Grabbed by the Ghoulies
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| Grabbed by the Ghoulies | |
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| System | Microsoft Xbox |
| Release Date | October 21, 2003 NA November 21, 2003 EU April 29, 2004 JP February 16, 2009 (Xbox 360) |
| Publisher | Microsoft Game Studios |
| Genre | Beat 'em up |
| Rating | E for Everyone |
| Players | 1 |
| Controller Pak | |
| Rumble | |
| Expansion Pak | |
| Link Cable | |
| Xbox Live | Not Supported |
| Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection | |
Grabbed by the Ghoulies is a beat 'em up game for the Xbox. It was the first Rare game to be released with Microsoft Game Studios as a publisher after Microsoft's purchase of Rare. The game was released on October 21, 2003 in North America, November 21, 2003 in Europe, and April 29, 2004 in Japan.
Grabbed by the Ghoulies was also released for the Xbox 360 as a downloadable Xbox Originals title on February 16, 2009, at a price of 1200 Microsoft Points.[1] The Xbox Originals version of the game is exactly the same as the original retail version, aside from a minor graphical glitch which causes certain smoke effects in the game to have a thin line through them.[2]
Contents |
Story
The game's story begins with Cooper and his girlfriend Amber walking through a forest late at night, having taken a wrong turn and lost the way to their destination. A storm begins brewing and they begin to search for shelter. The two come upon a large, creepy mansion known as Ghoulhaven Hall, and Amber suggests they stay there for the night to get out of the rain. As she does, they are spotted by Baron von Ghoul, the owner of the mansion, from his bedroom window, muttering to himself "That's right, my pretties. Come in and say hello!" However, Cooper nervously disagrees and suggests that they instead continue on to the nearest town, Ghoulsville-in-the-Gloom, as places like Ghoulhaven Hall are "always full of creeps...or worse." This comment insults the baron, who then has some of his Ghoulies kidnap Amber, forcing Cooper to enter the house and rescue her. Upon entering, he meets Crivens, the kindly old butler of Ghoulhaven, who helps him learn how to deal with the Ghoulies throughout the mansion so that he can rescue his girlfriend and get out.
Gameplay
Grabbed by the Ghoulies plays like a standard beat 'em up game. Cooper is locked in various rooms filled with Ghoulies, the game's main enemies, and the player must defeat them to proceed to the next room. Cooper has a limited amount of health, and if he is killed by the Ghoulies, the player must start the room over. However, the player is also generally given certain "Challenges" with specific requirements that must be fulfilled in each room. For example, in one room it may be required to defeat a certain number of Ghoulies, in another it may be required to only defeat a certain type of Ghouly, while leaving the rest alone, and in another it may be required to defeat all Ghoulies in a room under a time limit. If the player fails or breaks the rules of these challenges, The Reaper will be summoned and will kill Cooper if he touches him, forcing the player to begin the room over. In addition, in many of the rooms, Baron von Ghoul will fool with Cooper's health bar; giving him 5 hit points in one room and 20 in another, for example. Cooper can use many of the objects in the mansion to his advantage, using chairs, paintings, and even food items as weapons against the Ghoulies. Many of the helpful staff at Ghoulhaven will also give Cooper weapons to use, such as a soda pop shooter or a large water gun. There are other dangers which may impede Cooper's progress, such as shocks, which are unexpected events (such as a phone ringing out of nowhere) which manifest themselves as manically laughing red spheres. If Cooper is caught in one, he will become spooked and will walk more slowly, be unable to attack, and take double damage. There are also Super Scary Shocks, which happen when Cooper is directly scared by special types of Ghoulies. During a Super Scary Shock, the player must press buttons indicated on screen. If the player is successful, Cooper merely shrugs it off. However, if they are unsuccessful, he loses ten hit points from the scare.
Another element of the game are the collectibles. There are Soupswill's Super Soups laying around many of the rooms. These items have different effects, such as allowing Cooper to knock down all Ghoulies in one blow, or even complete a Challenge instantly upon touching the soup. There is also one Bonus Book hidden in each pass through a room (100 Bonus Books in total). Every five Bonus Books collected earns a more difficult Bonus Challenge, which in turn unlock things such as conceptual artwork when completed.
Characters
- Cooper: Cooper, the game's protagonist, is a teenage boy who must brave the horrors of Ghoulhaven Hall to rescue his girlfriend.
- Amber: Cooper's girlfriend, a self-willed woman. She is kidnapped by the Ghoulies after Cooper offends the wrong person...
- Baron Von Ghoul: The insane owner of the manor and leader of the Ghoulies. He makes a habit out of kidnapping children, who can be found tied-up throughout the mansion.
- Crivens: Crivens is the feeble old butler of Ghoulhaven. He tries to help Cooper at any time he needs it.
- Ma Soupswill: A strange chef who, for some reason, leaves little tastes of her stew around Ghoulhaven.
- Mr. Ribs: Ma Soupwill's cooking assistant, Mr. Ribs is a skeleton and the only kind Ghouly in the manor.
- Fiddlesworth Dunfiddlin: Fiddlesworth is the kindly yet bumbling groundskeeper of Ghoulhaven Hall.
- Babs Buffbrass: Barbara (Babs for short) is the cranky cleaning lady of Ghoulhaven Hall. She hates it when any kind of mess is made in the mansion.
- Dr. Krackpot: A mad scientist who briefly turns Amber into a revolting ogre.
- The Reaper: The most deadly of the Ghoulies. One touch from him and Cooper will drop dead.
This section only deals with the major characters in the game. For all characters appearing in the game, see Grabbed by the Ghoulies characters. For the different Ghouly varieties, see the Ghouly Types.
Development
Grabbed by the Ghoulies began as simply a name. According to the game's Tepid Seat, various Rare employees were talking one day and "someone mentioned being 'grabbed by the goolies'" and they thought it sounded like "a great name for a game." The game's development spanned just about three years, originating on the Nintendo GameCube and being moved to the Xbox after Microsoft's buyout of Rare. The game was not altered significantly after its move to the Xbox.[3]
Baron von Ghoul was originally a much different character, beginning as a demon but eventually becoming the eccentric and bumbling Baron.[4]
During the development of the game, some of the more risqué things in the game were cut out in order to maintain an "E" rating with the ESRB. Some of Fiddlesworth's interjections were cut; for example, "measure my marrow!", "rub my radish!", "choke my chicken!" and "sow my seeds!" Additionally, the name of a town near Ghoulhaven Hall was changed from "Neede-in-the-Nuts" to "Ghoulsville-in-the-Gloom." Neede-in-the-Nuts was to be the subtitle and main location of a possible sequel to Ghoulies.[4] Had the sequel happened, it would have been different and far more "open-world," rather than following the linear style of Ghoulies.[5] Members of the team have stated that if the game sells well on Xbox Originals, they would love to make a sequel.[5]
Music
The music of Grabbed by the Ghoulies was composed by Grant Kirkhope, who was also the main composer of the Banjo-Kazooie series, prior to his departure from Rare in 2008.
Reception
Critical reception to Grabbed by the Ghoulies was average upon release, although it has also since been regarded negatively; for example, appearing on Game Informer magazine's "The Wrong Kind of Scary: Worst Horror Games Ever" list. The game currently has a 66/100 on review aggregate website Metacritic[6] and a 70% on aggregate website GameRankings.[7]
References
- ↑ Welcome to Rare: Grabbed by the Ghoulies on Xbox Originals
- ↑ Xbox.com | System Use - Xbox Originals: More Information
- ↑ Welcome to Rare: Grabbed by the Ghoulies Tepid Seat
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Welcome to Rare: Grabbed by the Ghoulies Interview (page 6)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Welcome to Rare: Grabbed by the Ghoulies Interview (page 7)
- ↑ Grabbed by the Ghoulies on Metacritic
- ↑ Grabbed by the Ghoulies on GameRankings
- ↑ IGN Review of Grabbed by the Ghoulies
- ↑ GameSpot Review of Grabbed by the Ghoulies
- ↑ GameSpy Review of Grabbed by the Ghoulies
- ↑ 1UP Review of Grabbed by the Ghoulies
- ↑ TeamXbox Review of Grabbed by the Ghoulies
