This Stranger Things snafu got me to revisit Capcom's most underrated series

I wasn't expecting to get back into Ghosts 'n Goblins in 2025, but here we are. At this point, you may have heard about the controversy around this Capcom series' cameo in the third episode of Stranger Things 5. One character is supposed to be playing the original Ghosts 'n Goblins on the NES, but the TV is displaying the arcade version instead. The hubbub around that mess-up got me to revisit some games from throughout the series.

When I did so, I was pleasantly surprised and concluded that this may be the most underrated franchise Capcom has ever produced. Many Ghosts 'n Goblins games are readily available on Nintendo Switch 2. While playing them did lead to many hair-pulling moments, it also reminded me of the influential place these titles hold in video game history.

How did Stranger Things mess up while referencing Ghosts 'n Goblins?

The inspiration to play a game can come from anywhere

Partway into the Stranger Things 5 episode Chapter Three: The Turnbow Trap, Ghosts 'n Goblins gets some screentime. We see Derek Turnbow, a child that Vecna is targeting, briefly playing the game on his NES. It only gets a few seconds of screen time, as Derek's sister gets mad at him and pulls the cartridge out of his console after he refuses to come to dinner.

This was supposed to be a fun reference to a horror-themed 1980s game. The latest season of Stranger Things takes place in November 1987, about a year after the game was released on NES in North America. There was just one problem: the version Derek's playing is not the NES version of Ghouls 'n Ghosts. As Time Extension quickly pointed out, the footage shown on TV was actually from the arcade version of the game.

It seems likely that the show just ripped footage of a Ghosts 'n Goblins game on YouTube without taking the steps to ensure it was the right version. All things considered, it's a relatively harmless mistake for the show to make briefly in one scene; it's no Starbucks in Westeros situation. Still, it got me thinking about Ghosts 'n Goblins for the first time in a while.

As I have to constantly play new games to create timely coverage for you all, the release schedule often determines what games I play. Although I do have other games to play right now, I felt in the mood to play some Ghosts 'n Goblins after watching the episode and seeing this controversy online. Even if my curiosity game from a mistake, I'm glad I gave Ghosts 'n Goblins another shot.

Revisiting Ghosts 'n Goblins in 2025

This series holds up

If you're unfamiliar with Ghosts 'n Goblins, the arcade and NES originals are notoriously difficult platformers and are considered some of the hardest games of all time. While that certainly still stands true in 2025, the Ghosts 'n Goblins series at large was a whole lot more enlightening than I expected upon revisiting it.

I'm still not very good at these earlier Ghosts 'n Goblins games, and haven't made it through a run yet. That said, I now have a deeper appreciation for the game's approach to difficulty design. While overly difficult at times, these games were truly the genesis of action game design that rewards patience, memorization, and rhythmic movement with mastery. If you've "gotten good" at series like Dark Souls or Elden Ring, you can get better at playing Ghosts 'n Goblins.

The original Ghosts 'n Goblins also has one of the more impressive arcade-to-NES ports of the time. While the graphics are much more rudimentary, the core design and feel of the levels is similar enough. Maybe it wasn't so egregious that Stranger Things showed the wrong version of the game. Ghosts 'n Goblins deserves its spot in the pantheon of gaming classics, and the less-discussed Ghouls 'n Ghosts is just as frustrating yet fun.

"Ghosts 'n Goblins doesn't get the attention it deserves alongside Capcom's greats"

While I had thought this was a series that retreaded the original's formula too much, it ended up being a lot more experimental than I remembered. The Game Boy title Gargoyle's Quest is a more traditional platformer with The Legend of Zelda-like overworld sections. In the PS2 era, the Maximo games reimagined Ghosts 'n Goblins as a 3D action game. It's a lot more experimental of a series than I expected, yet almost all of the games meet a consistent bar of quality that few series do.

The franchise's most recent game is Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection, a 2021 reimagining of the original that sports a storybook-like art style and offers up more difficulty options. While the look of this game is certainly divisive, and reviews were mixed, I like its art direction and gameplay. It's one of the most underrated Capcom games of the decade, and easily the most approachable game in the series due to its new difficulty options.

In general, Ghosts 'n Goblins doesn't get the attention it deserves alongside Capcom's greats like Monster Hunter or Resident Evil. While it thankfully hasn't fallen into complete obscurity like Dino Crisis, it feels underrated given how influential and consistently high-quality these games are.

It's surprisingly easy to get back into Ghosts 'n Goblins in 2025

Hopefully, Capcom doesn't forget about this series

If you want to play some Ghosts 'n Goblins games today, I recommend booting up your Nintendo Switch or Switch 2. If you have an online membership, you can access Ghosts 'n Goblins, the SNES and Sega Genesis versions of Ghouls 'n Ghosts, and Gargoyles Quest for Game Boy. The arcade versions of Ghost 'n Goblins and Ghouls 'n Ghosts are available through Capcom Arcade Stadium, while Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection is just available to buy on the eShop.

Capcom is actually holding a sale on the eShop right now, so you can play all of these games legally for $12 and the price of a basic Nintendo Switch Online subscription right now. Still, I would also love to see Capcom make some sort of Legacy Collection for Ghosts 'n Goblins one day. Ghosts 'n Goblins has not been referenced by Capcom much since 2021, so we'll need to settle for what we've currently got.

It's a shame that Stranger Things couldn't show off the right version of Ghosts 'n Goblins, but weirdly, I'm glad Netflix messed this up. Without that snafu, I wouldn't have been able to revisit these Ghosts 'n Goblins games and gain a deeper appreciation for them. I'll be playing them a lot more throughout the holiday season and will hopefully be able to clear Ghosts 'n Goblins without rewinds or Save States by the new year.