Ghosts'n Goblins (Arcade)

Ghosts'n Goblins
Also known as: Makaimura (JP) Developer: Capcom Publishers: Capcom (INT), Taito (US), Romstar (US, Alt) Platform: Arcade (Ghosts'n Goblins/Diamond Run hardware) Released in JP: July 7, 1985 Released in US: September 4, 1985 Released in EU: October 1985 This game has hidden developer credits. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused music. This game has debugging material. This game has regional differences. This game has revisional differences. This game has a prototype article

So Arthur was chilling with Princess Prin Prin in a graveyard when she suddenly gets nabbed by a giant red demon. Now Arthur has to go through six hellish stages - twice - and defeat Astaroth to get her back.

MORAL: Do not take your girlfriend to a graveyard for a date.

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Prototype Info

Debug Switch

The first Japanese revision has a debug mode of sorts: flip Dip Switch 2A and Arthur will be invincible! This does not work on any other revision.

(Source: MAME gng.c driver)

Unused Music

Track 39 is a short two-second tune that was used in the prototype after defeating a boss.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Unused Graphics

An alternate design for the Time indicator. This uses a unique graphic, while the final version just uses the standard font.

It's a cursor. The only place this could be used is the name entry screen.

Unused interrobang and double exclamation point graphics. There's only one point where the latter would be needed, but the game uses two single exclamation points instead.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Programmer Message

A hidden message is on the audio CPU, starting at 0x003E. Its formatting has been changed for better readability, as the original message has no line breaks.

THIS PROGRAME IS PROGRAMED BY TOSHIO ARIMA , IF YOU NEED SAME INFORMETION 
THEN FONE 0726-74-0943 , OR  2-14,YAWATA MACHI, TAKATSUKI, 569 OSAKA JAPAN

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Regional Differences

To do: There's more.

Title Screen

Japan	Other

The game is known as Makaimura (魔界村, "Demon World Village") in Japan.

Cross

Japan	Other

The Cross weapon from the Japanese version was changed to a Shield. This is a purely cosmetic change; both weapons have the same properties.

Stage 6

Japan	Other

The last section before the two Satan bosses was changed to make the climb up a bit easier. In the Japanese revisions, there are three sitting Red Arremers and one Arremer (in the bottom-right corner) that's invisible until the player gets close enough.

Every other version has one less Red Arremer, their positions have changed, and they all pop out if the player is close. Every cranny with one ogre originally had two in the Japanese game.

Revisional Differences

There are seven recognized revisions: three Japanese, three "World", and one US. The order appears to be (using the MAME ROMset names) Japan A, Japan C, World 2, U.S.A., World 1, Japan G, World 3.

	Japan A	Japan C	Japan G	US	World 1	World 2	World 3
Debug Switch	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
ROM/RAM Check	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sound Test Bugs	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Boss Scroll Bug	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Attract Bug	?	?	No	?	Yes	?	?
Alarm Bug	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
# of Stage 6 Unicorns	1	2	1	2	2	1	2
Ladder Skeleton	Far	Far	Far	Near	Near	Far	Near
Stage 6 Boss HP	4	4	4	8	8	4	8

Debug Switch

As noted above, the invincibility dip switch only functions in the first Japanese revision.

ROM/RAM Check

In all versions except the first Japanese revision, the integrity of the ROM and RAM are checked before displaying the title screen.

Sound Test

The first Japanese revision has two errors in the Sound Test. First, a track can only be played once per button press (in other revisions, they can be played multiple times without switching). Second, music will never stop playing once it's started, diminishing the usefulness of the Sound Test. In other revisions, the music stops if a sound effect is played.

Boss Scroll Bug

In some versions, scrolling a boss offscreen will destroy the boss object and the game will act as if the boss was killed. This is easiest to do in Stages 4 and 5.

Atract Bug

The attract mode is pseudo random. In World version 1 at least, if you leave it on for many hours, it will eventually crash at the level 1 gate.

Alarm Bug

In all three of the World board sets, there's a bug with the "low time" alarm: Once the alarm starts, it can never stop, even if the player enters a new part of the level and the timer resets.

Stage 6 Unicorns

One	Two

Some revisions add an extra Unicorn at the start of Stage 6, which makes it harder to get past them without taking a hit.

Ladder Skeleton

Far	Near

Present in all international revisions except World 2, the last skeleton of Stage 6 is either right next to the ladder or a block away from it. If the skeleton is near the ladder, the player will have to climb up to wake it up, then climb back down to avoid taking a hit.

Stage 6 Boss HP

The two Satan bosses have different HP values between revisions. In the Japanese revisions and World 2, they have 4 HP each; in the other revisions, they both have 8 HP.

(Source: Insert Coyne, TCRF Original Research)