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When people think back to the original Nintendo Entertainment System, they will either remember one of two things. They will either have fond memories of classics like Super Mario Bros 3, Kirby's Adventure, MegaMan 2, and other NES games worth remembering, or they will remember the nightmare inducing games that will forever be burned into their mind. It's just how the NES days went, with games either being complete knock outs, or being games where you would be better off being knocked out. Thankfully, Gimmick! is the former!

Wait, you say you've never heard of Gimmick!? Well, you're not alone.

Gimmick! was released in 1992, and never made it overseas to the Nintendo Entertainment System. This was mainly a Famicom exclusive, with a small release in the Scandinavian market. That being said, the game finally did see a full blown Western release in 2023; which is what we will be taking a look at today. After nearly 31 years, the game finally made it to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, and along with this port forward came some new features as well.

So the question still remains, exactly what is Gimmick!, and was it worth the wait? Well, let's just say this unique title is a little more than meets the eye.

The Story of Gimmick!

Gimmick! follows the story of a little green yokai by the name of Yumetaro. After being mistaken for a toy, he is gifted to a young girl for her birthday. She takes one look at Yumetaro and is instantly in love with her new "toy," and Yumetaro is happy to have a new owner. However, the girl's other toys don't share the same sentiment. 

In the middle of the night, the girl's other toys come to life, kidnap her, and drag her into another dimension. Yumetaro, who is now alone, decides to follow them to hopefully save his new owner. He has a family now, and he wants to do what he can to bring her back.

From there Yumetaro travels across different worlds fighting off each toy in his way, until he eventually reunites with the girl taken away from him. Overall it's a simple plot, but as an NES game, it's really all that is needed. The game isn't filled with cutscenes, nor is there dialogue between screens. The story is completely told by the intro and ending, with the stages themselves and the instruction manual providing additional context. Just like all platformers from the "good old days."

The Physics Based Gameplay

Being a platforming game, Gimmick! Only allows you to move left and right on the screen, with the ability to also jump. These are the standards for most platform games of the time period, but Gimmick! does have one mechanic that helps it stand out; Yumetaro's Star Power.

By charging up a star on the horn of his head, Yumetaro can throw the star forward, and watch it bounce across the screen. Enemies it collides with will take damage, but Yumetaro can jump and stand on the star to use it as a platform. Of course the star moves as fast as you threw it, so to actually pull something off like this, you need to either bounce the star back at you, or find a way to get ahead of the throw. This can be very tricky to master early on into the game, but it eventually becomes key to surviving.

As Yumetaro's only real way of attacking comes from throwing the star, with the exception of a few power ups you can pick up, learning how to control it is very important. Enemies are ruthless and will charge at you, so having a star charged can be a matter between life and death. Since the star requires charging, however, missing your throw is just as fatal as not having a throw ready to miss. Jumping on enemies will either act as a platform on lesser aggressive monsters, or deal damage to Yumetaro and kill him. 

Enemies also have their own weight to throw around, so it's possible to be knocked off of cliffs or into other traps if you are not careful. Mixed with the fact that slopes will cause you to pick up speed, enemies knocking you down said slopes can result in an even worse outcome. The game is in fact fully physics based, and ultimately offers a challenge other NES games did not.

As for the stages themselves, there aren't many of them, but each offers a different experience, with a different secrete to discover. These hidden items are required to finish the game fully and get the true ending, and the game hides them well by using it's physics to an advantage. Instead of simply being in the right place at the right time, you have to recognize what you can actually do with Yumetaro's Star Power, or in other cases you need to save specific items to use. 

The game does not hold your hand when it comes to it's secrets, and it can take some time to realize what you must do. Outside of the secrets, the stages themselves are pretty straight forward, with fixed enemy placement, and a mini bosses and main bosses to fight at the end. Each boss is also quite unique, and requires a different approach to beat them.

Although Gimmick! might seem like a kids game on the surface, or something along the lines of Kirby; the reality is that this game is not for those who get angry easy, as it is anything but that... As in, easy.

Mastering the Game

There is no other way to put this. Gimmick! is a challenging game. Right from the get go the first enemies rush you aggressively, and can kill you if you're not ready for it. It isn't too hard to charge a few stars to take them out, but at the end of the first path also leads you to your first secret item. To get this you must throw a star against a wall, bounce it back at you, and jump with perfect timing, and then jump off of the star with perfect timing to make it up a platform. From there you are met with a mini platforming section that needs to be done perfectly, or else you will fall and have to start over. It's something most players won't nail on their first attempt, and will take dozens of tries to master. Eventually it can be done flawlessly without even thinking about it, but it takes a lot of work to get to that point - and that sums up Gimmick! perfectly.

Gimmick! is a game that asks you to learn it, practice it, and then memorize everything about it. There are dozens of ways you can tackle every situation, and sometimes doing it one way will actually make things harder for yourself. There are moments where you will walk to the next screen and instantly take damage, but in reality all you had to do was stand still for a second and you would've been fine. Or there are spots where charging a star and throwing it as you jump will allow you to skip past difficult sections.

The entire game is built around trial and error, and the more you play it, the better you get at it. Initially it is very likely to struggle with even level 1, but eventually level 1 will be a breeze and level 2 will cause the hangups. Once again, the more you practice level 2, the better you'll get, and eventually make it to level 3 without thinking twice about it.

The same can be said with bosses, as they will all appear to be hard at first, but once you know the trick you'll be fine. One early boss jumps everywhere and can be terrifying. Your instincts say to play it safe and try to hit it while it is bouncing, but in reality your best bet is to charge it and stay up in it's business. Sometimes it's aggressive tactics like these that'll work better than defensive ones, while other fights all come down to memorization. Another fight takes place on a steep slope which you can easily slide off of and die, but by memorizing when the boss will attack you can get your star ready and kill it without worry.

But again, none of this is anything you will realize on your first playthrough, and until you do, you will die. A lot.

 

The Power of Rewind

Although Gimmick! includes the classic game, as is, along with a time attack mode, it also offers an "easier" mode with Rewind and Save States built in. Using this mode players can back up every time they make a mistake, or simply save and reload at any time. It is great for learning the game and practicing in general, but all Achievements and Trophies are locked out when playing this way. For those who are Achievement Hunters, they will be required to play the true game as it was originally intended. For everyone else however, the easier mode with assist functions might be more than enough.

Is it worth it?

Gimmick! is a great game for anyone who loves classic platforming games, and those who would like a challenge. It's a very rewarding game once mastered, and it is also very cute and charming. 

Yumetaro will make you wish he was real, and the levels are all unique and fun. I've more often than not caught myself with a big smile on my face while playing the game, and usually I'm sucked in the moment I hit the start button. Even going back to capture some quick extra screenshots for this review had me forcing myself to stop and get back to work. (I made it a good four levels in before I realized how late it was getting!) 

With that being said...

By the time the credits roll, chances are you'll want to jump back in. You will want to get better, and you will want to discover new ways to play. That first star jump back in level 1 that took countless tries to land? Try it again after beating the game, and you'll most likely realize it could've been done by launching yourself into the air. How do you do this? Well, it's actually a technique the game will slowly teach you as you play. The skill might come by accident, but the knowledge is something that will stick with you from the moment it happens, and that's a part of the magic of Gimmick!

It is a game made to be replayed over and over again, and it's physics based gameplay is pretty impressive for an NES game in 1992. Again, it isn't a very long game by any means like platformers like Super Mario Bros 3, but it is a fun one all the same. Just be prepared to die a lot your first time through, but if you stick with it, you'll eventually be blasting through the stages without a care in the world.

Gimmick! really is a special game, and it's great knowing that the rest of the world can finally experience it.