Head Games: Ghoul School (1992)



Bullies are the least of your problems.

Have you ever just had one of those days at school? You know, where aliens invade from outer space or monsters appear seemingly out of nowhere? In short, that's the premise for Ghoul School, a horror/survival game for the NES and produced by Electro Brain a lesser known game studio that went under in 2008.

Essentially you take on the role of Spike O'Hara aka Matthew Lillard from SLC Punk (see insert) sans all the teenage angst and anarchist tendencies... come to think of it our hero Spike is the complete antithesis of the punk mentality. I mean, what kind of kid would want to prevent their school from being destroyed my monsters? Well I suppose its worth mentioning that trapped in the basement is Samantha, the hottest cheerleader at Ghoul School, so I guess hormones do play factor in judgment.

All that said, Ghoul School is a notoriously bad game with poor controls and glitchy gameplay. There are only a few different types of ghouls that you'll encounter and your initial weapon, a bat, has the force of a soggy, rolled up newspaper. There are upgrades and power-ups that become available as you progress including a Gamma Gun, Sickle, Spring Shoes, Sandwiches and Embalming Fluid that works much like the Holy Water from Castlevania. Unfortunately, most of these don't come until near the end of the game, making the first two-thirds unbearably mundane. The only thing that's actually good about the game is its soundtrack, composed by the game's creator Scott Marshall. For a great interview with Marshall, hop on over to Bogleech (creator of The Fear Hole web series).





2 comments:

  1. Very similar in style/game play to Bart Simpson VS The World. The lead character of the game looks and moves very similarly to Bart. Weird. I love that music though! R.I.P. NES!

  1. Strange Kid said...:

    Yeah, the music is like the best part, I could totally see it going techno with a little "um-che" if there was ever a film. Kinda reminds me of a lamer version of Splatterhouse (best 8-bit horror game EVER).

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