Gargoyle's Quest

The game consists of two gameplay styles. One half has the player traverse an overhead view, either on the world map or in towns. This is broken up by the other type of content: individual, action-platforming levels that sometimes feature a boss at the end. While traversing in the sections with an overhead view, the player is able to talk with residential ghouls and, if outside a town, is susceptible to random battle encounters.

The player then must defeat the enemies in order to return to the overhead-view map. While on the overhead map, the player occasionally comes across ghouls who want to fight Firebrand for various reasons.

According to the fictional game lore, Firebrand is a gargoyle predestined to carry on the namesake and identity of the Red Blaze – the powerful force that fought back the Destroyers long before this game takes place. As his destiny foretold, Firebrand saves the Ghoul Realm from brutal conquest by traversing the Ghoul Realm, building his powers, and preparing to fight against the Destroyers' king, Breager, so as to ensure the protection of the Ghoul Realm once more.

Gargoyle's Quest was developed as a spin-off to the Ghosts 'n Goblins series to feature an enemy demon character from the series called Firebrand (known as Red Arremer in Japan). The character was popular with players, so Capcom decided it would be interesting and unique to make a game where players could control a demon and learn his wide moveset. The team decided to develop for the Game Boy, so as not to overshadow the Ghosts 'n Goblins series in arcades and on home consoles.