Ghost'n Goblins and the Legacy of 2D Soulslikes

Correvano selvaggi gli anni Ottanta, the gothic horror of productions from the previous decades had paved the way for splatter settings, so it was relatively easy for Capcom (the ones behind Street Fighter, yes, them!) to follow a recipe with guaranteed success: take a brave hero and dress him, and undress him, in good intentions and likability, a horror setting capable of winking at popcorn-loving fans and the undead, and finally the touch of class: present it to the public by trumpeting the level of difficulty they would have to face to beat it.

In those years, then more than ever, accepting impossible challenges was for videogamers the equivalent of the Ark of the Covenant for Indiana Jones. And it was also for this reason that Ghost'n Goblins soon became the benchmark for all those productions whose concept was based on intricate levels, hordes of monsters, and Game Over as an incentive to start over, hoping to manage that extra step capable of leading the hero closer to eternal glory.

Ghost'n Goblins certainly does not stand out for its plot, which is deliberately packed with clichés and stereotypes: the knight Arthur must obviously save a woman, his to be clear, kidnapped by a terrifying demon, the final boss we will encounter in the last level.

The game presents itself as a very fast-paced arcade platformer, in which getting the timing of jumps and attacks right will be of crucial importance if you have any hope of surviving.

Come all classics, Ghost'n Goblins also has peculiarities that make it unique and that later became influential, among quotations and tributes: Sir Arthur wears armor that, when hit, is destroyed, until our fearless leader is left literally… in his underwear! His image as an infallible hero undergoes an irreverent process of systematic and rather comical destruction, to tell the truth, if compared with the gloomy setting into which the game’s developers place him.

Giochi come Dark Souls, just to cite one of the modern cornerstones, owe a great deal to Capcom's masterpiece: a debt that many industry insiders, myself included, believe has never been fully repaid, because where Dark Souls fails, in effect often making the gameplay experience too frustrating despite being interesting and evocative, Ghost'n Goblins instead manages to find the perfect balance.

Every level is certainly challenging, and Sir Arthur’s lives are destined to plummet with every game: even today, the coins dropped into the arcade cabinet’s slot by the millions of players who have tried their hand at the epic feat are countless, however… However, the game is not that frustrating; in fact, it helps the player’s learning curve.

Ghost'n Goblins is not a metaphor for life and for the climb toward our own self-determination; I won't go so far as to claim that, however the soul of an arcade video game has always been this, we know it well.

Try, fail, try again, win.