Disney had a big event last week that, I’ll be honest, I let wash over me because announcements like Avatar games and Alien games that aren’t an Isolation sequel aren’t really for me. One thing they didn’t really cover, though, and which I wish they had done in a lot more detail, was the excellent news that classic platformer Gargoyles is getting a remaster.
Released in 1995 for the Genesis, Gargoyles was based on the animated series of the same name, and like a lot of other Disney games of the time — Aladdin and Lion King in particular, even though they were developed by different studios — was famous not just for its platforming action, but for just how beautiful it was.
Look at this. Just look at it!
Everything about this is Sega Genesis, mid-90s perfection. The way the backgrounds wrap around the player, the flickering of the torchlight, the scrolling on the train level, argh, it’s all so good. And the animation! It’s simply stunning.
Anyway, enough of me getting all sentimental, you get the idea. This game was great, but also Gargoyles was never that popular, and so this licensed adaptation wasn’t either, and despite its similar pedigree it has never been as fondly recalled as, say, Aladdin.
Maybe that is about to change, though, because tucked away in Disney’s summary press release from last week is:
Gargoyles Remastered: The classic 90s platformer is coming to modern consoles and PC with updated visuals and controls in collaboration with Empty Clip Studios.
This is cool! I’m always wary of attempts to take classic games and give them “updated visuals” — death to upscaling filters especially — so hopefully there remains an option to play it as it was originally developed and conceived. Though to instantly contradict myself, the original’s controls and movement feel also sucked, so attempts to add “updated controls” won’t be as controversial.
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