Gargoyles Remastered Review

thesixthaxis.com:

I vaguely remember catching the odd episode of the original Disney Gargoyles cartoon, but looking back on my youth, it doesn’t have the same nostalgia hit for me as the likes of Dungeons and Dragons or Thundercats. I don’t think I was ever really aware of the 16-bit game either, until it started popping up in lists of underrated or forgotten games of the era. It was therefore quite a surprise when this remastered version was announced earlier this year – why was this particular game was getting such a treatment? Having now played through both the new version and the original for comparison, my initial question remains unanswered.

The storyline for Gargoyles is incredibly barebones. You play as Goliath – a powerful gargoyle who is blamed for his homeland being invaded by Vikings and punished by being frozen in stone for centuries. He is reawakened in modern times when a powerful artefact called Odin’s Eye is rediscovered and must fight to vanquish those in possession of it. The story itself is told through static images and texts, which was understandable for the original but feels pretty disappointing in the Remaster. Even repurposing clips from the cartoon would have been more interesting than just upping the resolution on the originals.

It’s in the graphics that Gargoyles Remastered shows the biggest efforts for modernisation, but the overly defined artstyle chosen just doesn’t look that good to my eye. Many stages are too busy and several have colour schemes that are incredibly difficult to look at – the lava and factory ones in particular with their garish reds and yellows. This aesthetic overhaul wouldn’t be so bad if it were not so obviously a visual filter layered over the original game, which is made clear by the