Forgotten Hand Held Horrors: Gargoyle's Quest

Hey it's a shiny new feature here at the Spookshow that's gonna feature some lost horror and monster themed classics of the hand held video game systems like the Game Boy. We'll start this off with the first game I bought for the Game Boy back in '90 - Gargoyle's Quest.

A long time ago, the ghoul realm barely escaped great peril. A large army of destroyers came from a neighboring universe. The creatures of the ghoul realm were no match for the powerful destroyers. Just when everyone had given up hope, a great fire swept over the realm, wiping out the destroyers army.

Several hundred years have passed and the realm is threatened once again...

Those words start the game Gargoyle's Quest, a side scrolling/ RPG game spun off from the arcade classic Ghost n' Goblins. In the game you play as Firbrand, a gargoyle destined to become the hero Red Blaze and save the Goblin Kingdom from the evil King Breager and his invading armies. 

The game consists of two types of play areas - an overhead view where Firebrand traverses the Ghoul Realm, either on the world map or in towns, and individual side-scrolling levels that feature a boss fight at the end. While traveling the overhead map, Firebrand can experience random encounters. He must defeat the enemies in the these encounters to return to the overhead-view map. There are also ghouls that can be encountered that start a small battle level that must be completed in order to move on.

Firebrand can walk, jump, cling to walls, fly, and spit fireballs. The player starts with one type of projectile: it does not travel very far, and has limited power. As the game is played out new projectiles are found that increase Firebrand's attack  each has different traits or specialized uses. The Blockbuster, for example, which is the first projectile obtained after the Firebrand's starting projectile, is twice as powerful, travels further, and can break special blocks the player may need to pass. Another projectile temporarily ceates objects which Firebrand can jump from to reach necessary locations. This block-breaking power and other useful abilities leaves a use for such projectiles throughout the game, even when more powerful projectiles are obtained. Projectiles can be selected one-at-a-time from the select menu, as can items such as healing vials.

 As the game progresses, various power up items are found, some items increase Firebrand's abilities outright. The Fingernail of the Spectre increases his jumping ability for the remainder of the game, and there are several items that increase the length of time which Firebrand can fly, the final of which allows for him to fly infinitely. There are also items which can be used as needed, such as items to restore health.

In the final boss battle, the player makes a choice which results in one of two scenarios for how the final battle is played. In one scenario, the player is stripped of all ability boosting items and powers, leaving him virtually unable to win, and must then fight the final boss. In the other scenario, resulting from the other choice, the player maintains these items and powers, and attempts to defeat the final boss and win the game.

Here's a video of the entire game played out by someone way better at it then I ever was...