The Best Nintendo Game You've Never Heard of and Its 2024 Sequel

ign.com:

What’s the greatest NES game of all time? Super Mario Bros 3? Perhaps it’s Mega-Man 2, or The Legend of Zelda? There’s almost certainly no definitive answer to the single best game on the console, but what If I told you one of its greatest games was one that not only shattered the perception of what you could achieve on the NES, but was also a game you’ve (probably) never heard of?

Gimmick!, developed by Japanese studio Sunsoft, was a Nintendo Entertainment System masterpiece. But despite critical acclaim – including praise from industry legends Shigeru Miyamoto and Masahiro Sakurai – it was almost immediately forgotten, in no small part thanks to the fact it was only ever released in Japan and one small Scandinavian pocket of the West. Despite its obscurity, though, one Swedish fan not only loved Gimmick!, he obsessed over it. This was more than a mere hobby, too, as he set up his own studio with the lifelong goal of creating the sequel Gimmick! deserved and finally exposing it to the world.

But the journey wasn’t easy. From being laughed out of a pitch meeting to mass layoffs threatening the studio’s existence, the path to Gimmick! 2 has been as tricky as its notoriously difficult predecessor.

This is the Inside Story of Gimmick!, the greatest forgotten NES game and its unexpected 2024 sequel.

Despite its relative obscurity, Gimmick! is appreciated. It’s regularly mentioned in top lists by hardcore NES enthusiasts and original copies trade on eBay for ungodly amounts of money. Iconic Nintendo game director Shigeru Miyamoto said it was “fun”, extremely high praise from someone who rarely (if at all) praises other people’s games. Kirby and Super Smash Bros visionary Masahiro Sakurai has been even more enthusiastic, saying Gimmick! was “a technical marvel”.

But what is it about Gimmick! that’s so revered? Why do hardcore fans and industry legends worship a game about a green, star-throwing blob called Yumetaro?

“It just did a lot of things to stand out,” says Illusory