Added: 2 years ago
From: theredeye
Views: 60,116
Sort by time | Sort by thread (beta)

Link to this comment:

Share to:
see all

All Comments (181)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • Mind = Blown. Just found out about this game from Toplessrobot's 10 best Nintendo games no one played list, such an awesome game, gonna go check out the Rom then see if I can't find a hard copy. It makes me sad that the Super Mario Bros and Kirby series and such get far more credit than awesome little gems like this or Little Samson but I guess the difficulty curve kind of throws these type of games out of the loop. Love your annotations btw.

  • thanks for uploading the gameplay. Love the music in this game

  • 5:15 there is another hidden room :)

  • I just found out about this game, I just bought super spy hunter and now I want this, is there a US or EU release or just Japan for this game?

  • Here's a fun technical fact:

    This game almost never changes the sprite palettes. Indeed, all enemies and sprites have to be drawn using one of four palettes (sometimes a combination of two). This is especially baffling since higher level programming can allow one to delete a palette and load a new one for a new enemy, and repeat the process as needed.

    For those who want to know, the colors are [dark green, green, white], [orange, yellow, white], [black, gray, white], and [red, pink, white]

  • Your video is popular on Kampala

  • Somehow, this game reminds me of Kirby...

  • This game would be an instant classic if it was released in North America.

  • i had the Scandinavian version. Sadly it's now sold.

  • Thank you for the annotations! This is seriously the best use of the annotation feature I've ever seen on youtube.

  • Nice video, this is by far my favorite NES/Famicom game along with Summer Carnival '92: Recca.

    Also, to the annotation at 6:33, "Spider"? For me it looks more like a beetle. :P

  • How the fuck can someone dislike this? This is one of the most impressive games I've seen on the Famicom both gameplay and music wise!

  • Damn I had a Famiclone with this but I never paid attention I was too busy playing Contra and NekoTown, darn, I need to play this one again, this time for real (instead of just puttin' the game and then taking out :P).

    This game looks awesome!

  • Seriously, fuck CoD. Someone who has a 5.0 kdr is NOTHING compared to someone who can master an NES platformer (or almost any other genre, for that matter).

    These games weren't made for twelve year olds who make all-nighters. Most grown adults can't even handle these types of games. This player is PRO in my books.

    Nothing like the eighties and nineties Nintendo games.

    Awesome video, and an awesome playthrough. Love it!

  • Ya boy Pat turned me on to this one. Gotta admit it gives Contra a run for its money for best NES game

  • Sunsoft = Master of 8-bit programming.

    Seriously, they pushed NES to its limits. Especially with Batman: Return of the Joker.

  • Underrated game,especially the BGM.I think the beginning theme is amongst the best in the NES library.

  • I bet hipster gamers would love this game.

    I absolutely adore the art style they use in the intro along with the music.

  • I had this game as a child, i'm so mad at myself for not taking enough care to save it. Would pay alot to get my hands on this game again.

  • Hey, it's not fair! That's the Megaman jump!!

  • how did you come upon this game?! its sooo rare!

  • Great video guy.

  • i still have this game on my nes <3

  • Great video

  • I have had this game for about 18 years. Did'nt know it was rare. It is a good game.

  • Great game, great video!

  • I NEED THIS GAME!

  • This game makes me feel special because it was only released in japan and scandinavia :D

  • Comment removed

  • I have never seen this game before I found it on a Reproduction website and I have to say I'm rather impressed. The music in the game is phenomenal! I may just have to buy a reproduction of this one even though they are rather pricey.

  • woohoo, i live in scandinavia!

    i still need to buy an american NES... have some ntsc ones..

    anyone want to sell me one? with a single working controller?

  • Comment removed

  • I am the World Record holder on Mr. Gimmick! The Scandinavian version!hi version has more bugs in it, you can skip 2 of the last 3 bosses using the star before the bonus stage

  • This game was made by a girl? Cool.

  • The rounded corners you see at 6:42 are actually ROUNDED, as in walking on them positions the character appropriately on the ledge rather than just being a square collision tile.

    And for the NES I think that's really impressive.

  • Oh, please, this game is so gimmicky.

  • This game has really great graphics.

  • I live in Denmark, and I bought this game a few years ago, mostly as a collector's item. But it is also a very fun game, hard though.

  • I'm a Finn! MWAHAHAHA PUNY AMERICANS!

  • Comment removed

  • Thank you for uploading tvis vid^^ it really takes me back to when I was about 4years old, aaahhh the Nintendo-era.. a fun time to grow up^^

  • gimmick's jump reminds me of megaman.

  • I... I'm awestruck by this music. Never before have I heard more passionately composed music on an nes. Those clouds in the beginning are beautiful looking as well!

  • I loved this game at kid and still love this but i don't have it and it's little bit too expensive rareness in Finland. Last time i saw this for sale the price was 150€. Hope they make remake of this for 3DS. :)

  • @Ipax85

    I doubt it because it only came to scandinavia and japan :(

  • I live in Sweden. Got this game on christmas when I was a kid. It's very rare and many haven't heard about it. The details, music and the fun this game brings is just amazing. This game is way better then Super Mario IMO. Can you record the level where you ride birds if I remember correctly. Mountain stage? The secret treasure there is FULL with traps and really gives you this Indiana Jones feeling.

  • I´m Scandinavian! Yay!

  • @iNils1 do you perhaps own a cartridge of this?

  • @DrRuelel Of course not :P

  • very fun game, another good SunSoft game is Trip World for the gameboy though its easier than Gimmick! it is still quite fun

  • Apparently i own this cartridge, i bought my NES a couple of years ago and it came with some games. Some of those cartridges dont have any picutre they're just blank. The only trouble i find when playing this is that the graphics are all glitchy but the music is awesome. I hope i can get rid of the glitches by cleaning the pins.

  • 7:24

    Is that guy holding weed?

  • The bad toys did well! Why must that girl live in the luxury (you have seen the house) while we just suffer the starvation here??? WELL DONE!

  • Thanks so much for making this! Gimmick! is easily one of my favorite games, period. I'm happy to see it getting the love it deserves. :)

    To those debating the sound- there is both sound expansion and DPCM being used. The sound expansion is responsible for 3 additional pulse waves, while DPCM is used for bass and percussion samples. Check out Gremlins 2, Batman RotJ, and Journey to Silius to hear other examples of similar DPCM use.

    You can find the complete soundtrack on my channel.

  • The music is SO NES / Sunsoft

  • I think this is a cute little game n_n Love the game and vid (note never played the game I just love how it is)

  • Thanks for the annotated video. I never knew that I was sitting on such a gold mine (I loan-traded it for Ice Climbers, and the kid who I loan-traded it with lost my copy of ice climbers, so I kept this one, now I suddenly don't feel so bad about my loss).

  • I admired the birds.

  • Vey nice walkthrough for such a great game!

  • There's also a built in DPCM chip on the NES. This is where voices are done on, but its also able to make emulate better music. One used the DPCM channel alone on the right frequency to input the entire TMNT song on the NES, near crystal clear!

    I don't know if this is a chip on the NES cart, but instead that very DPCM channel, since I played with the emulator sound channels and turning it off resulted in that part of the music missing.

  • @silenceofthehills Sound chip is some yamaha-type chip, might be standard, but something is probably different. But if you add the chip to a cart and run a resistor on the expansion port, it enables the sound on-cart to go through to the TV. Just gotta have a game that uses the extra sound. NES Batman:Return of the Joker is the only game to use the chip and is used to make Gimmic! games often.

  • @3GenGames

    I'm not certain as to what you mean by the above, but what I was saying is that its likely the game wasn't using the japan only famicom sound chip, but the internationaly used DCPM channel. Maybe at some time or another in this game's music does it probably use the sound chip, but at the moment it feels like he ment what is actually coming from the DCPM.

    Festers quest, Journey to Sillius and many more in and outside of sunsoft used it in America.

  • @silenceofthehills This game used the chip heavily. It's not DPCM, as they don't have the ROM for it IMO, but it had better sounds that were more lifelike when used correctly like this. This game does have the chip ONLY used in Batman, Return of the Joker and is pretty good. No DPCM here. They didn't need it. :P

  • @3GenGames

    Actually, now that I think about it, I do here the one instrament sounding more Famicom than NES, not the DCPM channel, but extra bits in the BG of the intro and elsewhere.

  • Wow, this game really is something else. The graphics and music almost make it feel like a SNES game.

  • this game is awesome!

  • This is the best LP I've ever seen. Thank you.

  • This is one of the best, if not the best, NES game(s) to never be released in the US, and surprisingly its a Sunsoft title, one of the NES Heavyweights. I wish there was a legal way to play this.

  • holy shit, this is a game on the NES that looks even better than Kirby? unbelievable.

  • Well I live in Denmark and I've played this game on an original NES. I remember how awesome I thought it was they've hidden all those secret items around. Now if only I could find the copy...

  • The bird around 5:17 reminds me of the bird in Captain Harlock. The third boss reminds me of the the first boss in Sonic 2 SMS/GG. Neat stuff.

  • Hey Cifaldi! I heard about these videos on Retronauts this week and I love them! What an amazing game, definitely my new favorite NES title.

  • I've never been so impressed by an old game that I've left a comment.

    I've also never been so impressed by such a well put together and informational LP that I've left a comment.

  • What a fanastic looking game. I feel as though I'm spoiling it by watching, but sadly I don't think I can ever make myself sit down and play through it.

  • @candygameengine You really should, this game is a shining pearl in the NES library. Just emulate it.

  • This game reminds me of Bubble Bobble

  • borrowed FROM me. damn beer makes typing hard sometimes...

  • i wanna fuck the guy up who borrowed this to me and never gave it back.... this is fucking 350£ here in sweden!

  • 8:04 I think you can kill those things with 8 shots, if I'm not mistaken.

  • At 5:16, before you ride the bird, up that partial wall up, there is another room with a few bombs and those pink things, which you can push together to get a life or two.

  • @polysmart Yup... you're right. Thanks for the info. I made a video that proves that you're right :)

  • the music in the secound stage is way to emotional :')

  • I remember having this game as a kid, but my parents sold it along with all my other Nintendo stuff. Really a shame... I hear a mint condition CIB of this can go for as much as 500€, which is just insane.

  • Thanks for the excellent video of the lost gem of platformers. Gotta play it on emuator.

  • This might become my new favorite game! :D

  • This might look like KIRBY but it is HARD AS HELL

  • hmm nice music, and its very anime

  • Thanks for sharing this.

    Looks very cute.

  • this game looks like an snes game, it too much for nes :D

  • I do live in Scandinavia, Sweden in fact, and I borrowed this game from a friend long ago. It's a really good game, well worth checking out :) When I get the chanse I might borrow it again, for old times sake :)

  • I wonder how people got inspired about the same enemy. Those spiny creatures... They are not much different from Kirby´s Puncs...

    Also SunSoft made Chameleon Twist didn´t it?

  • @frostare Wrong. Sunsoft only published it. The real developer of that game is Japan System Supply, who also developed Chalvo 55 and the canceled Virtual Boy game, Bound High.

  • I own this game. I got it in the early nineties from local shop. You have collect all the special items to get through the game. Each stage has one exclusive item which you have to get. If even one of the items is missing, you can't get to the final stage (and you cannot return to get them either, you just have press RESET to start the game all over again, which may piss the player off).

  • Yes! This brings back memories! It's actually one of the best games i played as a kid, but almost no one has heard of this game! And you say over and over that this game is soooo hard! That actually makes me proud! :D Cause i managed to get both endings on the console as a kid, but i can't remember how hard it was =) And if you think this game is hard... Try completing Battletoads!! I know i have never been able to :( But great video! And thx for bringing back some good memories!

  • Great LP, I remember playing this game a lot as a kid. Also I'm fairly sure the enemy you kill with the bomb is an antlion and not a spider

  • Nice video for a nice game:)

  • The Annotated style was cool

  • thats the best goddamn character in the world >:D

  • This game is definetly top 3 for me. I made myself a NES cart buy taking the Japanese famicom board and putting it in a NES cart case with a 60 to 72 pin converter. Made myself a nice label to go with it and it looks pretty damn official ;)

  • Comment removed

  • @Banzeken Seems that both, Yumetaro (protagonist of Gimmick!) and Kirby were both inspired by Mega Man. Although Kirby also eats, he's also similar to Pac-Man, the very first cute character according to Pac-Man creator, Tōru Iwatani.

  • The game looks fantastic on its own but your annotations make me appreciate it existing all the more.

    Man. I wish little gem had been released internationally, but with the chip still inside. It makes me a little sad that it's doomed to obscurity as it is.

  • i found this to be enjoyable to watch and the annotations were interesting, thanks

  • Comment removed

  • Mrs Palmer and her 5 daughters don't count as girlfriends, nor do the voices in your head count as friends.

  • I'm going to echo previous commenters and say that this is a great video. I just tried this game out and it is HARD -- at least until I get the hang of that throwing angle. Also, the annotations were indeed a useful and interesting addition to the gameplay. Well done, sir! Subscribing, five stars.

  • Those blocks at 5:08 look very similar to a type of block found in Super Mario Bros 3.

  • I like how you actually use the annotations to express useful and fun information about the game! That's something that most people wouldn't take the time for. Let me just say the extra effort is very much appreciated.

    Thanks for reviewing this game! Ever since I saw the TASvideo speedrun of it, I've been curious as to what the game was actually about. Kudos for doing homework on the sound chip coprocessor as well!

  • Hey everyone! I would really appreciate it if you checked out my gameplay videos with commentary, let me know what you think! Thanks, Rec0rdit.

  • "Gimmick is such a jerk."

    According to the Japanese instruction booklet for this game, and its Barcode World card, the protagonist's name is Yumetarō (ゆめたろー). The black round creatures seen in the first level are the Ohagi (おはぎ). Ohagis are named after the Japanese food of the same name.

  • Thank you for showing me this.

    <3

  • I love the music!

  • This game has some fantastic music!

  • This game should have been released on PAL/NTSC. It looks great and the sound is awesome.

    Such a shame.

  • Your commentary/annotations are really well-done.

  • Mario + Kirby = Mr. Gimmick.

  • @LiLxGHiT369

    Gimmick!/Mr. Gimmick - January 1992

    Kirby's Dream Land 1 - February 17, 1992

    Gimmick! came out before Kirby was born.

  • Actually, the character Popopo was actuated way before Gimmick... Also, Sunsoft, who produced the game closely worked together with HAL and Nintendo. Any number of information could have been 'exchanged'.

    Kirby is way more notable.

  • Of course Kirby is more notable, but I don't see any sources about his prototype Popopo coming first, nor Sunsoft with HAL and Nintendo.

    It's like Street Fighter II and Fatal Fury 1 both being underdevelopment at once. Takashi Nishiyama was one of the main designers of the 1987 Street Fighter and some of SNK's early Neo-Geo fighting games, including Fatal Fury 1.

    Does Namco's Wagan Land series count as a cute platformer like Gimmick!, the Kirby series, Trip World and The Legendary Starfy?

  • Well, it's true. Again, Trip World = Sunsoft. Kirby is the precursor and the pinnacle of that genre.

    If they look way too similar, you can start comparing them as a duplicate. Now, what about the enemies all looking like Super Mario Bros. enemies?

    You mentioned some games that cannot be compared. Of course there will always be an original. That's beside the point. You could say that Mario was the first shooter and everything else that came after it was tantamount. But, we of course don't.

  • Of course Trip World = Sunsoft, sometimes I hear someone say it looks like Kirby.

    If any game is similar to Kirby, but came before it, is most likely incomplete, right? Sounds like most people are waiting for the first perfect game in a genre, before a completely new and unique game in the genre is created.

    Gimmick!'s enemies look like they have more "Japanese cuteness" than Mario's enemies do.

    Usually I hear people say the games I mentioned that cannot be compared look similar to Kirby.

  • Comment removed

  • correction: kirby adventure. i didnt mean to type kirby dream land, though thats one of my favorite games of all time..lol

  • damn thats some good graphics for the trusty nes. i would of instantly been impress with this back in the days, like i was with the kirby game back in 92. the animation is pretty good for both of these games.

  • Wow, this game looks so amazing, I want to play it :/

    I need to find this ROM :P

  • this game did come to the us it was kirby but this was kirby earily forum

  • Your commentary is the first commentary I've felt finally used annotations correctly. I watched this video mainly for the excellent commentary.

    Good Job!

  • Why am I watching this?

  • I agree with u!

  • Not only does it have elements of mega man and kirby, there are direct samples of sound from fester's quest. Cute game.

  • @ccgsales

    OH! and it also has some feel/sound of little nemo.

  • It's like Kirby, Megaman, Mario and Sonic

  • Except that Kirby didn't exist yet, this came first!

  • @theredeye I didn't realize that.

  • @theredeye kirby's first game was in 92 for the gameboy.

  • @theredeye february to be exact.

  • @theredeye ha yeah, they were released within like a month of each other though so I don't think anyone ripped anyone else off.

  • Also, Kirby wasn't near as hard...

  • @Megan80 the difference is that Kirby is for insecure faggots

  • omg this looks so fun

    I love the commentary you made throughout the video

  • Wow, someone finally figured out how to use youtube annotations well...

  • Fantastic video, I hope this gets more attention.

  • That is what you call pure skill. There is no way any one can beat this dude at this game. That is by definition, pwnage.

  • Wonderfully entertaining summary. You've made me love this game after seeing it through your eyes. :)

  • Reminds me of a mix between Mega Man and Kirby!

  • Wow. I was just about to say the exact same thing. I can't agree more.

  • This reminds me a ton of Kirby's Adventures for the NES

  • Amazing video! The work really paid off. I wish it had come out when I had a NES but now that just means I get to play it on emulator.

  • Wow, I'm surprised I've never heard of this game until now. It damn well could be the most impressive game on the NES. You could have fooled me and said this was on the SEGA or SNES .

    Also, great commentary. Never seen anyone use annotations as well as you do. Keep up the good work.

  • On the Sega what?

    Which Sega system?

  • Have an upvote. "Sega" is a company, people.

  • Great commentary - the first time I've ever left annotations on. Ever. Really. Honest.

  • @BearsInGames Agreed, this is the first time I've seen annotations used in such an informative and entertaining way.

  • Man it sucks that this game never came out in the states. I would have loved this as a kid.

  • Interesting, that green character jumps just like Mega Man.

  • Polished LP presentation for a polished game. Your playing and annotations pointed out a lot of interesting details I'd missed.

  • I love this game. Thank you for doing it justice with your longplay. RIP old redeye website :P

  • The annotations come up frequently enough that I think it's justified. If you need more time to read it, that's what the pause button's for.

  • You did a great job with this! Please make more annotated videos!

  • HEY YOU KNOW HOW SUNSOFT AND GAIJINWORKS HAVE BEEN HINTING AT PUTTING UNRELEASED-IN-U.S. SUNSOFT GAMES ON VIRTUAL CONSOLE

    (...Victor Ireland/Sunsoft crew, are you listening?)

  • My God, I'll never be good enough to play this game. I would listen the crap out of this soundtrack, though. Maybe some NSF -> MP3 conversion is in my future...

    This is a really cool presentation, by the way! More games could use video essays like this.

  • This game looks AMAZING, even looks better than dare I say, kirby's adventure! :o ... Which came out in 1993! I would totally have bought this, even though I would only have been about 2 years old at the time :P

  • @walkerctranger actually kirby came out...

    kirby's dream land

    Release date(s)Game Boy

    JP JP November 30, 1992 also 1993 in america.

    Mr gimmick

    Release date(s)JP January 31, 1992

  • This is the best "longplay" video I've ever seen on YouTube. Not even kidding.

    Someone already pointed this out elsewhere, but I'd be negligent if I didn't mention that the pink bugs and underground crystal forest are homages to Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Not as obvious as the ones in Crystalis, of course.

  • Please tell me where you can get the music for this game, because it is straight up amazing.

  • errantharpy: There's a format for NES music called NSF, which is basically the exact audio engine and data stripped out of a game ROM and playable in various audio players.

    It looks like someone has kindly ripped an NSF for Mr. Gimmick; I haven't had a chance to try it out yet, but you can find the file and other info pretty easily through a search on "NSF Gimmick" or "NSF FME-7" (the sound chip Mr. Gimmick uses).

  • I followed your advice and was able to grab the tracks, thank you so much! :D

  • I norma