If “arcade games are too easy” was the problem, Capcom’s Ghosts ‘n Goblins was the solution. Ghosts ‘n Goblins made its arcade debut in 1985 and ports of the game found their way to multiple video game consoles and home computers the following year, eventually selling millions of copies. In the game, Sir Arthur must overcome never-ending hordes of zombies, demons, and dozens of other dark denizens of Demon World in an attempt to rescue Princess Prin-Prin from the demon Astaroth. Despite being one of the most difficult arcade games of all time, Ghosts ‘n Goblins launched one of Capcom’s most beloved franchises made up of some of the most difficult sequels of all time.

The latest game in the series is Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection, released for the Nintendo Switch in 2021 before making its way to Steam. The game resurrects popular levels from the first two games in the series (Ghosts ‘n Goblins and Ghouls ‘n Ghosts) and remixes them by adding even more treachery, something most players of the original series might find difficult to imagine.

In Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection, Sir Arthur must once again find his way through cruelly crafted levels while armies of adversaries swarm him from every direction. Most enemies respawn, so there’s no point in waiting for a break in the action to advance. Fans of the original series will recognize locations such as the first level’s graveyard, but each one has been restructured to add even more traps than before. While some new features have been added to the game, gameplay feels overwhelmingly familiar.

An endearing part of the original series was its pixel artwork. While the character and background artwork in Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection honors those games, the art has been updated with a “Flash-like” style. The backgrounds are highly detailed, but some of the characters move in that “paper cutout-style” of animation that occasionally gives the impression this began life as an online browser game.

True to its heritage, Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection is hard. Like the original series, the game often teaches you what not to do by killing you. This series has always been less about avoiding enemies the first go ’round and more about trying to remember where and how you died the last time you played. Like the original this game features checkpoints that prevent players from having to restart from the beginning of a level each time they die, but added to this version is the ability to respawn exactly where Sir Arthur met his demise. Die enough times in the same spot and the game will offer to temporarily lower the difficulty level, a feature that adds as much relief as it does guilt.

New to the franchise are Umbral Bees, which can be collected and used to acquire upgrades like magic spells and the ability to carry (and swap between) multiple weapons. The original was infamous for rewarding players with the worst possible weapon at the most inopportune time (we’re looking at you, stupid flaming torch), so the ability to swap weapons is greatly beneficial. All of the weapons from the original series are back including a few new ones for a total of eight.

Part of the game’s “resurrection” includes adding modern features to a nearly 40-year-old franchise. Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection features 31 challenges for players to unlock ranging from simple and unavoidable (“Use Magic for the First Time”) to the next to impossible (“Complete a Stage Without Dying Once”). Also new to the series are branching paths, offering players multiple ways to reach certain death.

At the end of each of the game’s seven levels players will face a boss. At the end of the first level I encountered a gigantic fire-breathing green pig with an even larger battle axe guarding the exit. After shooting the guard what seemed like a hundred times, his head flew off and landed on a second enemy to my left, making poor Sir Arthur the meat in a killer pig sandwich. After failing to defeat the boss dozens of times the game began offering me strategic hints; when that failed, it began offering to lower the difficultly level. After another dozen attempts I took the game up on its offer, and on my next attempt the guard that I had previously shot at least fifty times keeled over and died after half a dozen hits. Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection is more than happy to hand out all the abuse you’re willing to take, but will, eventually, offer you mercy when it feels you’re about to give up.

Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection features seven levels of increasingly maddening difficulty — and if that weren’t enough, once you’ve beat them all (so I’m told) you can replay “shadow” versions of them — which is a bit like saying if you get tired of climbing Mt. Everest, you can try again in the dark while wearing a blindfold.

If you grew up receiving participation trophies for everything you ever tried and having adults cut the crust off of your sandwiches, Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection isn’t for you. This game abuses you. On the other hand if you ever had your lunch money stolen by a bully or got told to “suck it up” after breaking a bone, this could be the game for you. Life isn’t fair and neither is this game, but if you can find the humor in getting kicked while you’re down, Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection might be the kick you’re looking for.