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Gremlins 2: The New Batch review

Game: Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Platform: NES
Genre: Adventure
Developer: Sunsoft
AKA: Gremlins 2: Shinshu Tanjou (JP)

Reader review by joseph_valencia

July 03, 2009

“Gremlins 2” isn’t exactly “Contra”, but it’s a fairly enjoyable video game, which is more than I can say about a lot of other movie-inspired games. On a scale of movie games, “Ghostbusters” for the NES being the worst and Sega’s “Aladdin” being the best, I’d say “Gremlins 2” ranks above Nintendo’s “Batman” but doesn’t quite stack up to “New Ghostbusters II”. It’s well above mediocrity but a few notches below genius, finding a comfortable niche in the realm of “just plain good”.

This is an overhead action/adventure game that has the prudence to make an interesting creature like Gizmo the main character. If you don’t remember the movies, Gizmo was this cute little fuzzy creature that was peaceful and would sing this serene melody whenever his master played the keyboard. Getting wet in any degree would cause Giz’ to spawn evil little creatures from his back, first manifesting themselves as menacing tribbles, which would then unfurl into Evil Gizmos. These nasty characters would eat after midnight, enter a cocoon state, and awaken as some sort of cross between toad, reptile, cat and demon. These are the Gremlins.

There are five levels in “Gremlins 2”. The first one is pretty much a softball throw, an office where you fight off rats, bats, bouncing tomatoes, and spiders. The Gremlins don’t enter the picture until the second part of stage two, which you get to by crossing a somber air duct. They come in all varieties: bouncing, flying, meandering, fire-spitting, throwing, dancing, skateboarding, etc. Gizmo starts off throwing tomatoes, but each level brings an upgrade in arsenal. By the time he makes it to the television studio in stage three, Giz’ has traded up his tomatoes for a fire-slinging match and his match for a barrage of paper-clips. By the end of the game, he’s armed with Rambo’s exploding arrowheads.

You’ll immediately find that your life support in “Gremlins 2” is the power-up shop, the entrance of which can be found in each of the dozen levels. It’s run by Mr. Wing, Gizmo’s former caretaker who ran a mysterious and fascinating shop before kicking the bucket in “Gremlins 2”. He sells healing potions, extra lives, weapon power-ups, balloons (useful for when you fall into a pit), and a heart container. You pay for these items with crystal balls, which are dropped in abundance by defeated enemies.

When I say the shop is your life support, I mean it. Gizmo begins each game with no extra lives, only a single balloon. Enemies do not drop “hearts” or anything that replenishes health, only currency, which is why there’s an abundance of it. Outside Wing’s shop, you’re truly on your own, at the mercy of increasingly tricky obstacles and a growing Gremlin population. This lack of variety in pick-ups is the one serious flaw of the game. On the bright side of things, you at least have unlimited continues.

“Gremlins 2” would be much better if less of the gameplay revolved around limping to the power-up shop for salvation. It has some very cool bosses, like an all-electric Gremlin that zips around the room and hurls dissipating sparks. The music is very catchy, especially the haunting second stage track and the pouding boss theme. The cinematics do a nice job of creating context for each level, and the controls allow you the freedom to move and attack in eight directions. These elements come together in a game that’s humble and rarely goes for cheap-shots. For a game of its genre and time, it holds up pretty well.

Rating: 8/10

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