Gargoyle’s Quest II: The Demon Darkness/Red Arremer II (NES, 1992)
Graphics-8.5 Sound-8 Control-7.5 Challenge-8 Story-6.5
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-8 Fun-7.5 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-7.5
+
Fairly large arsenal of weapons
More towns and levels
Better bosses overall
Detailed sprites and good use of the NES color palette
Password save
Somewhat improved dialogue overall
Hidden items
Fast top down view movement
Basic economy - collect vials to buy maelstroms (1-ups) with
Still mixes RPG exploration with action platformer sidescrolling levels/battle areas
No random battles on the overworld (some spots have set encounters that can be farmed infinitely)
+/-
Respawning enemies (when you move to where their spawning point is off screen)
No world map?
Instant death from fire pits (near pixel perfect jump required at one point)
-
Lack of big bosses
Bigger but sometimes emptier levels
Some backtracking
Slowdown
Some lame dialogue
A few cheap hits
Passwords are spread out too thin
Can’t speed up dialogue
Slow walking and jumping in the platform levels
Slow initial rate of fire (only one shot on screen)
Somewhat glitchy hit detection when jumping up slopes
Trial & error (can’t look up/down, boss patterns, ghosts and skeleton fish spawning close to the player, river of flames)
Some dead space (dead ends, empty houses)
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-8 Fun-7.5 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-7.5
+
Fairly large arsenal of weapons
More towns and levels
Better bosses overall
Detailed sprites and good use of the NES color palette
Password save
Somewhat improved dialogue overall
Hidden items
Fast top down view movement
Basic economy - collect vials to buy maelstroms (1-ups) with
Still mixes RPG exploration with action platformer sidescrolling levels/battle areas
No random battles on the overworld (some spots have set encounters that can be farmed infinitely)
+/-
Respawning enemies (when you move to where their spawning point is off screen)
No world map?
Instant death from fire pits (near pixel perfect jump required at one point)
-
Lack of big bosses
Bigger but sometimes emptier levels
Some backtracking
Slowdown
Some lame dialogue
A few cheap hits
Passwords are spread out too thin
Can’t speed up dialogue
Slow walking and jumping in the platform levels
Slow initial rate of fire (only one shot on screen)
Somewhat glitchy hit detection when jumping up slopes
Trial & error (can’t look up/down, boss patterns, ghosts and skeleton fish spawning close to the player, river of flames)
Some dead space (dead ends, empty houses)