Maximo: Ghosts to Glory

Gameplay

Maximo takes place in a dynamic, fully 3D world. The character is controlled by the player and can move freely within areas by running, jumping, crouching, and performing other various motions. Gameplay revolves around defeating large numbers of enemies, which can be accomplished by attacking with a sword and shield, and combos and special moves. Like in the Ghosts series, Maximo fights wearing armor. If he is hit, he will lose corresponding pieces of armor and eventually be reduced to wearing his boxer shorts, with another hit resulting in him losing a life. If Maximo loses all his lives, he can continue by giving Death Coins to the Grim Reaper. However, every time he loses all his lives, the required cost for a continue increases. The game features more references to Ghosts gameplay elements, such as the ability to crush graves and the hero being attacked by spells turning into animals.

The game is split in five major worlds: The Boneyard, The Great Dank, Graveyard of Ships, Realm of Spirit and Castle Maximo. Each world has four stages to beat and a boss battle. In a given world, it's mandatory for the player to enter into the first stage, and then he may move on to a portal stage with entrances for other stages in that world. Those portal stages offers options to save, travel to other worlds and buy health and food. Some enemies also appear in portal stages. After defeating each boss, the player can choose to either receive a health bonus, or receive a kiss from a rescued sorceress, with a special reward granted for getting kisses from all four sorceresses.

Plot

Maximo, a brave king, attempts to rescue the Queen Sophia from the evil King Achille, who has awoken the power of the undead. However, Achille proves too powerful and strikes Maximo down with his magic and kills him. Floating in the underworld, Maximo is approached by the Grim Reaper, who reveals Achille is using a drill to harvest souls from the underworld, fuelling his undead army. Feeling he would be out of a job if there are no more dead, Grim Reaper makes a deal with Maximo to bring him back to life in exchange for stopping Achille's evil plans.

Development and release

Maximo is an attempt to merge the Ghosts 'n Goblins universe with illustrator Susumu Matsushita manga artwork. The title was originally planned for Nintendo 64 but was delayed for several years and transferred for Dreamcast and later PlayStation 2.

The concept was created by Capcom Digital Studio head David Siller (creator of Crash Bandicoot and Aero the Acro-Bat) who wanted to bring back "old school" game play. The artistic team placed special emphasis on the design and rendering of the characters, as well as putting a great deal of work into the environmental effects. The game's music, which varies from stage to stage, includes orchestrated remixes of the tracks found in Ghouls 'n Ghosts and Ghosts 'n Goblins composed by Tommy Tallarico.

Maximo was presented in E3 2001. It was released at the end of the same year in Japan and in early 2002 in the United States, Korea, and Europe.

Reception

The game received "favorable" reviews according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 31 out of 40.

The game achieved PlayStation 2 Greatest Hits status in the United States, selling more than 400,000 units in North America. IGN ranked it at #6 on the list of the Top 10 Most Challenging PS2 Games of All Time.

Sequel

A sequel titled Maximo vs. Army of Zin was released in 2003, also for the PlayStation 2. Leaked artworks confirmed that a third game began in production in 2004 but was eventually cancelled.