Castle Ghosts

Putting your skills to the test is always exciting, especially in video games, mainly because there are no real consequences if you fail. Getting better at it has its perks as well, depending on whether the game in question allows you to compete with other players. On the other hand, the mechanics have to be as polished as possible for the experience to be pleasant.

Castle Ghosts is an arcade platformer in which your only goal is to run away from the ghosts as fast as possible before they catch up with you. The way ahead is full of traps on the other hand, so it’s important to avoid them as efficiently as possible without slowing down. Unfortunately, the mechanics are rather sloppy and unpolished, making it difficult to stay focused on the action.

The ghosts move pretty quickly, but your character is even quicker under ideal conditions. However, it’s important to know that you are constantly jumping over things or climbing ladders, so all of these slow you down. There are bugs and various other imperfections that slow you down as well, which is both annoying and irritating.

Besides the usual spikes that damage you if you step on them, there are also trampolines and flaming cannons that slow the action down. The unresponsive controls take their toll on the experience, mainly because there’s a slight delay between your input and the character reacting on the screen. Thus, you are constantly fighting both the traps and the controls.

Lastly, not much can be said in regards to the graphics either, although that’s rarely a problem when it comes to platformers. In this case, on the other hand, the retro style is actually just an excuse for poor textures and even poorer animations. To top things off, the sound is laughable as well, making it difficult to keep the music on for more than a few minutes.

In the end, Castle Ghosts could easily provide you with a challenge, but there’s also a lot of frustration that comes with the package. Hence, it depends on your ability to cope with a lot of stress and many annoyances.