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Name: Ultimate Ghosts 'N Goblins

Cast your mind back to 1985; Video gaming was in its infancy and a plucky young Asian company known as Capcom was just starting to produce games for the Arcade market; already having one hit under their belt with 1984's Vulgus (a side scrolling shooter), they needed something fresh to keep their momentum. A game designer known as Tokuro Fujiwara put his thinking cap on and came up with a new hero for the company. Sir Arthur was the hero, a Knight who wasn't afraid to fight zombies, demons, and all manner of nasty creatures in his quest to save Princess Prin Prin from the evil King of the Demon Realm, Satan himself. Capcom would name Tokuro's game Ghosts 'N Goblins and it would not only prove to be a massive worldwide hit for them; it would also become known as one of the hardest games, ever, in the world.

Ghosts 'N Goblins was mostly a 2D side scrolling game although certain areas had you making your way up as well; you took control of Arthur the Knight who battled his way through to the end of the game. Arthur's armour was never as sturdy as you might have hoped, taking one hit knocked the armour off and he was forced to run round in his boxers until he either took another hit, which would kill him, or be lucky enough to stumble across another set of armour. Losing a life would send him back to the very start of the level, unless he had made it to the half way point in which case he would be sent there.

Those levels weren't short or particularly easy levels to finish either; to get through the whole game you started off with five lives and these were a precious commodity. Just to reinforce how hard the game actually was, should you make it to the end of the game in one piece, no easy feat in itself, then you would face off against the end baddie; once you had defeated him you would be told it was a cruel trick of Satan and that you would now have to do the whole game again, on a higher difficulty, if you managed to survive until the end then you would face the final battle again only this time be allowed to see the ending when you'd defeated Satan.

Bring your mind back to the present day, 2006, and you'll find that things really haven't changed that much in Tokuro's eyes and he's still thinking about Sir Arthur and the amount of peril he can find to place him in. Ultimate Ghosts 'N Goblins is the PlayStation Portable revamp of the series which brings it into the current era of gaming, kicking and screaming with undead wails of gamers long gone after suffering horrible thumb related injuries echoing through the dark and dank hallways.

While still recognisably Ghosts 'N Goblins, it isn't simply a port of a yesteryear title; its actually undergone quite a few changes to modernise it. No longer a strictly 2D experience either, the graphics have been revamped into pseudo-3D, it's still a side scrolling adventure but with 3D imagery and very impressive it is as well. Obviously there is only so much you can do while trying to remain true to its core values but you're certainly not going to be disappointed. Arthur himself is well animated and the monsters that come after you are all well rendered too, the backgrounds could have used a bit more spit and polish but truthfully they are never bad enough that you notice them too much, you'll be far too busy avoiding all the bad guys anyway to take any of it in really.

The game play has pretty much remained intact; you control Arthur on his quest and face off against all manner of monsters determined to see your end. Along your travels you can pick up various weapons, some have their good points and some have their bad point,s but no doubt you'll find a use for them all at some point. The types of enemies that attack you has also been increased, there is a huge variety of things out to get you now and instead of following a preset pattern as they did in 1985 they'll now wander round and attack you in groups instead of just one at a time. Other aspects of the game have been revamped to include the ability to carry some items through to later levels which will help you get through certain tricky sections and differing types of armour that you can collect including a shield that will let you fly.

So with these new items, is the game any easier and does it ruin what is considered a classic? The answer to that is in three parts as thankfully, Capcom have seen fit to include three levels of difficulty on this version of the game; a very wise move indeed. The 'Novice' difficulty affords you a higher life count and some of the obstacles and bad guys are removed from the levels to try and relieve the pressure a little. Arthur's armour is also able to protect him from more hits until he is ultimately found in his boxer shorts again, while he's in this state he's still only got one hit left in him. Gone is the checkpoint system from this mode, where you die is where you come back, so no more starting back at the beginning or at the earlier half-way point. The Standard difficulty is the default level, but doesn't differ that much from the novice one, you can take a little less damage and there will be more bad things lurking in the shadows. Finally there is the Ultimate mode, this is where the game reverts back to its roots with less lives and a two hit equals death motif; also lost is the respawn, so it's back to the start or the middle of the level should you meet your maker mid-way through, obviously this isn't something for the faint hearted to undertake.

Capcom have also stayed true to the idea that you've got to go through the game more than once to see the true ending, although they've been a little less devious about it this time around and instead of making you do the whole game again from the start they have devised a system of going back to levels once you've gained a power up. The power up will allow you to access other areas of the levels that weren't previously accessible before to find Power Rings; once all the Power Rings have been collected only then can you see the true ending. It's been designed in such a way that it's impossible for you to see the true ending without in effect completing the game twice.

Suffice to say that Ultimate Ghosts 'N Goblins offers everyone the chance to get to know it a little better, even if you never played the original. If you're new to the game you're going to enjoy it just as much as someone who remembers it of old, well probably more so because you won't get the nasty flashbacks associated with the Ultimate mode and instead leave it alone thinking to yourself "Man, that's harsh".

It's a great pick up and play title for the PSP and an ideal choice for those stuck on a bus journey or in the back of a car for half an hour here and there, or for those that want to stick at it for a day or two, sure it can be a bit frustrating in places for anything above the novice level but at least you can play this one at home and not have to worry about how many coins you have in your pocket, or how quickly they're liable to disappear if you're a newcomer. If you enjoyed the game back in the day or if you're even mildly interested then you could do far, far worse than this classic re-make.