After the success of US Gold's Ghouls 'N' Ghosts conversion, which received a Format Gold in these hallowed pages, it was inevitable that its predecessor would make its way to the 16-bit machines.
For the six people that have just landed from Mars and don't know anything about the game, the plot tells of brave Sir Arthur, valiant knight and bold warrior. While resting with his girlfriend after a particularly tough quest, an evil demon swooped down and swept away the fair maid to a dark and dangerous hiding place deep within a mountain.
Arthur quickly dons his magic armour and sets off to the rescue, passing through the various creature-
Initially Arthur is armed with an endless supply of sawn-off lances to throw at foes, but occasionally a creature carries a pot containing treasure or new weapons, such as torches, axes or daggers. If one of the creatures manages to land a hit on poor Sir Arthur he will lose the protection of his magic armour - one more hit and the brave hero turns into a bag of bones for the vultures to pick at.
GRAPHICS AND SOUND
Given the time that Elite had to bring out this conversion, it's not surprising that the game is extremely close to the arcade original. In fact the only difference is that you aren't asked to put any money in! All the introduction and intermission scenes have been included, from the abduction of Sir Arthur's love to the map of the game before play.
One thing that was missing from previous conversions was the grave spirit that emerges to turn Arthur into a frog, but a few blasts into a gravestone on the Amiga version and hey presto! Out comes the spirit! A lot of care has been taken over both sound and graphics to recreate the feel of the coin-op, and it certainly shows. Both are superb.
LASTING INTEREST
Anyone who has played the arcade version to any extent will be able to quite easily get into the action, but this also means that they may complete it fairly quickly. However, even if you do get to the end, it's still great fun to pick up and have a bash at every now and then.
JUDGEMENT
Despite its age, Ghosts 'N' Goblins is well presented, highly playable and an enjoyable romp. Techno-