''Gargoyles'' is a

platform game A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...

developed by

Disney Software Disney Interactive Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher owned by The Walt Disney Company through Disney Interactive. Prior to its closure in 2016, it developed and distributed multi-platform video games and interact ...

and published by

Buena Vista Interactive Buena ( ) is a borough in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 4,603,Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

in 1995. It is an adaptation of the Disney animated series of the same title.

Gameplay

The game loosely follows the plot of the show. The player controls the protagonist

Goliath Goliath ( ) ''Goləyāṯ''; ar, جُليات ''Ǧulyāt'' (Christian term) or (Quranic term). is a character in the Book of Samuel, described as a Philistine giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) a ...

as he seeks to put an end to the Eye of Odin, a corrupted magical talisman that can transform whoever comes to possess it.

Demona Demona (), voiced by Marina Sirtis, is a fictional character and one of the primary antagonists of the Disney animated television series '' Gargoyles''. Demona was once Goliath's mate and was part of their 10th century AD castle's ''Wyvern Cl ...

, the most recent owner of the Eye, ultimately becomes the main antagonist. The game contains 5 levels bookended by short cinematics that explain the story thus far, each level concluding with a

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, a ...

encounter. Throughout the game, Goliath would contend with the

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

who ransacked Castle Wyvern in the past, as well as new, robotic foes who attack him in the present era across various venues, such as

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

rooftops and a subway. His arsenal of attacks to defend himself includes various strikes with his fists, grapples, throws, and leaping maneuvers. He can also pump his wings once to increase his jumping distance and climb along walls and ceilings with his claws. ''Gargoyles'' boasts a hand-drawn appearance to Goliath, Demona, and the Viking enemies (not unlike

Virgin Interactive Virgin Interactive Entertainment (later renamed Avalon Interactive) was the video game publishing division of British conglomerate the Virgin Group. It developed and published games for major platforms and employed developers, including Westwo ...

's ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of ...

'' also for the Genesis), but also a CGI-modeled look for the robot enemies.

Release

The game was intended to be released exclusively for the

Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

on May 15, 1995, but it ended up being released in November 1995, and received reviews late in the year. A

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in E ...

version planned for a Christmas 1995 release was cancelled. In December 2012, Chris Shrigley, who programmed the game, released the

source code In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the wo ...

for educational purposes to the public. During Disney D23 in 2022, an announcement trailer for a remastered version, developed by

Empty Clip Studios Empty Clip Studios, LLC is a video game developer based in San Diego, California and was founded in July 2007. It was formed by Francois Bertrand and Matt Shores. On September 8, 2008, the company released their debut game ''Groovin' Blocks'', ...

and Disney Games, was released. A trailer released on September 7, 2023, which revealed a release date of October 19. It will have updated visuals, achievements, and enhancements to the gameplay.

Limited Run Games Limited Run Games, Inc. is an American video game distributor based in Apex, North Carolina. The company specializes in the release of digital games on physical media, with the games being sold on their website. The company, founded by Douglas ...

has announced a remastered version of ''Gargoyles'' will be released physically Fall 2023 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

Reception

The game was very well received by most critics. Scott Larry from ''

GamePro Gamepro.com is an international multiplatform video game magazine media company that covers the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software in countries such as Germany and France. The publication, GamePro, was originally la ...

'' called it "one of the best games for the Genesis, right next to ''

Earthworm Jim 2 ''Earthworm Jim 2'' is a 1995 run and gun (video game), run and gun platform game, platform video game and the sequel to ''Earthworm Jim (video game), Earthworm Jim'', and the second and final game in the ''Earthworm Jim (series), Earthworm Jim'' ...

''" and added: "Topnotch gameplay and great graphics made ''Gargoyles'' one of the year's best. It's a stone-cold blast!" ''

Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...

'' awarded it a score of 8.5/10, commenting: "

Disney Interactive Disney Interactive is an American video game and internet company that oversaw various websites and interactive media owned by The Walt Disney Company. History 1995–1996: Formation and beginnings In December 1994, Disney announced that it wa ...

made ''Gargoyles'' into everything that would be expected from Disney's animation division. All the character movements look like a cartoon in themselves. If you found joy in ''

'' and ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance, it ...

'' you'll probably receive the same thrill from ''Gargoyles'' but on a darker level". Mike Salmon of ''

Game Players ''Game Players'' is a defunct monthly video game magazine founded by Robert C. Lock in 1989 and originally published by Signal Research in Greensboro, North Carolina. The original publication began as ''Game Players Strategy to Nintendo Games'' ...

'' and ''Next Generation'' gave it four stars and 85% ratings respectively for its "simply amazing" graphics and being "a real treat to play", calling it one of the biggest surprises and best Genesis games of the year, and positively comparing it to "similar in looks" to ''

Demon's Crest ''Demon's Crest'', known in Japan as ''Demon's Blazon'', is a platform game, side-scrolling platform video game developed and published by Capcom for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the third video game starring Firebrand (an enemy ...

'' for the SNES, adding that "with this and ''

Toy Story ''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American computer-animated comedy film directed by John Lasseter (in his feature directorial debut), produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The first installment in the '' Toy Story ...

'', Disney has done more with the Genesis than Sega has ever done". The four reviewers of ''

Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The m ...

'' were more conflicted about the game, giving it scores ranging from 4.0 to 7.5 out of 10. They all agreed that the game's controls were frustrating, but differed in their opinions of the gameplay and graphics (from "dingy" to "aren't the best" to "really impressive").

References

External links

*
''Gargoyles''
' at

GameFAQs GameFAQs is a website that hosts FAQs and walkthroughs for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by Fandom, Inc. since October 2022. The site has a databa ...

{{Disney's Gargoyles 1995 video games Cancelled Super Nintendo Entertainment System games Commercial video games with freely available source code Disney video games Gargoyles (TV series) Platformers Sega Genesis games Sega Genesis-only games Single-player video games Video games based on animated television series Video games scored by Michael Giacchino Video games developed in the United States Video games set in New York City Video games set in medieval Scotland Video games set in 1994 North America-exclusive video games