Game Soundtracks We Love: Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts

Hello to everyone! Thank you for joining us, on our cuppa filled gaming journey.

Last week, we took a look at a game that played around with the player’s sanity; Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem. If you missed it and want to check it out: Game Soundtracks We Love: Eternal Darkness

For this week, we have chosen a game filled with zombies, demons, ghosts and all manner of creepy creatures that we typically associate with Halloween.

Game of Choice

In the beginning there were Ghosts ‘n Goblins, but by the time I was old enough to play video games; we had Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts.

Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts was the third game in the Ghosts ‘n Goblins series. Arthur the knight goes on a quest to save his beloved Guinevere  from a demon. Along the way, Arthur fights zombies that raise from the ground in coffins, demons that fly, creatures made of flames and even Satan himself! There are also Court Jester’s that appear randomly from treasure chests (rather than weapons or armour), that cast spells on Arthur to turn him into a defenceless bee, maid, or even a baby – bad luck Arthur!

Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts is ridiculously difficult and requires the player to go through the game twice to reach the real ending (such a nightmare  to  achieve). Also, rather than a health meter, Arthur’s armour would fall off when hit – leaving him to run around in just his underwear; not the best defence when fighting creatures with sharp claws and teeth.

The above video is the intro, opening and a small portion of the first level. Sound effects (along with the absence of music), plays a key role in making the scene creepy and dramatic. While the opening scene’s music sounds mysterious and eery, then kicks into having a short but dramatic segment – working perfectly with the horror of Guinevere being kidnapped.

The track above played at the end of the first video in this article, but it’s the main theme of the series and deserves to be played in full. Although it’s on the SNES with it’s limited sound capabilities, the track is brilliant; it has a great combination of slightly dark and creepy sounds, but also with a fun energy to it – I love it! 😀

For stage 4, the music has a more serious and dark vibe to it; creating a bit of dread and unease as you move through the difficult (and freaky), hostile filled terrain. The stage itself is very horror-ish to look at and play through, matched with the music too; it’s extra creepy and freaky!

Final Thoughts

Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts was my first horror (ish) game experience. The soundtrack is brilliant; enhancing the dark and creepy theme of the game, while also adding a layer of fun! 😀

A great game to play around Halloween time; not just because of the content but also it’s soundtrack. 😀

A few questions for you:

• What do you consider to be a great game soundtrack for Halloween?
• Have you played Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts?
• If so; how far did you get?

Would love to read your thoughts 😀 – Thanks for reading!