 S S S Trunk We're all familiar with the trope that most NES-licensed games are terrible, but there are some that are pretty good, like Gremlins 2 The New Badge, made by Sunsoft in October of 1990. This is a top-down action-platformer-shooter-type of a game where you jump around on moving platforms, dodge obstacles, and take out enemies in eight different directions with the projectile that you can upgrade. I should mention quickly that this isn't a sequel to another Gremlins NES game, It's just taking the title of the movie although there was a gremlins game for Atari 2600 made back in 1984 But that's its own standalone thing as well You get a health meter with unlimited continues to get through five levels split up into a couple of stages each and there is a Password system, but you probably won't need it since this playthrough is both short and relatively easy The story as it's told in the game shows our hero gizmo being held captive in a cage in a lab somewhere And that's because the evil businessman Daniel Clamp had gizmos shop torn down to be replaced by more business things I guess a mysterious hand reaches in to unlock gizmos cage and who should it be? But David Hasselhoff who gives you a big awkward thumbs up. Actually, that's Billy from the first movie He works at the lab where gizmos held captive so he lets him go and run a muck around the clamp center No, not that clamp. It's been many many years since I've seen the movie So I don't remember if this game follows the story all that closely. I mean, maybe that actually is David Hasselhoff I don't really remember the gameplay is pretty simple It's a to jump and B to attack and when you destroy enemies They drop all sorts of things including these silver orbs you collect as money that you can use at shops You come across and the shop sells items like weapon and health upgrades as well as balloons Which work like a get out of jail free card if you manage to mess up a jump and fall into a pit Enemies and bosses drop a surprising amount of stuff besides money though There's matches paper clips a bow and arrow that shoots like the spread gun in Contra a bow and arrow on fire that explodes on impact a Light bulb that serves as a clear screen attack a time stopper that freezes all enemies on screen and a pogo stick Which allows gizmo to hop around destroying anything and everything the basic gameplay here may be simple But this isn't exactly Castlevania or ghosts and goblins in the challenge department But being able to play with all these items you come across is pretty cool. Bear in mind though regarding the shops There's only one per level and you can only buy one item at a time There may be five levels, but there's only four boss fights And you know what they say don't expose the Mogwites who bright light don't let them get wet and whatever you do Don't feed them after midnight. Otherwise, you'll get this monstrosity or this one That's some good stuff right there now platforming at a top-down angle like this can be frustrating in most games But in Gremlins 2 it's pretty easy because your jump is consistent and allows you to change direction in mid-air And it's easy to see the shadow beneath you no matter what angle you're jumping with plus the level layouts aren't all that crazy The occasional diagonal jump is required, but it's not like your sequence breaking super Metroid here The only time I had any trouble with the platforming was when enemies would get in the way But even then the knockback here isn't too bad There are some tricky sequences though with lots of stuff to avoid like level 4 has you platforming on conveyor belts Which is always a bit tough so while this game isn't among the hardest on NES It still is not that easy. The highlight of this game is the music Like I said Gremlins 2 was made by Sunsoft and you hear their signature sound throughout this game It's got the same vibe as games like Journey to Silius, Blaster Master and Batman I mean I'm at the point where I see certain NES games almost like interactive music albums The music here and in other Sunsoft games really is that good and it adds a ton to the playthrough So yeah on the surface Gremlins 2 doesn't seem like it have a lot going for it It's an NES game based off of a movie It's a top-down platformer and those can be tricky to pull off But this is a good playthrough with a really great soundtrack There are other games based on Gremlins 2 like for Game Boy, DOS, Amiga, Atari ST But those are all their own separate deals as far as the NES game goes definitely check it out It's held up really well over time All right, I want to thank you for watching and I hope you have a great rest of your day