Gargoyles Remastered Review: A challenging but clumsy trip through time

Gargoyles Remastered is a trip back in time to Disney’s video games of the 1990s. Most people my age remember at least playing Gargoyles, The Lion King, or Aladdin. While Aladdin was the easiest of these three, Gargoyles and The Lion King were brutal, especially on the SEGA Genesis. However, Gargoyles was a SEGA Genesis exclusive in that the SNES version was canceled before the original planned release in 1996.

While I enjoyed this trip back in time, I won’t lie and say it wasn’t incredibly frustrating at the same time. Thankfully, as a remaster, it was easy to go and research what I was doing wrong at certain stages. Gargoyles Remastered is the same game, with the same mechanics as the original - just updated for modern consoles with a few quality-of-life updates.

While I appreciate what the game is trying to do, it still could have used a few more tweaks, in my estimation.

Looking for Crossword hints & solutions? Check out latest NYT Mini Crossword Answers, LA Times Crossword Answers, and USA Today Crossword Answers

Gargoyles Remastered brings all the challenges back from the 1990s

Gargoyles Remastered is an upgraded version of the original SEGA Genesis classic. Launching around the same time as The Lion King and Aladdin, it's a classic side-scrolling platformer. All the things that made the original great are here, and those that made me want to tear my hair out are also here.

It’s a five-level game. Each stage feels distinct and different, ranging from various settings. Visually speaking, it’s significantly better than the original, but the premise is still the same. You control Goliath, the main protagonist and leader of the Gargoyles, as they get displaced from their home and taken to New York City.

Armed with claws, a throwing ability, and wings to glide on, Goliath has to explore these primarily open areas, defeating enemies and avoiding environmental hazards on the way to his final clash with Demona. There are some pretty serious changes, though.

Gargoyles Remastered has a few quality-of-life improvements and a cut feature

One of the best parts of Gargoyles Remastered has to be the improved visuals. You can swap between the original graphics and the new ones at will. Some people might like the SEGA Genesis visuals, but I prefer the new, sharper graphics. You can also rewind a few seconds back at will, which is a popular remake feature at this point in time.

However, unlike other games like the Castlevania and Mega Man collections, I found myself actively using the Rewind feature. However, we’ll be going over that in the gameplay/controls section of this side-scrolling platformer.

You can also adjust the difficulty, but that doesn’t seem to do more than give you more lives. The difficulty of the game remained challenging, in my estimation. You can also play the original game difficulty if you wish.

One thing was cut, though - Gargoyles on the SEGA Genesis had a variety of cheat codes you could implement by pausing the game, and those definitely appear to be gone.

If they’re in the game, it was not clear how to use them. I don’t really mind these being gone, but there were definitely times I wanted some invulnerability in Gargoyles Remastered.

How does Gargoyles Remastered control and handle as a modern game?

Perhaps the most frustrating things about Gargoyles Remastered come from the moment-to-moment gameplay. Goliath is a massive, muscled powerhouse. Despite that, there are far too many enemies that feel like they take 10-12 hits to defeat. Not all of them are like that, but enough for my liking.

The controls are okay, but Goliath sort of slides to a stop instead of having something more reliable. I often found myself moving too far away from enemies, if they were even remotely mobile. That’s honestly not terrible, but it's just something you can get used to and adjust to.

However, the almost complete lack of invincibility frames after being hit is frustrating. Not to mention how far down and back you fall when climbing and taking damage.

When fighting the first boss of the game, there were several attempts when I lost half my health bar due to taking repeated damage from touching them or the lightning they conjured.

This isn’t always a bad thing, though. I completely stunlocked the second boss, and they had to just stand there and get beat up. Lots of enemies are like that if you strike first. It can work to your advantage if you’re fast.

Another point of contention was hit detection. Even if enemies were recoiling, it never really felt like I was hitting them or harming them. The throw move also felt pointless. By the time most enemies you want to throw are in reach, they’ve already started hitting you. There were also times when it felt like you were hitting multiple enemies and didn't deserve to. That's a classic SEGA game for you.

Then you have climbing, when multiple enemies are attacking you, or there are obstacles like spikes. I cannot tell you how many times I fell when trying to jump between towers in level 1. I understand it’s supposed to be a challenging stage, but this was another moment where hit detection seemed to suffer.

I know these are mainly negative, but in all fairness, this is how the original game was designed. If they wanted it to be a true-to-life remake of the original game, Gargoyles Remastered definitely succeeded. I would have updated a few of these, however, in the modern release. These things can frustrate, but that tracks for a 90s-era Disney game. They were meant to be brutally difficult.

Visually, Gargoyles Remastered delivers on a sharp, recognizable look

The visual upgrade is a pretty serious one (Image via Disney)

Gargoyles Remastered is heads and tails above the original, and it’s not even close. You can see above the comparison between the two graphic modes. The music isn’t as memorable as I’d like, but I like the sound effects, such as Goliath’s angry roar. While I think the music is solid, I do wish there was more done with it.

That said, for the price point for Gargoyles Remastered ($14.99 USD), I think the presentation for sound and aesthetic are just fine. They aren’t annoying or bad.

In Conclusion

Fifteen bucks for a three or so-hour game isn’t that bad, and you’ll definitely get plenty of challenge out of it. It’s just a shame that some of that challenge comes from outdated gameplay designs like we suffered through in the 1990s.

While I was frustrated by some of the gameplay choices, you have to remember both the price point and that it’s a visual remaster of a SEGA Genesis game. That level of difficulty and challenge is right up many players’ alley.

Not everyone will like how punishing it can be, but if you’re from that era and played these games, it will be a sight for sore eyes. I loved the animations and new visuals, that’s not up for debate.

However, I would have still liked to see a few more quality-of-life changes regarding the actual gameplay itself. Even without those, it still plays well and handles decently. You just have to be ready to have perfect jumps and be quick on the claw swipe.