Путешествие Гаргульи: Приключения Огненного Демона

1990 video game

Gargoyle's Quest is an action adventure platform game developed by Capcom for the Game Boy and released in 1990. It is a spin off of the Ghosts 'n Goblins series, featuring the series antagonist character Firebrand as the main playable character. It was released for the Nintendo Switch Online service in February 2023.

The game consists of two gameplay styles. One half has the player traverse an overhead view, either on the world map or in towns. This is broken up by the other type of content: individual, action platforming levels that sometimes feature a boss at the end. While traversing in the sections with an overhead view, the player is able to talk with residential ghouls and, if outside a town, is susceptible to random battle encounters. The player then must defeat the enemies in order to return to the overhead view map. While on the overhead map, the player occasionally comes across ghouls who want to fight Firebrand for various reasons. The player starts with a weak projectile, but progressively gains new projectiles which grant more power and special abilities. Firebrand starts with two hit points, but gains more throughout the game based on items or blessings obtained; various enemies and objects drain different amounts of his health, represented by the hit points. Throughout the game, the player gains various items including passive ones that increase Firebrand's abilities outright. Eventually, Firebrand acquires an item that allows the player to hover without ever needing to rest on the ground. A healing vial can be used to restore health. Additionally, the offensive projectiles that are learned over time each have unique traits or specialized uses. The Blockbuster, for example, is more powerful than its predecessor and can destroy special walls blocking the player's path. Another projectile temporarily covers sharp vertical surfaces allowing Firebrand to reach higher locations. These abilities guarantee a use for such projectiles even after more powerful projectiles are obtained, and provide a depth of valid options for attacking foes. Projectiles can be selected from a drop down, pause menu at any time, same as healing vials.

Gargoyle's Quest was developed as a spin off to the Ghosts 'n Goblins series to feature an enemy demon character from the series called Firebrand (known as Red Arremer in Japan). The character was popular with players, so Capcom decided it would be interesting and unique to make a game where players could control a demon and learn his wide moveset. The team decided to develop for the Game Boy, so as not to overshadow the Ghosts 'n Goblins series in arcades and on home consoles.

From contemporary reviews, GamePro magazine predicted Gargoyle's Quest to be a system seller for the Game Boy, and called it an instant hit, as well as "original." They ended their review praising the game for its diversity of play and locales, and for its "detailed graphics and great music". The Japanese gaming publication Famitsu gave the game a 25 out of 40 score. Game Informers Ben Reeves called it the 18th best Game Boy game, noting that "The side scrolling action levels posed a nice challenge, but the game’s mild RPG elements really helped set this game apart." In 2019, PC Magazine included Gargoyle's Quest in their "The 10 Best Game Boy Games".