Ghoulies is a story about two kids, Cooper and Amber, who have stumbled across a haunted house. This is definitely not a house you would want to go in looking for treats. Putting aside their fear and seeking shelter from the storm, they move closer to the house only to have Amber snatched by the Ghoulies. Cooper is left with no choice but to run in and find her. Ghoulies is a story told like a comic book. As the pages turn the story unfolds. It’s a very creative way of moving the story along and works perfectly.

At first I thought I would be able to move about the haunted mansion as I please (a la Luigi’s Mansion) but I was mistaken. Ghoulies is a straightforward game that requires you to smash, kick, and punch, to exterminate all the monsters in the room before moving onward. To do this you’ll have numerous amounts of weapons you can use. See that vase over there, go smash it over the zombies head. Use that fire extinguisher to put out a fire imp. There are plenty of weapons that you’ll find in the mansion. There is one catch however, when fighting in the rooms there will be certain requirements you must abide by to move onward. Some requirements include only using your fists, survive for a stated amount of time, killing all monsters before time runs out, find a key, do not take any damage, defeat only specific monsters and a few more. Challenges like these can also be combined to make things more difficult (and frustrating I might add). Try getting past a room when you can only use your fists, kill one particular enemy, and have a time limit. Talk about a pressure situation. Not abiding by the rules will summon the Grim Reaper and he’ll slowly creep towards you as you try to run for your life. Of course it goes without saying; don’t let him lay a hand on you if you want to live. While the challenges keep things interesting, they only scarcely mask the repetitive beat-em-up style of gameplay.

What makes matters worse is that while killing ghouls and ghosts might be fun, the combat system misses in so many ways. Pushing the right analog stick in a direction will make Cooper attack in that direction. Holding it down or pressing it multiple times will string along a couple of combos. The controls are very easy and gamer friendly. The problem is that Cooper is too slow and often gets butchered by 10 or so monsters. There is no ducking, evading, or blocking so combat becomes a game of who can hit first. When you’re out numbed it becomes a run away, hit, run away type of game plan. Cooper also seems to like walking backwards instead of running forward. Yea, this might be done to make him seem “afraid”, but sometimes I would have rather run away than back pedal slowly to my death. All that being said, smashing a few baddies with the nice array of weapons and kicking a skeleton in the nuts is always a good time. Though the combat system is lacking; if who can get by some of the frustrating points and go throughout the mansion battling the different monsters and trashing the place, you’ll have a good time.

Finally we get to something Rare can brag about for awhile. Ghoulies definitely has that creative and inspiring touch to it. Everything from the monsters to the texturing of the rooms seeps with graphic goodness. Cooper smashes books, vases, barrels, and tons of other objects in his environment leaving broken debris and litter. There is also a lot of imaginative work when the monsters were being created. Zombies, mummies, pirates, imps, spiders, skeletons, haunted chairs and paintings, medusas, and much more look great. Zombies lose limbs, skeletons fall to bones, spiders and imps get kicked around the room, mummies are lit on fire, and even the grim reaper has a haunting motif about him. It’s all dazzling looking. The cartoonist presentation is near perfect and the blend of characters and environment (2D-3D look) coincide harmoniously. Each room brings something new to look forward to and every room in the game has a sparkle to it. The fffreezer room (as noted in the game), has cold air rising from the fans and the laundry room is filled with musty old clothes. The way the story unfolds in a comic book like outline is another great touch.

The only bad thing I have to comment on is that some animations look a bit off. Sometimes when Cooper was punching or kicking I noticed a stutter and the blend of combos coming together didn’t seem to merge fluidly. Other than those few instances, Ghoulies gives gamers quite the eye candy with its crafty blend of cartoons and ghoulish charm.

Strike another winner in this category, Rare did a great job mixing haunting subtle music and terrific monster sounds. The music is usually composed of bells, chimes, and a lot of faint string instruments that are perfect for the game. The younger crowd might even find themselves shaking a bit as the music gives you a “walk slowly and watch where you step” mood.

The sound is also dead on. Breaking objects and monster noises sound great. Mummies moan, zombies fart (apparently that’s what zombies do); imps and spiders make a cute “weeee” sound when being hit. Vases break with a smash, wooden chairs crack, knocking a monster into a breakable object gives a loud crash; all the sounds are put together flawlessly. The human characters, however, don’t have any real voices and communicate through quick sounds (again like Luigi’s Mansion). It’s not a bad thing and since Ghoulies is a cartoon-like “spooky” game, it never really hurts the end product.

This game was created with simplicity in mind. With a lot of action going on in certain scenes the interface allows for gamers to quickly look at their requirements on the top left corner and their health on the top right. Also, any object that can be used as a weapon as a little hand marked over it. A map is also given to players at the beginning of the game but since Ghoulies is a linear game it is of little use.

HDTV support and Dolby Digital in game sound make this a feast for both the eyes and ears.

Let me say that Grabbed by the Ghoulies, while fun at times, will probably offer more enjoyment and entertainment to the younger crowd. It’s an easy game to play that doesn’t get complicated. Ghoulies is a game that is covered in goodness but never really succeeded in hooking me in. The fact that the game took only four hours and twenty minutes to beat only hurts it even more. Sure there are some nice bonus games but how long can you play them until they get old? Beating up monsters is fun but is it worth your hard earned cash? This would be the perfect gift for a young son or daughter as they would get a bigger challenge and probably get scared from time to time (which is always cute) than a hardcore gamer would. Other gamers will definitely want to give it a rental as it offers some admiring graphics and great sound effects. Grabbed by the Ghoulies had a lot of potential, hopefully a sequel will bring a much needed improvement to the gameplay. It just goes to show you that while graphics and sound might be nice to have, gameplay is the most important. At least for this reviewer it is.