Spectrum Computing

With the easy availability of the original arcade game source material through MAME and even YouTube, it’s easy to forget that back then it was nigh on impossible to compare the home conversions with the original games, even if you did have that machine in a local arcade, by the time that the conversion came out it was likely to have been long replaced - apart from maybe the big sit down machines like Space Harrier or Out Run.

When you read about the developers who converted them, they too often didn’t have much access to the source material, sometimes even taking a camcorder and a bunch of 10ps to the local arcade! I remember reading an article about the Gremlin guys concerting Gauntlet in Sinclair User and they mentioned they had an actual arcade machine in their office, which might have been the first time that happened.

I think that’s why some of the early arcade conversions were often different to the original machines, but interestingly those games also took a number of additional gameplay tweaks to make them more playable on home machines, especially on the earlier ones that were designed to just gobble up 10ps!

That’s why I prefer the original Ghosts n Goblins, it’s nowhere near arcade perfect but it’s a really enjoyable game on a 48k Spectrum. It’s challenging, but not too difficult, unlike the arcade game. Ghouls n Ghosts is a brilliant conversion but imho it suffers from trying to be too close to the original and it compromises too much “fun” in the process. Plus, to be honest would you play the Spectrum conversion now or the arcade original - or even better the SNES version which took the arcade and improved it? At least with Ghosts n Goblins it feels different enough to justify playing it on a Spectrum now.

The other thing about Ghosts n Goblins is that it’s from a period when it wasn’t just US Gold or Ocean getting the arcade licenses. And US Gold’s late 80s output was just jot very good on the Spectrum. Because Elite couldn’t get the licenses, they just churned out their own versions, like how Beyond The Ice Palace was supposed to be a sequel to Ghosts n Goblins - the Ice Palace is a name of one of the levels in Ghosts n Goblins - which was a decent little game. It would be nice to see it hacked with the Ghosts or Ghouls sprite!

From 5 and 0 to 6 and 4: Ghouls 'n' Ghosts has gained ground!

I've played both games tonight AGAIN. My final response is that Ghouls is more difficult and less fun than Ghosts, and so my vote goes to the latter, and my recent statement about Ghouls being better is... OVERTURNED!

edit:

Wow, in the meantime Ghouls had reached Ghosts and it became a draw until my vote brought Ghosts ahead again. Isn't all this... EXCITING?

Ghouls and ghosts is in no way harder than Ghosts and Goblins

Ghosts N Goblins has one of the most difficult areas, level 2, I have ever played in a Spectrum games (and I have playd thousands!).

It is easy in Ghouls to reach level 3 after a few goes.

Ivanzx wrote: ↑Sun Dec 29, 2019 10:36 pm Ghouls and ghosts is in no way harder than Ghosts and Goblins

Ghosts N Goblins has one of the most difficult areas, level 2, I have ever played in a Spectrum games (and I have playd thousands!).

It is easy in Ghouls to reach level 3 after a few goes.

Not with my "few goes"...

7 - 7 : it's a DRAW!

Isn't it... THRILLING?

Just load up Ghouls n’ Ghosts and let the catchy tune calm your nerves . . .

Tu-wee tah ta-dah da-da-dum,
Tu-wee tah ta-dah da-da-dum,
Tra, da, da, da, dum da-ra-da dum-dum . . .

With the music that's been supplied I knocked this little video up.
Hope it give you a better picture on what the first G'n'G would be like with 128k music.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHoqS9ylI5M[/media]

Morcar wrote: ↑Tue Dec 31, 2019 10:48 am With the music that's been supplied I knocked this little video up.
Hope it give you a better picture on what the first G'n'G would be like with 128k music.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHoqS9ylI5M[/media]

Needs doing properly and releasing as a TZX. Seriously, it's time.

Anyway, that tune, no matter how it's rendered in AY, is iconic. I have no idea what the musician for the 128k version of Ghouls was thinking - I suspect that he was told "make a kinda medieval choon for this game" without having actually seen a Ghouls arcade at all.

ZXDunny wrote: ↑Tue Dec 31, 2019 11:03 am

Morcar wrote: ↑Tue Dec 31, 2019 10:48 am With the music that's been supplied I knocked this little video up.
Hope it give you a better picture on what the first G'n'G would be like with 128k music.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHoqS9ylI5M[/media]

Needs doing properly and releasing as a TZX. Seriously, it's time.

Anyway, that tune, no matter how it's rendered in AY, is iconic. I have no idea what the musician for the 128k version of Ghouls was thinking - I suspect that he was told "make a kinda medieval choon for this game" without having actually seen a Ghouls arcade at all.

I bet the Russian hacking scene will do one soon enough.

He obviously heard level 2 of Ghouls'n'ghosts and did his own version for the menu screen.
I am still quite mystified by the lack of music after it because the 128k Speccy was more than capable of doing.

ZXDunny wrote: ↑Tue Dec 31, 2019 11:03 am I have no idea what the musician for the 128k version of Ghouls was thinking - I suspect that he was told "make a kinda medieval choon for this game" without having actually seen a Ghouls arcade at all.

I forget if he talks specifically about Ghouls here or not, but it’s worth a watch anyway:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdvXiG0t1eg

Thanks, I'll add it to my new year's watch list

The 128k version of Ghouls was actually more of a disappointment not because of any gameplay or graphical issues (there are none), but because they totally disregarded that level 1 tune. GnG (both) are closely linked to that melody in my mind so much so that I consider the Speccy version of Ghosts 'n' Goblins to be the superior implementation purely because it's silent musically - which is better than having the wrong tune.

By a country mile.

Like Ralf and Ivan, I never understood why Ghosts N Goblins is held in such a high esteem. I was a fan of the arcade coin-op and when I managed to play the Elite conversion, I was disappointed, also because I had the chance of playing the C64 version before. Especially when compared with other Elite Spectrum conversions of the same time like Space Harrier or Bomb Jack, it is a weak show. Therefore my vote goes to Ghouls N Ghosts.

Ghouls n Ghosts whilst being incredibly difficult, it is possible to make some progress.
Ghosts n Goblins is just impossible! And the enemy sprites get lost in the background!

RWAC wrote: ↑Wed Jan 01, 2020 12:10 pm Ghouls n Ghosts whilst being incredibly difficult, it is possible to make some progress.
Ghosts n Goblins is just impossible! And the enemy sprites get lost in the background!

And don't get me started on Goblins n Ghouls.

Different answer on Twitter.

I don't know what to believe anymore.

Voted there as well.

I'm also surprised by the poll results.

Ghosts 'n Goblins (the original arcade version) is one of my favourite games of all time (I actually prefer it to Ghouls 'n' Ghosts).

The Spectrum version by Elite was quite decent. In my opinion it could have been better: half of the levels were missing and some of the present ones were quite different from the original ones, but it was still playable and fun. So not a bad version after all.

However I always thought that Ghouls 'n' Ghosts was really good on the Spectrum, one of the best adaptations of an arcade game for this computer in my opinion. They took an action game from 1989 and adapted it in a way that actually made sense for a 1982 computer, removing all the unnecessary elements while keeping it quite faithful to the original game and, most importantly, very fast and playable.

Many Spectrum adaptations of late 80s arcade games tried to be too close to the originals: too many colours, too big graphics, too cluttered backgronds, and they were often slow and not very playable. Ghouls 'n' Ghosts did it right.

That's how the Twitter version of the poll ended:



59.1% for Ghosts 'n Goblins (and it's missing my vote)

I definitely preferred the sequel back in the day. That said, both games are way too hard for me to really enjoy them. Good conversions though

Something similar happened to me. I love the first game, in fact, I'm a fan of the developer. I played the arcade back in the day and the conversion was nice, one of the best IMO, then I started to read opinions online and discovered is not high prised.

I understand the criticism, the game feels rushed and it does not have all the levels, but besides the jump being a bit floaty, it plays close to the original.

Of the Spectrum versions I chose Ghouls 'n Ghosts for having a bit more content and a marginally better difficulty level. Although I do like separate fire & jump buttons in Ghosts 'n Goblins.

They're both pretty good conversions of deeply flawed games IMO. I like the graphical style and it's a genre I often enjoy, so I've tried to make myself like them. But like RWAC, I just find them too frustrating and difficult to be enjoyable. Both would be improved massively by restarting you where you die, rather than taking you right back to the beginning of the level. In an already difficult game, you don't need that kind of punishment. Also, the bomb power up in both games just sucks.