[thnikkaman_lackey]

Wasn't there also a puzzle that was drastically different in the version? I recall reading in some strategy magazine that it caused quite the hassle for some readers who tried to do it their way and that it always resulted in failure.

[rbudrick]

Hey guys, I said it was their policy. I didn't say they stuck by it!

-Rob

[joshnickerson]

Actually... it is now... sort of.

http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.php?cPath=29&products_id=105

[Sardius]

Sushi-X gave Mr. Gimmick a 4? What an asshole!

[Richter Belmont]

[Ichiban Crush]

You have to remember that when this game was supposed to be release, it was near the end of the NES' twilight years, and EGM had a habit of favoring 16-bit games over 8-bit titles, no matter how fun the 8-bit titles were. Whichever Sushi-X that was (Ken Levine?) also complained in every GameBoy game review how Nintendo needed to make a color portable. And look at how long that thing remained monochrome until the GBC came out.

[ArnoldRimmer83]

Time to bump this thread, cause Kurt Kulata of Hardcore Gaming posted a scan of the Gimmick EGM review. Now we can finally see the context for their scores.

http://blog.hardcoregaming101.net/2011/08/mr-gimmick-review-in-egm-july-1992.html

Of the reviewers, the Ed guy seems to be the only one that actually played it. I know everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but as you read these reviews, you'll seriously wonder if they based their reviews entirely on screenshots.

Steve: "Here's a game with a cool theme that could have been explored in a hundred different ways. Instead it's a repetitive attempt at the action genre with difficult that is obviously geared to the wee sprites. Kids games don't have to be completely lacking, however, and more time could made this one a winner. 5"

I don't really know what to say here.

Martin: "Mr. Gimmick has a few cool options to the game play and the cute theme will attract younger players. I can't get excited about moving a little booger around the screen though. The graphics are OK and the sounds are decent but other that that [sic] the game play is very simple and needs more variety. Not bad, but not great. 5"

The graphics are merely "OK". I guess cause they aren't 16-bit they don't look impressive at all.

Sushi-X: "Mr. Gimmick is one of those games that the kiddies can relate to. The levels are nicely detailed for a NES game but with only five levels the variety just isn't there. The music is kind of catchy but wears this after a while. The game plays rather well however. The score would have been higher if it wasn't so easy. 4"

Seriously Sushi? Are we playing the same game? If Gimmick really is such an easy game, I sure was fooled. Or maybe he played a proto with invincibility turned on. Assuming he played the game at all that is.

Anybody know who the "Sushi-X" was at the time?

[Kid Fenris]

My favorite capsule review is still GameFan's take on Primal Rage.

[Ichiban Crush]

[Tongueman]

A little off-topic, can someone collect here, or point out, a list of blogs, stories, confessions from former employees of EGM back in the '90s?

This, for example: http://blog.radd.tv/2011/01/my-time-at-sendai-former-egm-editor.html

I love hearing the dirt about Ed Semrad or underhanded EGM in general :wink:

[Evan]