SUPER GHOULS N’ GHOSTS FAQ/WALKTHROUGH By Squall Strife squallstrife420@hotmail.com Ahhhh, Super Ghouls n’ Ghosts. This was one of the first SNES games I bought…and it was almost five years before I beat it. Not a case of five years of continuously trying to beat it of course, but nonetheless it is a VERY challenging game (don’t even get me started on those &#@% Red Gargoyles) and yet, when I search GameFAQs for it…no FAQs? Well, I’m always up for a challenge! So I rooted around the net for a ROM, (having sold my cartridge quite a while ago) and now I bring you the first Super Ghouls n’ Ghosts FAQ! (on GameFAQs at least) This FAQ is Copyright 2000 by Squall Strife. The following sites may use this FAQ without my permission: GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com) Video Game Strategies (http://vgstrategies.about.com) Any other site that wants to use it, just give me an email. Unless you’re Megagames.com that is. Then don’t bother. CONTENTS: The Chest System The Double Jump Boost The Catch Trick Armor Shields Weapons Magic Weapons & Spells Enemies Stage 1-1: The Haunted Graveyard Stage 1-2: The Forest of Fear Boss: Cockatrice Stage 2-1: The Graveyard of Ships Stage 2-2: The Sea of Despair Boss: Giant Barnacle Stage 3-1: Crucible of Flame Stage 3-2: Towers of Molten Steel Boss: The Mongolian Death Worms’ Third Cousin Stage 4-1: The Ghouls’ Stomach Stage 4-2: The Ghouls’ Stomach Part Two Boss: Hydra Stage 5-1: Ice Forest Stage 5-2: Ice Wall Boss: Freon Stage 6: The Castle of the Emperor Boss: Asutaroto Stage 7: Hallway of Ghouls Boss: Asutaroto and Nebiroth WHAT?!?!?! Stage 8: The Throne Room Boss: Sardius THE CHEST SYSTEM Your double jump does more than send you through the air. It has the very important function of revealing Chests to you. The Chests will reveal items in a specific order. With Steel Armor (and assuming you don’t get it knocked off) here’s the order: 1st: Weapon 2nd: Bronze Armor 3rd. Gold Armor 4th: Sun Shield 5th: Weapon 6th: Trap After this it’ll be either weapons or Magicians. THE DOUBLE JUMP BOOST One little trick worth mentioning-shooting in the air after a double jump will cause your blast to flash red and be twice as powerful. THE CATCH TRICK This serves no real purpose, but I’ll mention it anyway. When you pick up a key after killing a boss, hold Up and it will say “NICE CATCH!” No real effect or reward, just kinda odd. ARMOR Underwear: What you’ll be scampering around in if your armor gets knocked off. Fashionable as it may be, it won’t protect you. One hit and you’re a pile of bones. Steel Armor: You’ll start out with this. No special features. Bronze Armor: Stylin’ in green! This’ll upgrade your weapons into their magical counterparts. Gold Armor: The ultimate! Allows you to use magic! Go you! SHIELDS Moon Shield: Comes with the Gold Armor, and blocks one projectile before shattering. Sun Shield: Blocks three projectiles. WEAPONS Lance: Your default weapon. Travels in a straight line, nothing fancy. Eh. Works on zombies alright, but you’ll wanna upgrade pretty quickly. Dagger: Very, very nice. Goes MUCH faster than the lance and you can throw three at once! Axe: Not too great-travels in an awkward looping pattern and is a bit slow. Crossbow: A very nice weapon, particularly on those nightmares known as Red Gargoyles. (shudder) Shoots two arrows at once in a diagonal path. Torch: Stay away. FAR away. Puffs up a little fire when it hits the ground. Whee. Scythe: Eh. The only advantage it has is that if you stand on a ledge and fire while pressing down, you can shoot downward. Tri-Blade: Boomerang weapon. OK, but its’ limited range is a disadvantage. Ring: You’ll only find this on replay, and you’ll need it to finish the game. It’s range and strength grows with each armor upgrade. It also has the ability to destroy projectiles, which comes in quite handy. However….it’s still kind of a crap weapon IMO. MAGIC WEAPONS & SPELLS: Flaming Lance: Regular lance + fire trail. Again, eh. Magic: Thunder Magic. A trio of lightning bolts fire left, up and right from you. Good for taking out lines of enemies, and works great on the first boss. Magic Dagger: My FAVORITE weapon! Fires a nonstop barrage of laser daggers that eat boss health like popcorn! Magic: Fire Dragon Magic. A blazing blue dragon circles around the screen destroying enemies. Works well, but the Magic Dagger is such a great weapon you probably won’t need it. ^_^ Hefty Axe: Pretty much the same as the regular Axe, just bigger. Magic: Lightning Magic. A circle of lasers erupt out from you. It’s OK I guess, but the aim can be iffy, and it’s not worth using a crap weapon like the Axe. Magic Crossbow: A great weapon, and pretty much the only way to score an easy victory over Red Gargoyles. It’ll fire three arrows that seek and destroy nearby enemies. Magic: Seek Magic. Reveals all Chests in the area. Then again, if you’re following this walkthrough you don’t really need that, do you? Magic Torch: Same as the Torch, but the flames are higher. Again-stay FAR away. Magic: Shield Magic. Three orbs surround and protect you. Trust me, it’s not as good as it sounds. Magic Scythe: Same as the Scythe, just bigger. Magic: Tornado Magic. Probably the best magic in the game. Two tornadoes spin out from you, cover the whole area and do tons of damage. Shuriken: Like the Tri-Blade but stronger. Magic: Nuclear Magic. Not as great as it sounds. A horizontal explosion erupts above you. ENEMIES Zombies: Lance fodder, they simply march mindlessly forward in zombie tradition. They can be trouble if they gang up on you, but you should be able to take them out quickly enough to avoid that sitch. Wolves: Just make big leaps. Easy to kill when they land or in the air. Fire Spirits: Skulls in snakelike flame pillars. Jump over their easily dodged fireballs and shoot ‘em in the head. They come in red and green. Oysters: Giant purple oysters that spit eyeballs at you. You’ll only encounter two in the whole game, both at the end of Stage 1-1. Magicians: Hide inside of Chests. If you don’t kill them quickly, they’ll shoot a magic circle at you. It won’t knock your armor off or kill you, but it will temporarily change you into a variety of helpless forms. I don’t believe any other video game enemy ever turned me into a seal or a bumblebee before...and also one of the "helpless forms" you can become is a woman, which IMO is rather sexist. Spores: The first enemy you’ll meet that takes more than one hit to die. Spores swell up on their vines and explode, and some will also send out a circle of shrapnel, which can be trouble. Ghosts: See those wispy grey things floating in the background? They can’t hurt you now, but beware when they start to swirl-they’re turning into Ghosts. Ghosts aren’t tough, but they can attack from any direction, and can be a problem if they gang up on you. Mimics: Little pink creatures who hide in fake Chests. When you see the Chest giggle, start shooting and you should destroy both the Mimic and its’ home at once. Pirhanas: These Cheep-Cheeps from Hell will swoop in on you in Stage 2-2. Easy enough to destroy, but make sure they don’t catch you mid-jump. Coral Cannons: Anemones that cling to the spiky coral columns and spit stars at you. Take them out quickly. Fishmen: You’ll see them floating leisurely in the background before they swim up to attack you in the foreground. Kill them quickly or they’ll belch a trio of fireballs at you. Lava Lupes: Fire breathing werewolves. Not a big threat. Fire Fairies: These guys can be a real pain in the ass, rising up from the lava, zooming up and then swooping down on you. Try to kill them when they first come up. Red Arramer Aces (or Red Gargoyles): AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!! I HATE THESE FREAKING THINGS!!!!! Red Gargoyles are the toughest normal enemy on this game. All the other enemies & bosses move in preset patterns but not these guys. Red Gargoyles are *smart.* They’ll dodge, wait you out, fly out of your reach, then strike when you least expect it. As I mentioned before, the Magic Crossbow is the only way you can destroy them easily. Also the Magic Daggers’ Fire Dragon Magic works wonders. Bats: Red bats who slowly fly at you. No biggie. Goblins: These little scrubs fall down from the top of the screen and charge you when they land. Not a threat, except that if you’re too far ahead they may land on you. Going at a reasonable pace will prevent this, however. Phagocytes: The white blood cells of the Ghouls’ Stomach, these axe wielding monsters pose no real threat. Gut Fairies: They swoop around trying to knock you off your platform into the churning intestines in Stage 4-2. Use the same tactics as Fire Fairies. Woos: Ice breathing werewolves. Just an element-swapped version of Lava Lupes, really. Doomblossoms: Spore spewing flowers that are pretty much the same as Fire Spirits. Ice Wolves: Same as regular wolves but they can also run. Ice Snakes: A bit of a pain in the ass. Kill them quickly as they come out of the ground. Bee Soldiers: Not too tough, easy to avoid. They fly along in a looping pattern. Cockatrice Heads: Two kinds: One kind stretches, the other spits energy balls. Neither is a major threat, but it can be kind of a pain having two of them shooting at you. STAGE 1-1: THE HAUNTED GRAVEYARD At the start, double jump to the left to get your first Chest. Blast those pesky zombies and double jump off the first tombstone for another Chest. Continuing to the right, jump up onto the hill to take out the wolf, and double jump off to the right to reveal another Chest. Go into the cage to take out the Fire Spirit, then go to the right, kill the other Spirit and continue to the right. Go into the next cage to take out the Spirits, and walking through it will make another Chest appear on the hill above, yours for the taking when the Wolves are gone. Go through the skull pillars (the falling skulls are easy to avoid) and DJ next to the next to last pillar for another chest. Upon reaching the ocean, make sure you’re standing on a pillar or the tsunami will carry you to a watery grave. In the next islet do the same, and a Chest will appear on the left pillar all by itself. Be careful though-it’s a Trap if you haven’t gotten your armor knocked off yet. Continue on to the right to enter: STAGE 1-2: THE FOREST OF FEAR A very short stage. When you see the earth tremble and rearrange, get ready to jump because a flaming skull cart is rolling your way. When you get to the first gap over the water, jump out over it and then back in for a Chest. Continue to the right, and in the area just before the boss, jump out then in from the right of the gap for the last Chest. Continue on for your first Boss fight. BOSS: COCKATRICE Feh. They call this a boss? This guy is a complete wussy, especially if you have Gold Armor and the Magic Lance. If you do, simply get under his head after he stretches his neck out and use Lightning Magic 4-5 times to end the fight. Otherwise, just shoot at his head. (the Crossbow works wonders) Cockatrice will stretch his neck out at you, which is very easy to avoid. He’ll also occasionally hock up an egg which’ll hatch into an easily killed Miniwing. Just keep pounding away and you’ll soon be dining on KFC, (Kamelot Fried Cockatrice) Extra Crispy. Make sure you bring a bucket along for the Princess, then go on into: STAGE 2-1: THE GRAVEYARD OF SHIPS Leap off the collapsing dock, and then DJ on the mast for your first Chest. Continue on to the right, and the send Chest should appear by itself. Blasting Ghosts along the way, go to the right and leap up on the second floor-try to make it early so the guillotine doesn’t get you. Go to the left and up again, DJing at the left end of the mast for another Chest. Then jump on the platform and ride down. At the bottom of the second area, leap on and off the right end of the platform for another Chest. Kill the Mimic and go upwards, being careful of the guillotines. DJ at the top for another Chest, and continue to the right. Leap onto the platform to descend to: STAGE 2-2: THE SEA OF DESPAIR After you get out of the whirlpool area, DJ around until you get a Chest. Leap around to the right of that Chest for another one and continue, avoiding the spiky coral and blasting exits in the star blocks. When you see the second Fishman in the background, immediately DJ to the left of the pillar for a Chest. After filleting the fiend, another Chest will automatically appear between the next two pillars. Continue onwards to the waterfall, and a ship bottoms’ worst nightmare will appear to confront you. BOSS: GIANT BARNACLE Now this guy can be a bit of a toughie. He has a distinct pattern: Move to the right Spit three shells Move to the right Spit three shells Move back to the left Start over The only problem is, his shells can be a pain to avoid because of your moving constantly up and down. I recommend the Magic Daggers personally, they can pour nonstop hurt into him while slowing down his advances. But if you have the Golden Armor, the Magic Scythe may be a good choice-the Tornado Magic works excellently on the Barnacle. Either way, keep hitting him and he’ll explode very nicely, granting you access to level three. STAGE 3-1: CRUCIBLE OF FLAME Leap the lengthy lava landscape leveling the lousy Lava Lupes, and Chest #1 will appear to the right of the next to last pool. Go down, and then go down and back up the right ladder for another Chest. Go on to the left and down. Once on the third level, DJ over and back from the right lava pool for another Chest, then continue to the left. When you go down to the fourth level, DJ left and back over the left lava pool to make a Chest appear above you. Get it, the go to the right over the poles and meat platforms. (ewwwww….) Continue right over the next set of poles and you’ll meet your first Red Gargoyle. Defeat him and then leap to: STAGE 3-2: TOWERS OF MOLTEN STEEL A pretty straightforward stage. Go to the right blasting stone gargoyles and Bats, and DJ left of the third statue for a Chest. Take the floating dais to the second tower and DJ off and back on the end of it for another Chest. Ride another dais to the third tower, where a chest will automatically appear after the second statue. Go to another tower and DJ until you get another Chest. The last Chest will automatically appear on the last tower. When the towers end, leap onto the ledges and prepare for a Boss fight. BOSS: THE MONGOLIAN DEATH WORMS’ THIRD COUSIN I recommend the Magic Crossbow for this battle. The Worm will harmlessly spin around you, giving you time to shoot mercilessly at his head. When he slows to a stop, he’ll belch out a stream of rocks either left or up. When he leaves, IMMEDIATELY pause the game! The rocks will either fall or fly back towards you, but by pausing you can see their positions and dodge/jump them easily. When he spins back around you, just blast him some more. I used the Magic Crossbow and he was dead before he launched a second volley. When he’s fishbait, “TAKE A KEY FOR COMING IN!” and go on to: STAGE 4-1: THE GHOULS’ STOMACH DJ at the start for a Chest. The go right and hop on the platform before the floor turns toothy, and sit through the rotation. Then hop off and go on to the next rotation. Interesting note: Though it’s commonplace now, the rotation effect when you jump on the platforms was considered highly advanced during this games’ launch time. After the second rotation, go on to the right to automatically trigger a Chest, then DJ off the first ledge in the stairway formation for another one. Then go left for another rotation. When the screen de-toothifies, go to the left and DJ left/right over the second spike set. Then continue left, jump on the final rotation platform and go on down to the next area. STAGE 4-2: THE GHOULS’ STOMACH PART TWO Not much of a walkthrough since there aren’t any Chests. Just avoid the gas streams and shoot the Spores and Gut Fairies. When it’s time to leap to a new set of platforms, make sure you do it quickly so your ride doesn’t melt out from under you! When you see a gate, leap off the platform into it to face Hydra. BOSS: HYDRA He’s VERY easy, maybe even easier than Cockatrice. Just cap away at his heads until they’re all gone, and avoid his fireballs. One trap Hydra likes to try and catch you in is shooting a low fireball and following it up quickly with a high fireball to catch you during your jump. Time your jumps well to avoid this. As a final note, if you have the Golden Armor and Magic Scythe, forget strategy. Just run up to Hydra while charging up your magic, and unleash it when you’re right next to him. One dose of Tornado Magic will wipe Hydra out. After that rather claustrophobic, smelly experience, it’s time to get some fresh air! Hurry on to a very aesthetically pleasing stage: STAGE 5-1: ICE FOREST As usual, DJ at the start for a Chest. Continue to the right, take out the Woo and Doomblossom and DJ into the lake and back for another Chest. Then jump back to where the Doomblossom was and continue to the left. Leap up onto the next branch when you get all the way to the left. (be careful, it’s a rather tricky jump) Continue to climb the tree killing Doomblossoms and Woos along the way until you reach the snowy area. Leap around on the first platform for a Chest. Continue to the right and DJ past the last platform for another Chest. Cross the ice bridge to: STAGE 5-2: ICE WALL Being careful of the Ice Wolves, DJ under the first wall for a Chest. Travel up the ledges and go right. When avalanches crash onscreen, the only way to avoid being swept away is to cling to a ladder. DJ in and out of the first spike gap for a Chest. Then continue upwards to meet: BOSS: FREON This ice golems’ legs will crumble at the start of the battle, but his torso can hold its’ own. Freon has two attacks. Sending its’ arms out like boomerangs and spitting an ice ball that splits ten ways. If the balls’ fragments hit you, it won’t hurt you but you will be frozen. Press buttons like crazy to break free before he hits you for real. All in all he’s pretty easy though. Just leap up and shoot at his head. Or better yet, if you have the Gold Armor and Magic Dagger, get underneath him and slushify his ass with Fire Dragon Magic. He should be dead with a few hits of it. After Freon is shaved ice, move on to: STAGE 6: THE CASTLE OF THE EMPEROR DJ at the beginning for a Chest. Kill the Red Gargoyle (good luck) and go upwards to find a Chest automatically appearing for you. Go up into the room, kill the Cockatrice head and DJ on the right side of the room for another Chest. Go down, kill another Red Gargoyle and DJ in the alcove for another Chest. Then go on to find a large elder demon itching for a fight. BOSS: ASUTAROTO This hulking demon has two attacks: shooting a stream of flame from his belly and shooting lasers out of his nose. Both are easy to avoid. I suggest the Magic Crossbow. Dispatching this boss will open up the gate to: STAGE 7: HALLWAY OF GHOULS As usual, DJ near the beginning for a Chest. Then leap around on the floor for another. Go up killing Cockatrice Heads and Gut Fairies, and a Chest will appear on the top ledge. Kill the Red Gargoyle and then DJ off of the ledge above that ledge for another Chest. Then go back up on that ledge and DJ around for yet another Chest. Go up and kill the Cockatrice Heads. then go left to the Ghost/Mimic area. A leap from one of the ledges onto the floor will result in one final Chest. Now go up and right to meet Asutaroto again. BOSS: ASUTAROTO AND NEBIROTH Use the same tactics as before to finish Asutaroto off for good. After his fiery demise, Nebiroth appears. Nebiroth is like a buffed up Asutaroto, and his attacks reflect that. His lasers are three huge wedges that fly across the screen. When you hear a beep, RUN! His fire breath now can spread out across the floor, so put some distance between the two of you. After you defeat him, Princess Gwenivere-or Princess Prin Prin according to the credits-appears with a very unhappy message…. WHAT?!?!?! Yep, that’s right! You have to play through this game TWICE to beat it! This time, the fifth treasure chest you open will contain a Ring. Use it or don’t, just make sure you have it at the end of Stage 7. (fortunately if you defeat Nebiroth without it, you just redo the stage instead of going back to the start) Oh, and did I mention this time around the difficulty is raised? Mwahahahaha…… OK, got the Ring? You kicked Nebiroths’ scaly butt with it? Good! Let’s take out Sardius! CHARGE! YYYYAAAAHHHHH!!!! STAGE 8: THE THRONE ROOM Not really a stage, just a boss fight. BOSS: SARDIUS Sardius’ belly-mouth will spit out two platforms at the same time he spits a circle of laser beams at you. What you’ve got to do is wait by one of his feet, and hop up on a platform at the moment the laser passes you. then hop on up and cap him in the head a few times with the Ring. It’ll take a while, but you’ll destroy him eventually. Warning: Sometimes Sardius will spit out two platforms *before* he spits the lasers. If he does that, DON’T TRY TO GET ON THEM! You WILL be shot down. After Sardius combusts in a blaze of hellfire, the Princess will be saved! Yay! A winner is you! You’ll get a message about the ring, some monster names and the Princess’ measurements. o_0 Sit back and enjoy the..rather unusual credits…”Professor F?” “Ike-Bomb?” “Hyper Mickey?” as Arthur and the Princess ride off into the sunset. Hope you’ve enjoyed your quest through the game as much as I’ve enjoyed writing this FAQ. Night everybody!