only throw one at a time. On top of that they're about as fast as a Jarrod from Subway before he lost the weight, your better off using your own body as a sheild because that's what's going to happen with the undead charging at you. They only stopped to laugh for the breif second as they saw your lance go by. HAHAHA, now your bones. Not good. So don't waste your time getting that crapola
Graphics are now outstanding for the UGNG. The darkly themed environments look absolutely gorgeous, there's some fantastic shadows in there as well. The smooth textured and perfectly done stages are out of this world. The frame rate may chug like a college frat party when things get really hectic, but you'll probably be thanking the slower pace as it gives you a chance to think about throwing you PSP against the wall before you actually do it, instead of complaining about technical issues.
ooooo pretty...
The controls are exactly as they have been in the past. When you jump, you're heading in that direction no matter what. There is no directional control when your in the air unless you're cruising around with the Angelic Armor or Dragon Shield. For some it'll take a little getting used to the very robotic control of the game, but it really wouldn't be a GNG game if they altered it. It's due largely in part by these maneuvers that makes the skill level of this platformer much higher than so many others.
What more really is there to say about the things that go bump in the night. The hoards of hell have now unleashed and will stop at nothing to make your last days a living hell but the catch is you have to go to actual hell to save your biatch. The enemies respawn... for ever... so get used to it. Really the game doesn't need much of a plot, story or reason behind anything. Throw away what you thought you knew about GNG and get used to the ultimate version, it really is that damn awesome. Capcom have given the series a nice little kick up the bum with something new (although it is nice to see how the original first level still has the same music in it though, and the opening FMV is awesome!)
revenge is oh so sweet... fucker!
so what did I think of Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins for PSP?
To be honest I wasn't expecting much but Ultimate Ghost'n Goblins is probably the best instance of how a good traditional game can play on today's System. It's a simple fun challenge in UMD form. The graphics alone earn this game a place in everyone's game library, but after having your eyes pleased by the wonderful visuals you'll soon start to see what makes this game such a fantastic experience...soon after that you'll be causing fatal harm to your PSP. A 90/100 easily earned by this game. and minus 5 points if you break your PSP