Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Maximo: Ghosts to Glory

Written by John Scalzo on January 29, 2002

Full Review: If it's not a sequel, I'll eat my hat.

Capcom has stated repeatedly since Maximo: Ghosts To Glory was first announced that it's not a sequel to either Ghosts & Goblins or Super Ghouls & Ghosts. Well pay no attention to that man behind the Capcom business card, because this game oozes old school. Everything that made Ghosts & Goblins great is recreated in Maximo in spades. More than a mere homage to a classic, as Capcom would have you believe though, Maximo is one of the finest games I have ever played.

You are Maximo, king of all that you see. You have a beautiful girlfriend in Sophia and you have just returned from victory in the war. Coming home you learn your trusted advisor Achille has kidnapped Sophia and raised the dead to be his army. And most heinous of all, he has killed you. But don't fear the Reaper, for Death is not happy that Achille is stealing his souls to run his army. So Death has agreed to return you to this mortal coil if you stop Achille from stealing Death's souls. Basically the same storyline used in the first games, just now there's the whole thing with Death.

Maximo has quite a bit of moves at his disposal. He may be short and stout like Arthur was (in fact, Maximo looks exactly like Arthur from the originals minus the beard), but he knows how to kick zombie ass. And controlling all these moves is a snap. All of the buttons are used, but the control scheme is laid out perfectly. Maximo can swing his sword both horizontally and vertically. The double jump is also back in full force, which actually leads to one of Maximo's best moves, the downward sword slam. Maximo has a shield he can block with and later throw as a weapon (with the help of a power-up, more on those later). The final few buttons are used controlling the camera. In a matter of minutes you'll be good to go.

Maximo may not be a sequel in the strictest sense of the word, but much of the Ghosts & Goblins world lives on in Maximo. Maximo's worlds all have the look and feel of Ghosts & Goblins. The first world is a graveyard much like the first level of Super Ghouls & Ghosts. Zombies pile at you from rising coffins, towers that spit skulls at you, and the ground shakes and quakes just like it did before. Only now all this is rendered beautifully in 3D. Maximo can interact with just about everything in these worlds. His sword can stick in trees, he can bust up gravestones and torches, he can break down barriers to access secret areas. And did I mention all of this looks great. The graphics are amazing. Everything is super detailed, with just enough of a cartoon look to keep the feel of the original game. And the sound, everything has a unique sound. Every time you slam your sword into something it'll make a unique sound to that item. The monsters groan, grunt, and scream. The music is faithful to the original, but new and cool all the same.

Maximo will need all the help he can get in his quest though, so more than enough special items are scattered throughout the levels. Sword powerups can give Maximo's sword extra punch like Lightning or Fire. Armor can be found that will replace the armor Maximo will lose in his battles. Which is a good thing because when Maximo gets hit too much, he drops down to his heart patterned boxers. Some things never change. Maximo can also collect koins that he can use to "buy" armor and health bonuses from medieval vending machines found in the levels. You can also buy designer boxers if the money is burning a hole in your armor. You should also be on the lookout for souls trapped in gravestones. If you collect 50 of these souls, you'll receive a Death Token. Death Tokens are used to buy continues from Death. Continues! Do you know how long it's been since I've seen the word Continue? With a timer ticking down? Too long.

Finally, there's another set of power ups you can collect that totally change the way the game is played. Maximo can collect as many of these power ups as he can, that do everything from allowing him to throw his shield as a weapon, to shooting fireballs from his sword, to making his energy bar longer, to a lot more. There are 40 of these bonuses total, but Maximo only has three slots that stay with him after he dies. So there's quite a bit of strategy in deciding which power ups are most valuable to keep as long as possible. Thankfully, after you complete each world, you're given another slot to save a power up from the Reaper's bony hand.

Maximo has a lot of moments that bring the Ghosts & Goblins series into the 21st century. For starters, you have an energy bar now, instead of one hit and you're out. Then of course, there's the whole 3D perspective. And then there's the CD's biggest change to gaming: the memory card. Ghosts & Goblins wasn't the hardest game ever created because gamers all sucked back then. It was hard because once you died and ran out of continues, you went back to the beginning. Maximo uses this, but still allows the memory card to be used. You can only save your game once you've defeated the big boss at the end of a world or by spending some of your hard earned koins in the hub levels. That means you are only allowed four guaranteed saves the entire game, every other one you have to earn by sacrificing some loot. Old school challenge, meet new school style, I hope you're very happy together.

However, no matter how many things Maximo updates to the formula, this is still Ghosts & Goblins at it's heart shaped boxers. Even with the 3D perspective the game is more or less a linear quest. Keep pushing forward and you'll get to the end. You'll only need to go out in search of something if you want bonuses. The game may be linear, but that doesn't mean the order of the levels is. After each intro level in a world, you are dropped into a hub level, much like the rooms in Super Mario 64. From the hub level you can pick whichever level you want to tackle next. And it's all about pattern memorization folks. Just like in ancient times. The enemies and treasure chests always appear in the same places. You just have to remember how to handle them and you'll live to tell about it. If not, back to the beginning for you.

Maximo is not entirely perfect though, but it's damn near close. The camera is sometimes unforgiving, normally keeping an over-the-shoulder perspective, sometimes it wedges itself in a corner and you and Maximo can just look at each other until the camera rights itself. And the load times are atrocious. This has more to do with the game being CD based as opposed to DVD based, but it's still unneeded. Small gripes, but problems are problems. Thankfully, these are so minor they don't detract from the game in any significant way.