The Secret of the Red Blaze! Let's Play Gargoyle's Quest

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the third entry in “Let’s Play Beowulf’s Game Boy Youth”, a little game called…


Along with Rolan’s Curse, this was one of the first games I ever played on my original Game Boy, back in those dark days of the 90s when a four-shade green screen was all we needed. This was even a bit of an action-rpg hybrid, so even though it would be a little while until I got a true rpg for the system (Final Fantasy Legend, natch), this could occupy some of the fascination that NES rpgs held for me at the time.


Firebrand is a Red Arremer, one of the most annoying foes from the Ghost n’ Goblins series of games. In this game, it’s revealed (obvious spoiler!) that he’s destined to become the Red Blaze who will save the Ghoul Realm from great peril. With all that in mind, check out the box art:



Something seem a little off about that?

The two sequels colored him correctly, but because of this and the green coloration that all Game Boy games had back then, in my mind, Firebrand will always be green.

I’ve got all sorts of exciting extras for you, bonuses from back in the day that contributed to my excitement for the game: Scans of the original manual (like the story and logo above), and scans from the Nintendo Power Game Boy Players Guide section for this game. (So while I can’t provide hand-drawn crayon maps of the dungeons, I CAN provide maps.)


I may throw in a bonus update with details about the sequels, but really, my love for this is fueled by nostalgia value I don’t have for those, and this series (like the Ghosts ‘n Goblins series that spawned it) is really hard. Like, “save-states are the reason this exists because dropping my concentration to take screenshots gets me killed every time” hard.

I will post my passwords as I progress so folks can join in, and if someone else wants to show off their mad skillz by doing videos, be my guest.

I love these games, they really need to come out on VC.

By 'sequels' are you including Demon's Crest? Or is there a third game for the original game boy I'm unaware of?

Gargoyle's Quest II for the NES.

Gyah gyah gyah!

Even now, in this far flung, heady age of the future we call 2013, the original Gargoyles Quest is still one HELL of a nice looking game.

I just finished this on the 3DS last month and hot dawg is it a good game.

I borrowed this game a long time ago. I loved it, but the owner and my other friends all disliked it. Good to know that I was the one with good taste.

And thanks for all the art you are posting. It�s great.

Gargoyle’s Quest Post #2 – The Dimensional Portal



Main screen! New game!


Apparently Firebrand has been slumming it in a doorless, windowless room in some other realm for a while now. He’s been hanging out, minding his own business, when a dimensional portal opens and a bunch of demons come through.


It’s up to you to interpret whether this guy came in heavily injured and keeled over after only getting part of his message out, or whether Firebrand was just pissed off enough to kill him for interrupting his brooding.


I do, however, love the sequenced screeching noises that play when these guys speak. It actually does sound like a demon tongue that’s getting translated for our benefit!


Apparently things have gone horribly wrong in the Ghoul Realm, and Firebrand is the only bad enough dude to save the president free the realm.




But first, let’s check out what we have to work with. Pressing A brings up a Dragon Quest style menu. Unfortunately at the moment, we have no items, no one to talk to, and nothing to find.


Choosing “LVL” brings up the status screen. We start with the lowest levels of Jump and Wing power, and two Life points. We have no special items, but we have one Talisman of the Cyclone (extra life) and no Vials (currency).


With that in mind, we head into the Dimensional Portal. The first thing we see is a garden-variety Ghoul. They take one hit to kill and basically walk back and forth like a Koopa Troopa. Nothing to get excited about.


Nintendo Power is not excited about them.

Firebrand, on the other hand, has a whole bunch of skills: He can jump and briefly hover, until the wing meter at the bottom of the screen runs out. He can spit small, weak fireballs (one can be on the screen at a time). And he can cling to most walls by his talons.


Cling!


Also, check out those two life points at the bottom of the screen (Marked with an “L”). Never let it be said that Firebrand, the biggest badass ever to rock the Ghoul Realm, can’t take a hit.


It can easily be said, however, that he can’t take two hits. Losing both life points means you pop like a balloon.


This, combined with the fact that you only start with one extra life, means you see this message a lot. Remember, this game was made by Capcom (who never really stopped hating players), back during the era where difficulty directly equaled replay value. They wanted this game to have a lot of replay value.


And all is not lost when you get a Game Over. Firebrand knows the Resurrection Spell, which brings you back outside whichever dungeon you were attempting. Your collection of Talismans is returned to 1, but you keep your collected Vials.


Anyways, let’s have a look at what else we’re up against, here. Bone Snappers jump out of the water in a set pattern, and can be killed with one hit. (Note: The water is harmless unless it’s bottomless and you sink to the bottom, similar to a Mario game.)


This is what the manual thinks they look like.


Ghost Flames generally sit in one place, but require two hits to kill.


Giant Cyclops Bats hang from the ceiling until you get close, then fly at you. (Note that apparently neither of those enemies were worthy of an entry in the manual or in Nintendo Power!)

Spikes (both horizontal and vertical varieties) stay in one place and can’t be killed. In one of the game’s minor mercies, touching spikes only causes one point of damage; it’s not an instant-kill.


That’s what Vials look like in the action screen. Each of those icons is worth 2.


You can pull up the menu to check how many you have. This is also where we’ll switch attacks, when we get more attacks.


Vials, according to Nintendo Power.


That Dark Heart will restore a lost life point, though oftentimes both Hearts and Vials are schmuck bait, and if you’re good enough to retrieve them, you didn’t actually need them in the first place.


Corresponding description of the Dark Hearts.


At this collapsing bridge, the stage splits briefly into a high and low path. The low path is easier, basically being a bunch of pools with fish.


The high path has a few Vials to snag.


This is Zundo Druer. I have no idea what that name is or where it came from, but it describes this massive zombie fish thing. He emerges from the water, floats across the screen, spits spreads of floating invincible Ghost Flames at you, and then disappears below the water again. He takes a dozen hits to defeat, so it’s all about watching his pattern carefully and striking with caution.


When he’s defeated, the floor rises up and the massive door opens, allowing you to exit the stage.


We’re here!


As a bonus, here’s Nintendo Power’s map of the Dimensional Portal, complete with annotations.

Next Time: Questionable RPG elements.

Oh, cool! I couldn't really get into the original Gargoyle's Quest, but I fucking love Demon's Crest and the GnG series in general, so I will be following this!

I borrowed a Game Boy from a friend, along with his copy of this game, and I beat it in two days. I was like a video game Rainman for a while. Nowadays I bet I couldn't get past stage two without save states. It's a tragedy.

I love how METAL this game tries to be. You're not collecting coins for extra lives, you're collecting THE ESSENCE OF THE SOULSTREAM in order to purchase THE CYCLONE TALISMAN!

I beat this a couple months ago after never getting past the second last boss as a kid. It's a really good game.

This was the game that got me into trying out using a single letter for a whole password. I think FFFFFFFF or KKKKKKKK or something was a valid code, and after I found that out I wasted my time trying it for every letter, in some other games as well as this one.

FFFF-FFFF is a valid code in this game; it puts you after the second dungeon loaded up with a bunch of goodies you'd normally have to walk around collecting. (Though despite my seeing it listed as a "cheat code" in a couple of places, it doesn't confer any real advantages that you wouldn't get for that part of the game anyway.)

Gargoyle’s Quest Post #3 – Retrieving the Gremlin Stick


So, when we last left off, we’d finally made it to the Ghoul Realm, after passing through a dimensional portal that strangely resembled a ruined city. Now, we’re on the world map, where we’ll see several of this game’s questionable rpg-like decisions.


Random encounters! While travelling, you’ll randomly get tossed into a battle with a small number of foes, and need to kill them all to leave. My first battle was against Ghoul Knights, which are much more irritating than normal Ghouls.


Winning random encounters gives you Vials, so you can actually grind for money if you want.


There are also spiked encounters, with Ghouls like this who are working for the usurper.


This is actually an easy battle, and it also provides rewards.


Our destination is the first town, which remains nameless in-game but is generally known as Jarkton Town to fanboys.


I made it! But you probably shouldn’t spread that around, given that I’m here to overthrow the usurper king and all.


The Essence of the Soulstream is an important and easily missable item that we’ll retrieve a few updates from now.


I always loved the acknowledgement that the game mechanics that applied to Firebrand applied to all of the other residents of the Ghoul Realm as well.


No wonder there’s a Talisman salesman in every town!


Though he claims more would be greedy, as long as you’ve got the Vials, he’ll keep hooking you up.


Speaking of things in every town, here’s the password man—or more appropriately, the man who teaches you the “words of the resurrection spell.”


This is my password for just having reached Jarkton for the first time.

Random Vials are lying around the town, ripe for the taking.



There’s a reason Jark is in charge, and a reason we’ll need to help him.


As a kid, this line about “black light” terrified me. It took me so long to get through just the first dungeon, the idea of something that wouldn’t allow me to continue at all? Scary stuff.


Is “barone” a common spelling somewhere? (If it is, I suspect it’s not pronounced to rhyme with “alone”, as I’ve always read it. Or to rhyme with “baloney”.)


Jark’s not using these Vials, then?


Jark fixes us up with a quest, and gives us our first power-up item for agreeing to it: The Fingernail of the Specter.


Our Jump rating has increased to 2.


This guy outside of town will freak out and try to send us in the wrong direction—we need to go north from town.


I then run into a random encounter with something new and nasty. The manual only gives names to a few of the monsters. Nintendo Power claims that’s a Man-Eating Plant (that has no problems chomping on gargoyles) and it will spit Gloom Eyes at you.


Both monsters, from Nintendo Power.

And the Gloom Eye, from the manual.


North of town is the bridge.


Without the Fingernail, it’s uncrossable—the lava seen here is an instant-kill if you touch it, and you can’t make the first jump with your original amount of jumping power.


It’s pretty quick to get through (which is good, as you need to cross it at least three times) but the collapsing platforms and fire spouts mean that it’s entirely possible to blow your Talismans here. (The flame spouts instant-kill you, too.)


This is Nintendo Power’s map of the bridge.


There’s a Talisman on the map screen after you cross, perhaps as an apology.


This asshole is apparently called a Twin Marr. They are the worst random encounter to get, because the fireballs they spit (which are admittedly slow-moving and totally dodgable) deal two points of damage if they hit. You only have two life points right now, so that means they instant-kill. And these guys take a lot of hits to bring down, to boot.


Insufficient warning.


Also, what’s a “marr”?


The king’s palace is that way. Good to know. Because I’m busy, I won’t melt your face for getting in my way.

Here, we catch up to the folks who stole the Gremlin Stick. They insult us and tell us everything, so there’s really no reason to leave them alive. Firebrand never leaves anyone alive without a good reason.


The second dungeon is, as you might guess, “The Big Tower Monster.” The tower itself is, in fact, a monster that in turn contains other monsters.


I distinctly recall, as a child, being afraid that the background darkness here was, in fact, “black light” and would kill me. I had so much trouble crossing the fire bridge! (Eventually I screwed up my courage and figured out that going in there had to be the correct path, and then felt dumb.)


The Treefungus monster here is a common annoyance. They don’t move, but if you kill them, they explode into three small fireballs.


The little bees are called Dreadwings by the manual; they’ll stick to walls and then fly straight at you. Dodging them can be an issue when they come in multiples like this. Also, remember that they respawn if you walk away, so fleeing them just means you’ll have to try again.


The manual thinks it’s a giant bee. I’ll believe that.


This is the far right side of the tower. That little Firebrand doll is a Talisman of the Cyclone, represented in more typical 1up form. You can’t jump to it from here; you need to climb further, then jump down carefully. Then deal with three Gloom Eyes on the way back, and make the climb again. It isn’t actually worth it—remember what I said about schmuck bait?


The upper floors of the tower require riding these moving platforms, mostly by sticking to the sides of them.


Then we make a climb up the outside (this is where you’d jump down to that 1up).


Then more very careful platforming. I actually surprised myself here, that I was able to take out that Gloom Eye without getting hit.


This place is much more difficult than a second dungeon really has any right to be, and can be a major hurdle to getting into the game. I’m not sure I actually got through it as a kid, and used passwords from various sources to see the later dungeons instead. The fact that you haven’t gotten any real upgrades to anything play a role in that difficulty, but this is also just a hard game.


The boss is Four Eyes, and is much more annoying than an immobile bunch of blobs has any right to be. Remember, you can only fire straight forward, and enemies off the screen don’t take damage. So there’s a specific spot where you need to hit each of these guys. Also, they all shoot fireballs when you get close.

The two upper one basically involve riding this platform back and forth, dodging fireballs.


Lower right is the hardest, because you need to jump and hover to hit him, but get back before your wing meter runs out.


Lower left is comparatively easy.


When they’re destroyed, this wall opens and deposits you on the world map. Apparently the Tower Monster had eyes for brains, or something.


Here’s Nintendo Power’s full map of the tower.




The Gremlin Stick brings out the hidden or sealed powers of demons. In this case, it awakens Firebrand’s Buster breath weapon.


You can change breath types on the pause menu. The Buster looks like a boomerang; it flies faster than the standard breath and you can have two on the screen at once. There is no reason not to switch over and never look back.


Woo!

Next time: Sticking it to Jark.

Nobody's mentioned how awesome this game's music is? This game has awesome music. That is all.

I wonder if they meant baronet and ran out of space or just mis-translated it.

I don't have a clue. I wonder if that's supposed to be maw instead. (Or maybe maww.)

Gargoyle’s Quest Post #4 – The Bridge and Tunnel Crowd


I didn’t bother screenshotting my trip back across the river of fire and back to Jarkton.


Here’s my post-tower password.


This is the only thing anyone in town says. It’s…weird, and smacks of mind control on Jark’s part.


You need to remember to USE the stick on Jark, or you’ll just be stuck here.


With Jark’s power restored, he’s able to use a small amount of clairvoyance to see that the king is in trouble (which honestly, we could have guessed was the case). Fortunately, he has a solution, in the form of a magical candle that will somehow help the king.


We trade the Stick for the Candle, though it doesn’t give us any new upgrades.


And then we cross this goddamn bridge again.


This scaredy-cat has been blocking this tunnel the whole time.


Now, we have the opportunity to tell him how awesome we are, and he rewards us for it.


Finding armor in this game increases your hit points. There isn’t a lot of it, so it’s always a cause of celebration. (And there’s never going to be a point where 2-3 hits won’t kill us.)


This we’ve got the quicksand tunnel, which is more of a speedbump than an actual dungeon.


The gimmick is these pits that have Bone Snappers swimming in them. They’re pretty easy to dodge and blast.


But it’s not like the sand itself can hurt you.

As a side note, the buster turns white and you use it in a black-background area.


Here’s the Nintendo Power map of the tunnel. Seriously, there isn’t much “there”, there.


At the other side of the tunnel, there’s another free Talisman.


Then there’s a new town, called Gurion everywhere but the game itself.


Vague directions to our next destination.


This is actually blatantly untrue: There is exactly one specific type of stone you can destroy with the blockbuster; everything else (including things like plants or spikes) is unaffected.


A new password.


A warning that would have been useful before I met the very first enemy on the very first battle screen.


A shopkeeper.


I think this is supposed to be an explanation for why we keep finding Vials and Hearts strewn about the battle areas.


I’d worry more about the king having been killed if I hadn’t died several dozen times getting here. Between Resurrection Spells, Talismans and the Essence of the Soulstream, the king should still be doing fine.


Outside of town, this guy will randomly pick a fight with you. The battle is against two Twin Mawws, so it’s pretty nasty. At least we have three health now, so Firebrand can take a hit from these guys, too.

Afterwards, you need to walk up here and CHK this tree. You won’t get told to do this for a little while, but why wait?


It means we’ll have this upgrade for a few more random battles, and won’t need to walk back here. Check out my extended Wing meter!


There’s another town here, called Ekuzosu.


It’s actually a prison.



Everyone outdoors in this town says this. I guess they’re the guards for the prisoners?


I think it’s pretty clear at this point that the original Destroyers have returned, yes.




These guys will point you to the Wings of the Falcon we already picked up, and point out their use.


We can grab a password here, too.


Northwest of the town is this vial. It’s very important—arguably the game’s most important missable item.




It’s the Essence of the Soulstream.


You can use it from the pause menu to restore your lost health, once per action scene.

Once you have the wings, you can challenge this guy at the bridge.


He is made of gorillas. Or, according to the manual, Gorillars. They attack by throwing their heads diagonally upwards.


(Nintendo Power)


(Manual art)


The hole in the bridge is exactly that—a giant hole. One that’s actually juuuust too long to jump if you’re standing on the edge.


What you need to do is hang off the very top of the edge, jump, and glide at the top of your jump. You’ll just hit the wall on the other side.


After that, the rest is just your normal exercise in fire rivers and collapsing bridges, though there’s at least one spot where the extended wing meter can save you if you miss a jump, and there’s a mercy Heart near the end.


Here’s the Nintendo Power map of the broken bridge.


On the other side of the river is the Palace. Which we’ll tackle next time!

Oh, good, you have the CD/PGST.

Gargoyle’s Quest Post #5 – The Royal Palace

Never leave home without your CD/PGST.

This is going to be a relatively short update, despite containing a relatively frustrating dungeon.


For those of you who might have forgotten, we left off right outside the royal palace.


No way. I’m here to save the day!






Things are not well at the palace. Darkoan has been defeated and the King of Destruction has filled the place with his troops.


And with that, we’re into the action sequence.


The first and most important thing to know about the Palace is that it’s full of traps. If you step on (or near—the hit detection is a little weird) the wrong floor panel, it will sink and a flame spout will come up next to it.


Dreadwings float around this place, as do a new monsters: The Horny Toad. They’ll hop merrily across spikes to get you.


See those blocks? They’re special for two reasons. One is that you can’t cling to them, and the other is that the Buster will destroy them.


If you go down and right, destroy a sequence of blocks and dodge several traps, you can reach this Heart. But it follows the usual rules of not needing it if you can reach it.


When climbing walls, you’ll find the second sort of trap: The wall pushes in, and a giant ball falls from above. The trick is to go into the new depression to avoid the ball.


Up on the roof, the wind is blowing. It will slow your progress and you’ll drift to the left if you don’t move.


And another new enemy: The Malgor. It’s a skeletal vampire bat thing that does the “hover and swoop” thing that made Red Arremers so annoying in G&G.

(Nintendo Power)


(Official art)


Oh, and if you have a moment to pause and appreciate it, there’s a thunderstorm in the background up here, and lightning will occasionally light up the screen.


That fellow is Bellzemos, the only boss who shows up in the instruction manual.


He hovers, the splits into four Dreadwings that fly off in different directions; and one of them becomes the boss again.


The artwork indicates that he’s at least part-bee himself. Bellezmos the half-a-bee? (Actually, I’m going to guess that there’s a “Beelzebub – Lord of the Flies” thing going on here that got lost, intentionally or not, in translation.)


When you’ve successfully fed him enough Buster shots, the floor rises and this door opens.


Here’s the Nintendo Power map of Darkoan’s Palace.


That door leads us to the king.


There’s a Talisman and a few Vials for the taking before you talk to him.


King Darkoan has seen better days. Talking to him isn’t very useful.


Like with Jark, you need to USE an item on him.






The influx of Darkoan’s power raises your Jump and Wing power to 3, each.


Darkoan then outlines your next stop.


Exiting from here puts you on the other side of the palace. No going back now!

Next time: Getting something useful out of Bymon?