| Gimmick! Mr. Gimmick |
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|---|---|
Japanese front and back boxart |
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| Developer(s) | Authentic Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | Sunsoft |
| Designer(s) | Tomomi Sakai |
| Composer(s) | Masashi Kageyama Shinichi Seya |
| Platform(s) | NES, PlayStation |
| Release date(s) | NES
PlayStation
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| Genre(s) | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Media/distribution | 3-megabit cartridge |
Gimmick! (ギミック! Gimikku!) is a 1992 platform game developed by Authentic Entertainment and published by Sunsoft for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was retitled Mr. Gimmick when it was released in Scandinavia.
Contents |
In the introduction animation, a young girl receives a gimmick doll named Yumetarō (ゆめたろー) for a birthday present. She quickly favors the new doll over her previous toys who, jealous over abandonment, kidnap her and hold her captive in an alternate dimension inhabited only by toys. Yumetarō, as the protagonist, must track down his new owner and retrieve her from the toy world.
The player controls Yumetarō, who uses a star that spawns above his head to defeat enemies found in the game. The star doubles as a functional utility, as Yumetarō can ride his creation and use it to reach otherwise unattainable areas.
Yumetarō must make his way through six stages and six bosses to complete the game. Once the player completes the six stages, it is revealed that the girl is still missing. To fully complete the game, Yumetarō must go back and find a hidden area in each stage where a magic item resides. If he can obtain each stage's magic item without losing all his lives (i.e. no continues allowed), a secret stage will be made available where an extra boss must be beaten. Only after these conditions are met is the game completed in full, with a new animation showing Yumetarō rescuing the girl and leading her back to safety.
Gimmick! was released in Japan on January 31, 1992, and subsequently in Scandinavia under the title Mr. Gimmick on May 5, 1993. The game was not overly successful; the Scandinavian release in particular is considered one of the rarest NES games released in Europe.
The game was reviewed in the July 1992 American issue of the Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine, but it was never released in North America.
Gimmick! was re-released on November 21, 2002 for the Sony PlayStation as part of Sunsoft's Memorial Series Vol.6 in Japan, which included another Sunsoft game, Battle Formula (known outside of Japan as Super Spy Hunter).
It is considered somewhat of a cult classic now, due to the resurgence of the NES via computer emulation.
Recently, Gimmick! appeared on a reproduction cartridge based on a unreleased NTSC prototype by retrozone.usb in 2011.