This game has no right to be as good as it is. LISTEN TO THE BASS
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project, but it's also a one last hurrah for the Famicom, a showcase of what can be done out of this system that was originally made almost ten years ago (at the time of Gimmick's release) to play ports of Donkey Kong.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project, but it's also a one last hurrah for the Famicom, a showcase of what can be done out of this system that was originally made almost ten years ago (at the time of Gimmick's release) to play ports of Donkey Kong.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?
Underrated as hell! Seriously satisfying and fun to play
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.
An insanely technically advanced game for its hardware. The last couple of stages are brutal, but it's worth playing to see a physics engine and complex AI in an NES game. It's also very cute.
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.
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
What a cute character ;)
Masterpiece
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 review contains spoilers
Mr. Gimmick! (or just Gimmick!) is a very difficult video game. During this era, it didn’t matter if the game was a gritty, urban beat-em-up like River City Ransom or a whimsical, fantasy-inspired game with chibi-looking characters like Bubble Bobble. Every single game on that 8-bit box would test both the might and patience of every player. Video games haven’t recently been inflated to a hefty $50-70 range because of realistic graphics and longer, cinematic narratives. They’ve always been that price, and the primitive hardware of the NES had to compensate by making these games hard as nails. It was the only way for players to get their money’s worth. Mr. Gimmick! falls under the latter of the two categories. Everything about this game is so damn sugar-sweet and cherubic that it’s almost sickening. Nowadays, a game that looks like this would be a facile affair to not offend the sensibilities of children. Despite how it looks, Mr. Gimmick! is just as punishing as any other game on the system.
The premise of Mr. Gimmick! is somewhere between The Brave Little Toaster and Toy Story. The main protagonist is a green plushie named Yumetaro (and not Mr. Gimmick, surprisingly), and he has just been gifted to a little girl for her birthday by her father. Yumetaro quickly becomes the little girl’s favorite toy which makes the other toys green with envy. They take out their feelings of jealousy on the little girl and warp her to another dimension. Yumetaro has to travel to this dimension and rescue his owner from the other toys. It’s kinda like if Woody convinced all of Andy’s toys to take Woody’s aggression out on Andy, and Buzz had to go out and save Andy.
The standout thing about Yumetaro is his method of attacking. He can jump in the air on platforms with a gaping, open-mouthed expression like any other character in a 2D platformer. Still, his way of defending himself from enemies is unlike anything else I’ve seen. To initiate an attack, the player must hold down the B button to materialize a star above Yumetaro’s head. Releasing this button will cause Yumetaro to launch the star as it ricochets off the walls. Yumetaro can even ride the star as it bounces precariously, but doing this is far too risky for a novice player like myself. This attack is certainly unique, but it comes with a slew of problems. Hitting anything with the star depends on the trajectory of where it bounces. Most enemies are about eye level to Yumetaro, so one would think that jumping over an enemy with a charged-up star would do the trick. What happens most of the time, however, is that the star has a habit of getting brushed off by enemies due to not being pinpoint accurate. The best strategy, especially with a group of enemies, is just to flail these stars erratically from a distance and hope that it hits some of them. I wish I could hold a star over Yumetaro’s head and damage enemies that land on it, but the developers thought ahead of that trick. Executing my strategy isn’t as easy as it sounds anyway because the player can’t make another star until the last one has fully dissipated. It also takes far too long to charge up a star, and this also includes the few other powers ups that Yumetaro has, like the bomb and the fireball. I wish there were more variations of this star attack, perhaps letting the player shoot tinier stars that do less damage. The rules regarding the star attack keep the player from exploiting the game, but there is a steep difficulty curve with using it.
The otherworldly dimension of Mr. Gimmick is just as adorable as its pudgy, green protagonist. The game takes place on a floating island with a diverse set of geographical locations, and the levels are divided between those locations. The first level is a candy-coated wonderworld with the bluest of skies and foregrounds that resemble Fruit Stripe bubble gum. The trees of the wooded level are the brightest green, and the flowing waterfalls have an alluring, aqua-blue sheen. The interior and exterior of the pirate ship level are a warm burgundy color, and the stone foundations of the ruins level have never made grey pixels look more appealing. Even the darker sections beneath the grounds of each level manage to be vibrant despite their darker lighting. The colors of Mr. Gimmick pop and sparkle more than most games I’ve seen on the NES. For a world that a little girl is taken into by force, it’s such an effervescent place.
This is what I would be saying if it weren’t for Mr. Gimmick’s difficulty level. I’ve commented on how difficult it is to adjust to Yumetaro’s distinctive offensive ability, but combating enemies is only a fraction of what Mr. Gimmick will throw at the player. The wondrous fantasy dimension of Mr. Gimmick is also a dangerous one, filled to the brim with bottomless holes, water hazards, and spike pits that pop poor Yumetaro with one touch. The controls in Mr. Gimmick! also tend to be a bit slippery, and I had many unfortunate missteps that resulted in instant death. Enemies tend to be placed on narrow platforms, and there are so many sudden hazards that drop from the ceilings that the player won’t anticipate unless they’ve already died from it. There is little room for error in this game. Mr. Gimmick! also implements an unusual health system. The player will start with only two units of health and will have to find two orange flasks in the level that increase Yumetaro’s maximum health by one unit per flask. The player’s maximum health will also be restarted after each level, so the arduous hunt for more health will never be fully relieved. Making players earn their maximum health at each level is pretty harsh if you ask me. The checkpoints are also of questionable convenience because some levels have more than others. Some of the checkpoints in the later levels are completely unfair. The only helpful perk the game gives the player is seven lives, but those will exhaust quickly knowing what the player is up against.
The bosses in Mr. Gimmick are all Yumetaro’s fellow stuffed associates that have taken the girl hostage. Many are just as physically cuddly as Yumetaro and are around his stature. There’s a pirate plushie with an eyepatch and cutlass, a baby bird hatches from an egg, and a wizard with a cloak, to name a few. Because they are around Yumetaro’s height, defeating them with the star up close and personal is not an easy tactic. The boss fights are a matter of knowing where to ricochet the star while avoiding their attacks which can be hectic at times. The most memorable boss is a black blob in a crane shooting a downward laser that fires more rapidly as the player hits it. Defeating this boss requires shooting a specific angle with the star, but that’s not what makes it memorable.
I remember this boss because there’s another after him without any respite or another checkpoint. This unfair endurance test almost made me want to give up. I was surprised that the game ended after defeating the cloaked plushie because the game felt very short, and Yumetaro didn’t rescue the girl. The credits rolled, and the game didn’t feel finished. That’s because this game has a secret ending with the real boss. The final boss that unlocks the true ending is an evil wizard who sheds his dark cloak after a few hits to reveal some guy in a fencing outfit. After defeating him, the girl is saved, and all the other toys are banished. How do I know what happens in the true ending? I watched a clip of it on Youtube. Unlocking the true ending here requires the player to find all of the secret items, all without continuing as well. Fuck that. That girl will starve to death in that sealed-off room, and I’m not going to go through the ludicrous lengths the game wants me to prevent that from happening.
Mr. Gimmick is an obscure hidden gem on the NES, and for good reason. It could be because the game was only released in Japan and Scandinavia, and it could also be because it came out at the end of the NES’s lifespan. No, Mr. Gimmick is a hidden gem because it has a niche appeal. It may seem accessible on the surface due to its adorable charm, but its difficulty makes it anything but. It goes beyond the standard level of NES hard with its rather demanding gameplay with Yumetaro’s star ability, and its little margin of error. It’s unique, but the appeal only extends to a certain level. Don’t be fooled by Mr. Gimmick’s charm. This game is a testament to the phrase “NES hard” in that even the cutest of 8-bit, 2D platformers will still have the player begging for mercy.
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Attribution: https://erockreviews.blogspot.com
The premise of Mr. Gimmick! is somewhere between The Brave Little Toaster and Toy Story. The main protagonist is a green plushie named Yumetaro (and not Mr. Gimmick, surprisingly), and he has just been gifted to a little girl for her birthday by her father. Yumetaro quickly becomes the little girl’s favorite toy which makes the other toys green with envy. They take out their feelings of jealousy on the little girl and warp her to another dimension. Yumetaro has to travel to this dimension and rescue his owner from the other toys. It’s kinda like if Woody convinced all of Andy’s toys to take Woody’s aggression out on Andy, and Buzz had to go out and save Andy.
The standout thing about Yumetaro is his method of attacking. He can jump in the air on platforms with a gaping, open-mouthed expression like any other character in a 2D platformer. Still, his way of defending himself from enemies is unlike anything else I’ve seen. To initiate an attack, the player must hold down the B button to materialize a star above Yumetaro’s head. Releasing this button will cause Yumetaro to launch the star as it ricochets off the walls. Yumetaro can even ride the star as it bounces precariously, but doing this is far too risky for a novice player like myself. This attack is certainly unique, but it comes with a slew of problems. Hitting anything with the star depends on the trajectory of where it bounces. Most enemies are about eye level to Yumetaro, so one would think that jumping over an enemy with a charged-up star would do the trick. What happens most of the time, however, is that the star has a habit of getting brushed off by enemies due to not being pinpoint accurate. The best strategy, especially with a group of enemies, is just to flail these stars erratically from a distance and hope that it hits some of them. I wish I could hold a star over Yumetaro’s head and damage enemies that land on it, but the developers thought ahead of that trick. Executing my strategy isn’t as easy as it sounds anyway because the player can’t make another star until the last one has fully dissipated. It also takes far too long to charge up a star, and this also includes the few other powers ups that Yumetaro has, like the bomb and the fireball. I wish there were more variations of this star attack, perhaps letting the player shoot tinier stars that do less damage. The rules regarding the star attack keep the player from exploiting the game, but there is a steep difficulty curve with using it.
The otherworldly dimension of Mr. Gimmick is just as adorable as its pudgy, green protagonist. The game takes place on a floating island with a diverse set of geographical locations, and the levels are divided between those locations. The first level is a candy-coated wonderworld with the bluest of skies and foregrounds that resemble Fruit Stripe bubble gum. The trees of the wooded level are the brightest green, and the flowing waterfalls have an alluring, aqua-blue sheen. The interior and exterior of the pirate ship level are a warm burgundy color, and the stone foundations of the ruins level have never made grey pixels look more appealing. Even the darker sections beneath the grounds of each level manage to be vibrant despite their darker lighting. The colors of Mr. Gimmick pop and sparkle more than most games I’ve seen on the NES. For a world that a little girl is taken into by force, it’s such an effervescent place.
This is what I would be saying if it weren’t for Mr. Gimmick’s difficulty level. I’ve commented on how difficult it is to adjust to Yumetaro’s distinctive offensive ability, but combating enemies is only a fraction of what Mr. Gimmick will throw at the player. The wondrous fantasy dimension of Mr. Gimmick is also a dangerous one, filled to the brim with bottomless holes, water hazards, and spike pits that pop poor Yumetaro with one touch. The controls in Mr. Gimmick! also tend to be a bit slippery, and I had many unfortunate missteps that resulted in instant death. Enemies tend to be placed on narrow platforms, and there are so many sudden hazards that drop from the ceilings that the player won’t anticipate unless they’ve already died from it. There is little room for error in this game. Mr. Gimmick! also implements an unusual health system. The player will start with only two units of health and will have to find two orange flasks in the level that increase Yumetaro’s maximum health by one unit per flask. The player’s maximum health will also be restarted after each level, so the arduous hunt for more health will never be fully relieved. Making players earn their maximum health at each level is pretty harsh if you ask me. The checkpoints are also of questionable convenience because some levels have more than others. Some of the checkpoints in the later levels are completely unfair. The only helpful perk the game gives the player is seven lives, but those will exhaust quickly knowing what the player is up against.
The bosses in Mr. Gimmick are all Yumetaro’s fellow stuffed associates that have taken the girl hostage. Many are just as physically cuddly as Yumetaro and are around his stature. There’s a pirate plushie with an eyepatch and cutlass, a baby bird hatches from an egg, and a wizard with a cloak, to name a few. Because they are around Yumetaro’s height, defeating them with the star up close and personal is not an easy tactic. The boss fights are a matter of knowing where to ricochet the star while avoiding their attacks which can be hectic at times. The most memorable boss is a black blob in a crane shooting a downward laser that fires more rapidly as the player hits it. Defeating this boss requires shooting a specific angle with the star, but that’s not what makes it memorable.
I remember this boss because there’s another after him without any respite or another checkpoint. This unfair endurance test almost made me want to give up. I was surprised that the game ended after defeating the cloaked plushie because the game felt very short, and Yumetaro didn’t rescue the girl. The credits rolled, and the game didn’t feel finished. That’s because this game has a secret ending with the real boss. The final boss that unlocks the true ending is an evil wizard who sheds his dark cloak after a few hits to reveal some guy in a fencing outfit. After defeating him, the girl is saved, and all the other toys are banished. How do I know what happens in the true ending? I watched a clip of it on Youtube. Unlocking the true ending here requires the player to find all of the secret items, all without continuing as well. Fuck that. That girl will starve to death in that sealed-off room, and I’m not going to go through the ludicrous lengths the game wants me to prevent that from happening.
Mr. Gimmick is an obscure hidden gem on the NES, and for good reason. It could be because the game was only released in Japan and Scandinavia, and it could also be because it came out at the end of the NES’s lifespan. No, Mr. Gimmick is a hidden gem because it has a niche appeal. It may seem accessible on the surface due to its adorable charm, but its difficulty makes it anything but. It goes beyond the standard level of NES hard with its rather demanding gameplay with Yumetaro’s star ability, and its little margin of error. It’s unique, but the appeal only extends to a certain level. Don’t be fooled by Mr. Gimmick’s charm. This game is a testament to the phrase “NES hard” in that even the cutest of 8-bit, 2D platformers will still have the player begging for mercy.
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Attribution: https://erockreviews.blogspot.com
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
Its quality as a game is only rivaled by its usefulness as an IQ test
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.
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.
The best NES game by a country mile. Not that there aren't other fantastic NES games to sink your teeth into but wow this game really is something.
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.
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
It being a functioning platformer that deviates from the Mario formula earns it above average marks
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.
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.
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.
you're gonna want to bust out the ol game genie for this one (SKVTTSVK for infinite lives lol) because it's reallll tough, which would typically not be my kinda jam. however, gimmick OWNS so hard that it was worth retrying parts of each level over and over again, seeing what little secrets i could find by bouncing the star off a wall and going wherever it takes me. gimmick's character and enemy designs are so darn cute and the level and backgrounds are ridiculously detailed, making this feel like it could've come out today. i loved this! im gonna have to smoke some more 8-bit games because i've been missing out (dragon quest 1 review soon....).
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.
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.)
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
One of the most inconvenient weapons I've ever used in a game.
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.
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
Had a pretty fun time. Not too long and has a bit of character. I played after hearing the music but admittedly it wasn't as good as I remembered. Method of attack is goofy but I think it needs that to stand out. Decent game!