Mr. Gimmick! is a late release NES that’s held in high regards by many. In this video essay, I not only talk about the history of this game and analyze it, I also talk a bit about Sunsoft in general, the company who released it. I quote several people and even interview the creator himself to bring you the most thorough reading of this game yet. Hope you enjoy!
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Art by:
https://twitter.com/RainbowHeartUni (+Voice overs)
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Tweets by Fune_Bure
Tweets by minminmancha
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https://www.instagram.com/illuxtrator/
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Voice overs:
@UltraHealthyVideoGameNerd (As @electricsheepcoltd / Tomomi Sakai)
@Stevem (As Masashi Kageyama)
@RndStranger (As Naoki Kodaka)
@Keksi (As Power Player 34 reviewer)
@HPRshredder (As David Siller)
@BigOleWords (As Katsutoshi Eguchi)
@AdmiralSmug (As Masahiro Sakurai)
Sources:
https://web.archive.org/web/20130126030559/http://www.glitterberri.com/ja/developer-interviews/making-mr-gimmick/
https://www.electricsheep.co.jp/blog.php?category=%A5%B2%A1%BC%A5%E0%A1%A6%B3%AB%C8%AF
https://archive.org/stream/nintendo-magasinet-1993-5/02%20-%20nintendo-magasinet-1993-5.power-player-34_djvu.txt
https://www.electricsheep.co.jp/blog.php?id=239
https://www.ninretro.de/v3plus/game-3-514.html#reviews
https://web.archive.org/web/20131217121920/http://www.1up.com/features/kenji-eno-breaks-silence-page2
https://shmuplations.com/sunsoftmusic/
https://www.romhacking.net/homebrew/39/
The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers (By John Szczepaniak)
Memoirs of a Virtual Caveman (By Rob Strangman)
Game Center CX Season 15 // Episode 117 – Gimmick!
Purchase Gimmick! Special Edition on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2131800/Gimmick_Special_Edition/
Music used:
Masashi Kageyama – Good Morning (ROM Cassette Disc In Sunsoft Remix)
Masashi Kageyama – Happy Birthday (ROM Cassette Disc In Sunsoft Remix)
Naoki Kodaka – Mine Blaser (ROM Cassette Disc In Sunsoft Remix)
Out Live OST – Prologue
Shadow of the Ninja OST – Stage 1
Little Nemo The Dream Master OST – Mushroom Forest
Power Blade OST – Sector 1
Batman OST – Stage 2
Art Pepper – Body & Soul (From the Complete Abashiri Concert)
Lagrange Point OST – Intro
The Wing of Madoola OST – Underground
Ufouria: The Saga OST – Sky
Kirby’s Adventure OST – Cloud Tops
Trip World OST – World 1
Trip World OST – World 5 (Part 2)
Trip World OST – World 3 (Part 2)
Batman: Return of the Joker OST – Stage 2
Galaxy Fight: Universal Warriors OST – Trip! Trip! Trip! (Yacopu Stage)
Super Spy Hunter OST – Boss Battle
Super Spy Hunter OST – Stages 1 & 4 (Part 2)
Mr Gimmick OST – Innocent
Mr Gimmick OST – Sophia (Take 2)
Mr Gimmick OST – Siesta
Fester’s Quest OST – Underground Sewers
Gremlins 2: The New Batch OST – Stage 2
Fester’s Quest OST – Ending
Journey to Silius OST – Title Screen
Journey to Silius OST – Ending
Masashi Kageyama – Siesta (ROM Cassette Disc In Sunsoft Remix)
Every game featured in order:
Mr. Gimmick!
Mega Man 5
Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins
Ninja Jajamaru: Ginga Daisakusen
Akumajō Special: Boku Dracula-kun
Ducktales
Shadow of the Ninja
Little Nemo: The Dream Master
Power Blade
Blaster Master
Batman: The Video Game
Benkei Gaiden
Outlive
Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse
Mouryou Senki Madara
Lagrange Point
Battletoads
Aero the Acro-Bat
Ufouria: The Saga
Kendo Rage
The Jetsons: Cogswell’s Caper!
Mega Man 6
Zoda’s Revenge: Startropics 2
Kirby’s Adventure
Trip World
Maharaja
Marchen Veil
Batman: Return of the Joker
Wing of Madoola
Metroid
The Guardian Legend
Insector X
Platoon
Moon Crystal
Galaxy Fight: Universal Warriors
Memorial * Series: Sunsoft Vol. 6
Battle Formula/Super Spy Hunter
Power Blade 2
Battle Zeque Den
Time Diver Eon Man (Prototype)
Titan Warriors (Prototype)
The California Raisins: The Grape Escape (Prototype)
Journey to Silius
The Terminator (Prototype)
Superman (Prototype)
Sunman (Prototype)
Superman
Panic Restaurant
Pizza Pop!
Little Samson
Atlantis no Nazo
Ikki
Hello Kitty World
Manhole
Super Mario Bros
26 Comments
This video cost just over $1,000 and took me a little under 3 months to make. If you enjoyed the video, I would highly appreciate your support by drawing fanart of my character Hayley and tag me on Twitter or pledging to me on Patreon.
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This is my interview with Tomomi Sakai that didn't fit in the description:
Hi Hayden,
Thank you for your patience. It takes many times longer to write in English than in Japanese.
When I automatically translate something I wrote in Japanese into English, I get sorts of strange parts. In the worst case, the content would be completely different. Automatic translation from English to Japanese is so-so, but from Japanese to English is really terrible. That is why I wrote this in English.
I have only learned English from books and radio programs and have never lived in an English-speaking country, so I know my English will be strange, but I hope I can convey what I want to say.
Q: What were some of your main inspirations for the aesthetics in Gimmick? Each stage has its own unique design and I’d be interested to hear what made you choose each particular theme and what you drew from.
A: It is difficult to answer this question. I think it is all intuitive. All I know is that it was born out of what I had seen and heard in my life up to that point. It is also influenced by Kagoya's preferences.
Q: On the topic of aesthetics, what inspired your character designs in Gimmick? Did you have separate inspirations for Yumetaro and the human characters?
A: This is the same as the question above; it was a flash of inspiration on the spot.
No. It is due to the inevitability of the story.
Q: How did you come up with Yumetaro’s star move? What were the difficulties of programming the bounce physics?
A: I didn't want to make a platform game that can be cleared by firing a lot of bullets like a shooter. After accurately understanding the relationship between an enemy and Yumetaro, a player carefully hits the opponent with that one precious shot. That is the kind of game I wanted to make.
For me the star program is easy.
Q: Players often struggle with reaching the good ending. Even one game over locks you out of getting it. Was this your choice or somebody else’s? Can you recall why this decision was made?
A: I hate “Continue”. However, Sunsoft's sales people order me to put “Continue” on because it sells more. That is against my principle. So, in the end, I made it so that people who continued could not finish the game. The reason why “Continue” is not allowed is that it detracts from the journey and the adventurous spirit of the game. The difficulties must be real. Fake difficulties for fun will only bring less fun than the real thing.
Q: What are your thoughts on the hobby of speedrunning? Have you watched any YouTube videos of other people playing Gimmick? How does it make you feel knowing there are people out there who try to finish the game as fast as possible?
A: It would be a way to have fun. As for the players playing, they can do whatever they want.
Q: Do you know the name of the person who created the box art of the European version of Gimmick? What else did they work on?
A: Sorry, I do not know.
Q: People have frequently made comparisons to Kirby over the years. Masahiro Sakurai even praised Gimmick! in an issue of Famitsu. What are your opinions on the Kirby franchise and Sakurai as a game developer? Do you have mutual admiration? Are there any games of his that you like?
A: I am not acquainted with him at all, but I consider him one of the great game designers.
Q: What were your expectations for the sales of Gimmick? Did you hope it would become a big success? How do you feel about the cult classic status it has now?
A: It is hard to say how well the game will sell, since factors other than the quality of the game play a large role.
I can say that I am very pleased.
Q: What was your involvement with Trip World like? How much influence did you end up having on the game and how much of it was Yuichi Ueda’s unique vision?
A: Trip World is Ueda-kun's game, so please ask him. I just gave him some advice in our daily conversations.
Q: What is your opinion on Trip World as a game? What do you like about Yuichi Ueda's vision?
A: It is difficult to say anything about the game.
He is good character with a love for games.
Q: Do you ever go back to play Gimmick or Trip World these days? Do you ever think about the days you were still working on those games or would you rather look at the future?
A: I think more about what I will be able to do with the rest of my life than about the past. What I wanted to do besides creating games is write books and do music. I published four books and now I want to do music.
Q: Were you close friends with Ueda at all?
A: I think I can say yes. We talked a lot about games and other things, often went to the car shop together, and went to track days together. At the time, I had a Caterham Super Seven and Ueda-kun had a Midas Gold. I think it was my influence that made him fall in love with British cars.
Q: Can you remember any specific things you suggested for Trip World?
A: No specific advice should be given. What I told him was mainly a sort of philosophy about video games.
Q: Gimmick was included in the Sunsoft Memorial collection in volume 6. Did you have any involvement with that release?
A: No, I don't know anything about it.
Q: What are your thoughts on that Playstation port and the upcoming release on Steam?
It's nice to see that more than 30 years after its release, Gimmick is still loved. My hope is that it will be offered as close to the original as possible.
epic
Great video on goat video game! 😀
The effort put into this is really commendable.
underrated channel
Fantastic video.
you’ve made yumetaro proud 🥹
awesome video as always hayden yayyy
Just finished it, this is awesome! I definitely wish I could have helped more but I love Heart's style for your character, it works perfectly here! ^^
Awesome!
I remember this game being pretty hard. Or maybe I just suck as a gamer, that's probably the only reason why I always end up replaying 9.5 shoot the bullet rather than any others. Anyways this was such a interesting video, a video I didn't think anybody would end up making. I mean I didn't really need to know the history of a game I played god knows when, But I guess it's kinda interesting nonetheless. I now know that Mr. Gimmick is infact A Gimmick and he could rival kirbo in super smash brothers melee if he wanted to.
Hell yeah good vid
Most epic video to come out on my birthday
Incredible
If Mr. Gimmick is so cool, why hasn't anyone told his story before? Checkmate atheists.
This is…pretty amazing. Super informative and slickly edited. I'm really impressed Hayden great job!
That was quite a journey! I watched the whole thing. Really makes me want to spend a bit more time on Gimmick, learning that momentum really does take some work
Amazing as always! Every video you put out is a treat to watch.
Cool but underrated video about a cool but underrated video game
Vine boom sound effect
Fucking amazing video dude. All of the art in the video is so well done and pretty. I learned a whole lot about the game that no one has mentioned in any videos. I had never heard of the behind the scenes of the game and never knew the PS1 version was so bad lmao. Your editing was super slick and well done, especially since it seems to me you started making videos more recently. Only thing I would of liked to see a mention or overview of Gimmick's 2020 remake for Exa-Arcadia, but great stuff otherwise. Youtube did me a service randomly reccomending your video in the home page, definitely gonna sub for more in the future!
One of the best videos I've seen that focused on Gimmick! I really admire the amount of dedication and love that has been put into it, with interviews, telling us about the time around Gimmick!'s release and even going as far as digging up knowledge that little to no one would have ever known!
Thank you for making this!!!
This is an absolute masterpiece of an videogame documentary! Extremely well written, produced and well paced. Also extremely nostalgic, multiple parts of it brought a small tear to my eye.
Loved this
Amazing video 👏
Great video of an excellent game! Made me think, when you talked about rom hacks, of mr gimmick 2 which was an great romhack of gimmick. I think that rom hack kicks ass and would love to see i video like this about that hack.
All the best/ a swedish gamer with SCN-gimmick in my collection ✌
Fantastic video of my favorite NES game!
Enjoyed every second of it!