This game is dreadfully difficult, like the NES classic Ghosts N Goblins. However, it also boasts good graphics and good music. There is also a wider variety of monsters including different bosses in every stage. They give Arthur more weapons to use (though the knife ends up being the best here, too) and two armor upgrades. One that makes the weapon a bit more powerful and another that allows Arthur to charge up said weapon and discharge magic. So they give him more abilities and the game is still beyond brutal as it is still two hits and you are dead. The red devils are still a pain and once again you have to defeat the game twice!
The story has Arthur running through the town on the night of some sort of celebration. Unbeknownst to him, there is something evil lurking on the outskirts of town. He goes into a room with the lovely princess and embraces her; however, she is soon plucked from his arms by a minion of evil! He now has to rush out to rescue her and fight his way through many strange and supernatural places and battle evil on all fronts!
The levels are more varied here, however, if you have played Ghosts N Goblins then this one is not going to be drastically different. It is nice they have such an assortment of weapons, though the fact they make you win the game with a certain weapon kind of blows. Though, I think the fact you have to get a certain weapon confirms that you have to win Ghosts N Goblins with that shield or they will send you back. The controls are better and you have more abilities, but once again the difficulty is kind of insane. I had it on beginner and still had trouble winning it!
So this game has good graphics and is an improvement over Ghosts N Goblins. I think there is another game like this for the SNES, as I just do not remember a lot of the stages I traversed other than the first level. Then again, it may just have been so difficult that I never made it through the stages. I do know I put in a code to get to the last boss, but the boss here did not resemble the one I remember. In the end, this game is a challenge, but one that does give you more assistance in the form of power ups than did the NES version. Worth a play through.