Gimmick! Special Edition

Genre: Platformer

Players: 1

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Review:

Gimmick!, sometimes referred to as Mr. Gimmick, is a Platformer released in 1992 in Japan on the Famicom, and brought to Scandinavian countries on Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993, but this modern release in 2023 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch marks the first time the game has seen release in the West outside of the Scandinavian region. This game has you controlling a little green blob creature trying to rescue a small girl from a group of toys that have kidnapped her for some reason.

Gimmick! is actually very impressive for a Nintendo Entertainment System game, at least in terms of presentation, with 2D pixel art visuals that seem like a blend of the Kirby series and later Mega Man games, with similarly strong sound design, albeit without those franchise’s memorable tunes.

Unfortunately, while Gimmick’s visuals are adorable, its gameplay is absolutely vicious, with slippery platforming, confusing level design, and combat that requires you to use a bouncing star weapon that can only be thrown down at a sharp angle after taking a moment to charge up, making it an extremely difficult weapon to aim. What’s more, this star can be ridden after tossing it, but doing so is difficult to even attempt, let alone trying to aim it toward where you want to go in any way.

In short: I hate this game.

What’s tragic about it is that this is actually a pretty solid port of the game, adding a rewind feature, save states, new Serious Mode and Speed Run modes, screen setting options, and scanned copies of both the Japanese and Scandinavian instruction manuals.

Unfortunately, a great port of a terrible game is still a terrible game, and adding insult to injury is an absolutely insulting $15 price tag. With this game being 30 years old as of this writing, this is simply unacceptable. In short, I highly recommend you do not buy this game. It may be a good port, and may look appealing, but the game at its core is a nasty piece of work, and an overpriced one to boot.

tl;dr – Gimmick! is a challenging Platformer originally released 30 years ago on the Nintendo Entertainment System but never released anywhere outside of Japan and Scandinavia, and playing the game makes it clear why – it may look appealing, but this is an absolutely brutal game that is a pain to play, and even this excellent port of the game doesn’t change that. Plus, the $15 is an insult given this game being 30 years old. Do not buy this.

Grade: D-

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