A technical marvel that is completely fucking miserable to play.
I'll get this out of the way, first: Gimmick might be the most impressive game I have ever seen running on a Famicom. I legitimately do not know nor could I begin to understand how a game that's only a few hundred kilobytes managed to pack visuals this pretty, sounds this pleasing, and an actual fucking physics engine onto a cart that ran on a console manufactured in the year 1983. By rights, this should not exist. People everywhere seem to constantly express surprise that Gimmick isn't actually another one of those retro throwback indie games, and they're right to be shocked. This might be the game that sells me on how drastic of an upgrade the Famicom was to the consoles that came before it. The Atari 2600 isn't shit compared to this. I digress. The point to make is that Gimmick really ought to be celebrated as a feat of engineering in video games.
Regrettably, though, video games need to be played.
Looking at Gimmick is significantly more fun than actually interacting with Gimmick. Yumetaro slides around like he's wearing ice skates long before you get to the actual ice level. Emulating rudimentary physics on the Famicom is undoubtedly an impressive feat, but it's handled in way that only manages to frustrate: downward slopes have almost zero friction, so you slide down them too quickly; it takes an obscene amount of time for Yumetaro to stop moving after you stop holding the button; enemies can turn on a dime, with none of them under any obligation to bother observing something as petty as the fundamental forces of the universe.
I was tempted to write about how I'm done giving the time of day to "cruel games", but I think that's prescribing a design intent when that's not necessarily what's here. What I'm ultimately and actually annoyed with is the fact that it's impossible to intuit certain enemy patterns or placements, which is where that feeling of cruelty stems from. The archers in Stage 4 are probably the most obvious and most unfair example, where the only shot you have at dodging their arrows is if you have prior knowledge as to where they actually are; they love shooting you from off-screen, with one placed specifically to catch you at the arc of your jump as you come out from the top of a previous screen, and another waiting at the end of a hallway to snipe you with a projectile that is literally a single pixel thick and roughly the same shade as the background. It's trivial to deal with if you know that it's coming, but that's if you know that it's coming.
This is a pattern that continues consistently throughout the game, but reaches an apotheosis at the end of Stage 5. The stage boss here is a little orb guy in a cart that moves horizontally along the top of the screen, shooting lasers down at you. To hit him, you have to bounce your star off of the top of the conveyor belt on the left, or fling it from the top of the conveyor belt down and hope that it bounces up the way that you want it to. The star, following the laws of physics, cannot bounce higher than its initial, highest bounce; essentially, you have one chance to hit the boss with a conveyor belt ricochet every time he comes near, and if you whiff, you have to wait for him to go all the way to the right and then all the way back to the left again. After he takes three hits, he fires his lasers even faster. The lasers also explode when they hit the ground, so your only option is to weave between them in mid-air. After he takes the fourth hit, he shoots the lasers so quickly that it is literally impossible to weave through them. If he takes the fourth hit too close to the left side of the screen, you won't be able to charge up your star fast enough to throw it, guaranteeing that you take damage. The fifth hit takes him out, at which point a second boss walks out from stage right to fire homing missiles and Contra spread shots at you. There is an unspeakable darkness within whoever designed this fight. A joyous mind cannot conjure these tortures.
The only part of the game harder than this is getting the Stage 4 secret item that lets you fight the true final boss, where you have one chance to jump off of your star (it has collision) and into an above alcove. If you miss it, you drop down onto a checkpoint, and you can't go back to try again. You can game over and continue to restart the entire level, but using a continue clears the remaining three secret items from the prior three stages out of your collection. You need six secret items in total — one from each level — to go to the true final stage. You either make that jump on your first attempt, or you have to start the entire game over from scratch. Again, I want to call this cruel. I don't know what word would better apply.
It's disappointing, because this is a game that I really would have liked to love. I think Yumetaro's design is so ridiculously over-the-top cute that it loops back around to being funny, and that endears me to him. I think the fact that Sunsoft were able to make all of these pieces fit together on hardware as rudimentary as the Famicom is admirable. I just wish the act of playing it didn't feel like pulling teeth.
Can I fuck 🥺
I'll get this out of the way, first: Gimmick might be the most impressive game I have ever seen running on a Famicom. I legitimately do not know nor could I begin to understand how a game that's only a few hundred kilobytes managed to pack visuals this pretty, sounds this pleasing, and an actual fucking physics engine onto a cart that ran on a console manufactured in the year 1983. By rights, this should not exist. People everywhere seem to constantly express surprise that Gimmick isn't actually another one of those retro throwback indie games, and they're right to be shocked. This might be the game that sells me on how drastic of an upgrade the Famicom was to the consoles that came before it. The Atari 2600 isn't shit compared to this. I digress. The point to make is that Gimmick really ought to be celebrated as a feat of engineering in video games.
Regrettably, though, video games need to be played.
Looking at Gimmick is significantly more fun than actually interacting with Gimmick. Yumetaro slides around like he's wearing ice skates long before you get to the actual ice level. Emulating rudimentary physics on the Famicom is undoubtedly an impressive feat, but it's handled in way that only manages to frustrate: downward slopes have almost zero friction, so you slide down them too quickly; it takes an obscene amount of time for Yumetaro to stop moving after you stop holding the button; enemies can turn on a dime, with none of them under any obligation to bother observing something as petty as the fundamental forces of the universe.
I was tempted to write about how I'm done giving the time of day to "cruel games", but I think that's prescribing a design intent when that's not necessarily what's here. What I'm ultimately and actually annoyed with is the fact that it's impossible to intuit certain enemy patterns or placements, which is where that feeling of cruelty stems from. The archers in Stage 4 are probably the most obvious and most unfair example, where the only shot you have at dodging their arrows is if you have prior knowledge as to where they actually are; they love shooting you from off-screen, with one placed specifically to catch you at the arc of your jump as you come out from the top of a previous screen, and another waiting at the end of a hallway to snipe you with a projectile that is literally a single pixel thick and roughly the same shade as the background. It's trivial to deal with if you know that it's coming, but that's if you know that it's coming.
This is a pattern that continues consistently throughout the game, but reaches an apotheosis at the end of Stage 5. The stage boss here is a little orb guy in a cart that moves horizontally along the top of the screen, shooting lasers down at you. To hit him, you have to bounce your star off of the top of the conveyor belt on the left, or fling it from the top of the conveyor belt down and hope that it bounces up the way that you want it to. The star, following the laws of physics, cannot bounce higher than its initial, highest bounce; essentially, you have one chance to hit the boss with a conveyor belt ricochet every time he comes near, and if you whiff, you have to wait for him to go all the way to the right and then all the way back to the left again. After he takes three hits, he fires his lasers even faster. The lasers also explode when they hit the ground, so your only option is to weave between them in mid-air. After he takes the fourth hit, he shoots the lasers so quickly that it is literally impossible to weave through them. If he takes the fourth hit too close to the left side of the screen, you won't be able to charge up your star fast enough to throw it, guaranteeing that you take damage. The fifth hit takes him out, at which point a second boss walks out from stage right to fire homing missiles and Contra spread shots at you. There is an unspeakable darkness within whoever designed this fight. A joyous mind cannot conjure these tortures.
The only part of the game harder than this is getting the Stage 4 secret item that lets you fight the true final boss, where you have one chance to jump off of your star (it has collision) and into an above alcove. If you miss it, you drop down onto a checkpoint, and you can't go back to try again. You can game over and continue to restart the entire level, but using a continue clears the remaining three secret items from the prior three stages out of your collection. You need six secret items in total — one from each level — to go to the true final stage. You either make that jump on your first attempt, or you have to start the entire game over from scratch. Again, I want to call this cruel. I don't know what word would better apply.
It's disappointing, because this is a game that I really would have liked to love. I think Yumetaro's design is so ridiculously over-the-top cute that it loops back around to being funny, and that endears me to him. I think the fact that Sunsoft were able to make all of these pieces fit together on hardware as rudimentary as the Famicom is admirable. I just wish the act of playing it didn't feel like pulling teeth.
Can I fuck 🥺
When it comes to how a character is designed, there are two archetypes that I immediately gravitate towards when it comes to my favorites. The first is the dark, evil, ominous type, and in stark contrast, the second is the small, adorable, and lovable type. There is something about both of these types of character designs that just manage to resonate with me more than any other, and when it comes to the cute designs, they can completely convince me to give whatever product they are from a shot. Obviously, not every single cute character design works with me, but there are ones that have managed to grab my attention over the years and drawn me into loving them, such as with Starfy and, obviously, Kirby. This also happens to be the case with today’s game, Gimmick!.
I knew practically nothing about this game going into it, other than that it was an NES game that was only ever initially released in Japan and… Scandinavia, for some reason. However, when I saw the cover of the game and got a good look at the main character, I wanted to then play it as soon as possible, because he is fucking adorable. Not the version of him on the cover that Backloggd has, but the one for the Japanese cover, which, again, looks really cute. However, as I would soon find out, just because a character is adorable, that doesn’t mean their game would be automatically be a masterpiece. That’s not to say it is bad, because it is still pretty good, and I enjoyed it enough, but there was quite a bit that made it very hard to fully enjoy.
The story is a pretty unique one for an NES game, where a girl gets a gift for her birthday who turns out to be Yumetaro, a toy that quickly becomes her favorite, and in spite of this, her other toys then capture her and transport her to another dimension (yes, none of this is explained, why do you ask?), so it is up to Yumetaro to rescue her, which may not be THAT creative, but compared to many other games on the system, it was refreshing to see, the graphics are really great, having a very pleasant style, with all of the characters and the enemies looking really adorable and appealing, although the environments leave a lot to be desired, the music is wonderful, having plenty of tracks that were pleasant to listen to, even if some of them blend into each other, the control is basic, and you can get accustomed to it pretty quickly, even if some of the functions like the attacking being a bit hard to get used to at first, and the gameplay is simple, yet inventive and enjoyable for the time.
The game is a 2D puzzle platformer, where you take control of Yumetaro, go through a set of six to seven levels through plenty of different environments, use your magic star power to take out many different enemies that range from simple and docile, to fast and quite threatening, gather plenty of different powerups to either give you an advantage against your foes, heal yourself, or even help out in solving some unique puzzles, and take on several bosses that will test you in both your reflexes, as well as how you can control your weapon. On the surface, it is a pretty basic NES platformer, and for a good amount of it, it is, but there is a good amount here that makes it stand out from others.
Like I mentioned before, this is moreso a puzzle platformer rather than a regular one, and when it comes to the puzzles that you need to solve in the game, they are actually pretty well-done and clever. These aren’t puzzles you necessarily need to solve if you wanna get to the end, but you do need to solve them if you wanna get all the hidden goodies, and while some of them may be cryptic, finding out how to complete them does feel satisfying. For example, in stage two, in order to get the hidden treasure in the stage, you have to push this cannon down to a ledge that is right next to it, and then you have to hop on top of one of the cannonballs to then ride over to a hidden area that has the treasure in it. It isn’t too complicated for the most part, but it does make you use your brain, and I appreciate that, especially when other games of the same genre on this system don’t do that too often. This also extends to the bosses, who also have specific means in which you need to take them out, rather then just “hit them a couple of times and win”, so that was nice to experience.
However, what wasn’t nice was the thing that ultimately made it much more frustrating to play through then I would’ve liked it to be: your main attack. Like I mentioned before, your attack consists of this star power, which you can use and throw at enemies, and it is a useful enough attack, but not only does it need to be charged up, which can be a detriment in some situations, but every time you throw the star, you throw it straight down in front of you. This means that you have to be very specific with not just where you throw the star, but also in what direction, what height, and at what speed, which does make things more interesting, but not that much more enjoyable. I found this to be incredibly frustrating in numerous circumstances, where you need to solve a specific puzzle by throwing this star in a very specific direction, or where I could only hit the boss if I throw it at a VERY specific angle and speed. Sure, this isn’t a terrible mechanic, and I am sure plenty of others could get a hang of it just fine, but for me, it does drag the entire game down quite a bit. Not to mention, the game also does that NES thing I hate, where in order to get the true ending, you HAVE to get these hidden treasures, and if you just finish it normally, it will tell you to try again and send you all the way back to the beginning. That’s just stupid, no matter what game it comes from.
Overall, despite a pretty wonky attack and the ending requirements being pretty strict, I still found Gimmick! to be a really good time, and one of the more underappreciated games from the NES’s library. I would definitely recommend it for those who love these types of puzzle-based platformers, as well as those who are fans of NES games in general, because it will manage to satisfy those cravings you may have for how short it does last. And hey, if you do wanna play it, there is a remaster of it out for modern consoles, so I would recommend giving that a shot. Although, I would wait for a price decrease first. Seriously, I don’t care how much you add onto the original game, $15 is way too much for a game like this.
Game #443
I knew practically nothing about this game going into it, other than that it was an NES game that was only ever initially released in Japan and… Scandinavia, for some reason. However, when I saw the cover of the game and got a good look at the main character, I wanted to then play it as soon as possible, because he is fucking adorable. Not the version of him on the cover that Backloggd has, but the one for the Japanese cover, which, again, looks really cute. However, as I would soon find out, just because a character is adorable, that doesn’t mean their game would be automatically be a masterpiece. That’s not to say it is bad, because it is still pretty good, and I enjoyed it enough, but there was quite a bit that made it very hard to fully enjoy.
The story is a pretty unique one for an NES game, where a girl gets a gift for her birthday who turns out to be Yumetaro, a toy that quickly becomes her favorite, and in spite of this, her other toys then capture her and transport her to another dimension (yes, none of this is explained, why do you ask?), so it is up to Yumetaro to rescue her, which may not be THAT creative, but compared to many other games on the system, it was refreshing to see, the graphics are really great, having a very pleasant style, with all of the characters and the enemies looking really adorable and appealing, although the environments leave a lot to be desired, the music is wonderful, having plenty of tracks that were pleasant to listen to, even if some of them blend into each other, the control is basic, and you can get accustomed to it pretty quickly, even if some of the functions like the attacking being a bit hard to get used to at first, and the gameplay is simple, yet inventive and enjoyable for the time.
The game is a 2D puzzle platformer, where you take control of Yumetaro, go through a set of six to seven levels through plenty of different environments, use your magic star power to take out many different enemies that range from simple and docile, to fast and quite threatening, gather plenty of different powerups to either give you an advantage against your foes, heal yourself, or even help out in solving some unique puzzles, and take on several bosses that will test you in both your reflexes, as well as how you can control your weapon. On the surface, it is a pretty basic NES platformer, and for a good amount of it, it is, but there is a good amount here that makes it stand out from others.
Like I mentioned before, this is moreso a puzzle platformer rather than a regular one, and when it comes to the puzzles that you need to solve in the game, they are actually pretty well-done and clever. These aren’t puzzles you necessarily need to solve if you wanna get to the end, but you do need to solve them if you wanna get all the hidden goodies, and while some of them may be cryptic, finding out how to complete them does feel satisfying. For example, in stage two, in order to get the hidden treasure in the stage, you have to push this cannon down to a ledge that is right next to it, and then you have to hop on top of one of the cannonballs to then ride over to a hidden area that has the treasure in it. It isn’t too complicated for the most part, but it does make you use your brain, and I appreciate that, especially when other games of the same genre on this system don’t do that too often. This also extends to the bosses, who also have specific means in which you need to take them out, rather then just “hit them a couple of times and win”, so that was nice to experience.
However, what wasn’t nice was the thing that ultimately made it much more frustrating to play through then I would’ve liked it to be: your main attack. Like I mentioned before, your attack consists of this star power, which you can use and throw at enemies, and it is a useful enough attack, but not only does it need to be charged up, which can be a detriment in some situations, but every time you throw the star, you throw it straight down in front of you. This means that you have to be very specific with not just where you throw the star, but also in what direction, what height, and at what speed, which does make things more interesting, but not that much more enjoyable. I found this to be incredibly frustrating in numerous circumstances, where you need to solve a specific puzzle by throwing this star in a very specific direction, or where I could only hit the boss if I throw it at a VERY specific angle and speed. Sure, this isn’t a terrible mechanic, and I am sure plenty of others could get a hang of it just fine, but for me, it does drag the entire game down quite a bit. Not to mention, the game also does that NES thing I hate, where in order to get the true ending, you HAVE to get these hidden treasures, and if you just finish it normally, it will tell you to try again and send you all the way back to the beginning. That’s just stupid, no matter what game it comes from.
Overall, despite a pretty wonky attack and the ending requirements being pretty strict, I still found Gimmick! to be a really good time, and one of the more underappreciated games from the NES’s library. I would definitely recommend it for those who love these types of puzzle-based platformers, as well as those who are fans of NES games in general, because it will manage to satisfy those cravings you may have for how short it does last. And hey, if you do wanna play it, there is a remaster of it out for modern consoles, so I would recommend giving that a shot. Although, I would wait for a price decrease first. Seriously, I don’t care how much you add onto the original game, $15 is way too much for a game like this.
Game #443
Game itself was genuinely cute and challenging, but it is genuinely such a strange game. The final boss of the bad ending is such an easy character to beat compared to the previous boss before it, and even the snail on the third level. Also too many times did it have things ahead of me which hurt me without even giving me a chance to react to them, which is a bit of a stupid problem with it.
Anyway, I'm never doing the good ending. This is my canon. Mr. Gimmick dies from heartbreak, fuck that jellybean.
Anyway, I'm never doing the good ending. This is my canon. Mr. Gimmick dies from heartbreak, fuck that jellybean.
Made a quality double with Umihara Kawase, two underplayed games that are absolutely insane to be able to exist on their respective consoles. Maaayyybee my favorite NES game
This is probably going to be one of my more controversial opinions but this game just didn't do it for me as much as it does for others. I'll admit, there's a lot to love about this game like the presentation and just all of the small details that are presented here. You can tell a lot of love went into this title and it's got one of the best OSTs on the system. Even said all that though, I just don't enjoy playing it sometimes. I really want to love it but I feel like sometimes I'm trying to force myself to love it like others do so I'm sorry but while I think it's a good game, it was just a little too annoying for me at times. I still will commend Sunsoft for making games like this despite my opinion, just look at how far they came from their kusoge like Ikki and Super Arabian back in the early Famicom days. Proud of them.
For years ive heard people call this a hidden gem and secretly the best platformer on the NES, when in reality it actually kinda blows! More technically impressive than good: I'm sure a lot of time and effort was spent on making this game control how it does but the end result's a game feel similar to how the slippery ass crouch in og SMB feels (thank you to Backloggd user "Chandler" for this observation, nail on the head there). Found the star attack incredibly annoying and cumbersome to use, especially with how bizarrely aggressive the enemies are. Levels all are nondescript and uninteresting, not particularly geared to the feel of your character. As the title suggest, feels all like one big gimmick!
Music's ok
Music's ok
I like reading about Gimmick. I like reading about how it was developed and how its soundtrack was written. I like watching it, I like watching people talk about it - especially illusory wall's Retro Games Dissected video on the game.
I love the way Gimmick sounds, and I love the way it looks. It's obviously a passion project, but it's also a one last hurrah for the Famicom, a showcase of what can be done out of this system that was originally made almost ten years ago (at the time of Gimmick's release) to play ports of Donkey Kong.
But I don't like playing it. The star as a weapon is cumbersome and tricky to manage, even if it's a great concept; I think the game didn't need quite as much momentum or traction to its controls; a maximum of 4 health feels a little unfair; and getting the secret items can be challenging to the point of absurdity.
So do I like Gimmick?
Geez, I don't know! Do I?
I love the way Gimmick sounds, and I love the way it looks. It's obviously a passion project, but it's also a one last hurrah for the Famicom, a showcase of what can be done out of this system that was originally made almost ten years ago (at the time of Gimmick's release) to play ports of Donkey Kong.
But I don't like playing it. The star as a weapon is cumbersome and tricky to manage, even if it's a great concept; I think the game didn't need quite as much momentum or traction to its controls; a maximum of 4 health feels a little unfair; and getting the secret items can be challenging to the point of absurdity.
So do I like Gimmick?
Geez, I don't know! Do I?
One of the best NES games, a really tightly, expertly designed platformer that expects a lot of the player, but with a short runtime, a super detailed and secret filled campaign, simple but smooth movement with a surprisingly deep momentum & star mechanic, genuinely ground-breaking and limit-pushing visuals and effects for the NES, and one of the best soundtracks on NES, Gimmick is a masterpiece by NES standards.
Some of its secret items require some absolutely fucking batshit insane jumps though, like holy shit lmao
Some of its secret items require some absolutely fucking batshit insane jumps though, like holy shit lmao
Based on the reviews I read, I thought this was going to be a miserable experience, but it's definitely the best NES game I've played so far, with the best platforming and everything felt responsive. Many people said the bosses felt unfair, but all you have to do is learn a pattern, similar to the fromsoft games of today, and the music and visuals were pretty amazing for this time period.
Gimmick! is a majestically arranged, strikingly puzzling platform experience. It toys with its mechanics parallely to progression as difficulty curve, it polishes precision through never aging intricate mapping whilst reasons upon instrumentability. It performs as a double story in a metanarrative level so long as it gimmicks with you.
There is no Gimmick subject, rather the gimmicky that evokes peculiarity; perceptible through multiple excentric creatures behaviour patterns, their traits portray singular aspects that manifests their intentions in somewhat comical fashion. Meanwhile its condemnation of ressentiment; subtextually, florishes a secret, unharmful livelyhood narrative. A genuinely beautiful, however simple.
I'm a sucker for these types.
There is no Gimmick subject, rather the gimmicky that evokes peculiarity; perceptible through multiple excentric creatures behaviour patterns, their traits portray singular aspects that manifests their intentions in somewhat comical fashion. Meanwhile its condemnation of ressentiment; subtextually, florishes a secret, unharmful livelyhood narrative. A genuinely beautiful, however simple.
I'm a sucker for these types.
Hands down, everyone: Gimmick is the best-looking game on the NES catalog.
No, no, no, I don't want to hear about your Kirbys, your Batmans and your Marios: From its beautiful, detailed sprites to its masterful use of the color pallet, Gimmick manages to rival games like Asterix or Lucky Dime on inferior hardware.
The music also bops; it's Sunsoft at its finest, and you'll find yourself looking for the whole OST online after you've completed the game; that's how good it is.
That being said, it's so sad that the gameplay suffers from such a dumb, fatal flaw.
Let's just go straight to the point: Your attack sucks.
All you do is spawn a star over your head (after waiting for 2 seconds for it to appear) and throw it on the ground, expecting it to bounce right into the enemy's weak spot and yes, it's as terrible at it sounds.
Between this, Trip World's pathetic baby kick attack, and Aero the Acrobat's kamikaze bite, I've noticed an unhealthy pattern in Sunsoft games of making their protagonists as useless as possible, and it definitely damages what could have been one of the top 5 games on this system since the platform challenges are very well thought-out and the puzzles quite original too.
I'd definitely just watch a gameplay and appreciate how gorgeous Gimmick looks... from a distance, as far as possible.
No, no, no, I don't want to hear about your Kirbys, your Batmans and your Marios: From its beautiful, detailed sprites to its masterful use of the color pallet, Gimmick manages to rival games like Asterix or Lucky Dime on inferior hardware.
The music also bops; it's Sunsoft at its finest, and you'll find yourself looking for the whole OST online after you've completed the game; that's how good it is.
That being said, it's so sad that the gameplay suffers from such a dumb, fatal flaw.
Let's just go straight to the point: Your attack sucks.
All you do is spawn a star over your head (after waiting for 2 seconds for it to appear) and throw it on the ground, expecting it to bounce right into the enemy's weak spot and yes, it's as terrible at it sounds.
Between this, Trip World's pathetic baby kick attack, and Aero the Acrobat's kamikaze bite, I've noticed an unhealthy pattern in Sunsoft games of making their protagonists as useless as possible, and it definitely damages what could have been one of the top 5 games on this system since the platform challenges are very well thought-out and the puzzles quite original too.
I'd definitely just watch a gameplay and appreciate how gorgeous Gimmick looks... from a distance, as far as possible.
platformers are not a series of hundreds of indexes to choose from to press the right buttons at the right time to keep doing the same thing over and over and over again. platformers are first and foremost, movement, and secondly, context.
the context of being catapulted over a pit passing different hazards falling on you. board a boat in order to enter a pirate ship, find a way up and confront the captain in the plank. accidentally enter a world with all its fauna simply navigating through while you go to your destination, climbing on top of each of them to navigate the terrain.
platformers are about the feeling of navigating in a world that is constantly asking you, are you here, and answering it directly, that yes, you are here. living and experiencing the world, passing through your senses, embracing you, thanking you, for being in here with them.
the context of being catapulted over a pit passing different hazards falling on you. board a boat in order to enter a pirate ship, find a way up and confront the captain in the plank. accidentally enter a world with all its fauna simply navigating through while you go to your destination, climbing on top of each of them to navigate the terrain.
platformers are about the feeling of navigating in a world that is constantly asking you, are you here, and answering it directly, that yes, you are here. living and experiencing the world, passing through your senses, embracing you, thanking you, for being in here with them.
Gimmick! must be one of the most advanced games on the NES library. Even if it's brutally hard, to a point where you'll definitely need to run through the game a few times if you want to get that True Ending, I find it to be challenging and fair once you get the hang of its mechanics.
Using the star as a proyectile and platform at the same time has a learning curve, but the skill expression of each player is very noticeable once you understand how it works. Also, there are secrets hidden everywhere.
With great visuals, and an absolutely incredible OST, I find it to be quite underrated. Definitely worth a shot.
Using the star as a proyectile and platform at the same time has a learning curve, but the skill expression of each player is very noticeable once you understand how it works. Also, there are secrets hidden everywhere.
With great visuals, and an absolutely incredible OST, I find it to be quite underrated. Definitely worth a shot.
A great Kirby-like platformer with a nice OST and easily some of the most impressive visuals and animations on the NES, almost rivaling the Turbografx-16 in some ways. Pretty cool that it's finally seeing a North American release, it's earned its cult following by now.
It being a functioning platformer that deviates from the Mario formula earns it above average marks
This is pretty crazy for the time. The music, graphics, and physics all feel like something straight out of a retro indie platformer on Steam or something. Not sure why it wasn't released in North America, considering the quality.
Seems like a game I would have liked as a kid, had it released in NA. It was released after Kirby's Dreamland, but before Kirby's Adventure. So... may have been inspired by Kirby then proceeded to inspire Kirby? Who knows. It's very colorful and dreamlike in a similar way. It's hard for me to get into NES games anymore, but I try to rate them in comparison to the times.
if you knock the crawling turtle enemy onto his back he kicks his legs in the air. and if you stand on his legs they slowly push you to the side. cmon
I used to tell friends there were no games worth playing on the NES, equating the time one would spend playing its games to be no more than how long one would spend playing Atari 2600 games. This was only a few years ago, mind you, but I was completely over the console. And despite the handful of games I'd enjoyed on it, I found myself hating it. While I'm not fully sure what brought me to feel this way, one possibility was that I'd grown tired of Nintendo continuously reselling the console's games to us players. This seems to be a sentiment shared by many, and I don't think it helps that Nintendo usually resells the same batch of black box NES titles, some of the plainest offerings of the library, and then forgets to offer games from the many other late consoles in their corporate catacombs (cough cough GameCube). Either way, I'd lost sight of the games I liked on the NES, one of them being the now cult classic Gimmick! (yes, the exclamation mark is part of the name).
At launch, it was definitely obscured; additionally getting critically panned by EGM and Famitsu alike, but through various offerings on the internet, it gained more notoriety than it originally saw at release. Something that's certainly left a mark on its secondhand prices, wherein both its Japanese Famicom and Scandinavian NES incarnations it's one of the most expensive releases for the entire system's library. Though in light of that, of course, more people now know of it, myself included. I probably wouldn't have known about it were it not for either Pat the NES Punk's coverage on the game or HG101's old article on it. And to that end I'm thankful, because it's one of the few games that actually makes an edgey gamer like me slightly emotional.
Said emotional onset, is probably due to the fantastic music in the game. The lead programmer, composer, and sound programmer; Tomomi Sakai, Masashi Kageyama and Naohisa Morota, respectively, all worked together to completely max out the Famicom's sound capabilities. Even going so far as to use a custom sound controller called the SUNSOFT 5B, which gave them a few additional channels to work with to really make the music feel live and alive (sparing the technical details, it's a really cool piece of hardware and those intrigued by it should absolutely look into it). As many may tell you, the tunes are good enough that they'll find themselves listening to them just for the heck of it. Something I ought to do myself more often.
One thing the contemporary reviews did take particular notice of at launch were the visuals. These are astounding. Every one of the seven stages has a distinct appearance, and there are all sorts of minute details. Be it the seagulls hovering in the background of the beach stage (those guys make noises too!), or the variety of smooth machinery animations in the mine and tower stages. Coupled with the music, the scenery really shows how rich the NES could be at its best. And I think the final stage absolutely showcases this in my favorite way, as it's the easiest stage in the game, but only as a brief reprieve from the action before the tough final boss. Appropriately fitting, is a slightly ominous mood with a contradictingly serene atmosphere, brought on by the music, the little spikey cat creatures running around, whatever those giant those tooth-shaped creatures lumbering about are, the peaceful dragon statue spouting water, birds twittering, and more. It's a real treat, if my detailed gushing about it didn't already indicate as such.
And of course, though I compliment these things, they wouldn't make the game a masterpiece on their own. Thankfully, the gameplay in Gimmick! is not only wholly unique, but it's a joy to play and works extremely well in the modern gaming age. The protagonist, Yumetarou, has a star projectile he can generate and shoot with the B button. It takes a little bit to get the hang of since it's got its own velocity and will bounce around the screen for a bit until it leaves the area or loses speed and disappears. It's an interesting mechanic, and you must rely on it the entire game to discard enemies and even ride around on it yourself to reach areas normally inaccessible. Things don't simply revolve around that however; Sakai also implemented slope inertia into every single slanted tileset you walk on, and so you'll find yourself jumping a lot to tactically reposition yourself. It makes way for level design that's smart and challenges the player to think in new ways, furthered by the supreme difficulty of the game. If there's one thing people know the game for, it's the challenge. This game's not very long by any means, 30-minute arcade game length at that (perhaps part of the reason the 2020 Exact☆Mix version exists), but you'll most likely take longer than that the first handful of times you play it. It's tough, but far from impossible to get the good ending. This game has the perfect level of challenge to make it both addicting and never feel cheap. It'll grab you by the hair and force you learn its ideas; trifle you with the dastardly boss AI for a little while, before soon making you a master of its ruleset.
This game's a perfect blend of exquisite aesthetics and gameplay; a true passion project from the small team that made it. I think this makes for a good account of why Gimmick! is an awesome game worth your time and adoration. Thanks to me wanting to play the original Dragon Quest games, I've been reminded of the sheer quality of the NES library, and I don't think I'll find myself forgetting that again. Sure there are stinkers like Mario: The Lost Levels, but there are wonderful games like Gimmick! to play instead. Fortunately, a port to modern consoles and PCs was recently announced, so if you haven't already played it, I'd suggest picking that up when it releases. Personally, I'm gonna try to get as many people playing this game as possible, it's too good for me not to.
At launch, it was definitely obscured; additionally getting critically panned by EGM and Famitsu alike, but through various offerings on the internet, it gained more notoriety than it originally saw at release. Something that's certainly left a mark on its secondhand prices, wherein both its Japanese Famicom and Scandinavian NES incarnations it's one of the most expensive releases for the entire system's library. Though in light of that, of course, more people now know of it, myself included. I probably wouldn't have known about it were it not for either Pat the NES Punk's coverage on the game or HG101's old article on it. And to that end I'm thankful, because it's one of the few games that actually makes an edgey gamer like me slightly emotional.
Said emotional onset, is probably due to the fantastic music in the game. The lead programmer, composer, and sound programmer; Tomomi Sakai, Masashi Kageyama and Naohisa Morota, respectively, all worked together to completely max out the Famicom's sound capabilities. Even going so far as to use a custom sound controller called the SUNSOFT 5B, which gave them a few additional channels to work with to really make the music feel live and alive (sparing the technical details, it's a really cool piece of hardware and those intrigued by it should absolutely look into it). As many may tell you, the tunes are good enough that they'll find themselves listening to them just for the heck of it. Something I ought to do myself more often.
One thing the contemporary reviews did take particular notice of at launch were the visuals. These are astounding. Every one of the seven stages has a distinct appearance, and there are all sorts of minute details. Be it the seagulls hovering in the background of the beach stage (those guys make noises too!), or the variety of smooth machinery animations in the mine and tower stages. Coupled with the music, the scenery really shows how rich the NES could be at its best. And I think the final stage absolutely showcases this in my favorite way, as it's the easiest stage in the game, but only as a brief reprieve from the action before the tough final boss. Appropriately fitting, is a slightly ominous mood with a contradictingly serene atmosphere, brought on by the music, the little spikey cat creatures running around, whatever those giant those tooth-shaped creatures lumbering about are, the peaceful dragon statue spouting water, birds twittering, and more. It's a real treat, if my detailed gushing about it didn't already indicate as such.
And of course, though I compliment these things, they wouldn't make the game a masterpiece on their own. Thankfully, the gameplay in Gimmick! is not only wholly unique, but it's a joy to play and works extremely well in the modern gaming age. The protagonist, Yumetarou, has a star projectile he can generate and shoot with the B button. It takes a little bit to get the hang of since it's got its own velocity and will bounce around the screen for a bit until it leaves the area or loses speed and disappears. It's an interesting mechanic, and you must rely on it the entire game to discard enemies and even ride around on it yourself to reach areas normally inaccessible. Things don't simply revolve around that however; Sakai also implemented slope inertia into every single slanted tileset you walk on, and so you'll find yourself jumping a lot to tactically reposition yourself. It makes way for level design that's smart and challenges the player to think in new ways, furthered by the supreme difficulty of the game. If there's one thing people know the game for, it's the challenge. This game's not very long by any means, 30-minute arcade game length at that (perhaps part of the reason the 2020 Exact☆Mix version exists), but you'll most likely take longer than that the first handful of times you play it. It's tough, but far from impossible to get the good ending. This game has the perfect level of challenge to make it both addicting and never feel cheap. It'll grab you by the hair and force you learn its ideas; trifle you with the dastardly boss AI for a little while, before soon making you a master of its ruleset.
This game's a perfect blend of exquisite aesthetics and gameplay; a true passion project from the small team that made it. I think this makes for a good account of why Gimmick! is an awesome game worth your time and adoration. Thanks to me wanting to play the original Dragon Quest games, I've been reminded of the sheer quality of the NES library, and I don't think I'll find myself forgetting that again. Sure there are stinkers like Mario: The Lost Levels, but there are wonderful games like Gimmick! to play instead. Fortunately, a port to modern consoles and PCs was recently announced, so if you haven't already played it, I'd suggest picking that up when it releases. Personally, I'm gonna try to get as many people playing this game as possible, it's too good for me not to.
Incredible game for aliens and robots and the sort of person who can handle unrelenting pain. Amazing and unique mechanics with loads of depth. Looks great, sounds great, will perform a Mortal Kombat fatality on you irl. I want to get good at this but it will take years of training in the hyperbolic time chamber
Mr. Gimmick is kinda like the anti-Kirby's Adventure. Both are incredibly pretty games with cute protagonists, but while Kirby is relaxing, Mr. Gimmick is absurdly difficult, especially for its true ending requirements and true final boss.
The attack is really slow, can only have one out at a time, and you can ride it which is really neat but it's hard to utilize that practically due to the slowness.
The physics are a common point of praise, and they are really good, but Gimmick always feels like it's on ice as a consequence. I wouldn't consider it a worthy trade-off.
Its physics are very modern and graphics almost as good as Kirby's Adventure, but then it falls into a ton of old Famicom trappings that truly keep this game from shining.
The attack is really slow, can only have one out at a time, and you can ride it which is really neat but it's hard to utilize that practically due to the slowness.
The physics are a common point of praise, and they are really good, but Gimmick always feels like it's on ice as a consequence. I wouldn't consider it a worthy trade-off.
Its physics are very modern and graphics almost as good as Kirby's Adventure, but then it falls into a ton of old Famicom trappings that truly keep this game from shining.
Make no mistake, this game is evil in the exact same way that something like Getting Over It is. See, beyond the meme parts of Getting Over It, the actual brilliance of the game (and of Foddy's other stuff like QWOP for that matter) is offering you something just barely functional enough that you can see what it might look like to master it. It can create a yearning for that mastery, and in that yearning, do irreperable damage to your hands and overdraft hours of life out of your time bank. For those who broke through and learned how to do this well, I have tremendous respect. For many, they will see it, feel it brush against their ribcage like a panic, and either they'll pull away or press on, only to discover just what it takes and oh, by the way, there's a true ending.
Its quality as a game is only rivaled by its usefulness as an IQ test
Goddamn, this game is amazing.
The presentation is top-notch for NES standards. As usual, Sunsoft did an amazing job with the soundtrack and the visuals kinda look like a mix between Kirby's Adventure and Super Mario Bros. 3, which I appreciate. It's probably the prettiest looking game on the NES.
I like the star as a weapon, it's a bit tricky to manage but it feels rewarding to master. Some levels have parts that you can only reach by using the star to help carrying you and it always rewards you for doing that, which is great.
What can I say? It's a charming, cute, and very well made platformer and I wish more people knew about it. I'm happy that I finally got to play Mr. Gimmick because it's now one of my favorite NES games of all time.
The presentation is top-notch for NES standards. As usual, Sunsoft did an amazing job with the soundtrack and the visuals kinda look like a mix between Kirby's Adventure and Super Mario Bros. 3, which I appreciate. It's probably the prettiest looking game on the NES.
I like the star as a weapon, it's a bit tricky to manage but it feels rewarding to master. Some levels have parts that you can only reach by using the star to help carrying you and it always rewards you for doing that, which is great.
What can I say? It's a charming, cute, and very well made platformer and I wish more people knew about it. I'm happy that I finally got to play Mr. Gimmick because it's now one of my favorite NES games of all time.
A while ago, I found that secret room hidden in the other secret room in the 2nd level.
It took me a while to find out it existed, and when I did bring it up to other people?
A friend said you could push the item potions into each other to make 1ups.
Somehow I didn't know that either. This game is chock full of secrets. God damn
It took me a while to find out it existed, and when I did bring it up to other people?
A friend said you could push the item potions into each other to make 1ups.
Somehow I didn't know that either. This game is chock full of secrets. God damn
This game has no right to be as good as it is. LISTEN TO THE BASS
To my mind it's one of the best games of its time, certainly one of the best handful of NES/Famicom games. The soundtrack is just unbelievably good. Challenging, pleasant to look at, a sweet story, and controls and mechanics that have the potential for a real sense of mastery.
Cute and fun little game that's fairly tough! Been wanting to play it for years. Surprised it never got localized. Love the music, visuals, and the unique mechanics Yumetaro's Star projectile got.
I don't get the hype on this one. Sure, it was pretty fun but game is short and the only real replay value is finding 6 rooms to unlock a final boss that should've just been available without going through that hassle. The main star mechanic does have depth but rarely will the game ever want you to tap into that potential, only needing to pull off fancy maneuvers with it like 5 times in the entire game. It is aesthetically very pleasing though, I'll give it that.
The game isn't bad, but it isn't particularly good either.
(Also, why is everyone saying this game is hard? It really isn't. I was able to beat it without continues directly after my first playthrough and on said playthrough I only got game over like 3 times while I didn't even know how to use items.)
The game isn't bad, but it isn't particularly good either.
(Also, why is everyone saying this game is hard? It really isn't. I was able to beat it without continues directly after my first playthrough and on said playthrough I only got game over like 3 times while I didn't even know how to use items.)
I've been working through some "hidden gems" I've jotted down over the years and Mr. Gimmick was the next one up.
I enjoyed the spirit of all the ideas it had. It genuinely felt like something "new" on a system I grew up with. From the slide~y environment and jumps to the interesting weapons, it's very unique for the NES. But the main weapon never "clicked" with me.
I felt I was fighting the gameplay controls more than the enemies or environments. This hurt the fun factor big time. I will admit figuring out a couple bosses or sequences was quite satisfying but just as many other times it was annoying or a chore. And I didn't even bother getting good at timing the jumping on the star itself. So I missed out on all but the first hidden area (and a final-final boss according to what I read afterwards).
Definitely a hidden gem indeed though. Worth trying for all and if it "clicks" with you, could be top tier.
[Emulated/played on Miyoo Mini v2]
I enjoyed the spirit of all the ideas it had. It genuinely felt like something "new" on a system I grew up with. From the slide~y environment and jumps to the interesting weapons, it's very unique for the NES. But the main weapon never "clicked" with me.
I felt I was fighting the gameplay controls more than the enemies or environments. This hurt the fun factor big time. I will admit figuring out a couple bosses or sequences was quite satisfying but just as many other times it was annoying or a chore. And I didn't even bother getting good at timing the jumping on the star itself. So I missed out on all but the first hidden area (and a final-final boss according to what I read afterwards).
Definitely a hidden gem indeed though. Worth trying for all and if it "clicks" with you, could be top tier.
[Emulated/played on Miyoo Mini v2]