Today I've played and beaten Gargoyle's Quest: Ghosts 'n Goblins, which is a spinoff to the arcade hit Ghosts 'n Goblins from 1985. Gargoyle's Quest itself released on May 2, 1990 in Japan for the Game Boy. This game focuses on the character Firebrand, a gargoyle known from the arcade game for being the most annoying enemy of all.
This game is mostly a platformer but can also be put into the Action Adventure category. It's even called an RPG, though if it classifies as that is questionable. There are two gameplay elements in this game. The first is a top down view of Firebrand as he moves around the overworld, a la Final Fantasy, Crystalis and all the other JRPGs of the time. Similarly to those, there are towns and dungeons you can enter, where you can talk to a few people and buy items, and you can even be put into random battles whilst traveling the overworld.
The other element is the platforming / random battles. Platforming is pretty simple and the amount of different obstacles aren't that many. You can jump, levitate/fly for a few seconds, hang on to walls and shoot projectiles. There are wasps, flying spiders and several ground enemies to fight whilst platforming past obstacles like spikes that try to spike you, water that tries to drag you down, fire bursting from the ground vertically and more.
Whilst random battles usually take a very short amount of time, dungeons have pretty long platforming sections and a boss at the end of them.
The game took me 5 hours to beat using save states but would take more than twice that without any I would assume due to the lack of health that is available and the game throwing you back pretty far whenever you get a GAME OVER screen. It's a solid platformer. I wouldn't say it was very hard, I mean I beat it (!), but that's because I used save states. I used save states in the other games I've played as well but those still were too tough to beat. The issue here isn't the platforming that makes this very hard to beat, but rather that you don't have much health and therefore have to do a whole lot of travelling and random-battling before you can attempt a dungeon again.
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STORYTELLING
The game starts by telling us that the "Great Realm" was attacked by Destroyers several hundred years ago and won, however at the start of this game, a threat looms once again. This time, it's Firebrand who has to save the day against the Destroyers' king, who is called "Breager".
On your journey, Firebrand has to get stronger and stronger to face him. Many allies aid him in that regard and there are many powerful members of the Destroyers that he has to face before he can get his hands on King Breager.
That's pretty much it. You can talk to a bunch of NPCs, mostly in towns, and you have to talk to a lot of barons of a lot of towns you visit, who tell you to go to Point A to get Item B. To get Item B, you need Item A, which the barons give you. You get Item B, return it to the baron, get Item C and move on. Slowly but surely, you learn a bit more about the world and your identity and ultimately try to save the Realm by defeating King Breager.
You can say "Yes" or "No" a bunch of times when you talk to Barons and others who give you tasks. King Breager even asks you to join him, to which I said "No". I always said the one you are expected to say to make progress, but unfortunately didn't try to say "Yes" to Breager or "No" to the others to see what happens. I can't imagine that much does happen since it would make you unable to progress. If that's true, there are no decisions you can make in this game. There really isn't anything that would make me call it an RPG.
Overall, the story is there and it's OK, it fleshes out the Ghosts 'n Goblins lore a tiny bit.
GAMEPLAY
The overworld gameplay is OK but not where the fun in this game is in my opinion. When you make your way to a town to receive your quest, you are thrown into random battles after every few steps. These take place in very small areas and are not all too varied. There are 6-10 different one's I encountered over 50+ random battles. In one you have to kill 3 enemies, jump to the next platform and somehow find a way to land on the platform below to kill the final 2 enemies, since it's a tight platform and they walk around constantly. You do that until you realize that you have individual health for each battle, so you just say screw it and let them hit you once to be able to kill them quickly and win the battle.
Each battle gives you 1-4 vials, which is currency in this game and is used exclusively to purchase "Talismans of the Cyclone", which are extra continues.
You can collect vials and talismans from vases as well, plus some items are hidden in the game world, which you can figure out by talking to the correct townspeople. One for example tells you that "wings" that let you hover above ground for a longer duration are hidden in a tree near the palace. Go there and you'll find them.
Apart from that, you receive pretty much all other items from quest-givers before and/or after you complete their quests. They give you new weapons (there are 4 total and some bosses are resistant to a few), they boost your wing ability and that's pretty much about it.
In the second gameplay section, the dungeon/platforming section, you do what you do in a lot of other platformers. There are rarely points where you are overwhelmed by too many enemies or environmental obstacles, but sometimes the controls don't feel tight enough, especially when you have to try to stick to a wall that is between two water sprites, both of which hurt you if you touch them and give you 2 damage. At the start of the game, that is enough for an insta-kill. Plus, sometimes you have to stick to walls and jump up to try and destroy a wall that blocks your path. If the ceiling is right there as well, you can be stuck in this weird loop of trying to shoot your projectiles in the split-second you got to aim at the wall before you drop down again.
Controls are still tighter than in most games I've played from this year up to this point, so those are mostly minor annoyances.
MUSIC/SOUND/VOICE
No voice acting. The sound design was mostly average, but sometimes a bit too in your face, especially when opening up the combat menu to change weapons. The music in this game was mostly average but there were some good tracks in here, however unlikely that I'll remember it as much as I will with other games I've played of this year so far.
GRAPHICS/ART DESIGN
Looks better than a lot of other Game Boy titles out there, but it's still a Game Boy game. There are no colors, which is OK, but worst of all assets are just reused all the time and the overworld / towns look almost identical throughout. I appreciate that the game has tried to mix some genres together during a time where releasing unfairly difficult, grab-the-players-coin arcade game type platformers seems to have been the norm, but it doesn't enhance the experience, rather the opposite I'd almost have to say.
ATMOSPHERE
Overall, the lore and world building, the soundtrack and the locations differing based on appearance and simply their placement in this world (Floating Continent, Flooded World etc.) made for a pretty atmospheric game.
CONTENT
Without save states, it'll take you closer to ten hours to finish this, but it can get annoying pretty fast. For a playthrough where you use save states, you are looking at closer to 4-5 and overall, I did appreciate the lack of filler in this game apart from random battles becoming repetitive at some point. Apart from the main missions and those battles however, there isn't much else here.
LEVEL/MISSION DESIGN
The game works the same pretty much throughout. You make your way to a town in the overworld. On your way there, a few random battles take place in small areas and they end when you kill the enemies.
Once you make it to a town, you are given a quest and go to the dungeon, where you have to do some platforming. You kill a boss, return to the quest-giver, go to a new town and so it goes. It's a fun little loop but the game doesn't try to mix it up.
CONCEPT/INNOVATION
As I mentioned before, I did appreciate the mix of genres, but those features typically found in RPGs (overworld with towns and dungeons to enter, leveling systems) are the opposite of fleshed out and didn't quite work. With a bit better execution and more technological possibilities this could work though.
REPLAYABILITY
There isn't much incentive to replay this game after a first playthrough.
PLAYABILITY
The game worked well overall but specific sections had very low FPS for some reason. I didn't have problems with the emulator with any other game and the FPS drops happened at the same few areas, which was noticeable, so I think it's worth mentioning, but I had no issues other than that.
OVERALL
An above-average platformer as an overall product, but I would put that on the platforming sections being fairer than others that I have played rather than the game having RPG / Action Adventure elements mixed in. Most of you will probably enjoy your time with this one, but I'd suggest the use of save states when playing. You won't need to use any guides however, and it won't take you too many afternoons to go through it either.
WHAT THEY SAID AT THE TIME
- Charlie T. Aslan for GamePro Issue 13 (Aug 90): "Every once in a while, a game comes along that is so original and enjoyable it becomes an instant hit and remains a top-seller for years to come. Gargoyle's Quest [...] falls into this category." | Based on this review, the mix of genres was seen as a good thing, a reminder that MY reviews represent MY opinion and yours may vary
- ? for Nintendo Power Issue 12 (May-June 90): "The excitement of an action game and the depth of a [RPG] are combined in Gargoyle's Quest from Capcom."
This game is mostly a platformer but can also be put into the Action Adventure category. It's even called an RPG, though if it classifies as that is questionable. There are two gameplay elements in this game. The first is a top down view of Firebrand as he moves around the overworld, a la Final Fantasy, Crystalis and all the other JRPGs of the time. Similarly to those, there are towns and dungeons you can enter, where you can talk to a few people and buy items, and you can even be put into random battles whilst traveling the overworld.
The other element is the platforming / random battles. Platforming is pretty simple and the amount of different obstacles aren't that many. You can jump, levitate/fly for a few seconds, hang on to walls and shoot projectiles. There are wasps, flying spiders and several ground enemies to fight whilst platforming past obstacles like spikes that try to spike you, water that tries to drag you down, fire bursting from the ground vertically and more.
Whilst random battles usually take a very short amount of time, dungeons have pretty long platforming sections and a boss at the end of them.
The game took me 5 hours to beat using save states but would take more than twice that without any I would assume due to the lack of health that is available and the game throwing you back pretty far whenever you get a GAME OVER screen. It's a solid platformer. I wouldn't say it was very hard, I mean I beat it (!), but that's because I used save states. I used save states in the other games I've played as well but those still were too tough to beat. The issue here isn't the platforming that makes this very hard to beat, but rather that you don't have much health and therefore have to do a whole lot of travelling and random-battling before you can attempt a dungeon again.
____________
STORYTELLING
The game starts by telling us that the "Great Realm" was attacked by Destroyers several hundred years ago and won, however at the start of this game, a threat looms once again. This time, it's Firebrand who has to save the day against the Destroyers' king, who is called "Breager".
On your journey, Firebrand has to get stronger and stronger to face him. Many allies aid him in that regard and there are many powerful members of the Destroyers that he has to face before he can get his hands on King Breager.
That's pretty much it. You can talk to a bunch of NPCs, mostly in towns, and you have to talk to a lot of barons of a lot of towns you visit, who tell you to go to Point A to get Item B. To get Item B, you need Item A, which the barons give you. You get Item B, return it to the baron, get Item C and move on. Slowly but surely, you learn a bit more about the world and your identity and ultimately try to save the Realm by defeating King Breager.
You can say "Yes" or "No" a bunch of times when you talk to Barons and others who give you tasks. King Breager even asks you to join him, to which I said "No". I always said the one you are expected to say to make progress, but unfortunately didn't try to say "Yes" to Breager or "No" to the others to see what happens. I can't imagine that much does happen since it would make you unable to progress. If that's true, there are no decisions you can make in this game. There really isn't anything that would make me call it an RPG.
Overall, the story is there and it's OK, it fleshes out the Ghosts 'n Goblins lore a tiny bit.
GAMEPLAY
The overworld gameplay is OK but not where the fun in this game is in my opinion. When you make your way to a town to receive your quest, you are thrown into random battles after every few steps. These take place in very small areas and are not all too varied. There are 6-10 different one's I encountered over 50+ random battles. In one you have to kill 3 enemies, jump to the next platform and somehow find a way to land on the platform below to kill the final 2 enemies, since it's a tight platform and they walk around constantly. You do that until you realize that you have individual health for each battle, so you just say screw it and let them hit you once to be able to kill them quickly and win the battle.
Each battle gives you 1-4 vials, which is currency in this game and is used exclusively to purchase "Talismans of the Cyclone", which are extra continues.
You can collect vials and talismans from vases as well, plus some items are hidden in the game world, which you can figure out by talking to the correct townspeople. One for example tells you that "wings" that let you hover above ground for a longer duration are hidden in a tree near the palace. Go there and you'll find them.
Apart from that, you receive pretty much all other items from quest-givers before and/or after you complete their quests. They give you new weapons (there are 4 total and some bosses are resistant to a few), they boost your wing ability and that's pretty much about it.
In the second gameplay section, the dungeon/platforming section, you do what you do in a lot of other platformers. There are rarely points where you are overwhelmed by too many enemies or environmental obstacles, but sometimes the controls don't feel tight enough, especially when you have to try to stick to a wall that is between two water sprites, both of which hurt you if you touch them and give you 2 damage. At the start of the game, that is enough for an insta-kill. Plus, sometimes you have to stick to walls and jump up to try and destroy a wall that blocks your path. If the ceiling is right there as well, you can be stuck in this weird loop of trying to shoot your projectiles in the split-second you got to aim at the wall before you drop down again.
Controls are still tighter than in most games I've played from this year up to this point, so those are mostly minor annoyances.
MUSIC/SOUND/VOICE
No voice acting. The sound design was mostly average, but sometimes a bit too in your face, especially when opening up the combat menu to change weapons. The music in this game was mostly average but there were some good tracks in here, however unlikely that I'll remember it as much as I will with other games I've played of this year so far.
GRAPHICS/ART DESIGN
Looks better than a lot of other Game Boy titles out there, but it's still a Game Boy game. There are no colors, which is OK, but worst of all assets are just reused all the time and the overworld / towns look almost identical throughout. I appreciate that the game has tried to mix some genres together during a time where releasing unfairly difficult, grab-the-players-coin arcade game type platformers seems to have been the norm, but it doesn't enhance the experience, rather the opposite I'd almost have to say.
ATMOSPHERE
Overall, the lore and world building, the soundtrack and the locations differing based on appearance and simply their placement in this world (Floating Continent, Flooded World etc.) made for a pretty atmospheric game.
CONTENT
Without save states, it'll take you closer to ten hours to finish this, but it can get annoying pretty fast. For a playthrough where you use save states, you are looking at closer to 4-5 and overall, I did appreciate the lack of filler in this game apart from random battles becoming repetitive at some point. Apart from the main missions and those battles however, there isn't much else here.
LEVEL/MISSION DESIGN
The game works the same pretty much throughout. You make your way to a town in the overworld. On your way there, a few random battles take place in small areas and they end when you kill the enemies.
Once you make it to a town, you are given a quest and go to the dungeon, where you have to do some platforming. You kill a boss, return to the quest-giver, go to a new town and so it goes. It's a fun little loop but the game doesn't try to mix it up.
CONCEPT/INNOVATION
As I mentioned before, I did appreciate the mix of genres, but those features typically found in RPGs (overworld with towns and dungeons to enter, leveling systems) are the opposite of fleshed out and didn't quite work. With a bit better execution and more technological possibilities this could work though.
REPLAYABILITY
There isn't much incentive to replay this game after a first playthrough.
PLAYABILITY
The game worked well overall but specific sections had very low FPS for some reason. I didn't have problems with the emulator with any other game and the FPS drops happened at the same few areas, which was noticeable, so I think it's worth mentioning, but I had no issues other than that.
OVERALL
An above-average platformer as an overall product, but I would put that on the platforming sections being fairer than others that I have played rather than the game having RPG / Action Adventure elements mixed in. Most of you will probably enjoy your time with this one, but I'd suggest the use of save states when playing. You won't need to use any guides however, and it won't take you too many afternoons to go through it either.
WHAT THEY SAID AT THE TIME
- Charlie T. Aslan for GamePro Issue 13 (Aug 90): "Every once in a while, a game comes along that is so original and enjoyable it becomes an instant hit and remains a top-seller for years to come. Gargoyle's Quest [...] falls into this category." | Based on this review, the mix of genres was seen as a good thing, a reminder that MY reviews represent MY opinion and yours may vary
- ? for Nintendo Power Issue 12 (May-June 90): "The excitement of an action game and the depth of a [RPG] are combined in Gargoyle's Quest from Capcom."