In 1992, Sunsoft developed and published a game for the Famicom (the Japanese Nintendo Entertainment System) known as Gimmick! In the game, you play as a yokai called Yumetaro that is accidentally given to a young girl as a toy. When the girl's other toys kidnap her and take her to another dimension (just go with it), Yumetaro must rescue her and bring her home.
The game would be given mixed reviews and little interest on release, mainly because it was released in a time where game developers, publishers, and fans were taking more interest in the emerging 16-bit consoles like the Super Famicom/Super NES and Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis. Sunsoft had trouble getting the game distributed and published due to this. Sunsoft's American branch wasn't interested in localizing the game due to its character design. In fact, the only other place that it got published in was Scandinavia in 1993. It wouldn't be until the remake called Gimmick! Exact Mix (aka Gimmick! Special Edition) got released for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and XBox One that the rest of the world would get to play this game. Officially, that is.
In June 2024, it was announced that a sequel was in the works called, naturally, Gimmick! 2 for the Switch, PlayStations 4 and 5, XBox One, Windows, and XBos Series X/S. Let's look at the trailer!
Well, I hope Yumetaro can handle the cold. You'd think he'd at least have a scarf here.
"Gonna beat you with this star! ...and now it's wet. Good thing it's waterproof!"
If you're thinking Yumetaro looks like a ripoff of Kirby, it's understandable. But in reality, Yumetaro debuted several months before Kirby did. Kirby's first appearance, Kirby's Dream Land, was released in Japan in April 1992, whereas Yumetaro debuted in January of that year.
I like the idea of Yumetaro using his star to solve puzzles. Helps keep things interesting.
So, Yumetaro can assume different appearances...or are they different Yokai? Do these new forms grant different abilities? So much to think about here...
David Wise is most known for composing music for the Donkey Kong Country games, most recently Tropical Freeze.
Yumetaro is like "OH COME ON NOT AGAIN!"
Oh, I get it! You have to time the star's bounces!
The original Gimmick! was criticized for its difficulty, so it would not surprise me if this game is also no walk in the park.
Well, this game looks like it will be a fun addition to my Switch library. The game looks nice and colorful art-wise, and I think it will be a nice bit of challenge and brain teasing for gamers. Thanks for reading this blog entry! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!
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