Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts – Artoria Edition
HackSuper Ghouls 'n Ghosts – Artoria Edition is a celebrated fan-made hack that replaces the game's hero, Arthur, with the female knight Artoria. The classic hardcore gameplay remains fully intact, but the entire visual identity of the protagonist has been rebuilt—from the title screen and map sprite to the ending artwork and credits. New quality-of-life options accessible through a secret menu let players tame the game's legendary difficulty without losing its challenge. A love letter to one of the SNES's most punishing platformers.
Game Controls
About This Retro Game
Created by GoodLuckTrying and built upon the North American version of Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, this hack reimagines the classic tale. In this retelling, Arthur and Princess Prin-Prin were never lovers—instead, Artoria, the princess's beloved female knight, takes up arms to rescue her from the demon realm. The story unfolds through a brand-new title screen, map sprite, life icons, and a completely redrawn ending sequence with its own 'The End' artwork.
The hack goes far beyond a simple palette swap. Artoria comes in two distinct versions—Knight and Maiden—each available in two outfits (briefs or nightgown), and all four variations feature dedicated ending art. Golden armor special-attack flashes, civilian and knight figurines, and 1-Up icons have all been updated to match her design. Version 3.0 added unique spinning-jump frames for the green and gold armor states.
The secret menu, accessed by holding L + Start when selecting EXIT in the Options menu, offers extensive customization. The 1-Up counter bug from the original—where the count was reset upon clearing a stage or dying, making extra lives nearly unobtainable—has been fixed so the counter persists across the entire game. Optional toggles include chest hints, a slower level timer, enhanced air control and edge recovery, progressive armor degradation instead of instant destruction, multi-weapon collection with L/R switching, three shield modes (off, on, and permanent), and the restored prototype tripping mechanic. Version 3.0 also introduced a sixteen-board ranking system stored on SRAM, covering four difficulties across four rule sets: Clean, Minimal, Enhanced, and Other. FastROM support, a level select function, skippable princess dialogue, and a corrected fourth-stage boss crash in v3.4 round out the package. The patch must be applied to a Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts (USA) ROM.
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