Never a more fitting title
The music from the original Gimmick! game still plays in my head on a regular basis. Amazingly this is not a sequel I would have guessed we would see considering the original game is niche at best. It was only released in Japan, and for some reason Sweden, but it gained a cult following, and for good reason. This classic platformer is still unique to this day. It is no surprise as it was developed by Sunsoft, who are responsible for some of the all-time classic NES games.
Over thirty years later we finally get a follow-up and it is now available on every platform imaginable. So how does it stack up? Well after several hours with it, my brain is completely fried. This is one of the most challenging platformers I have ever played.
MSRP: $19.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, Switch, PC
Price I’d Pay: $19.99
So, what is Gimmick? I remember the first time I got my hands on the original game and trying to brute force myself through it. The mechanic here has our green blob hero tossing a star that can be used as a platform. It has its own arc, and the levels are designed with that in mind. The star can take out enemies, but its real use is navigating the extremely challenging platforming.
This is extremely unique and wildly challenging. Everything here is based on momentum. Going down a slope to gain speed or arc the star at just the right angle is what makes this game challenging. There are six stages to burn through, and if you know exactly how to navigate them, it can take around two hours to finish it. My first time playing it though it took me twice as long. I died…a lot and it took my brain so long to figure out just the right way to tackle each challenge.
The stage design is fantastic. Bitwave did a phenomenal job of capturing that Gimmick style while also adding in enough to make it their own. This is the kind of game that is designed for speedrunning, and it shows. I had to take breaks frequently as the game just wore my brain out. There is an assisted mode, but make no mistake, this is NOT an easy mode. Instead, it just lessens enemy encounters and widens some of the platforms, it is still extremely challenging. Thankfully this mode can be turned on or off at any time.
Visually the game retains the same style as the original, but this time around Bitwave decided to go with a more hand drawn aesthetic as opposed to the pixel route. This is challenging as a lot of times this method ends up looking cheap or not faithful to the original. It works here though. I love the copious amounts of color on display here, it looks happy which is misleading as the game continuously beat me down over and over. I wish the enemy variety was a little more varied, but the stages are varied and look fantastic. The music is a nice mix of arranged versions of the original tunes alongside some new ones and hearing that original theme was just chef’s kiss.
Gimmick! 2 is a fantastic follow-up to a classic video game a lot of people likely have never had the pleasure of playing. I love that it has returned and is now available for just about anyone to experience. Yes, it is hard, but that is what makes it special. The game never punishes its players and instead encourages trying again with excellent checkpoints. I do wish the original was included in this package just so I could revisit it, but otherwise this is a fantastic sequel to one of the most unique platformers of all time.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
