Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins hands-on

Even in unfinished form, Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins is a blast to play. The action is deceptively simple - you'll toss an unlimited supply of metal weaponry at zombies, demons, big-ass Cyclopes and whatever else stands in your way (and like in Ghouls 'n Ghosts, you'll be able to toss said weaponry straight up or down as well as sideways). And it all feels perfect, whether you're double-jumping across a wide chasm or rapidly lobbing a dozen daggers into a tree covered in giant eyeballs.

And then there are the bosses: huge, devious beasts that include a floating sorcerer with a goat skull for a head, some sort of one-eyed storm cloud that kept belting us with lightning and a giant slug made of caustic snot. They're usually only strong enough to rob you of one or two lives, but good luck making it to them with that many intact.

  1. Does this skull look like scenery? Try walking over it. Then we'll see who's scenery, smart guy
  2. This shows how many hits Arthur can take before he's reduced to a pile of bones and underwear
  3. Arthur's traditional default weapon, a giant throwing lance
  4. The pot on this ghost's back means it's carrying an item
  5. ...which made him huge
  6. ...cast on Arthur when he hopped into this cauldron...
  7. Arthur's magic meter, currently deactivated by a curse...
  8. Arthur's lives remaining (note the retro stylings)
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Mikel Reparaz
After graduating from college in 2000 with a BA in journalism, I worked for five years as a copy editor, page designer and videogame-review columnist at a couple of mid-sized newspapers you've never heard of. My column eventually got me a freelancing gig with GMR magazine, which folded a few months later. I was hired on full-time by GamesRadar in late 2005, and have since been paid actual money to write silly articles about lovable blobs.