Double jump your way through hell in your underwear.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewmini/34398
Super Ghouls‘n Ghosts is a brutal, cruel game. While the Super Nintendo release, in my eyes, is easily the best in the series not starring a gargoyle, it is still a grueling experience that demands nothing short of perfection from the player. That doesn’t make it a game I’d recommend to every player, as even my trip down memory lane in the Wii U Virtual Console release was painful and arduous.
To even triumph past the first level, you need to learn the game’s language and rules, and never ever forget them. Playing as the knight Arthur, you can only withstand two hits before you perish into a bag of bones. Jumping is outrageously unforgiving; you can double jump, but your only control over the jump is to change directions at the very start. You know how in Mario or Mega Man games you can fine-tune your jump so you avoid an enemy or chasm? Ghouls’n Ghosts isn’t nearly that kind. You can upgrade your armor, get new weapons, and wield magic, but the chief way to get these upgrades is by finding hidden treasure chests, which can only be revealed by passing over certain areas in the levels.
If you can deal with the often obtuse challenge, Super Ghouls’n Ghosts is worth it. While having to play through the game a second time to technically beat the game is mean, it is truly rewarding to learn the game’s mechanics and secrets, and then triumph past the hair-pulling level you’ve been struggling with for a long time. You just have to have the patience and determination of a saint to actually do it.
SGnG is incredibly hard, but it isn't cheap. ...
I can agree with you on the trial and error bit. :) I think perhaps my angle is I cut my teeth on 2d platformers, and anticipate really well? They give me less trouble in general than more modern designs.SGnG is incredibly hard, but it isn't cheap. ...
Not sure I can agree on this point. There are some spots where death is basically unavoidable the first time you get there, just because the design intentionally screws with you. After you see what's coming you can figure out how to survive, but there are some moments of intentional trolling that can be incredibly hard to see coming when playing through the game.
For example, which G'nG game was it that had the floating platform in stage 1 that would go back and forth across a pit, but every once in a while is stops half-way and changes direction? You can time the jump without much difficulty if you know that's a possible behavior, but I think default timing was to only show the "trick" after you've jumped if running through the stage the first time. If that's not cheap, I don't know what is.
However, the entire series still manages to be very enjoyable because it's attractive and well-made, and the trolling is blatantly intentional, and (most importantly) you can make steady progress as you learn the tricks and challenges in each level. Don't mistake this criticism to mean that I don't have fun every time I play.
I would not use the term "Fair" in regards to the level design. The first level has a place where a wave comes and washes away the land. With no indication that the land is really any different.
The problem with that is where you would hang back is also one of the places that get washed away ><I would not use the term "Fair" in regards to the level design. The first level has a place where a wave comes and washes away the land. With no indication that the land is really any different.
You live and you learn. I actually think that section in the first level was trying to teach you something about the game; I think the intention was to impart to the player the notion that sometimes it's better to hang back rather than rush in. It also forces you to actually analyse the topography of the level, which actually becomes very important later in the game.
The problem with that is where you would hang back is also one of the places that get washed away ><