Arthur starts the game with an ordinary suit of armor, which may be upgraded up to three times. The first upgrade is bronze armor which enhances Arthur's firepower. The second upgrade is golden armor which allows Arthur to charge his firepower to unleash special magic attacks. The golden armor comes with a shield which can block one projectile before breaking. The last upgrade is a better shield which can block up to three projectiles before breaking and allow Arthur's firepower to charge up quicker. No matter how upgraded, his armor falls off following any touch by an enemy, leaving Arthur defenseless and clad only in his underwear, at which point he will die if hit again. Shields can only block projectiles if Arthur is standing still. Like in Ghouls n' Ghosts, hiddentreasure chests can be found for weapons, armor upgrades, bonus points and sometimes unwanted traps such as bear traps and an evilmagician who transforms Arthur. Treasure chests are hidden and can only be accessed by moving through specific areas of the screen, which causes them to appear. One key feature is the double jump, which allows Arthur to leap into the air, and then leap again. However, the player has no direct control of Arthur's movement once in the air. The second jump can change direction, but that is the only control players have. Sticking with tradition, players have to complete the game twice in a row, the second time with a special weapon, in order to confront the evil boss Sardius and get the true ending.
Plot
The player takes the role of the knight Arthur, who must once again rescue the Princess from the demons. The antagonist this time is the Emperor Sardius, who has kidnapped the Princess in order to obtain the whereabouts of the Goddess's Bracelet, the only weapon capable of destroying Sardius. After making it to Sardius's castle, Arthur must return to the beginning where the Princess hid the bracelet in order to destroy Sardius permanently. After repeating his journey, Arthur defeats Sardius with the bracelet and returns the Princess to the kingdom.
Regional differences
The crosses in the game were modified from the original Chōmakaimura, where they resemble church crosses; in Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, they appear as ankhs. The final boss was also renamed from Samael to Sardius. The European version removed certain enemies and obstacles in the game, perhaps not only a measure to reduce the difficulty, but also to reduce potential slowdown. Stage 1-1: Two Skull Flowers were removed. Stage 1-2: The last Belial right before the boss was removed. Stage 2-1: Two swinging blades were removed. Stage 3-1: Four Fire Killers were removed. Stage 4-1: Four Skull Flowers were removed. Stage 4-2: Four gas streams were removed. Stage 5-2: Two Werewolves were removed. Stage 6: One Red Arremer was removed. Stage 7: Two Blue Killers and the Red Arremer was removed.
Ports
A straight port of the Super NES version of Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts is featured alongside the arcade versions of Ghosts 'n Goblins and Ghouls 'n Ghosts in the video game compilation Capcom Generation: Chronicles of Arthur for PlayStation, which was also released for the Sega Saturn in Japan as Capcom Generation 2. This PS version of the game is also included in Capcom Classics Collection for PlayStation 2 and Xbox and Capcom Classics Collection: Reloaded for PlayStation Portable. The aforementioned ports are notable for having removed the slowdown which plagued the original Super NES version. The Game Boy Advance version, released simply as Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts in North America and Europe and as Chōmakaimura R in Japan, features an "Arrange Mode" that enables the player to choose from redesigned levels and bosses based on the original Ghosts 'n Goblins and Ghouls 'n Ghosts, depending on their success in keeping the bronze armor, or a higher difficulty tier of the standard levels set upon keeping the golden armor. Unlike the Normal Mode, in Arrange the Goddess' Bracelet is already accessible during the first playthrough. Unlike the Capcom Generations/Classics Collection ports, the Game Boy Advance port retains the slowdown of the original Super NES version, even in the redesigned levels. The SNES version of the game was released for the Virtual Console on the Wii on March 5, 2007, the Wii U on May 16, 2013, and New Nintendo 3DS on June 23, 2016. The GBA version was also released for the Wii U on October 22, 2015. Nintendo re-released Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts in the United States in September 2017 as part of the company's Super NES Classic Edition.
Reception
As of June 30, 2017, the SNES version has sold 1.09 million units since its release in October 1991, making it Capcom's 75th best-selling game of all time. In 1997 Electronic Gaming Monthly listed the SNES version as the 22nd best console video gameof all time, calling it "One of the most graphically intense side-scrolling action games the Super NES has ever seen. Also one of the hardest."
