PS2 - Maximo - Playstation 2

I imagine the meeting rooms, the flurries of late-night emails, phone calls, conference calls, the works, when it comes to taking another look at a formerly by-gone legacy; however, Capcom has done an excellent job with its return by bringing the same feel and environment that Ghosts & Goblins and Ghouls & Ghosts had without really catering to the older games. A complete overhaul has been done—and, let me tell you, there was no skimming. It’s all here: the feel, the look, and the steep increase in difficulty as you blow through the levels.

King Maximo returns from war to find his kingdom beneath the hand of his trusted advisor, Achilles whom maintains an undead grip on the people. This isn’t the worst of Maximo’s problems; Achilles has also abducted the lovely Sophia and imprisoned the four sorceresses—one for each level Maximo must conquer. Death is also a friend you make in the game. He’ll visit you on occasion.

Maximo possesses the basic skill-set you’d imagine in a knight: sword, shield, and power-ups for both. And, like his predecessor, Maximo can be reduced to battling it out in his boxers, which themselves are upgradeable, if you take too much damage. I wouldn’t recommend fighting in the partial nude as armor can be scarce on some stages. As you move through the levels you’re able to retain more power-ups. These can range from granting you the ability to spin-attack to giving your sword or shield a special ability, i.e. freeze your enemies, fire upon them from a distance, or dispel mist. Overall I found the combat fluid and easy to get in tune with. No menus, nothing to hinder you.

Enemies can come from every direction, so it’s important to get used to forcing your camera to jump in behind you so you can see what’s ahead. Most of the time the camera AI can keep you from dying, but occasionally it tweaks out, leaving you exposed. Each level has its own set of baddies, while some stay with you through most of the game. The range goes from the very undead, zombies, skeletons, ghosts, to snow monsters and hammer wielding pigs (well, these guys inhabit the undead world, so I guess they’re dead, too). Each can be beat in a variety of ways. The best attack I found was to stun them with a downward strike and then jump in for the attack when they’re knocked to the ground. Shields also become handy in this game. Depending upon the power-up you get, you can retrieve treasure, force the shield to hover and wipe out multiple enemies, or zip in for a long-range attack -- handy when you’re almost dead at the end of a stage.