The pull of nostalgia is a strong one, making us fondly look at something from a bygone era through rose-tinted glasses, but some things are better left in the past. Such is the case with Gargoyles, an esteemed 16-bit side-scrolling platformer from Disney that welcomes a visual revamp for the modern age, but forgets to keep up with the times. Gargoyles Remastered ends up being a flawed and not very exciting experience that is over before you know it.

Old Becomes Somewhat New

Released for the Sega Genesis in 1995, Gargoyles is based on Disney’s animated series. Featuring Goliath as the protagonist, his goal is to cross five levels and defeat Demona and the Eye of Odin. If the number of levels seems slim, that’s because it is – this remaster is a step-by-step recreation of the original game, from a time where a full campaign would rarely clock over a couple of hours, and this is entirely true here.

Without rushing, finishing the campaign should take you a little over an hour, which translates into a very brief playtime for a platformer in this day and age, remaster or not. Other similar retro games offer a more enticing longevity, and since the asking price for Gargoyles Remastered is $14.99, it doesn’t exactly represent great value for money.

Gargoyles Remastered comes with this clever seamless real-time toggle between the original and enhanced versions, complete with new animations and sound effects. In practice, this is more of a lure than a fascinating thing to have, since the updated version features a wide display and improved graphics, and that’s the one every fan is likely to go for. After the initial awe, you settle for the upgraded visuals and never look back into the pixelated original that made the delights of many players back then.

One of the new features is a rewind function to use anytime you want. Since platform games in the 90’s were renowned for their difficulty, this is surely aimed at players who want to experience the game without the frustration of frequent deaths and restarts, but the downside is that it makes the game awfully easy. Boss fights are a great example of this; rewinding just before being hit, or to better line up an attack on that fast-moving creature. It’s a cheat mode in all but name, and strongly contributes to emphasize the short duration of the adventure.

But that could all be overlooked if the gameplay was equally improved alongside the visuals. Sadly, it isn’t, and most flaws from the original release are present in the remaster as well. Controls are frustratingly inaccurate, floaty and without a proper sense of weight, resulting in imprecise timing and often not registering an attack or a jump action. Combat is also far from exciting, a mere exercise of spamming the attack button and hoping for the best, with the occasional jump to dodge a projectile. Hit detection is haphazard, flimsy at best, and each clash is a guessing game, with no real feedback on our attacks or the way we take damage.

Boss battles are highlights but also flawed moments that showcase how much the genre has evolved throughout the years. The mutant Viking boss in lava level was eliminated simply by spamming the attack button, interrupting his animation loop and draining his health bar before he could make his move; the train boss even disregards the black border that suddenly appears on the side of the screen, overlapping it, one of many glitches including clipping issues that could have been fixed before release, so blatant they are.

Blink and You Miss It

Gargoyles Remastered could be a simple but decent platformer pulling on the retro heartstrings, but it’s impossible to overlook the incessant control and combat struggles. There are some tricky passages to master, mostly involving balancing from something like a lamppost, but at every failed jump, every unfair death, you realize that the rewind feature was added as a means to relieve frustration, over anything else.

One thing can be said for sure – Gargoyles Remastered never overstays its welcome, simply because there isn’t much content to begin with. It’s a short, flawed game that would have benefited more from being a remake than a plain remaster, with more stages, more polish, and more… everything. As it stands, it’s going to live off the power of nostalgia, but even so, it’s hard to see it converting many players into new fans of the franchise.

Score: 4.5/10

Pros:

• Improved graphics are above average, but not great
• Ability to seamlessly switch between original and enhanced versions

Cons:

• Controls are unresponsive and frustrate many jumps
• Flawed combat with lack of decent hit feedback
• Rewind feature feels more like compensation for the gameplay’s flaws
• Can be finished in little over an hour

Gargoyles Remastered review code was provided by the publisher. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.