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Grabbed by the Ghoulies comes to XBL News

Xbox 360 Xbox Retro News by Oli Welsh

17 February, 2009

Rare had added its first piece of work for Microsoft, the generally overlooked Grabbed by the Ghoulies, to the Xbox Originals catalogue on Xbox Live.

The download will set you back 1200 Microsoft Points, equivalent to GBP 10.20 / EUR 14.40. Yes, TEN POUNDS.

Grabbed by the Ghoulies is, as you can probably judge from the title, a smirking, silly haunted-house beat-'em-up in which a teenage boy must rescue his girlfriend from some disgusting fiends. With its spooky theme, cartoon graphics and twin-stick controls, it was strongly reminiscent of Nintendo's Luigi's Mansion, only with more jokes about genitalia and vomit.

We loved it back in the day but many others didn't, and Rare's inaugural Xbox effort didn't exactly set cash-registers alight. It was a telling start to the Twycross developer's odd-bedfellows relationship with Microsoft - as Ghoulies team lead Greg Mayles sort of admitted on Rare's site.

"For all those discerning games connoisseurs who somehow managed to miss out on playing Ghoulies the first time (and I'm sure there must be a few million of you somewhere), I highly recommend you spend a few lazy evenings (or a lot if you're rubbish at games) inside the Baron's delightful Ghoulhaven Hall," Mayles said.

"Imagine a game you really like and then visualise Ghoulies as a stylish haunted house version of that. So, if you like Halo, pretend that the main character is Master Chief and the hilarious DJ Mummy is a terrifying Covenant alien. It works for me."

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Comments: 1-12 of 12 in total

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DFawkes
17/02/09 @ 09:14
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How about Halo 2? I love that game, and it actually works thorugh VGA.

Never played this first time around, and at that price it's a smidge out of my usual 800 point impulse buy zone.
GamesConnoisseur
17/02/09 @ 09:20
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That great! I havent finished the game and would certainly love to add this to my collection, just need to delete couple of installed games from my 120 hdd though!
Darren
17/02/09 @ 09:28
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Ah Grabbed by the Ghoulies... looked absolutely fantastic visually, as you'd expect from Rare, but it turned out to be a lacklustre, rushed game with awful controls that constantly annoyed me throughout the entire time I played it. I still own the original (I'm otherwise a big fan of Rare's games) but it isn't something I wish to return to any time soon, thank you.
Mildew
17/02/09 @ 09:44
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Let's have an update of Blast Corps! I loved that game!
Ace Grace
17/02/09 @ 09:46
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It did have certain charm though. Also the paintings of the old Ultimate games was superb.
IronCladChicken
17/02/09 @ 09:59
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Tempted; but I'm with DFawks - 800 points is my usual impuse buy threshold.
Britesparc
17/02/09 @ 10:05
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I really enjoyed Ghoulies, but sadly found it a bit too old-school difficult to ever complete. Still, it's a fun, good-looking (for its time) game, and Rare's self-depricating attitude towards it is to be commended.

BTW, does this work on BC? I've still got my old Xbox version kicking about and it'd be good to not have to set up the old Xbox if I want to play it!
Penguinzoot
17/02/09 @ 10:27
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BTW, does this work on BC?

Yeah it does. I recently started playing this again on the 360, but like Darren, the controls wind me up no end.
Pasco
17/02/09 @ 10:37
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How can people that write funny webpages like this also make such insultingly boring games.

Grabbed by the Ghoulies felt like the first try of an amateur game-maker by the way. How can anyone excuse the minute long QTEs where you had to witness a whole lot of nothingness, had to push a button every 15 seconds and had to start all over again (being pushed a couple of minutes back) if you did something wrong? Or a boss fight where you practically run around a table and pause now and then to shoot back?
jonsaan
17/02/09 @ 11:16
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Top game. I may just have to snap it up!
"him"
17/02/09 @ 12:55
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Great game... agree about it being difficult though.

Though I have completed it! (after much swearing!)

The Butler did it...
Bulbatron
19/02/09 @ 08:25
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PLEASE Microsoft, put SILENT HILL 2 on Xbox Originals - and make sure that, unlike the disc version, it also works in the UK. Do this and I will be a happy chap.

Comments: 1-12 of 12 in total

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