New lookMaximo: Ghosts to Glory

Capcom has finally released concrete details about Maximo: Ghosts to Glory, its upcoming action-adventure game that's partly based on the classic Ghost 'N Goblins series. The game centers on Maximo, a brave monarch who returns to his kingdom after a long journey, only to find it overridden with vile undead. As it turns out, Maximo's former advisor--Achille--is responsible for the wrongdoing, and he's also imprisoned four powerful sorceresses and forced Maximo's beloved, Sophia, to marry him. According to Capcom, Maximo: Ghosts to Glory will present this epic theme very lightheartedly, with a comical bent reminiscent of the classic side scroller that inspired it.

Maximo will take place in a dynamic, fully 3D world. As the story goes, the evil Achille is breaking up the land with his powerful drill for unknown reasons. To reflect this, the game's environments will change at different points in the game; entire areas could potentially rise or sink, effectively changing their appearances and the way you travel through them. The levels themselves, according to Capcom, will be designed around classic gameplay mechanics, which the company hopes will make them accessible and engaging. A host of challenge stages will also be included in the game, which, upon completion, will unlock new gameplay features and special abilities. Also of note is the fact that the game includes continues--in order to do so, players must collect spirits, which in turn give them "death coins" that'll allow them to bargain with the Grim Reaper upon death.

As a character, Maximo seems to be highly customizable. The game will feature more than 40 unique moves, upgrades, and power-ups, which players can assign at their leisure, enabling them to create relatively distinct characters. Maximo's shield will also play a large part in combat--it can be used to block, and it can be hurled at enemies. It'll also have a few magical properties that'll allow it, for example, to greatly increase in size, summon meteor storms, or change into a flaming blade with awesome offensive properties.

Your character's appearance is also supposed to change quite a bit during the game--as you pick up new weapons and armor, the change will indeed register cosmetically. Also, in a manner highly reminiscent of Ghosts 'N Goblins, Maximo can be magically transformed into an old man or a baby, with, presumably, his abilities changing to reflect the alteration in form. And if injured, Maximo will lose his armor, forcing him to traverse the game's world in his underwear, Arthur-style.

Susumu Matsushita, the artist behind the Japanese magazine Famitsu Weekly's famous character drawings, designed all the game's characters, including Maximo himself. The game's visual style appears to have been successfully pulled off--it seems very cartoony, albeit playfully dark and macabre.

Capcom seems to be banking on Maximo's success very heavily. "Maximo: Ghosts to Glory marks true gaming playability at its best in an amazing 3D world," said Todd Thorson, Capcom's director of marketing. "The intent was to create a game that's all about fun. It's not often a game comes along with such massive appeal. This is due to a unique combination of amazing development talent, a brilliant musical score, incredible graphics, and artwork design from one of Japan's most popular artists. Capcom has spared no expense to create this blockbuster."

The game is expected to release this holiday season. Expect some hands-on impressions from the E3 show floor.