Gimmick!

Nintendo console exclusive

A young girl receives a doll named Yumetarou (ゆめたろー) for a birthday present. She quickly favors the new doll over her previous five toys, who felt abandoned and unloved. While she was sleeping, they suddenly came to life and took her to another dimension. Yumetarou, as the protagonist, must track down his new owner and retrieve her from the toys' world.

Released: 31 January 1992
Platforms: NES Windows
Genres: Adventure Platformer
Developers: Sunsoft Empty Clip Studios
Publishers: Sunsoft City Connection Bitwave Games
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: Side view
Themes: Action Fantasy
Country: Japan
Age ratings: CERO A
Languages: English, Japanese

About

Gimmick!, released in Scandinavia as Mr. Gimmick, is a platform video game developed and published by Sunsoft, and originally released in Japan for the Famicom in 1992. The story follows a small green creature named Yumetaro who was mistakenly given as a toy to a young girl. After the girl's toys come to life and whisk the girl away to another dimension, Yumetaro gives chase to save her. Playing as Yumetaro, the player must maneuver through a variety of levels, using the protagonist's star-shooting power to defeat enemies and progress through the game.

In order for Gimmick! to rival the quality of games on the then-new Super Famicom, director Tomomi Sakai required a large staff and used innovative techniques to create high-quality graphics and sound. The graphics were handled using advanced tileset algorithms which freed processing power so more detailed graphics could be drawn on the screen. The game uses a Sunsoft 5B expansion sound chip, which provides expanded sound capabilities compared to a standard Famicom game cartridge and enabled composer Masashi Kageyama to create a more advanced score. The soundtrack crosses multiple genres, with Kageyama describing it as a "compilation of game music".

›Story

The story begins during an unnamed young girl's birthday. Her father is normally busy with work, but he is able to spend time with her family for the special occasion. Earlier, he had gone to the store to purchase a new toy for his daughter. Yumetaro had been wandering the toy store and became confused when her father came in.

He hid with stuffed toys that looked like him, but was picked up by the girl's father. When the girl opens the Yumetaro gift, she is delighted. Yumetaro becomes the girl's favorite, and so her other toys no longer feel loved. One night, the toys come alive and take the girl to another dimension.

The only one left is Yumetaro, who follows the toys in search of her.

Keywords

multiple endings
pixel art
8-bit
boss fight
damsel in distress
fan translation - english
nes game pak - fme-7

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Story

Gimmick! is a platform game that places the player in control of a small green creature named Yumetaro. The story begins during an unnamed young girl's birthday. Her father is normally busy with work, but he is able to spend time with her family for the special occasion.

Earlier, he had gone to the store to purchase a new toy for his daughter. Yumetaro had been wandering the toy store and became confused when her father came in. He hid with stuffed toys that looked like him, but was picked up by the girl's father. When the girl opens the Yumetaro gift, she is delighted.

Development

Gimmick! was conceived by lead designer Tomomi Sakai, who put a variety of ideas into the programming of the game, such as making it in the style of an arcade game, with the gameplay occurring within the upper part of the screen and the score displayed in the lower part. The game may have been developed with a MicroVAX minicomputer, but Sakai claims he could have made the game how he wanted regardless of what equipment was used. In order to rival the quality of Super Famicom games, a large staff was required.

He had always thought about developing his own game with Yoshiaki Iwata and Hiroyuki Kagoya, who were involved in designing Blaster Master, a previous Sunsoft title. The two, however, were paid very little for their involvement in making Gimmick!. The characters were designed by Sakai and Kagoya. , would work for Sakai as an "outsourcer".

Reception

Gimmick! initially garnered lackluster interest and mixed reviews from publications like Famitsu, Electronic Gaming Monthly, and Nintendomagasinet. Sakai blamed this lack of popularity on casual players being unable to handle the difficulty, and the industry's transition to newer 16-bit consoles like the Super Famicom and Mega Drive. When Gimmick!

was exhibited at places like the Tokyo Toy Show, Sakai recalled that he was hoping a dealer would see Gimmick! as a next-generation title developed for the original Nintendo and distribute it, only for them to lose interest once they learned it was a Famicom game. In retrospect, he joked that the game took 10 years for people to appreciate.