The Amstrad CPC version of Ghosts ‘N Goblins was developed and published by Elite Systems in 1986, and it looks pretty rough, and seems to be missing a good chunk of the original game.

The Amstrad‘s low-res graphics mode was the correct one to use for this game, but the artist hasn’t made the most of it. The graphics look very basic at best and the colouring is drab and unappealing. The scrolling is also a little annoying as it’s ‘push’ scrolling (moving only when the edge of the screen is reached), rather than ‘pixel’ scrolling around the central character, Arthur.

The game also doesn’t feature all six of the arcade game’s levels (it repeats from the beginning again after the third stage), which is extremely disappointing. I wondered if this was just the version I was playing, so I tried a few different ROMs and they all appeared to be the same. It’s also missing the map intermissions and opening cut scene.

Ghosts ‘N Goblins on the Amstrad is lacklustre, compared to other ports, and was probably a rush-job that wasn’t given the development time needed to bring the game up to standard. Which is a pity because the Amstrad is capable of and deserved much better.

More: Ghosts ‘N Goblins on Wikipedia