Speed Demos Archive - Ghosts 'n Goblins

Released in November 1986, Ghosts 'n Goblins is well known by many players as the game with "that impossible to hit red demon bastard". As Sir Arthur, you must save the princess from Astaroth not once, but twice to prove your strongth and create a happy end.

Thanks to the good people at SDA for transferring & hosting this. Thanks to sdkess for inspiration. Also thanks to Jeff C, author of a GnG TAS that I used for research.

I don't think there will ever be a "perfect" run of this game. I think the best you can do is build up a good set of techniques that can efficiently get you through any situation. The monsters can't be counted on to behave exactly the same way from attempt to attempt, so I'd say a good one-fourth of this run is improvised (especially in the second round.)

ROUND 1
- Level 1 "Graveyard-Forest"
  
  I go through the first 3 levels with the spear. It is possible to gain a knife by killing enough zombies, but the cost of time spent waiting around is not nearly made up by the knife's faster attack.
  - 0:50 - The first of 5 intentional monster-hit-abuses I take during the run to save some time. The difference in time between doing exactly this and "playing it safe" can be seen when I meet this Red Devil again in the second round at 11:50.
  - 1:02 - That's really fun to do.
  - 1:27 - The six Cyclopses that I have to fight in this game randomly jump. They cost me a second each time they do, but there's nothing I can do about it.
  - 1:32 - I can't go "SMB3-wand style" and jump up to grab the key, I have to wait for it to touch the ground.
- Level 2 "Frozen Towers-Camelot"
  
  There is a faster way through the Frozen Towers, but doing so affects the behavior and placement of the Big Men in Camelot. The path I take is safe and allows for minimal encounters during the Camelot part of the level.
  - 2:36 - Wonderful shortcut.
  - 3:15 - I totally jumped in the wrong direction and nearly lost my life for the first time this run. This fight would have been over sooner if I was able to finish off the first Cyclops faster, if I was closer up on the second Cyclops, and if he didn't jump as much. These guys are pretty inconsistent in behavior, so fighting them is always improvised.
- Level 3 "Yellow Cave-Blue Cave"
  - 3:46 - I could have killed the bats faster, but the bat on the right that I left alive is a "timing" bat, and that timing makes the zombies appear above me at 3:58 instead of the lower level that I'm heading to so they're out of my way.
  - 4:01 - It's possible to take a hit to save a little time around this spot in the Yellow Cave, but the Red Devils in the upcoming Blue Cave sometimes rush you and hit you before you can help it. So I play it safe.
  - 4:11 - This is my standard Red Devil fighting technique, which works great most of the time. You sacrifice some "forward" motion in order to do the jump-away, but you stay alive. Fair trade.
  - 4:37 - I choose to go "up" instead of straight across right because there are 2 difficult Red Devils to get through on the right, and only very easy one up above.
  - 5:00 - Time for a weapons change from Spear to Torch. This is because Spear does not damage the Snake Dragon boss of this level. As it turns out, Torch is an excellent weapon for the next 2 levels if you don't waste your shots, especially against airborne targets because Torch is the only weapon that can travel in an arc at a height slightly above Sir Arthur's head.
  - 5:04 - This is an interesting spot. About half the time, Sir Arthur will get hit as he approaches the Snake Dragon, only there is no enemy or projectile in view. He just gets hit by the air and loses his armor (or his life, if he was armorless.) I've found that jumping at that particular spot reduces (but does not eliminate) your risk of "phantom damage."
- Level 4 "Eyeball Platforms-Bridge of Death"
  - 6:05 - It is not necessary to kill most of the Blue Devils on the bridge, but I think they are visually distracting. And it's good practice for the "throw weapon in the opposite direction of your jump," which is easily the most useful technique for live GnG speedrunning.
  - 6:31 - This is exactly why I have to "play it safe" for this level and some of the others - this Snake Dragon does not always behave the same from one attempt to the next. As you can see, his first move was to come straight at me. There's nowhere I can go and no chance of hitting his head 6 times, so I have to take my hit and keep trying. This is a difficult flying pattern to track while not being hit a second time, and this is the second time this run I was very near death.
- Level 5 "Astaroth's Tower part 1"
  
  This is my favorite level because there's much less chance of random death than in other levels. The only thing to watch out for are the flying burritos that can come out of the walls when you're not ready.
  - 7:32 - One thing that can make or break a good speedrunning time is the Big Men in this level and the next. I can't ascend the ladder unless he is far enough away from it, and there's no sure way to get them where you want them to go. Best idea is get under them so they'll throw a blue spiky ball at you, because they have a 50% chance of changing direction after that.
- Level 6 "Astaroth's Tower part 2"
  
  Tough level, no question about that. Contains the most unreliable (and thus dangerous) enemy in the entire game - the Red Devil at 9:43, whom I must face with a short-distance weapon. After that, I have to keep on my guard for flying burritos, which in this level often have a tendency to appear directly in your way. I am forced to change weapons to the Shield because I can not enter the Final Boss room without it.
  - 8:59 - Hit intentionally taken to get me up the ladder quickly and safely.
  - 9:23 - I take 3 seconds out of my busy schedule to get some extra armor because of the upcoming Red Devil.
- Final Boss - Astaroth
  
  Well - just jump and shoot. A very easy final boss for a game so otherwise difficult.
  BUT NO! RETURN TO STARTING POINT!
ROUND 2
Round 2 is not the same as Round 1. All enemies and projectiles move faster this time around, and the Red Devils shoot more often. I'd say Round 2 is probably twice as difficult as Round 1 to survive.
- Level 1 "Graveyard-Forest"
  
  This is the only level in this speedrun that is 100% improvised because I can no longer count on the same timings for the zombies in the Graveyard, or the flying burritos in the Forest. Also I do not know when I will get a change in weapons, since one is certainly needed. By the time I leave the Graveyard I will usually have Spear or Knife to replace the Shield, and if one doesn't come on the way to the Red Devil I am forced to stand around and wait. Luckily this did not happen on this attempt.
  - 11:18 - My mind was just now thinking about how well Round 1 just finished. So when my thumbs decided "I'll take a hit from this zombie to get me over that gravestone" my brain was just not fast enough to veto it. Right after I got hit I knew it was a bad idea because I had a lot to shoot through before the Forest. Thus, Graveyard on Round 2 is the third time I was very near death.
  - 12:06 - I can't jump through the Ghost Knights this round because they fly at different heights.
  - 12:35 - This boss fight could have been better. But I survived, so I'm not allowed to complain much.
- Level 2 "Frozen Towers-Camelot"
  - 13:51 - The bird must generate while I am in the middle of a jump, or else he'll either be too low or too high to get me over the wall. I was very, very lucky that I was able to get the height correct on the first relevant bird.
- Level 3 "Yellow Cave-Blue Cave"
  
  The Yellow Cave was improvised. Usually I take the same route as Round 1 but the zombie generations didn't match up this time. In the Blue Cave we can see the real danger of the Round 2 Red Devils - they shoot twice as many projectiles, and swoop faster.
  - 16:29 - The Knife can damage the Snake Dragon. However, I actually prefer a Torch against them. Walking towards the Snake Dragon made me very scared that I'd get hit by "phantom damage" and have to start over (it's happened.) Thus, even though it doesn't appear so, this is the fourth time I was very near death.
- Level 4 "Eyeball Platforms-Bridge of Death"
  
  Run just the same as Round 1, with one good relatively lengthy Red Devil fight. No complaints.
- Level 5 "Astaroth's Tower part 1"
  
  I had to fight through more Big Men in this round than in Round 1, which took more time than I wanted, but again, I survived.
- Level 6 "Astaroth's Tower part 2"
  - 20:51 - I actually missed the good hit abuse spot, and when I did get hit I was knocked AWAY from the ladder, and the resulting temporary invincibilty lasted barely loing enough for me to get above the Cyclops. Very near death for the fifth time.
  - 21:18 - This time, getting the extra armor cost me 10 seconds instead of 3 due to that fall.
  - 21:53 - One more fight against the most dangerous enemy in the game. A few previous run attempts have ended here.
  - 22:18 - This two-boss fight could have been better. The fight against the second Red Guardian is the sixth and final time I was very near death during this run.
- Final Boss - Astaroth
  
  I actually got hit. What can I say, I was pretty excited by this point.

THIS STORY IS HAPPY END!

Indeed.