Gimmick! Special Edition Review: Reliving the Past (PC)

Gimmick! Special Edition is the re-releasing of Gimmick! from the publisher Bitwave Games. Gimmick! was a platform video game developed and published by Sunsoft in 1992. The original Gimmick! even received mixed reviews back when it was released. So, in retrospect, this re-release seems to see how the same game fares in a different context. The significant additions are a time rewind feature along with additional challenge modes for the game.

So, unlike a remake, this is not a major rework of such but rather just the old game again and Gimmick!, for the most part, has not aged the best to the modern gaming era. Gimmick! is sometimes great with its creative level design, the feel of the platforming, theming and overall aesthetic, but with its unfair difficulty and how it plays, the game shows its age.

Gimmick! Special Edition is out on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.

Story – Cute and Fun

The story is like a weird dark version of Toy Story and was conceived three years before the first Toy Story. You play as a toy which the Dad gives to his daughter. She gets this toy, and it soon becomes her favourite toy to play with. This, in turn, makes all the other toys feel like they are not being loved. Here is where the story goes nuts, and the other toys take the girl to a different dimension and capture her, leaving us as the new toy to rescue her.

STORY Manual

The fun aspect is the levels of each toy are designed keeping in mind what the toy is. If the toy is a pirate-themed toy, then the level is on a ship and so on. The game has six main levels and six boss fights at the end. The story overall is fun and cute, and the art is amazing. It is a simple but beautiful retro-style art which ages well. The story is told through cutscenes with Still images. This is very simple and efficient.

Gameplay – Great and Unfairly Difficult

There is one thing to be said about the game. It is insanely difficult. It is also likely that I am just really bad at it, but I personally found the game to be very difficult. This is where the new mechanics of rewinding the game came in for me, where I could just rewind after every death so that it could be beaten. If not, I personally could not progress through the game. The game also does add a time attack mode which is a challenge and to be used by speedrunners as such told by the developers. Personally, I do not have the skill for it, so I cannot honestly judge that mode.

Platforming

So, coming to the gameplay, it is very tight but simple. The platforming feels good, and the level design is fun. The player has a star attack which can be charged up to attack, and it can also be used as a platforming tool. Overall, it is a fun experience dodging and attacking while collecting powerups to use. With the six bosses taking about an hour to two to beat but there is a way the game extends its run time.

Boss Fight

The player does not get the true end of the story until one finds all the secret areas. These stages are hidden in each stage to get a hidden item. This essentially makes the player go through the game one more time while finding the hidden areas. All this takes about three hours to beat. But as told, the difficulty kinda ruins the fun pace of the game.

Graphics and Sound – Fun Throwback

The graphics are very much the old game, just in higher resolution, and for the most part, it looks great. The characters are adorable and cute. The art style of Gimmick! is pretty great, helping each of the levels to feel distinct. The music is basic but very much matches the game and its gameplay. The main character/toy is cute and looks like a green Kirby.

Levels and Map

The game essentially collects all the manuals and art of the original Gimmick! Game. It is a great and helpful way to collect all the history of the game in one package. Gimmick! Standard Edition is exactly that, the preservation of an old game while keeping all its aspects, good and bad. This means that the game has not aged the best in a few spots, but personally, I think that it is a good thing in its own right that the game is now preserved especially in the present environment where game preservation is in a dire state. In that regard Gimmick! Special Edition is a triumph.

The game was played on PC, and the key was provided by Freemode.