Gargoyles Remastered is a decent remaster of an intriguing Sega Genesis game that has been a bit lost to time. Though the remaster itself is a bit sparse, the game being remastered is worth your time if you’re a fan of the cartoon or Genesis-era platformers.
Gargoyles Remastered
Developer: Empty Clip Studios
Price: $14.99
Platforms: PS4 (reviewed), Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC
MonsterVine was provided with a PS5 code for review
I grew up watching Gargoyles and have vivid memories of my mom saying the show’s colors were “ridiculously dark” to the point of it being difficult to see what was happening. The Genesis game wasn’t too different, though with the benefit of a big 4K TV instead of a tiny SD one as well as a visual remaster, this Genesis classic has been given a bit of new life.
In some ways, Gargoyles Remastered is a fairly standard platformer. You can jump, slash, and throw, as well as climb on walls and ceilings. Throughout the game’s five stages, you’ll mainly be whacking enemies (primarily Vikings and robots) and climbing buildings. It’s a fairly simple game but quite fun and short enough to stay enjoyable the whole way through. It loosely follows the plot of the show, but all you really need to know is that you’re a cool Gargoyle warrior named Goliath who chases a mystical corrupting object throughout the ages.
Gargoyles is surprisingly forgiving for a platformer from that era, as deaths seemingly don’t push you back at all, which is handy for some of the more difficult bosses. Since this remastered version also includes a rewind button, you won’t really struggle to get through the game regardless. That’s one of the few things to really be added to the remaster, as it feels a bit more bare than things like the Disney Classic Games Collection. For the most part, this is a visual and auditory remaster with little in the way of additional content like development info or unlockables, which is a bit disappointing.
“Some of the detail is lost in the transition from the sharp pixel art to the more flat 2D visuals, though the updated music and sounds are strong.”
You can freely swap between the original visuals and sound and the remastered aesthetic with just the press of a button, which makes it easy to check out the differences between the two versions at any given time. That being said, I’m not a big fan of the remastered look. Some of the detail is lost in the transition from the sharp pixel art to the more flat 2D visuals, though the updated music and sounds are strong. Even so, the nostalgia I feel towards the tinny Genesis sound is tough to beat.
A neat thing about the original visuals is that the robot enemies have a CGI-esque look that clashes with the sleek pixel art in an interesting way that lines up with the themes behind the characters themselves – the robots being modern replicas and the gargoyles and Vikings being natural things from the past.
The Final Word
Though Gargoyles Remastered is a bit bare when compared to other remasters, the game itself is worth revisiting (or trying out for the first time) if you’re fond of the show or just looking for a brisk retro platformer. I wish I liked the new visual style more, but even just as a retro title, it’s a good time. I’m glad to see less well-known Disney games come back to modern consoles, and I hope this trend continues going forward.
MonsterVine Rating: 3.5 out of 5 – Fair
