^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ Ghosts N' Goblins For the Nintendo Entertainment System by Capcom Released 1986 ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ Dzzy Strategies #1 Original draft written Dec. 31, 1999 This Guide is (c) 1999-2005 James Dziezynski (bruplex@yahoo.com or james@jamesfaqs.com) My site: www.jamesfaqs.com Updated: June 16, 2005 Version 2.0 Version 1.0 A very bad list of tips, hastily written. Version 2.0 Completely rewritten and actually edited this time! Version 2.1 Added new findings from the GNG research lab, including where to find the time decrease disk. This FAQ may not be used without the written consent of the author, James Dziezynski. If you'd like to host this FAQ on your site, please email me at bruplex@yahoo.com or james@jamesfaqs.com. ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Table of Contents ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Introduction/FAQ Update 1-Game Overview 1A. Our Hero Sir Arthur 1B. Weapons of War 1C. Items 1D. What's So Bad About Being a Bride of Satan Anyhow? 2-The Enemies 2A. Who's the Boss? 3-Walkthrough 3A. Stage 1 3B. Stage 2 3C. Stage 3 3D. Stage 4 3E. Stage 5 3F. Stage 6 3G. Stage 7 (or 6-B) The Final Boss/The Second Time Around 4-FAQ/Secrets and Cheats (AKA: Yes, you have to play through twice.) 5-Comments and Conclusions ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ Introduction/FAQ Update (November 22, 2004) ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ Greetings my Internet friends! Pull up a chair, take off your coat, and make yourselves comfortable. Welcome to my overhauled Ghosts N' Goblins FAQ! Things sure have changed a lot since New Year's Day 2000 (the day I originally submitted this FAQ to a relatively unknown gaming site called Gamefaqs.com). With all the things that have come and gone in the gap between then and now, one thing remains true: Ghosts N' Goblins is one heck of a tough game. As I tend to be one of the more vocal supporters of the 8-bit era, I've constantly insisted that Ghosts N' Goblins (also known by many as Ghosts N' BLEEPIN' Goblins) is a very beatable game. There are dozens of other games surpassing it in sheer difficulty and level of frustration. GNG isn't that bad, right? Well, like an idiot, I decided to actually try to play through this classic again for "old time's sake" and to prove it is not as hard as people claim it is. I barely made it to the boss of the second level after an hour of playing. Looking for guidance, I turned to my own venerable but aged FAQ and found it sorely lacking. I attribute the deficiency of detail to the fact I played through the game on NES itself, no easy task. At the time, I wasn't privy to the world of emulation. It was intended to be a basic self-help document and fill a void on Gamefaqs (people were begging for an FAQ for GNG). I didn't go too deep into strategy, nor did I really want to. A majority of the unedited FAQ was written in between service calls at my old job at the now-defunct planetoutdoors.com. So I did the best I could as I played through on my brand spanking new top loading NES. Trust me, even if you like this game you aren't going to want to play it over and over again to solidify your strategies, especially when you have to get through levels 1, 2, and 3 before getting back to level 4. Thankfully, I now have access to several emulators that offer precious save states. (My personal favorite is the FCE Ultra). Emulators are the greatest things to happen to FAQ writing since sliced BIOS chips. Now I can actually figure out more detailed methods of beating the levels instead of saying stuff like "hopefully you aren't dead at this point". Wanting to improve the quality of my FAQ, I dove back into this NES masterpiece, ready to face all the red demons Capcom could throw at me. As a later game would say, back I went into the world of survival horror. I do this all for you, the adoring public. ^_^ ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ 1-Game Overview ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ I'm not sure if I love or hate Ghosts N' Goblins. It has bad play control, high difficulty, dinky music, and can be soul-crushingly frustrating. On the other hand, it does offer you the chance to see a man cavorting around in red, Speedo-like underwear and dedicated gamers who make it far enough are rewarded with some of the most hilarious Japanese to English translations in 8-bit history. I was in 7th grade (Winter 1987) when my Mom was nice enough to get me Ghosts N' Goblins for having a great report card. In hindsight, maybe I should have gone for straight C's. Keep in mind I didn't WANT Ghosts N' Goblins, I wanted Kid Icarus, Mega Man or almost any other game. Being that all the titles I wanted were out of stock and ANY game is better than no game, Ghosts N' Goblins it was. Thus began my relationship with this devilish game. At first I remember being disappointed in GNG, but not wanting to act like an ungrateful, spoiled, little snot, I went ahead and played it. Slowly I was drawn into the choppy animation, bizarre characters, and brutal challenge. My enjoyment of the game evolved. I can remember sitting in class, itching to get home and make it one level farther, proof that somewhere in my brain a genuine fondness for the world of Satan and his minions was well in place. Therefore I dedicate this FAQ to my good ol' Mom, who had no idea her purchase would still be relevant some 15 years later. Oh and Mom, I apologize for those nights in the wee hours of the morning when my less-than-gentlemanly comments on where that bastardly Red Demon may stick it woke you, Dad, the cats, and the neighbors up. ************* 1A. Our Hero ************* In Ghosts N' Goblins, you play the part of a brave knight, who is never named in the instruction manual. Later games in the series identify him as "Arthur" but in this incarnation he is known only as "The Knight". Knowing the poor quality of Japanese-to-English translations in Ghosts N' Goblins, it was better they didn't try to give him an English moniker. It probably would have come out as "Mighty Rapid Knight" or something equally bizarre. Our game opens as the knight and his girlfriend are enjoying a romantic picnic in a graveyard at midnight. I know what you are thinking: what kind of loony takes his girlfriend on a date to the graveyard? And who IS this girl, some kind of blue-haired Goth? It turns out she is none other than Princess Prin- Prin (see what I mean about bad translations?), generic sweetheart of the knight. Despite the seemingly creepy setting, our knight is already stripped down to his underwear, meaning he might have been onto something with his choice of date location. As our demure lady and her underoo' wearin' hero lounge amongst the tombstones, a big scary demon materializes in the sky and kidnaps the Princess. Not to sound cynical, but getting busy in a graveyard seems like an invitation for Satan to mess with you. He was probably just wandering this mortal coil, collecting the souls of the damned when he sees these two playing smoochie- moochie in the boneyard. If Lucifer had really wanted to live up to his title of "sinister trickster", he should have stolen the knight's armor instead of the Princess. How would brave sir whatever-his-name-is explain that one? Though on second thought, he spends a majority of the game in his underwear anyway. We can assume our hero is fairly liberal and wouldn't be bothered having to walk back to the castle bereft of clothes. Hey, if you have the body to show off in your crimson loincloth, you might as well. Following the bold abduction, Mr. Knight realizes he needs to get off his skinny butt, throw on his suit of armor and rescue the Princess. Given how hard this game is, he might have been better off letting her become a shape-shifting bride of Satan. Instead of feeling "strongth" welling in his body, he could have chosen to dauntlessly go to Hardie's and soak his sorrows with a double bacon cheeseburger. Sometimes Satan gets the girl and there's nothing you can do except drown your sorrows in a cholesterol-fueled burger binge. ************ 1B. Weapons ************ Here's your available arsenal as you battle the forces of pure evil. ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ WEAPONS UPDATE NOTE: Apparently, all weapons hit for the same amount of damage. There is no "stronger" weapon than another. As far as damage is concerned, they are all equal. The only differences I've noticed: Axe-Will fly through an enemy after scoring damage. This usually is more detrimental than helpful! Cross-Can destroy most projectiles fired by enemies. ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ *Javelin* Being the decathlete that he is, our knight begins the game with the javelin. Relatively speaking, this is one of the better weapons. It flies fast and straight and is useful against most foes. The only drawback is that you are limited to a maximum of three shots on screen at one time. *Dagger(or as the instruction manual calls it, the "Sword")* The dagger is the hands-down winner for best weapon. It's fast, small, and accurate. A flurry of daggers makes up in speed what is lacks in strength, as the dagger is slightly weaker than other weapons. Against flying enemies (who almost always die with one hit) the dagger is especially useful. *Flame* This "weapon" goes down as one of the worst offensive threats of all-time in ANY game. The damning feature of the flame: it flares up when it hits the ground. Flames from the conflagration are too weak to injure most enemies and even worse, you cannot throw any additional fireballs while the first one fizzles out. The flame flies in a slight arc, just high enough to soar over the heads of close-up bad guys. It should come as no surprise that the flame is highly endorsed by Satan and his sinister followers. UPDATE: You can throw two flames at a time. Believe it or not, this is a fairly good weapon against the red demon. *Axe* Chunky and clunky, the axe is essentially the extinguished counterpart of the flame. It flies in a similar arc and you can only toss two at a time. Obviously it lacks the "instant campfire" aspect of its fiery cousin, though it must be noted the axe will continue through any enemy it makes contact with. The axe won't show up until the second half of the game and even then, it's a fairly rare find. Thank God! *The Cross (or, as it actually looks like, the Shield)* There are two good things about the cross: it can destroy enemy bullets and it is the only weapon you can use to truly beat the final boss of Ghosts N' Goblins. It's also a good rapid-fire weapon. You won't see the cross until you have progressed far into the game (enemies start dropping it on level 5). Unfortunately, the cross has a very limited range and is ineffective against the Unicorn/Cyclops boss (who, might I add, is ALSO wearing red underwear). If Satan was smart, he'd keep a couple of those guys around as body guards. ******************************************************* 1C. Items ******************************************************* A look at the items you'll find en route to your date with Satan. *Money Bag* Worth 500 points! Be careful when picking up money bags in the later stages because blue demons have a habit of hiding "in" them! *Stone Soldier Statues* These statues are worth either 200 or 400 points and come in two different versions. There is also a "Cyclops" version found on level 3. *King Statue* The King statue is worth a whopping 10,000 points! *Frog King Statue* The Frog King looks just like a regular King statue but has the unfortunate side-effect of turning you into a helpless amphibian for a few seconds. *Yashici* A red and white disk that gives you 5,000 points *Time Extend Disk* It looks similar to a yashici but it flashes. Gives you 100 points and adds 30 seconds to your timer. *Time Decrease Disk* Worth 100 points and takes 30 seconds off of your timer. I have never seen this item, but I assume it looks just like a time extend disk but has negative effects. UPDATE: To find the time decrease disk in level 1-2, duck on the single platform surrounded by water that doesn't move in the beginning of 1-2. The time decrease disk will be brownish and flashing. *Magician* The magician appears if you hit a tombstone or certain walls multiple times (you can try this out on stage 1 if you like). The magician throws out a spell that turns the knight into a frog if it hits him. If you are quick you can defeat the magician for 2,000 points. *Armor* Extra suits of armor will cloth the naked knight and enable him to take another hit. This rare item is usually found by exploring out of the way places. I don't believe armor is ever dropped by enemies. *Extend (1-up)* Another rare item, the extend adds one life to your count. Essentially it is useless since the game gives you unlimited continues, but if you are going for a high score it may be worth the effort to pick it up. It resembles the knight's helmet on a stick. ******************************************************* 1D. What's So Bad About Being a Bride of Satan Anyhow? ******************************************************* This game is often hard for the wrong reasons. One of the key strategies to beating this game involves running away from the harder enemies, such as the stern-featured red demon. It takes a mere two hits to turn your hero from shining superstar into a pile of bones. Despite his bravery, our hero is disturbingly fragile. You can bet the bad guys in GNG were licking their chops to see who could be the first to skeletonize our feeble hero. Many times it's the first or second enemy of the level. From the randomly materializing blue demons to the pajama- adorned graveyard zombies, this game is truly a bad guy's delight. If you have the guts to beat this game, keep an eye to see if The Prince of Darkness himself was one of the programmers in the end credits. ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ 2-The Enemies ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ Here's a compendium of the creeps you'll encounter as you try to save Prin- Prin. *Zombie* These blokes are pretty much your run-of-the-mill undead beings. They "wise fwom theiw gwaves" adorned in red pajamas, go for a short walk, and sink back into the ground. Occasionally, they will carry jars with statues or new weapons so keep your eyes open for zombies with bulging bellies. *Fire Spitting Plant* The name says it all. This bad guy is a big floral mouth on a stem that spits out something resembling a fire ball. *Purple Bird (Raven 1)* Purple Bird seems harmless enough as he flies merrily about in a jerky wave. But, much like the birds of other NES games, a mere brushing of his feathers will knock Arthur into the nude or even worse, into a pile of bones. It's a well known fact kids who played too much NES have a chronic fear of birds. *Red Bird (Raven 2)* Part St. Louis Cardinal, part homing pigeon, the red bird waits for Arthur to approach then launches himself homing missile-style when the knight is close enough. He is a rare fiend who you'll only see in one or two places. *Flying Knights* These guys first appear as a trio in the middle of level 1. Because they are impervious to frontal attacks, you are better off avoiding their sweeping flight pattern then trying to destroy them. If you really feel a need to knock them out, note that they are vulnerable in the back once they have flown past you. *Red Devil (AKA Red Demon)* Forget Satan, this is the fiend you'll be seeing in your nightmares! The Red Devil wears a pouty, snide, irritated expression on his face, a good indication he should be left alone. Man, does he get angry if you disturb him! In most cases, if you can avoid tangling with him you'll be better off. Once he gets going, prepare for an assault of dive-bombs and fireballs. He's fast on the attack and tough to hit. The best way to "defeat" him is to line your screen up so only his elbow is showing. Hit him and quickly run to get him off-screen. When he is gone and you're certain he is not pursuing you, hang out for about three game-seconds. When you return to the spot where he was sitting, he should have vanished. If you do have to engage this bully, try to get in a few hits while he's sitting still. The minute you tag him, he comes to life. Generally, 4 hits with most weapons will bring about his demise. If you have flat ground, running away from him while he's airborne will often bring him to the ground. As he skitters on terra-firma you can usually get in a few shots before he takes to the sky and resumes his dive bombing routine. *Forest Ghost (AKA Flying Burrito)* The NES Strategy Guide says this flying foe "attacks with a spear make out of green onion". I'm not sure how one can fashion an onion to resemble a spear, but then again I didn't make Ghosts N' Goblins. He gives a delirious squeal when he materializes out of thin air, presumably because such an act is fairly painful. *Petite Demon (AKA Screaming Mimi)* Mimi is little blue and white demon that resembles the vengeful soul of a deceased squirrel. They have a habit of appearing at bad times so be on alert when things get "too quiet". *Blue Demons* Not the beloved Central Connecticut State University mascot, but a big headed, cherub-like fiend who pops out of windows and emerges from moneybags. It's a good idea to deal with these guys as soon as you can because they are persistent little buggers. If they appear behind you, a good way to defeat them is to leap straight up and let them fly under you. Knock him out as you come down from your jump. He is the same powder-blue color as the unlicensed "Bible Adventures" cartridge for the NES. *Big Man* Big Man: strong like ox, firm as wall, tough as steel, dumb as rock. He features one of the more vile attacks in video game lore. When he is a floor above you, he will squat down and, with a look of steely determination, proceed to poop on you at an alarming rate. I suppose even one poop would qualify as "alarming", regardless of its velocity. It takes 10 hits with most weapons to knock Big Men out so make sure you have room to get off your attacks, as they will charge at you after you've inflicted the first hit. *Bat* He flies! He's purple!! He's a bat! This spooky sucker drops down at you from his lofty perch and soars in a straight line off the screen. I always enjoy the "horizontal flight" aspect of NES bats, something that not only defies the laws of physics but allows you to see the scary, menacing facial expressions on your more vampiric bats. *Tower Monster* I like to call this guy "The Leaning Tower of Brunswick" due to the fact he spits 16-pound bowling balls at you. Whack him when he turns red to inflict damage. In the very last stage, he makes a guest appearance in Satan's bowels (more below). *Skeleton (AKA Skull Poppers)* Disguised as harmless, inanimate skulls, these springy foes snap to life in full form when you wander too close to them. Dispose of them from a distance to avoid their jubilant dance of death. ******************* 2A. Who's the Boss? ******************* At the end of each level you'll need to defeat the boss to progress to the next level. Makes sense, right? *UNICORN (AKA Cyclops)* He's a spiffy dresser, wouldn't you agree? This beefy baddie is the boss of the first two levels and makes some non-boss appearances later in the game. Much like the Knight, he gambols about in tiny red underpants. You can usually knock him out by ducking and mashing the "B" button. The only time you'll run into trouble is when he gets inspired to trample you; luckily he tends to rely on his "leaping without looking" strategy, making for an easy kill. Some pious fluke of nature has rendered Unicorn immune to the "cross" weapon. *Dragon (AKA Snake)* A tough kill in any setting, the Snake is usually best disposed of with the dagger or cross. The best way to take him out is to destroy his body segments, then focus your attacks on his mammoth head. Note that the level-six version of the Snake has juiced up on anti-javelin hormones; while you can destroy his body segments with the javelin, they will not cause any harm to his head. It is possible to destroy him by smacking him in the head and leaving the body segments alone, though this tends to make the fight a lot harder. Snake is the boss of levels 3 and 4. GNG RESEARCH UPDATE: The javelin NEVER hurts the Dragon on ANY level. *Satan AKA Lucifer* This is the guy who started the whole mess. Oddly, Lucifer and Satan are two separate entities. Lucifer is a super-sized bat thing that swoops down on the Knight and fires threatening projectiles. He's a relatively easy kill as long as you don't jump around too much and make sure to duck whenever Lucifer comes flying at you. He's the boss of level 5 and makes an appearance with his twin brother in level 6. *The Devil AKA Satan* In a fine twist of gaming irony, the final boss of this demanding game is a bit of a pushover! It is very important that you acquire the cross weapon before taking on Satan. If you defeat him with a non-cross weapon, you'll need to repeat the game over from the beginning (Nooooooo!) because you were a big fat cheater and used the stage select to reach him. Of course you have to play through the game two times ANYHOW to get the true ending, but why make it three or four times? It must be said Satan has some nice threads and would look like quite the gentleman if it weren't for the Leaning Tower of Brunswick lodged in his stomach. Satan will never charge all the way left into the knight so as long as you keep your distance and execute your assault with patience, you'll send Satan to hell (?) before you know it. Or where ever it is that would offer eternal misery for the Prince of Darkness, maybe Branson, Missouri? ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ 3-Walkthrough ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ ************* 3A. STAGE 1 BOSS: Unicorn ************* Welcome to the world of survival horror! Following the abduction of his beloved, Knighty leaps into his suit of armor and gets ready to kick some undead butt. The boneyard has come alive with throngs of Zombies, leaving us to ponder the TRUE answer to the riddle "How many dead people are buried in the graveyard?" The first half of the level is easy enough. You'll want to blast the pot-bearing zombies until one of them drops the dagger. Outside of a few fire spitting plants, the only tricky enemy you'll encounter is the red devil. The easiest (and cheapest) way to dispose of this sitting bull is to employ the "elbow attack" method. Line up the devil on the far right of the screen, making sure not to get close enough to bring him to life. Smack him in the elbow while he's almost off the screen and dash to the left. Wait a few seconds in a spot where the devil is off-screen. If you executed it properly, he will not pursue you and when you return to the spot where he was sitting, he'll have vanished. If you do have to battle him, make sure to get in at least one hit before he starts moving around. Once he does, running without jumping to the left will eventually bring him to the ground. Quickly turn to get in a hit or two and dodge his swooping attack by running under him. Repeat this process as best you can, trying to anticipate when he'll swoop next. Try not to jump needlessly and be wary of the occasional fireball the red devil emits. Once you've vanquished the red devil, you're a hop away from the continue point of level one. Take your time lining up the leap onto the moving platform and cross over the water gap into the forest of flying burritos. Conglamorations! You've made it to the first continue point of GNG. Now, even if you lose all your lives, you'll resume the game from this point. This is an easy section, but be ready for the occasional Flying Burrito that appears directly on top of the knight. If you lose the dagger or javelin, keep killing the pot-bearing burritos until they drop one of these weapons. The last thing you want is to face the boss with the measly flame as your offensive medium. ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ GNG RESEARCH UPDATE: There is a suit of armor to be found at the beginning of this section (1-2). Simply jump around in along the first set of trees (As you are approaching the second section of level 1, you will see the first series of trees. Jump as you are going through the first tree.) Thanks to dclb1 for finding this suit as well as the next secret-the time decrease disk! The disk can be found by ducking on the non-moving platform surrounded by water in the series of gaps at the beginning of stage 1-2. It is brownish in color, takes away 30 seconds and gives you a whopping 100 points! ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ Speaking of, the boss of this level is a single Unicorn. By that I mean he appears unaccompanied; his dating status is unknown at this time. The preferred weapon of choice is the dagger. Duck down and pop Unicorn in knee caps ten times. Once you've defeated him, a magic key will float down and unlock the way to level two. ******************* 3B. STAGE 2 BOSS: Two Unicorns ******************* Congratulations! When you reach level two you're already farther along than a majority of casual Ghosts N' Goblins players! A winner is you! But in the immortal words of Han Solo, "Don't get cocky, kid". Stage two is considerably harder than level one (or levels 4 and 5 for that matter.) You begin the stage on a series of blue platforms. Immediately, Little Demons fly out of the open windows and fly erratically at Arthur. It's a good idea to smash the first two you see then make a mad dash up and to the right. If you're feeling saucy, you can leap up and back to the left to a high platform with a money bag. Grab it and leap back down to the platform where you start the level to trigger a free life icon (a helmet on a stick.) This a relatively useless gesture on the part of the game since you have unlimited continues but if you're trying to go for a high score, knock yourself out. Actually, you probably WILL be knocked out trying to get back up the platforms! In any case, you're going to have to head right eventually, so hop up as high as you can and work your way over. When you reach the highest platform in the area (near some fire spitting plants) you'll trigger a red yashici worth 5,000 points. Big deal, I know. I'm just letting you know it's there. Take a flying leap from the high platforms onto the floating platform. It will begin to drop as soon as you hit it so take a quick step and jump off onto safe ground. The good news is that the stage's continue point is just past the earthen wall. The bad news is that it starts getting a lot tougher from this point. Continuing on to the right you'll come across the "haunted apartments" inhabited by blue demons. It's best to keep running when they initially appear and attack them once they have leveled off their flight patterns. Stand and fight the two or three demons that appear before hopping over the small gap of water into the house of big men. *NOTE: If you are really stuck with a bad weapon, I.E. the flame, you CAN keep fighting the blue demons until they drop a better weapon. You'll notice that from this point on, purple bird after purple bird will begin flying at you in tricky, arcing patterns. These buggers can show up at the worst times so try and time your advances with respect to when the birds will appear (they will regenerate at regular time intervals). Beside the birds, the house is inhabited by 8 big men, each of whom requires 10 shots to destroy. There are five levels to the house. Here's an ASCII map of the big man house. Numbers 1-8 = Where big men appear and the order you should kill them, 1 being first, 8 being last. Pillars are walls, not ladders. Ladders are not shown. FLOOR 5 |X(leap here for emergency armor) | |_________8(kill only if needed)________________| FLOOR 4 | | | |_____________6____________________7____________| FLOOR 3 | | | | | | | |_____________5__________|_|______4_____________| FLOOR 2 | | | | | | | |_________________2______|_|______3_____________| FLOOR 1 (ground floor) | | | | | | | ||start _____1___________|_|____________________| The first big man you fight will be fairly obvious. Crush him and head up the ladder to battle big man number 2. Speaking of, be careful that big men on the floors above you don't do number 2 on you. Vile I know, but in this stage it is a real danger! To this day, I still haven't found a surefire way to get the big men to move away from the ladders you need to ascend. You'll need a bit of room to get off the ten hits needed to kill them. The best I can offer is to face the opposite direction you want the big man to go when you are below him. The purple birds will still appear on a regular basis, so be ready for them while you are waiting for the big men to clear out. Advance when you think you can get up the ladder and get in the needed shots without being hit. After killing number 2, head right to the wall and kill number three through the wall. This will make your descent on the other side a lot easier. Climb up and kill number 4 through the wall (making sure number 5 if safely off screen.) Do away with number 5 while avoiding the birds. If you've taken a hit at this point, you'll want to climb up to the 5th floor and get a fresh suit of armor. You may want to kill 6 before doing this but don't go too far right. This may trigger 8 above you and make getting the armor a lot more difficult. Climb up to the 5th floor (only if you need the armor), go as far left as you can, and leap. Voila! A shiny new suit of armor will appear. If you feel so inclined, go ahead and destroy big man 8 but be warned: DO NOT descend the third, rightmost ladder back to floor 4. When you start to climb down, the game will trigger a flame weapon that rests directly on top of the only ladder down on the right side of the walls. You have two choices if you trigger the flame: pick up the flame or die. Oddly enough, dying is a much better option since you'll probably die along the way because of the flame's ineffectiveness. If you want to get a new weapon, you'll have to fight blue demons for a long time so I say: it's better to die than get the flame! Climb down ladders 1 or 2 (from the left) on floor 5 and polish off the final big man, number 7, on floor 4. Now that you will not trigger the flame, scamper down to the first floor and head right. Alright, you're through the house of the big men! Excellent! But this being Ghosts N' Goblins, of course there's more trouble afoot. First off, remember the "earthen wall" before the house? That's the only continue point in this stage so if you die here you have to make it through the house of Big Men again (doh!) You may also notice your timer is very low at this point. You may even have lapsed into the "panic dream" music that is triggered when your timer gets below 20 seconds. You're going to have to move quickly past the first two floating platforms, being careful not to let the red bird swoop in for a hit. When you reach the next gap of three floating platforms, hop on the first and go as far right on it as you can. Standing on the far right as the platform rises will trigger a time bonus icon from high in the haunted house. You can leap from the first platform when it reaches the highest point and snag the much-needed time bonus on the solid ground below, which will add one minute to your timer. ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ *NOTE ON TRIGGERING THE TIMER BONUS* I've noticed that you need to actually see the time bonus drop on screen for it to appear when you reach the solid ground. This is why I advocate standing as far right on the first platform as possible, letting it carry you to its apex, and leaping down to collect the bonus on solid land. Watch out for the blue demon at the top window of the house. I don't believe you have to jump to trigger the bonus but if you stand too far to the left on the first platform, there's a chance the bonus won't show up at all. Also, if you leap across the platform too low it may also not appear. It stinks to die at this point because you'll have to continue at the beginning of the big man house, so try to get the timer to give you enough clock to finish the stage. ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ You'll have to dodge or attack one more red bird, then clear two more sets of floating platforms. On the second (and final) set, I would suggest making a short hop onto the second platform, letting it reach its highest point then leap for the safe ground heading to the home stretch of stage 2. Your boss this evening will be a duo of Unicorns. Their specialty tonight includes shooting bullets and stomping you to death. Hopefully you still have your trusty dagger when you confront these two beefy chunkheads. Take them out one at a time. The first Unicorn will hop over you after a few hits; be ready to turn around and attack! You'll be able to get off more shots if you stay standing, so only duck if Unicorn fires first. Trigger the second Unicorn after the first is destroyed. The second one will sometimes leap over you. More often, he'll stand in place, dancing about and firing a few bullets at you. Return fire with haste, as he WILL charge you after a few seconds. After beating these two capricious fiends, the sacred key will float down and you'll be off to stage 3! ************* 3C. STAGE 3 Boss: Dragon ************* *Guide map to the red demons in 3-2* *http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/nes/file/ghosts_n_goblins_nes_l32.png* Stage 3 is divided into two sections: the yellow and the blue. You begin things in the yellow zone. Essentially, this is just a warm up. Your first goal is to reach the stage continue point which is located where the yellow cave walls change to blue. Because this first part is an easy section, I won't be too wordy. Use the zombies to regain the dagger if you have lost it and remember, with the tower monsters, it doesn't matter where you strike them. As long as they are red, they will receive damage. They are impervious to all weapons when they are white. Now, onto the meat of the stage--the blue section. To quote Homestar Runner (after he ate a small bug) "The good times are over!" The passageway to the boss is clogged with red demons and one wrong step can get you in a world of hurt. HOWEVER, if you follow the correct path you can make it through the stage with only one direct encounter with the dreaded red one. To start off, take care of the stray bat that begins the blue stage and scroll right. Uh-oh! Here's the first of many red demons. You'll have just enough room to perform the "hit and run" tactic. If you've forgotten: you can hit a red demon as you are escaping off screen (in this case to the left). If you did it right, he will not pursue you. Run away and wait. He'll be gone when you head back over. Just to be safe, I like to wait a full five seconds before proceeding (if you are continuing, your timer will be about 3:16 when it's safe). *NOTE: With most of these red demons, it's best to leap left and hit them as you drop in the air. Continue right, fighting off the flying burritos. You'll encounter a second red demon. Repeat the hit and run tactic and make your way to the ladders. If you are feeling greedy, you can take the first ladder and snag the money bag off to the left but I highly advise going no farther up. Once you head up the shorter ladder to the right of the money bag and start walking right, you will trigger an invisible red demon. The safest route is to avoid the first (lowest) ladder altogether and head up the second ladder on the ground level. Half-way up this ladder you'll trigger a frog-king statue. If you want to climb down and grab it, go for it-this one won't turn you into a frog. Do not head any farther right once you snag it, however, or you will end up in an alcove with two red demons waiting! Go back up the ladder and head right. On the second step you leap up onto, go to the middle of the step and jump straight up. This triggers a blue demon hiding in the money bag. It's best to dispense of him at this safe distance. Let him come to you. Nudge right another pace on the same step and leap straight up a second time and trigger a second blue demon out of the money bag. NOTE: If you are in your underwear at this point, you can acquire a new suit of armor by leaping left from the left corner of this second step to trigger a fresh suit! You can do this at anytime you are bereft of garments, but obviously you can only do it once per life. At the top of these "stairs" is another red demon. Again, use the hit and run tactic. When he's gone, go right and take a leap from the top of this platform to trigger a 5,000 point bonus disc. Grab the disc on the bottom step and leap as far as you can to the right. You'll drop by a red demon and few money bags. It's best to fall quickly, as you don't want to encourage the red demon to swoop down from above. Don't worry; our springy knight cannot be damaged by falling great distances. Tiny red birds yes, falls of 200 feet no! At the bottom, you're forced to fight a red demon. If you stay against the left wall you'll be able to get in one or two hits by leaping up and hitting the demon before he flies. Once he gets airborne you need to careful. Just to the right, there's a frog king statue that WILL turn you into a hapless amphibian (bad) and a flame weapon that drops just beyond that (worse). You'll need to avoid these while combating the red demon. A good idea is to stand still when the red demon goes into the air and let him make the first move. Time your leap to get over him when he dives at you. Turn around and try to finish him off as he comes at you from the left. Don't move too far right, you want to avoid the items, especially the flame, at all costs! After you've defeated the red demon and leapt over the statue and flame, walk SLOWLY to the right. There is a glitch that is sometimes triggered by going too quickly to the right that will result in you taking invisible damage as you reach the boss of the stage. Bring the dragon gradually into the picture and wait for him to come to life. With the dagger, he only requires five hits to the head to kill him (NOTE: the instruction manual says 8 hits will kill him). This isn't a hard battle if you stay cool and run away from the direction the dragon is drifting. If you die here you go all the way back to the beginning of the blue zone, so do your best to make this a quick battle. If it's any inspiration, the next stage is going to be MUCH easier than this one! Defeat the dragon, grab the key, and carry on. NOTE: If you've accidentally picked up the flame, it is possible to beat the dragon with it, however, if you die it's going to be hard to perform the hit and run trick against the red demons when you go back through the stage. Luckily, you can fight the flying burritos at the start of the stage and one will eventually drop a dagger or javelin. *GNG RESEARCH UPDATE: IT IS VERY RARE for the forest ghosts to drop any items in this level. It happens, but it may take a very long time! ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ GNG RESEARCH UPDATE: The javelin will never, ever hurt the Dragon! If you have it when you get to him, you'll have to pick up the flame as your weapon to injure his head ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ ************* 3D. STAGE 4 Boss: Dragon ************* In a rare moment of mercy (or bad programming), we get a reprieve from the outlandish difficulty of GNG. While I wouldn't classify stage 4 as "simple" it's a heck of a lot easier to get through than the previous two stages. The level opens as several eyeball rafts are darting back and forth. Your initial goal is to ride these eyes to the continue point. A good tip to keep in mind: the highest platforms are the safest and tend to travel the farthest, so aim to get on them as soon as you can. If you ride the highest platform across the middle of the stage you'll trigger an extend (1-up) on the ground below. It's not worth much to drop down and retrieve it, especially because the hops back up to the appropriate eyeball rafts can be a challenging endeavor. Take it or leave it. Either way, you'll need to keep heading right. As you progress, you'll see a red demon waiting on the ground below you. He marks the end of the raft section. Leap from your platform to the ground and make your way right to the beginning of the rickety old bridge. Don't worry about fighting the red demon yet, just make it to the beginning of the bridge (it's the continue point for the stage). For once, you'll actually have enough room to give the red demon a good fight. Turn around and give it your best shot. If you die, it's not a big deal since you'll have already made it to the continue point. *NOTE: Not to be a party-pooper, but is the last instance of a mid-stage continue point in the game! Enjoy it while it's here! The second part of the stage is a straight run along an old bridge. There aren't many obstacles to avoid, but you need to be aware of where you trigger the little demons that rise from the lava. Deal with them one at a time as they appear as not to get overwhelmed. There are small flaring fires at certain places along the bridge as well. These are best cleared by hopping over them, though it is possible to walk over them if you time your passage while the flame is subdued. Proceed cautiously and don't make unnecessary moves. Let the few enemies on the bridge come to you. Be wary of the frog-king statues that drop down. You aren't an effective warrior in green skin! Toward the end of the run, there is a static red demon. Use the hit and run technique to do away with him (if you hopped over the frog statue, returning to where it is marks a good, safe place to let time tick off and ensure the red demon is really gone). Once he's no where to be seen, the only thing standing between you and your precious key is the boss. A single dragon guards the gate to Satan's castle. Use the same techniques as the level three boss and you should have little trouble clearing the way to stage 5. Five swift hits to his cranium and you'll be on your way! ************* 3E. STAGE 5 Boss: Lucifer ************* Get ready to rumble in level 5 because Satan is bringing out the big guns! No more being cautious! It's time to make rapid progress and stay on your toes. There's a glut of never ending little demons and flying burritos that are going to dog you all level. Unlike stage 4, you won't need to destroy every fiend you confront. Knowing the "appearance cadence" of your enemies is vital; pay attention to the intervals and you'll have a good sense of when to run and when to fight. Also note there are no continue points. If you die, it's back to the beginning for you! The stage isn't long but it can be very intense; don't expect any sympathy from Capcom! The route I propose for this level is the most efficient and best suited for my style of play. I've tried a bunch of different ways and this one seems to be the safest. I've outlined the best way up in this map: http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/nes/game/587303.html Start off by bypassing the first ladder and fight your way right to the second ladder. Climb it then quickly climb the next ladder just to the left. Even though a flurry of foes will be closing in, I find it best to get up to the higher platform, knock a few of them out (such as the bats and little demons) and keep moving. As long as the forest ghosts and little demons aren't directly threatening you, ignore them. Speed is your friend! Hop the gap, duck and shoot the skeleton before he can pop up, and head left to the next ladder. Take it up and go right to the next ladder. An axe will drop just before the ladder; hop over it (unless you are upgrading from the flame). Get up the ladder and you'll see a red demon sitting to the right. There's no need to mess with him, so leave him be. Climb the ladder to the left. You have a couple of options here. ******************************************************* PERILOUS ROUTE REWARDS YOU WITH: 5,000 point bonus disk and free life. ******************************************************* If you go right and "horseshoe" around the red demon by going down the ladder to the right, an "extend" (1-up) will drop as you are in the middle of your descent. You can grab this without disturbing the red demon but you'll still be harassed by flying burritos and little demons. From here, you can climb and go right. Go up the far right ladder, take a step left and ascend the next ladder. Half-way up, a 5,000 point bonus disk will appear below you. There's nothing else to see here, though hopping on the eyeball floats to return to the left gives you some space from the big men you'll have to inevitably fight. ****************************************************************** SAFER ROUTE REWARDS YOU WITH: Getting through the level and armor replacement. ****************************************************************** If you quickly climb the ladder just left of you, you'll have to dispatch of a big man with 10 hits to move forward. Take care of him and head to the ladder to left. Above you is another big man and not a whole lot of room to fight him. The best strategy here is to watch the big man two levels above and time your advance to fight that guy, completely avoiding the big man on the shorter platform. When the time is right and you have a clear path up to the higher level, run right by the lower big man, climb up, and take care of the upper level big man. Head right and hop a ride on the eyeball raft. In perhaps the only act of kindness in the whole game, standing on the eyeball platform as you near the far side will cause a suit of armor to materialize. Grab it if you need it and head right and up the ladder. Though this section is usually clear of major enemies, there's a strange glitch that will sometimes "teleport" a big man into the rocks on the right. If here's there, fight him. Continue to head left and clear the "darkness" gap. You'll fight one final big man here, but you should have plenty of room to get off the required shots. Go up the ladder, head left, go up one more ladder, and go right. You may be tempted to explore the two ladders to the right that head down but alas, there is absolutely nothing down there. No bonus points, no weapons, no shortcuts. Take the one ladder that is available up, head left and hop a small gap. You can take either of the two ladders here up to the top platform, where a single Lucifer awaits. This is an easy battle, so don't be intimidated by the fact Lucifer looks like a red demon on steroids. Make sure to duck anytime Lucifer swoops. As long as you don't accidentally begin to climb down a ladder, ducking will always be a safe position when Lucifer soars over you. The only thing you need to watch out for is Lucifer's bullets, which you can usually outrun. You'll need to jump up to get in hits (Lucifer is invincible when his wings are closed). Be careful not to jump around more than you need to and be aggressive. Each Lucifer only takes 8 shots to kill. A good strategy is to run from Lucifer as he comes at you and duck at the last possible moment. When Lucifer positions himself in the air after the attack, he'll often be the perfect height to whack with a flurry of daggers with a straight-up jump attack. Using this technique, you can sometimes kill him in one pass! Once he's gone, gird yourself with a loincloth of courage because the next level is the toughest one in the game, perhaps in NES history! ****************** 3F. STAGE 6 BOSS: TWIN LUCIFERS ****************** This is it-- the hardest level of arguably the toughest game on the NES! Level 6 combines all the things that make Ghosts N' Goblins difficult with an added twist: glitches galore! The bizarre occurrences that plague this level almost seem intentional, perhaps to add an element of the supernatural? Not only will enemies often materialize out of thin air, the infamous "poison ladder" makes an appearance. This is a ladder that causes damage if you climb it at the wrong time (as well as triggering an invisible red demon, doh!) Beside the normal headaches, you'll have to figure out how exactly to "unglitch" the level. Thank goodness I've done all the hard work for us, huh? The first thing you should do is ensure that you have the dagger to start this level. If you don't have one, hang around with the flying burritos that appear at the very beginning of the stage and defeat them until one drops a dagger. Even if you have to run out the timer to grab one, it's going to be worth it. While it's possible to get through the stage with other weapons, this is going to be your best bet. *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* A Note on the Advantage of the Acquiring the Dagger *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* As you make "rapid progress" through level 6, the game tries to trick you into getting certain weapons. To quote Admiral Ackbar, "It's a trap!" These weapons are often ineffective against the foes you'll be facing. For example, the level starts by offering you the javelin, which is great against Unicorn but will not damage the Dragon's head, meaning you'll need to pick up a new weapon to move on. So, the game offers you the cross to polish off the demonic floating cranium. Seems good, right? Well, once you have the cross, you'd better not die because when you restart the level, you'll find the cross doesn't phase Unicorn! It's like the bad version of the circle of life. *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* Make it by both of these guys without dying and the game tries to trick you into getting the flame, which is about as useful as a wet tissue. As you near the end of the level, the game once more tries to bait you into grabbing the axe. You must avoid it because the only way to move on to the final level is to complete the stage while in possession of the cross. If you defeat the bosses of this level and grab the key without first getting the cross, you'll be whisked back to the start of level 5 and have to work your way through all that madness again. In short, it's best to use the dagger for most of the dirty work (red demons, Unicorn, and Dragon) and backtrack to pick up the cross exclusively to fight the bosses and continue on to the final encounter. OK, let's start our walkthrough! With precious dagger in hand, knock out the skull poppers and head up the ladder to Unicorn, making sure to ignore the javelin. Those dreaded burritos will continue to materialize at slow intervals; pay attention to their "appearance cadence" as not to get hit midway up the ladder. When you confront Unicorn, he won't move until you strike him or wander too close. It's not a bad idea to go a little to the right before unleashing your dagger assault; this gives you a little room to breathe if Unicorn charges. It takes ten hits to knock him out. Fire fast and furiously and remember to duck any bullets he throws out. ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ GNG RESEARCH UPDATE IMPORTANT!!!: In the below paragraph, I state it's not worth going on if you are hit because there is no more armor in level 6! Well, it turns out there IS! You'll still have to defeat the Dragon without being hit, but after you do, head up and left until you are on the level where there are some platforms with gaps between them. There is a ladder up to the right of where you come up, heading to a non-gapped floor. Before heading up this ladder, go to the left most part of this platform and leap up. Armor will drop across the gap! Grab it by leaping the gap but be careful not to get too close to the sitting red demon! ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ If you take a hit from Unicorn, you may want to die on purpose and retry the level from the beginning. It's very difficult to clear the rest of the level in your underwear. If I don't have my armor after this confrontation, I'll let something kill me and start over. I don't believe there are suits of armor to be found on this level. Assuming you are still well girded in your armor, continue up the ladders to Dragon. Of all the boss guardians on the level, he's the most predictable and fairly easy to defeat with the dagger. Run to the far right and hop up the "earth" colored stairs until you are at the farthest top right of the screen. This is a great place to safely attack Dragon once he awakens. Jump up and unleash a flurry of daggers as he flies around. It will take 5 direct hits to the head to kill him, so aim for skull shots. You shouldn't have to move from your refuge to defeat him, just be aware of his stray bullets. Be aggressive in your attacks. If you take too long, the dragon will eventually sniff out your hiding spot and you'll have to run for it. If you are stuck with the javelin at the onset of this fight, you will have to grab the cross mid-battle to defeat the dragon. You can knock out body sections with the javelin but it's useless against the head. Run to the left on the purple floor to trigger the cross. Grab it and you'll have to get in five close range head shots to finish the dragon. Without the dagger, this can be a very rough fight to emerge from unscathed, but it is possible to win. After you defeat Dragon, head left. Screeching burritos will again appear once he's gone. Be on your guard as not to take a cheap hit from them. Hop down from your perch on the earthen stairs and take the first ladder up you see. As you run across the floor, you'll probably trigger the rare cross weapon. It is IMPORTANT that you do not get the cross at this point. Don't worry, it's not going to disappear-this isn't Megaman! You'll see the logic for this in a little bit. Scale up the ladders on the left part of the screen. Make sure as you climb not to disturb the red devils that are sitting in the alcoves along the way. Don't mess with them and they won't (usually) mess with you. SEE ABOVE GNG RESEARCH UPDATE TO SEE WHERE THE ARMOR IS HIDDEN! Do not stray toward motionless devils as you ascend the ladders. One step too close will bring them to life. Keep moving up until you come across a complete floor with a big man and skull popper waiting on the next level above. Be VERY careful to jump over the flame weapon that the game presents as you approach the ladder. It is futile to employ the flame in such a tough level. Should you accidentally pick it up, run down and grab the cross from the left hand section of the lower purple floor. The cross is not a good weapon for the next few enemies but it's light-years better than the flame. The dagger is still the weapon of choice at this point. The big man above you is the "X-factor" of the level; there's a lot that can go wrong if you are too indecisive or too trigger happy in dealing with him. In order to cleanly defeat him, he needs to wander far enough from the top of the ladder to give you room to rattle off the ten shots needed to kill him. You cannot take a step left when fighting the big man because it will trigger the skull popper. You cannot go right because it will trigger the red devil. You will need to coerce the big man to wander away from the ladder by walking around on the level below him. It's important not to waste too much of the clock getting him in the perfect spot. Remember, time is against you. Ideally, he will wander far to the left of the ladder and you can unleash on him from a safe distance when you ascend. More commonly, you'll have to attack him as he approaches from the right. Be very careful because any stray daggers that hit the red devil will animate the flying ghoul. Count your hits (aloud if it helps) and do not fire more than the ten daggers needed to beat the big man. When you've defeated him and you're still standing at the top of the ladder, crawl back down about three rungs then back up. Doing so prevents a glitch that sometimes gets the skull popper hopping on the upper level (above where you just fought the big man). Take care of the skull popper on this level and continue on to the left. Take a deep breath and prepare yourself for the trickiest part of the level: head to head combat with the red devil. Even though he is not a certified boss, this stands to be the hardest fight of the stage. Arming yourself with a little knowledge is a wise idea before tangling with your winged nemesis. Above you, you'll see a red demon to the far left, one skull popper, one big man, and a second red devil to the right of the ladder. Climbing three-quarters up the ladder will bring the devil on the right to life. You'd have to be insane to try and fight him up above, so quickly climb down and make your way to the far left hand side of the screen. He's going to perform his trademark swooping attack, so get your distance from him and try to be moving away as he dive bombs. When he's hovering over you, run to the right and try to get him to land on the ground. With daggers, this is usually a great time to get in 2-3 shots, as the initial hits tend not to scare him back into the air (unlike other weapons). With the cross, you'll be in trouble as most single hits will send the devil airborne. Keep moving away from him and try to time your runs so he doesn't knock into you. VERY IMPORTANT!! Once you do beat him, DO NOT climb up the ladder to deal with the big man and his pals. Everything may look clean and clear, but climbing the ladder at this point will activate an invisible red devil on the far upper left of your screen. This is a disaster and will negate all of your hard work up to this point. Worse still, if you climb directly up the ladder without stopping you'll receive "invisible damage" at the top from the "poison ladder" and the hit will knock you close enough to the sitting red devil on the left to inspire him to join his furious friend in the attack. In a flash, you're stuck with no armor on a floor with two red devils, a big man, and a skull popper for good measure. I don't care how good you are, this is a losing proposition! Even if you can get down to the lower floor, you're still facing two angry red devils at one time. To summarize: if you climb the ladder at this point, you're doomed. There is another good reason to ignore the climb up at this point-you still need to get that pesky cross! Head down, down, down, the ladders to the left part of the purple floor where you fought the dragon. If you haven't already prompted the cross to appear, walk around between the two ladders to make it drop. On a good run, you'll have between 1:45-2:00 left on the timer as you snag the cross. If you're running below 1:30, you may have a hard time defeating the twin Lucifers before the clock runs out. Return to the scene of the red devil battle, leaping over that stupid flame one more time as you climb up. When you get back to the big man, you'll see the once-invisible red devil is now very visible and calmly sitting a level above you. Now that you can see him, he won't come to life when you get up the ladder. Wait for adequate space from the big man. Quickly ascend and defeat him. Keep in mind the cross will destroy any bullets that he fires off at you, so once you have him lined up you can fire away without fear that he'll catch you off guard with a shot. There are a few poppers to deal with along the way and the occasional burrito, but most of the really hard work is done. Hop over the axe that graciously falls in front of you prior to the ladder up to the boss fight. Climb up to the top level where you'll see the two Lucifers waiting. It's good to have a minimum of 1:15 on the timer for this battle so that you don't rush any of your tactics. The trio of the ladders is a hindrance because they might cause you to accidentally descend when you mean to duck. If you do so, Lucifer will swarm on you in a flash. There's also an invisible pit on the far right that will drop you down right in front of a testy red devil. Not good! Keep your battle on the solid bricks and to the left. With those tips in mind, make sure to prompt one Lucifer at a time. As long as you are not directly below him when he swoops, you'll be able to duck and avoid his attacks. If you use this simple strategy, the only things that can really hurt you in this battle are his bullets. Be patient and wait for him to stop where you can whack him a few times. Remember, the cross can destroy bullets, so use that to your advantage when you can't leap over a projectile. Running away or destroying the bullets is a better option than exposing yourself to Lucifer's lunging claws while attempting to leap out of the way. After defeating the first boss repeat the same strategy on the second. As long as you have roughly 40 seconds left for the second battle, you should be safe time-wise. If you are closer to 30 seconds when the second battle begins, be aggressive with your attacks because the timer is ticking! Don't lose heart if you are short on time. It is possible to kill Lucifer in one pass if he lines himself up in the right spot and you can rally off your shots fast enough. There is no more crushing defeat than when your knight dies waiting for the key to descend because time runs out! Stay aggressive until both Lucifers are overthrown. Hopefully, you will have at least 7 seconds left when you finish off the second Lucifer. As you catch the lofty key to the final stage, give yourself a pat on the back. You've just overcome the three most intense minutes in NES history! If you have the cross, prepare to move on to challenge the ultimate face of evil! Or shall I say the ultimate faces of evil. If you are holding any other weapon, you are treated to a delightful, poorly translated message that vaguely informs you that the cross is the only weapon you should have at this point. Without it, you'll be whisked back to the beginning of level 5 at the castle entrance. Yuck! ****************************************** 3G. The Final Boss/The Second Time Around ****************************************** While not technically listed as a level, stage 7 (or 6-b, whatever you want to call it) is a one-on-one battle with Satan himself. Given how hard the previous six stages were it's a pleasant surprise how much of a pushover the author of all lies is! You have to use the cross for this battle (unless you cheated and used the level select code, in which case you'll have the javelin but won't be able to get the real game endings). You have a safe spot to the far left, so stay there to avoid attacks. Jump up and hit Satan in the head about 20 times to defeat him. It's really as easy as that! Be patient and don't rush your attacks. When you beat Satan, you'll receive an unintentionally hilarious comment regarding that fact that this "room" is a trap and illusion devised by Satan. What's not so funny is that you're going to have to play through the whole game from the beginning a second time to get the true ending where you save the girl and peace returns etc. Your second time through the game is only slightly harder than the first. Enemies are a little bit faster (especially the zombies and flying burritos) and a little more aggressive. You have to clear all the stages, make it to Satan with the cross a second time and beat him again. Only then will you see the fruit of all your labors: your beloved blue-haired beauty in your arms. If you can do it without cheating (that includes save states!) congratulations! Consider yourself one of the finest NES players in the land! One thing is for sure: this will be the LAST date these two have in a graveyard at midnight. ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ 4-FAQ/Secrets and Cheats ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ Let me start off with: YES YOU HAVE TO PLAY THROUGH THE GAME TWICE! Q: I played through the game and I didn't get the real ending? What gives? A: If you haven't read it in any of the 14 times it's mentioned previously, you have to play through the entire game two times to get the true ending. The second run through is slightly harder than the first and you still have to defeat Satan using the cross weapon! Play through a second time (without turning your NES off) and you'll rescue the lady and get the real ending (and some more bad translations!) GNG RESEARCH UPDATE: Playing through a third time (by choosing "continue" after playing through a second time and getting the game over message) yields the "bad ending" and playing through an incredible fourth time gets you the real ending again! Q: Hey, I beat Satan twice and I still don't get the ending? What's going on? A: Are you cheating? Be honest! If you use the stage select code (listed in the cheat codes section) it's not going to count as a fair fight. You can get the "bad ending" (IE what you see the first run through) but not the real ending. I'm not sure if you can use the stage select, beat Satan and then play through again from scratch to get the ending but I'll check it out when I can. And considering it took me 5 years to update the original version of this guide, my best advice is just to play through without any codes if you want the real ending! Q: Can you explain to me invisible damage? Thanks. A: The best I can tell, invisible damage happens when you scroll the game too quickly and it doesn't have time to designate the space you are going to as a "safe" section. It's a glitch in the game and it can really suck. I've encountered it before the dragon boss in stage 3 and on the "poison ladder" in stage 6. Q: IS this the hardest game on the NES? A: Actually, no! If you practice the levels (this walkthrough should help) it's not too hard to be able to get through everything on a regular basis. There are a lot of harder games! A few that come to mind: Battletoads, Lifeforce, Gradius, Rush N' Attack, and Super C to name some. Also, I find the SNES sequel to this game, Super Ghouls N' Ghosts to be a bit harder than Ghosts N' Goblins. Q: Those red demons are eroding my will to live. What can I do to deal with them?! A: Though it's mentioned many times, the best thing to do is leave red demons alone if you can. When they block your way, use the "hit and run off the screen tactic". Get in one hit from as far away as you can and run off screen. Wait for 3-5 seconds and return to the spot where the demon was. He should be gone and you're in the clear to move on. Think of it as compensation from Capcom for the endlessly regenerating enemies in the Mega Man series. GNG RESEARCH UPDATE: Markyjoe from Gamefaqs adds this strategy to defeating the red demons: "Hey Bruplex, I know a good and easy was to kill Red Demons. You can even use any weapon with it without using your elbow strategy. First, go near a Red Demon but not too close that it starts to attack you. Next, throw your weapon, jump, and throw again but you need to be very quick. After that, as it goes up, run the opposite direction, jump and face him and shoot two more weapons at him. He'll fly into both of them and die. I used this strategy when I first got up to level 3 and those Red Demons were really ticking my nerves." Q: Any idea why the translations are so comically bad? A: In Stephen Kent's The Ultimate History of Video games, he alludes to the first batch of Capcom's NES games. As you may expect, these companies rushed the ports of the Japanese versions to the US NES console from the Famicom without a lot of quality control. Because the games were already tested game play wise, the translations were an afterthought. Keep in mind the most famous game translation of all time, Donkey Kong, came from Miyamoto's efforts to translate "stubborn monkey" into English! Q: I hate the enemy names you came up with for your guide, why can't you just use the real names? A: What can I tell you? Every time you see a forest ghost I see a flying burrito! Actually, most of the character names were taken from the Official NES Player's Guide released in 1987. The instruction manual names are listed in parenthesis in the enemy section. Because there are only about a dozen enemies in the game, I'm sure you'll have no trouble deciphering their clever code names. Q: Where can I find this game? A: I assume you mean the actual NES version, not the ROM. EBay is always a great starting place, as is Amazon.com. You can usually get this game for about $3.99 for just the cart or about $12.00 complete. There is also a harder to find Game Boy Color re-release that I haven't played yet, but it's about $20 if you can find it. And www.google.com will help you find ROMS, which are only legal as a backup for the actual cartridge. Heh. Q: How does the NES home version differ from the arcade version? A: The NES version is a little easier and featured slightly abridged versions of the stages. Obviously, the graphics are not as good as well. Q: Those level maps are pretty cool; how did you make them? A: I used the FCEUltra NES emulator to capture the screen shots (most NES emulators will have this feature). I pieced the screenshots together in Photoshop or Fireworks, depending on where I was when I was making the maps. Q: What is a "bruplex"? A: A Bruplex is a cat, currently living with my parents in Wolcott, Connecticut. He was born in 1994 and was originally named "Bruprecht" after a part in the Simpsons Christmas special where a little girl at the school pageant explains that "In Germany, Santa's helper Bruprecht gives presents to the parents of good children and whipping rods to the parents of bad children". This scene has been cut out of the current reruns but is still on the DVD original release. Anyhow, my friend Mike Pelkey couldn't say "Bruprecht" so I modified it to "Bruplex" because it's easier to say and sounds cool. Most people call Bruplex "Brewski" though I contend that is only his street name. He's a black and white tabby cat. Q: What are the other games in the Ghosts N' Goblins series? A: I'm not sure of the arcade/PC/MAC titles. Home consoles had the following titles (if I forgot one email them to me): *NES* Ghosts 'N Goblins (this game) Gargoyle's Quest 2 *Sega Genesis* Ghouls N' Ghosts *Super Nintendo* Super Ghouls N' Ghosts Demon's Crest *Game Boy Color* Ghosts N' Goblins *Game Boy Advance* Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts I know there is an arcade version and a few PC titles. I think there may have been Saturn and PC Engine titles somewhere in the works too. Send your questions about GNG to bruplex at: bruplex@yahoo.com. Please title your email Ghosts N Goblins Question. Thanks! *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ Cheat Codes/Secrets *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ Level Select: At the title screen do the following: Hold down Right, pres B 3x then press Up, and release it. Press B 3 more times. Press Left, then release and press B 3 more times. Press Down, release, then press B 3 more times. Finally press Start See the bonus message: Successfully complete both of the quests, and then press A, B, Up, Down, A, B, Left, Right at the game ending. ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ 5-Comments and Conclusions ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ Whew, there it is all updated and pretty! In closing a few thoughts: 1-I made a few maps for this game, you can find them hosted at www.gamefaqs.com or on my personal site www.jamesfaqs.com. Hopefully, I'll be able to get them up on vgstrategies.com as well. 2-This should be the "final revision" but if people have new questions for the FAQ or I forgot something obvious I will update it. Please email me if you find the old, horrible version of this FAQ as I'd like to replace it with this version. 3-If you have any other questions, please read the FAQ/walkthrough first and if it's not there shoot me an email: bruplex@yahoo.com. You can email me with comments as well. 4-Thanks to: Marc Dziezynski, Jody Pratt, Jeff Veasey, and all of you who love the NES 20 years into its life! Long live the 8 bit lifestyle! I hope this FAQ helped debunk the myth this is an impossible game and I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Live long and prosper. James Dziezynski AKA bruplex June 15, 2005 *^*^*^*^*^*^*^ THIS STORY IS HAPPY END!*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^