Gimmick! (Famicom) Playthrough

A playthrough of Sunsoft's 1992 platformer for the Nintendo Famicom, Gimmick!

Gimmick! (ギミック) was Sunsoft's penultimate release for the Nintendo Famicom when it went on sale in Japan in January of 1992, and it became the last game that they'd put out for the NES in the west when it showed up in Scandinavia as a PAL-exclusive in mid-1993.

Differences in video standards and the title aside, the games are virtually identical save for one important distinction: the sound quality.

The PAL version of the game used the "FME-7" memory mapper chip, also used in Batman: Return of the Joker, to enhance the base console's abilities to provide an additional bit of grunt for some nifty graphical effects.

The Japanese cartridge contains a variant of the FME-7, the "Sunsoft 5B." The 5B incorporates a Yamaha YM2149F SSG chip to provide three additional square wave channels that are mixed with the base 2A03's audio output to create a richer sound.

And the results speak for themselves. The NES version sounds good on its own, but it comes across as flat and hollow when stacked up against the fuller, more textured sound of the Famicom game. Amazing what can be accomplished just by mixing a few simple square waves together, isn't it?

The differences in sound alone make the Japanese version worth checking out, and that's why I made this video. What do you guys think of the difference?
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

[BenjaminNixon]

What I love about this game is that it's all killer, no filler. The levels are very short, but that's because all the fat you normally see in 2D sidescrollers has been cut. There are no long hallways with simple enemies you just mow down for a cheap and easy thrill. Every enemy placement is well-thought out.

[xxHUNGRYTHETRUTHxx]

I can only imagine the nostalgia I would have right now had it gotten a US release. The music is some of the best composed. To be on just about every chiptune playlist is a merritt well earned.

[NintendoComplete]

The NES version sounded good, but wow, what a difference the Famicom original's added sound chip makes!

[francoalmiron]

That game was a classic, it has good gameplay, designs and soundtrack!

[EuSouRCS]

The creator o Kirby himself once said that this MASTERPIECE was the inspiration to create his own game.

[m.beenis]

What a classic game! I'm glad this is finally coming over to the US with the Switch/Steam versions to replay Gimmick.

[Dorian_Scott]

Those 3 additional sound channels make a world of difference. The European version sounds so flat when compared to this.

[DeluxeGamer]

Even if this game is hard, the graphics and soundtrack are awesome, and the gameplay is just awesome too.

[skittrokerwarior]

Yo! The enemies in this game are smarter than the latest version of Chat GPT, sheeeesh! Also this soundtrack is totally a banger. Sunsoft always killing it!

[magoid]

Can you imagine if Sunsoft did had a good transition to the SNES, instead of relegating work on new games to third parties? The battle for the best developer on the SNES among them and Capcom, Konami and Rare would have been legendary.

[magoid]

One thing that just occurred to me: this is not a Kirby's Adventure rip-off. In fact Gimmick! precedes Kirby on the Game Boy by 3 months, and on the Famicom by 14 months.

[QkiJose]

I'd wish I had played this game as a kid. Nowadays I'm not that patient to get all the treasures of this game.

[GrindHouseBlues]

The whole soundtrack on this is amazing, but that first level theme is an absolute bop.

[SusieUndertale]

An extremely technical, well-designed and visually appealing game. I managed to get as far as the ice stage but the Blowjob Brothers at 16:49 there gave me a ton of trouble. Looks like you just need to wait for the right moment to fire under their shields.

What I want to know is why wasn't the best track in the entire game used, Memories of Death!? It would have made the perfect final boss theme... At least it's included in every OST here on YouTube. Very nice playthrough!

[Don-jtch]

Wow, this is quite impressive graphics for the nes. Like what donkey kong country was for the super nintendo.

[MavHunterXX]

Music sounds like that on the PC engine. I like the deep slap bass sound, ya!

[irridesu]

it's criminal how underrated this game is

[Bloodreign]

And apparently a sequel is finally coming for newer consoles. Right off the heels of the Hebereke sequel too.

[SoulStreak]

...Man, the *World Map* track has no reason to go hard, but it does.

[Max_Payne_dude]

Man, first i thought it was a weird 80's toy, but this thing has a fanbase...