While I do still question how the hell this spin-off even came into existence in the first place, the original Gargoyle’s Quest was a pretty fun and unique spin-off for the Ghosts ‘n Goblins franchise. The main side-scrolling stages were fun to traverse through, while challenging you all the way through, the upgrades you got throughout the game made it so that you felt like you were getting stronger as you kept going, and the combination of adventure and 2D platforming styles worked pretty well, even if there were definitely areas that could’ve been improved upon. Now, despite how this seemed like it would just be a one-off title, however, it did end up spawning its own short sub-series that would be released alongside the original titles, which would expand on the base gameplay and take Firebrand’s power to brand new heights!........ or at least, I assume that is what’s gonna happen as we move from the Game Boy to the NES with the second game, Gargoyle’s Quest II: The Demon Darkness.
When it comes to a video game’s sequel, there are two things that said sequel should set out to do. First, it should keep the gameplay pretty similar to the original, while also expanding on it by introducing new elements or challenges for the player to take on, and secondly, it should aim to fix the problems that the original game had to make a better experience. So, when discussing Gargoyle’s Quest II, I can safely confirm that it manages to do only one of these things. I mean, hey, at least that is better than other sequels that I have seen out there, which do neither. And hey, at the end of the day, I would consider Gargoyle’s Quest II to be an improvement over the original game, and a great game all on its own. It may be lacking in several areas, such as in terms of innovations for both story and gameplay, but it does manage to come out on top over the original when all elements are taken into account and compared.
The story is pretty simple, being a prequel to the original game, where Firebrand has to take down King Braeger and his army of monsters to stop them from taking over the Ghoul Realm, which is kind of a let down for a plot for a sequel, but again, story doesn’t really matter too much when it comes to NES games, the graphics are pretty good, having the distinct style and feel that you would expect from a Ghosts ‘n Goblins game, but it doesn’t really innovate anywhere or look as good as other games released at the time, the music is pretty good, having plenty of good tunes to listen to throughout the levels, but none of it really stuck out to me for me to remember it after my initial playthrough, the control is pretty much the same as the original game, with all of the same basic abilities at your disposal, and it all controls well enough, even if it can be a little finicky at times, and the gameplay remains true to what was presented in the original, and improves it in several areas… while also ignoring others.
The game, once again, contains two gameplay sections you will continuously swap between: the adventure sections and the platforming sections. The adventure sections work the same way as the original game, where you will take control of Firebrand, move around the overworld in a similar way to Final Fantasy, visit many towns, caves, and towers, talk to many citizens and kings to gather useful information and gain items, which you can use to help you progress through several areas of the game. Like with the original game, it mainly serves as a means of getting you from Point A to Point B a lot of the time, which does kinda suck, but thankfully, there are a little more exploration elements to be found in this title. Not to mention, they managed to fix one of my main complaints about these segments in the original game: the random battles. These were a complete waste of time in the original game, as not only were they usually the same battles every time, but they also gave you nothing for doing them. In this game though, there are now no more random battle at all, but instead, you can talk to certain people on the overworld that will initiate these fights, which if you ask me, is a much better way of handling these encounters.
The platforming sections also work almost identically to the original game, where you will take on plenty of stages varying in shape, size, and challenge, use your powers to fly across large gaps, cling onto walls, and take out the many ghoulish foes that you will encounter, gather plenty of vials and hearts to help you out along your journey, and take on plenty of bosses that will either put up quite the fight and test the limits of your platforming skills, or will be piss easy and go down pretty quickly. It all works practically the same as the original game in many different areas, but it is still fun a lot of the time, and satisfying to take down a lot of the changes faced before you. In addition, the upgrades that you do get throughout the game make these levels much more fun to go through as well, throwing new types of obstacles at you along the way.
With all that being said though, there is one big problem that I have with this game in general: the lack of innovation or change. Now, trust me, I don’t ask for too much when it comes to video game sequels (I am a Mega Man fanatic, after all), but the least I expect is some kind of of changes or new additions to what was there previously, such as with new types of stages, new powers to use, or new gimmicks thrown in that other games have done. However, with this game, there is little to no changes thrown in whatsoever, making it feel like I am just playing an upgraded port of the original game at times. The only new additions to the game that I could find was, again, the lack of random battles, as well as one new ability that allows you to make platforms for yourself…. that’s it. Aside from that, there aren’t really any other problems I have with the game as a whole, aside from some instances of poor design being present throughout.
Overall, despite a severe lack of innovation, this is still a good enough sequel to the original game, and a great game in general, one that I would say is an improvement over the original game in several areas. I would recommend it for those who were big fans of the original game, as well as those who are big fans of the Ghosts ‘n Goblins franchise as a whole, because it is worth at least checking out for a little bit. Although, don’t expect to find any huge changes in there, or else you may find yourself disappointed in the final product. And before we end this off, I just wanna say how I love that these games portray Firebrand as being the chosen one and a great hero, even though this is also the same fucker that caused many of my deaths in the main Ghosts ‘n Goblins games, and I guarantee he was the main cause of death for many others as well. Great hero or not, he can fuck all the way off for all I care.
Game #398
When it comes to a video game’s sequel, there are two things that said sequel should set out to do. First, it should keep the gameplay pretty similar to the original, while also expanding on it by introducing new elements or challenges for the player to take on, and secondly, it should aim to fix the problems that the original game had to make a better experience. So, when discussing Gargoyle’s Quest II, I can safely confirm that it manages to do only one of these things. I mean, hey, at least that is better than other sequels that I have seen out there, which do neither. And hey, at the end of the day, I would consider Gargoyle’s Quest II to be an improvement over the original game, and a great game all on its own. It may be lacking in several areas, such as in terms of innovations for both story and gameplay, but it does manage to come out on top over the original when all elements are taken into account and compared.
The story is pretty simple, being a prequel to the original game, where Firebrand has to take down King Braeger and his army of monsters to stop them from taking over the Ghoul Realm, which is kind of a let down for a plot for a sequel, but again, story doesn’t really matter too much when it comes to NES games, the graphics are pretty good, having the distinct style and feel that you would expect from a Ghosts ‘n Goblins game, but it doesn’t really innovate anywhere or look as good as other games released at the time, the music is pretty good, having plenty of good tunes to listen to throughout the levels, but none of it really stuck out to me for me to remember it after my initial playthrough, the control is pretty much the same as the original game, with all of the same basic abilities at your disposal, and it all controls well enough, even if it can be a little finicky at times, and the gameplay remains true to what was presented in the original, and improves it in several areas… while also ignoring others.
The game, once again, contains two gameplay sections you will continuously swap between: the adventure sections and the platforming sections. The adventure sections work the same way as the original game, where you will take control of Firebrand, move around the overworld in a similar way to Final Fantasy, visit many towns, caves, and towers, talk to many citizens and kings to gather useful information and gain items, which you can use to help you progress through several areas of the game. Like with the original game, it mainly serves as a means of getting you from Point A to Point B a lot of the time, which does kinda suck, but thankfully, there are a little more exploration elements to be found in this title. Not to mention, they managed to fix one of my main complaints about these segments in the original game: the random battles. These were a complete waste of time in the original game, as not only were they usually the same battles every time, but they also gave you nothing for doing them. In this game though, there are now no more random battle at all, but instead, you can talk to certain people on the overworld that will initiate these fights, which if you ask me, is a much better way of handling these encounters.
The platforming sections also work almost identically to the original game, where you will take on plenty of stages varying in shape, size, and challenge, use your powers to fly across large gaps, cling onto walls, and take out the many ghoulish foes that you will encounter, gather plenty of vials and hearts to help you out along your journey, and take on plenty of bosses that will either put up quite the fight and test the limits of your platforming skills, or will be piss easy and go down pretty quickly. It all works practically the same as the original game in many different areas, but it is still fun a lot of the time, and satisfying to take down a lot of the changes faced before you. In addition, the upgrades that you do get throughout the game make these levels much more fun to go through as well, throwing new types of obstacles at you along the way.
With all that being said though, there is one big problem that I have with this game in general: the lack of innovation or change. Now, trust me, I don’t ask for too much when it comes to video game sequels (I am a Mega Man fanatic, after all), but the least I expect is some kind of of changes or new additions to what was there previously, such as with new types of stages, new powers to use, or new gimmicks thrown in that other games have done. However, with this game, there is little to no changes thrown in whatsoever, making it feel like I am just playing an upgraded port of the original game at times. The only new additions to the game that I could find was, again, the lack of random battles, as well as one new ability that allows you to make platforms for yourself…. that’s it. Aside from that, there aren’t really any other problems I have with the game as a whole, aside from some instances of poor design being present throughout.
Overall, despite a severe lack of innovation, this is still a good enough sequel to the original game, and a great game in general, one that I would say is an improvement over the original game in several areas. I would recommend it for those who were big fans of the original game, as well as those who are big fans of the Ghosts ‘n Goblins franchise as a whole, because it is worth at least checking out for a little bit. Although, don’t expect to find any huge changes in there, or else you may find yourself disappointed in the final product. And before we end this off, I just wanna say how I love that these games portray Firebrand as being the chosen one and a great hero, even though this is also the same fucker that caused many of my deaths in the main Ghosts ‘n Goblins games, and I guarantee he was the main cause of death for many others as well. Great hero or not, he can fuck all the way off for all I care.
Game #398