Written by BonusJZ and first released in 2016, Ghosts ‘N Demons is an amazing homebrew tribute to Capcom‘s Ghouls ‘N Ghosts arcade game. It’s actually an unofficial remake of the original “Makaimura” for the WonderSwan handheld gaming console, which goes some way to explaining the game’s weirdly small screen size.

While the small screen size doesn’t bother me, the programmer’s insistence that scan lines are “a good thing”, does. You can turn the simulated scan lines off, but the graphics themselves seem to have scan lines baked into them, so it’s impossible to get rid of the horizontal lines completely. That doesn’t really affect the gameplay, though, which is outstanding.

Ghosts ‘N Demons features familiar ideas from the coin-op, and console ports, plus some new ideas, never before seen in the series. Like, for example, Arthur having a sword attack where he bounces on it like a pogo stick! All these bonus pick-ups are found inside chests, which you must shoot to break open. There are also things like luring enemies onto flames to burn them, which is a new idea I’ve never seen before in this series.

One thing I have to say about Ghosts ‘N Demons is that it is damn frustrating at times. Like the original. Unlike the original, you can now choose between three difficulty levels at the start, with the hardest having to be unlocked. Each level also has checkpoints, if you reach them, and your continues are limited.

Overall, Ghosts ‘N Demons is a must-play homebrew game for the PC, even though it had me tearing my hair out at times! 🙂

More: Ghosts ‘N Demons on itch.io