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It's getting on for five years since Ghosts 'N Goblins first appeared on your old 8-bit machines, and even more since the arcade machine held sway in arcades from Blackpool to Benidorm, so it's a surprise to see it back again. A surprise, but not an unpleasant one.

Ghouls 'N Ghosts is the belated sequel from Capcom that appeared earlier this year to the kind of welcome you'd expect for a long lost friend. It was a game that inspired countless clones, so it's somewhat ironic to find how close this is to its predecessor. The first two sections of level one are simply updates on the graveyard/marsh theme that Goblins began with. Nevertheless, it won't deter hungry gamers from playing the horizontal fantasy, and rightly so - the game changes rapidly after that.

If you can remember the original plot, Arthur, the fearless knight, went off in search of his princess, and blow me if he hasn't gone and lost her! Cue frenetic cross screen fighting as he battles to get her back.

Don't think that this is purely a copy of the first game, because there are many updated features to be seen. Arthur still loses his armour and is reduced to his skiddies, but he can unlock chests to find more. He can also get himself transformed into a duck, which is a pain until you need to get into those little places. It's also possible to double up with a doppelganger and grab some super weapons to help you in your struggle. And you're definitely going to need them because this is one hell of a tough challenge - in fact, too hard in some places.

Before you even get into this conversion though, you're going to notice the sound. The loading tune is one of the best I've heard for a long time - Jethro Tull meets Happy Mondays at a warehouse party. Following that there's a different tune for each level and more for the high score table and continue option. Software Creations, who were responsible for Bionic Commandos and before that Bubble Bobble, programmed the conversion, and they've done an excellent job. Graphically it's very impressive too, and it bears strong comparison to the coin-op.

It's been a good year for conversions. With 16-bit machines programmers are no longer having to force a quart into a pint pot, and that's proving to be to everyone's benefit. Ghouls 'N Ghosts deserves to be up there at the end of the year.