I received Gargoyle's Quest for my birthday one year. My mom picked it out because she had been reading some MythAdventures books with me, involving a green reptilian man named Aahz, and she thought the guy on the cover looked like him. This is one case where the bad US box art worked in my favor. I guess the artists didn't know the Ghosts 'n' Goblins character was supposed to be red. I spied the "Capcom" name on the cover and felt my mom made a good choice: These were the same guys that did Mega Man II!
I popped the cartridge into my GameBoy, fiddled with the contrast, so I could make things out amidst the blurry scrolling the screen exhibited, and set off on my quest. With only two hit points and tons of enemies and traps to deal with, I was stuck in that first level for what seemed like ages. My character could float over dangerous spikes, but only for a second and a half. I worked hard to master the exact timing to start floating at the apex of my trajectory and to halt my landings right over a bed of spikes as I swooped down a mandatory pitfall.
Gargoyle's Quest was incredibly harsh and punishing right from the start, demanding that you master every single move in the first level. I was used to finishing games well before my peers, having them hand me the controller whenever they needed to get past a difficult part. Here I was, stuck for weeks on the first level. I thought maybe the game was bad. It wasn't unfathomable, HydLide for the NES still managed to get Nintendo's Seal of Approval after all.
That summer, stuck on a 32 hour car ride across the country, I found myself with nothing but time on my hands. I had just finished reading my new comics, ate my fill of snacks, and got bored of looking out the window anticipating our arrival. Having had my fill of Tetris and finising Super Mario Land multiple times, I had exhausted my tiny library of GameBoy games. Here I was, with not much else to do and so I found a scab to pick at.
I had just made it to the boss of the first level days before. A giant fish-like monstrosity that spat fire, vanished into the murky waters and surprised me from behind. Whatever it was, it handed my ass to me over and over. I renewed my determination, it was better than being bored.
Thanks to repetition and memorization, I had mastered the path through the maze-like area and was able to reach the battle with the daunting gatekeeper in mere minutes. Somehow, after butting my head against a brick wall for what seemed like ages (I was a kid), I finally managed to kick his fishy ass and open up the gates to the next level.
What I didn't expect was to be thrown out into an overhead map, which I had previously seen only in Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior. Was this the same game? It was incredibly rare for any game at the time to include multiple play styles and viewpoints. This was like getting out of Midgar in Final Fantasy VII, the world really seemed to open up at this point. This surprising mix of action and RPG really drew me in. It's just too bad it was hidden behind a discouraging introduction.
There were random battles which presented to me a side scrolling area with a handful of enemies, leaving me only with a few "vials" to add to my stock. Then I made it to the first town. Through its inhabitants I learned that the world was full of monsters in peril and they needed me to help them out. I could also finally use those vials I was collecting in the town's shops to purchase items.
Best of all, I got a password that guaranteed I would never have to play that initial stage again, I had spent far too much time there to want to go back. I reached a new threshold and it seemed like the world had just opened up to me, offering different paths and places to visit. I was able to upgrade my character to fire more bullets, and float for much longer, letting me access brand new areas.
After getting over the huge initial difficulty curve, I was really enjoying myself. Unfortunately, Gargoyle's Quest didn't last too long and I found myself wishing for more. Luckily, I had no problem playing the same game over and over though, as kids often do. I was now glad it was part of my library, and when Gargoyle's Quest II on the NES came out, I immediately wanted it. Demon's Crest followed on the SNES, but over 20 years later, Capcom hasn't done anything else with the series.
Thanks to Nintendo's Virtual Console, we have the opportunity to revisit this spinoff of Ghosts 'n' Goblins. Red Arremer, renamed Firebrand in the English adaptation, is a unique hero with interesting moves. The monster world he lives in is the type of setting we haven't seen much of in gaming altogether. Playing as a bad guy saving his kin still feels like a fresh idea, and the entire trilogy still stands out in gameplay and setting.
