Ghouls 'n Complaining About Difficulty

After a week off to try and get people to like Ghost Doctor (it’s never happening Chris, give it up), IG returns with something kind of new. A look at Ghouls n’ Ghosts, the sequel to Ghosts n’ Goblins. Considering how much Bores doesn’t like that game, I predict this video will be a trainwreck.

Before even clicking the video, there’s already a problem. The title says, “GHOULS N' GHOSTS - Sega Genesis Video Game Review - The Irate Gamer”, very clearly indicating this is the second game and will be the Sega Genesis version. However, the thumbnail says, “Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts”, the third game in the series that was exclusive to Super Nintendo (with a GBA remake years later). You couldn’t use the normal title? Already we’ve got a mess.

It’s 15 minutes long folks, strap yourselves in.

We open on IG looking at his shelf then turning to the camera, saying how he wants to find a game for Halloween. He finds Ghostbusters, then reminisces on it like it wasn’t five months ago. Then he finds Ghosts ‘n Goblins and remembers how he tore the game apart 13 years ago and how he still gets nightmares about it.
Then out of nowhere he asks, “What year is it?!” It’s 2020 Chris, I know it’s a shitty year, but we all have to suffer it for two more months.

Then Devil Bores appears…because of course. For some reason, he appears on the screen of IG’s TMNT arcade cabinet, because there’s a big TMNT logo beneath him. Does Chris not have a TV in his basement? The scene would work better that way.
In fact, once IG sees him, he takes out a remote and turns him off. Did Chris not think we wouldn’t notice the green outline and GIANT LOGO?!
Anyway, he turns off the “TV”, then his phone rings (which is the Power Rangers ringtone because “ME NERDY”) and Devil Bores appears through FaceTime. Because it’s the 13th anniversary since his Ghosts ‘n Goblins review, he’s making him review the sequel. If he doesn’t, he’ll shove a Game Genie up his ass. That barely seems like a threat.

IG gives in and gets ready to review Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, though he calls it “Ghosts ‘n Goblins 2” at first before seeing they changed the title. He gets mad that they changed it, throws the cartridge behind him and says, “Halloween is Ruined!” Nope, still doesn’t work. What’s wrong with the name change too?

New intro! A special Halloween one with a “spooky” remix by Lame Genie and footage from past Halloween episodes (and I Rate the 80’s), as well as Ghostbusters because… sure. Hey Chris, maybe you could get Lame Genie to make you an original song. I know originality isn’t really your thing but surely you could go for a new theme.

But first, a fake sponsorship. This time for Pokémon stuff. That seems like an odd thing to show off. Well, he just talked about it on Puppet Steve. No joke, a video featuring this exact same items was posted three days ago. This seems like a weird way to reuse those. Especially since he’s planning to sell them on eBay. Again, this is not a real sponsorship. There’s no link in the description, and while he tells you to go to a site, it’s just a standard URL, with no “/irate” to save 10% or anything. By the way, he pronounces it “Pokey-mon”. On one hand, I’m glad he doesn’t say “Pokey-man” like ignorant parents in 1998 but come the fuck on. This franchise is over 20 years old now, you can learn to say it correctly.
For those wondering, Puppet Steve still hasn’t talked about Steve in Smash Bros. Chris, what the hell? It’s been 11 days since he was released. Does he not have a Switch anymore? Maybe he sold it to buy more crappy Arcade replicas.

He once again claims Ghosts ‘n Goblins was one of the first games he played that scarred his childhood. Sure, whatever you say.
He then claims the first game he got was Mach Rider. Wait, that wasn’t what you said five years ago. In your now deleted video about the “First 5 games I owned for the NES”, your first game was Super Mario Bros. Mach Rider was the fourth game you got. Did Chris forget to keep his story straight again? Is he hoping we don’t remember that video? Good thing I archive! For those curious, it’s in the May 2015 post “At least this week was easy”.

Anyway, Mach Rider sucked so he exchanged it for Ghosts ‘n Goblins. He claims to have spent hours playing and never getting past the first level. That’s your own fault then, especially since the first level isn’t that bad.
Of course, he has to mention the Arcade version, saying he didn’t find about it until “years later”. How many years Chris? At least by 2007 since you used the Arcade version with God Mode in your stupid video. Hold on I just realized something. His excuse for using the Arcade version was so he could show the ending of the game, yet he claims he never got past the first level. Why would showing the ending be a priority? That’s rather suspicious of you Bores. What are you not telling us?

He shows a bit of the Arcade version and more complaints about difficulty. At least the NES port gave you unlimited continues! Then again, he never beat the first level so he wouldn’t know that.
A few years later, Capcom “raped our childhoods” (his words) by releasing a sequel. Not for NES but for Genesis (they wanted the higher power for something closer to the Arcade version, which you don’t mention), and they changed the name to Ghouls ‘n Ghosts. He complains about them abandoning the original name. Look, I don’t know why they changed it. In Japan, the series is called Makaimura, with the sequel being Daimakaimura. Ask a Capcom exec from the 80’s why they did it. These days, they use “Ghosts ‘n Goblins” as an umbrella term for the franchise (including the PSP game, the mobile games from 10 years ago, the Gargoyle’s Quest trilogy, and the Maximo duology).
He wonders where the Goblins went and makes a stupid comment about referring to them as Goblins being “racist” and curses out “cancel me culture” (his words). Cancel culture isn’t real, quit pretending it is.

He inserts the cartridge into his obviously not plugged-in Genesis, and I want to a moment to address the cartridge itself. It’s a bootleg. Yeah, Chris couldn’t get a genuine GnG cartridge for this video so he got a crappy bootleg. Want a comparison?

Here’s the real cartridge, taken from an eBay listing.



And here’s Chris’ cartridge, with some circles to show imperfections (provided by my informant)



I have to ask… why? Why get a bootleg? The game isn’t that expensive for just the cartridge, normally runs $23-35 on eBay. Was he tricked? Imagine if he tried talking about Game Boy Advance titles, the bootleg market there is really bad.

He starts the game, says there’s no backstory like in the first game. Then he takes out the manual (okay so he has that but not a real cartridge). Wait, I thought manuals were bad? Ah forget it…
For some reason during this part, he’s playing Final Fantasy IX music. Weird choice.
He mentions the princess getting kidnapped, claiming she gets kidnapped more than the “Mario princess”. You mean Peach? Also, this is the second of four games, compared to Peach getting kidnapped too many times to count. That’s a really lame joke and you should be ashamed of yourself.
He calls out a line about unfair odds which makes him mad, then says that Arthur has a chance of winning the game “organically” (as in not cheating) as “finding a dildo in a donut”. … What?

He brings up the “iconic” map, and once again we get Devil Bores, who has started smoking again. Here’s another thing I don’t get, why is Chris still using Satan? In 2007, it was just a cringy joke. But now, knowing what we know about Chris and his baffling religious beliefs, why would he keep using him? This is the guy that forbade his kids from watching Nickelodeon because of “EVIL ILLUMANTI SYMBOLS ZOMG”, and the guy that believes negative thoughts lead to Satanism.

He praises the graphics. Points out the grim reapers chasing you. “Just another Friday night at the Irate Gamer household!” Uggggh…
Game is similar, right down only having two hits and you’re dead. Then a death montage. More complaining about the “two hits”. Yep… knew it would get to this.
He does point out one big change, the addition of a gold armor that boosts your power with a charge attack. Then… this happens.
“Time to go He-Man on these assholes!” Then it cuts to his He-Man transformation footage from 2011. What is the point?! Why are you recycling your old videos again?! What was your thought process that lead to this?! Jeeeeeeeeeez… at least he’s not recycling the review itself.
“Where was this power-up in the first game?!” They hadn’t thought of if yet. They probably heard the complaints about the first game and added it. That’s how these things tend to work, Chris.
However, it still has the same defense as regular armor and goes away after a single hit. He rants, calls it an “armored condom”. Do you have anyone to proofread this?
“Thanks Capcom, now my old lady is knocked up with demonic succubus twins!” …………… What?! What is this writing?!

He praises the wind segment of the first stage, saying “you won’t see anything like that on NES”. Because they didn’t think of it. Also, you can do that on NES. It’s a stage hazard in Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels. I figured you would know that considering your claim that it’s superior to Super Mario Bros. 2. Yeah, I don’t think he played it, otherwise he would know how spine-crunchingly difficult it is.
He also praises the new weapons, mentioning the sword, axes (that was in the first game), daggers (also in the first game) and then calls out “yuppie losers playing frisbee” when bringing up the discus. Yes I’m sure yuppies are all over *checks notes* Toledo. But yeah, the axe and dagger were in the first game. Though if you remember his original video, he got something big wrong by claiming the only other weapon you get is the fire. Everything comes back to bite you.

He calls one of the enemies the “sons of Satan” and wonders how Satan got kids. You really think Satan doesn’t fuck? Also, those aren’t the “sons of Satan”, those are the Red Arremer Kings. Firebrand is the name of the specific Red Arremer that stars in the Gargoyle’s Quest games (since I feel like someone is going to call that out).
He dies again and complains about the map some more. He places some middle finger emojis all over the screen and does another Devil Bores bit. It’s not funny.

He reaches the first boss, and dies multiple times. See the problem here is that he’s using the sword, which has a horribly short range. It’s far better to use a weapon that you can throw. Go back and get a weapon that can do that.
He calls Arthur “whipped” for doing all this rescue the princess. Really? Really? Are you the type that thinks any protagonist that goes on a grand adventure to rescue a damsel is whipped? Will you say the same thing for Mario? Does Chris even think about what he writes? Pffft of course not!

He lists the levels, and cries cries cries about the difficulty. Then another death montage with his weird, crooked jaw, and then he grabs a pillow and bites into it and rips the stuffing out. Is Chris trying to be a clown?
More Devil Bores… hooray. We also get some weak political humor when he comments about humans fighting over which “political dick is bigger”. Blaaaah…
IG dies again, rips the cartridge from his clearly not working Genesis, then throws it off-screen. Then we see some guy in a Nickelodeon shirt sitting on his bed meditating and the cartridge hits him. Who? What? Well, there’s an explanation at the end. We’ll get to that.

Despite throwing the game away, he continues playing.
Later levels are also hard… yep…
Compares an enemy to Mick Jagger… yep…
Also, it looks like there’s a second player helping. I don’t think that’s possible. Pretty sure the 2-player mode is the “taking turns” variety, where things switch when one player dies. Is it something else?
Then he refers to the cloud-like boss, Gassuto, as a “Kirby’s Adventure rip-off”. This came out years before Kirby’s Adventure did. Try again.

More praise of the graphics, the level design, makes a joke about vomiting pigs having a party… yep…
Says his favorite is Level 2 with all the fire, and the music is good too. Then a dumb bit where it cuts to IG turning it up and listening. “Get these guys a record deal” Ugggggh… It’s one guy, her name is Tamayo Kawamoto, and she has one because she left Capcom to pursue a different career. You could have taken five minutes to look into this but nooooooo.

He notes how at the end you fight more of the bosses and claims they “ran out of ideas”. It’s called a challenge Chris. It even has a name, a boss rush. It’s a popular video game trope, look it up! My head hurts…
Then a dumb bit where fireballs attack him in real life. Blargh…

He reaches the end, and finds he has to fight a giant bug. He gets mad. … Chris, do you know anything about mythology? That’s Beelzebub, the Lord of the Flies! It’s also another name for Satan! My god, for someone who claims to be studying religion, you don’t know a fact as basic as that?!
He complains about the name again, and then says it’s “time to go Will Smith in Independence Day on his ass”. Followed by a clip of Will Smith’s character punching an alien. So long monetization! What was the point of that? He even plays another after beating the boss.

We get a sequence where he doesn’t bother reading the text and just assumes he won, only to start back at the beginning and have to do it all over again. This surprises you? Of course they would do it again, that’s how the game works.
More Devil Bores. Jeez, how is there still two minutes left. Oh and apparently he has an Instagram account. Ouch…

More ranting, claiming these games scarred his childhood. You didn’t even play this game as a kid! As far as we’re aware, you only played the first! If that’s even true to begin with. Look, if you want answers, ask Tokuro Fujiwara, he directed the first two games. He loved making hard games. That was his thing.
“This is worse than having two penises and trying to figure out which one to pee out of!” …………………………………………………. Do I even have to say anything?

We get a fast forward of him playing the second run with invincibility on (because it’s one continuous run with no damage) and he reaches the final boss. Leading to more stupid Devil Bores shtick. This time with pixelated succubi.
He shows the actual Lucifer and complains about him being naked. I imagine he got here through Stage Select as he has different armor now. He also makes a gross comment about something gooey coming from his crotch. Enough with the semen lines!

He beats the game, gets the ending, and sees it foreshadows Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts. Then he complains that it’s on Super Nintendo or “back on Nintendo”. Well this one is exclusive. No Arcade version this time around. Either way, it’s over.
But before it ends, he gives a special thanks to Carlos William Gonzalez for helping with production. He was the guy from earlier that got hit with the cartridge. I hope you got paid Carlos, you didn’t even get a link to your channel in the description.

That was dumb. So very dumb. It was just a lot of “boy this is hard, but the graphics are purdy” over and over and over again. With just terrible writing all around. Why does it all feel so juvenile? Is any one of these people helping him ever going to point out how bad the writing is? It’s just baffling how bad it all is. No improvement at all.

About 12 days ago on Puppet Steve, he posted another video of mini Arcade Cabinets, including one for TMNT. However, it looks like some bootleg game, or some janky ZX Spectrum port. Where did he find this shit? Why is he so obsessed with Arcade games lately?

That’s it for me. I’m going to go relax. Stay safe, wash your hands, and if you’re an American citizen 18 or older, go vote.