Andrew Fletcher reviews Ultimate Ghouls and Ghosts, and has this to say about the polygonal effort:
"Across its 21-year history, Capcom's Ghosts 'N Goblins series has always elicited an appropriately ghoulish mix of exasperated sighs and lilting murmurs of approval. Mechanically solid and well designed, technically attractive (notably in the 16-bit dazzler Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts) and notoriously bastards to beat, the games' legacy is attributable to their sheer quality of construction that, in spite of many a bitter anecdote attesting otherwise, most players simply cannot deny."
He gets into the details
here.