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Ah, sweet nostalgia. How unfettered were the idylls of my youth; so carefree and unencumbered! Sadly enough, when you get to be my age (a cranky and belligerent 24), you become a bit of a curmudgeon about current gaming trends, especially when you are steeped in the arcana of gaming generations past. Capcom, following in the footsteps of Namco, Midway, Atari, Nichibutsu, and Konami, has decided to capitalize on this wave of nostalgia
among gamers of my generation, compiling five volumes of what they believe to be their greatest arcade and home classic hits. The first compilation, Generation 1, previously released, contained arcade-perfect version of 1942, 1943, and 1943 Kai. Sadly enough, there doesn't appear to be a package containing the arcade mega-hit Strider, or the highly revered Bionic
Commando - perhaps Capcom should consider a Generation 6 compilation, with the theme of "heroes who like to climb and hang from things." They could throw in Black Tiger, and all would be right in the world.

But, as ever, I digress.

With their Capcom Generation 2 package, Capcom brings together all three titles from their classic Ghosts 'N' Goblins series: the original arcade Ghosts 'N' Goblins (1985), Ghouls 'N' Ghosts (1989), and Super Ghouls 'N' Ghosts (1991, SNES). Each game chronicled, in arcade side-scrolling fashion, the
adventures of a decidedly shrunken Sir Arthur as he battled the forces of an evil demon who had kidnapped his beloved Guinevere. These games were well-known for three reasons: first, they had incredible bosses and cool artwork; second, you had to complete them twice to get access to the final boss; and third, they were absolutely, monstrously, inconceivably difficult.
Speaking as a gamer who could beat the original R-Type on one quarter, I found the arcade Ghouls 'N' Ghosts to be an exacting gauntlet of my skills - eventually, I triumphed, but at the cost of several months' worth of lunch money. What kept me playing? Well, at the time, you'd be hard-pressed to find a game with the same quality of artwork, sound, and aesthetic design: the game was darkly cute and moody at the same time, with cleverly-placed challenges, incredible boss encounters, and keen animation. Capcom was the king of the arcades during that era, and Ghouls and Ghosts was one of its best representatives.

Sadly, after the advent of Final Fight and Street Fighter 2, Capcom decided to concentrate primarily on fisticuff-oriented titles, leaving their hallmark platformers out to dry. After Magic Sword and Three Wonders, very few (if any) platformers of merit came out of the Big C. Fortunately, for SNES owners, a full sequel to Ghouls N Ghosts, the creatively-dubbed "Super"
Ghouls N Ghosts, came out. Subsequently, Capcom's platforming ventures have been confined to the on-again, off-again Mega Man titles and the occasional Disney hop-and-bopper.

Fortunately for those of us who were arcade denizens during this classic period, Capcom Generation 2 does not disappoint. All three games are recreated in relative faith, although purists may notice a few anomalies. The first title, Ghosts N Goblins, has sorely dated; the graphics and play control, even for a nostalgic such as me, are simply too crude to captivate me like it did during my NES days. Not that the game is bad, but, compared to the other two titles on the disc, Ghosts N Goblins seems to have more worth as a novelty and memento than as an actual game. It's also the easiest of the three; even with my faltering skills, blunted on strat sims and RPGs as they are, I was able to beat the game in a couple hours of concerted play effort. It's also letterboxed (as is Super GnG), since the Saturn doesn't have an internal resolution setting that mirrors that of the original arcade.

The second title, Ghouls N Ghosts, is arguably the best of the three. Featuring the fastest and smoothest gameplay of the three, this game will test the skills of any would-be arcade jockey. It also features more weapons than the first title,
introduces us to the Magic Armor, and has two of the coolest bosses - a headless giant and a flaming wolf - in the series' history. It also has my favorite level (the 3rd) in the whole series, where you ride on the giant tongues of demon heads and follow an elevator up a broken tower, fending off animated suits of armor glued to the walls. Truly surreal.

The last title, Super Ghouls N Ghosts, improves on Ghouls and Ghosts in some ways, and falters in others. While the game sports more colors, slightly better effects, and more weapons, it also suffered from horribly slow pacing. While this translation removes much of the slowdown incurred by the SNES' meagre 3.57 mHz CPU, the game's pace and progression still remains rather lithic. It could be argued that this makes the game more contemplative; I find it to be soporific. However, this game does feature some creative level design, including a stage centered around a dock full of ghost ships and a journey through an ancient beasts' internals. This title also sported more levels - 6
full ones, plus a half-level and a final boss level - than its predecessors. Unfortunately, thanks to the SNES' odd resolution, this game is also letterboxed like the first. It should be noted that if you find this letterboxing offensive (black vertical bars of not insubstantial width on both side of the play area), you might consider the Playstation version, which does not have this problem (it has internal resolutions similar to those the arcade Ghosts N Goblins and the SNES ran under).

One fault shared by the first two titles is that the arcade controls were preserved. How is this a fault, you ask? Well, in the arcade, the joysticks only registered four directions - the use of diagonals was not supported. This requires you, the player, to push perfectly down to crouch, and, if you need to crouch in the opposite direction you are currently facing, this can be a pain. If
you have a joystick, such as Sega's excellent Virtua Stick, this really isn't a problem, especially if you've played the arcade versions a lot. Joypads, which rely on "feel" more than joysticks, seem to exacerbate this aspect of control unduly.

Capcom has added a bunch of extras to the package, including art galleries for all three titles, "secret" extras revealed by completing the games (I'm not going to spoil them for you!), sound/music tests, and character/monster data files. These are quite a bit of fun to browse through, and let you explore the
aspects of the games' design thoroughly.

For those of us who hibernated in the arcades from 1985 to 1992, this package is a wonderfully rose-colored experience. However, pink tint aside, it has to be admitted that these games are technically unimpressive when matched up against the likes of Princess Crown, Dracula X, and Radiant Silvergun. If you are looking for challenging play and don't mind the simple (albeit aesthetically clean) graphics, you might find yourself pleasantly surprised, assuming you've never played these titles before.

Ultimately, I'd only recommend this package to Capcom fans or to old-school gamers looking for a pleasant nostalgic experience. 32-bit generation gamers will undoubtedly be turned off by the difficulty and dated graphics, although those who fixate less on graphics and more on gameplay may find their interest sufficiently well-rewarded.

Game Pictures

Doug's favorite pastime in action.


What's this? Scrolling to the left? The blasphemy!


This is the devil: wor.. er, fear him!