Gimmick, is a platform video game developed and published by Sunsoft, and originally released in Japan for the Family Computer in 1992.

The story follows a small green yōkai named Yumetaro who was mistakenly gifted as a toy to a young girl.

Playing as Yumetaro, the player must maneuver through a variety of levels, using the protagonist's star-shooting power to defeat enemies and progress through the game.

to rival the quality of games on the then-new Super Famicom, director Tomomi Sakai required a large staff and used innovative techniques to create high-quality graphics and sound.

Sunsoft of America did not approve of the game for a North American release due to its quirky character design.

The star is a central mechanic to the game, being necessary to defeat enemies found while also doubling as a platform, capable of being ridden to reach otherwise inaccessible areas.

To truly complete Gimmick!, the player must find a hidden area in each stage where a magic item resides.

If one can obtain all the magic items without losing every life (i.e. using no continues), a secret stage would appear in which an extra boss must be beaten.

Only after this boss is defeated is the game completed in full, with a cutscene showing Yumetaro rescuing his owner and leading her back to the real world.

He had always thought about developing his own game with Yoshiaki Iwata and Hiroyuki Kagoya, who were involved in designing Blaster Master, a previous Sunsoft title.

[5] Sound programmer Naohisa Morota, who had left Sunsoft shortly before development of Gimmick!, would work for Sakai as an "outsourcer".

The team streamlined the process by dividing the number of tiles into two groups of 128 and separating them into enemy characters and protagonists.

By further dividing the tiles into four groups of 64, they were able to reduce graphical processing and switch out tilesets to use as background cogs and floor animations.

's composer Masashi Kageyama held meetings over telephone regarding the music, the former being in Nagoya and the latter in Tokyo at the time.

[6] Even though Kageyama had already felt comfortable with the musical layout and controls he used for two PC Engine games, Out Live and Benkei Gaiden, Sakai provided him with extended sound sources.

[11] The international version was imported by Bergsala AB into Scandinavian countries in small amounts and was retitled Mr.

was also ported to the PlayStation in Japan as a part of Sunsoft Memorial Collection: Volume 6 along with Super Spy Hunter.

[19] In September 2022, City Connection and Bitwave Games announced that the release of the special edition would be delayed until "early 2023."

On Thursday, June 1, 2023; Evercade announced that they would include the original version of the game with their Sunsoft Collection Vol.

initially garnered lackluster interest and mixed reviews from publications like Famitsu, Electronic Gaming Monthly, and Nintendomagasinet.

[4][12][25] Sakai blamed this lack of popularity on casual players being unable to handle the difficulty, and the industry's transition to newer 16-bit consoles like the Super Famicom and Mega Drive.

was exhibited at places like the Tokyo Toy Show, Sakai recalled that he was hoping a dealer would see Gimmick!

as a next-generation title developed for the original Nintendo and distribute it, only for them to lose interest once they learned it was a Famicom game.

[12] The most favorable review at the time came from Nintendo Magazine System, where the critics called it one of the best NES games they had played in a while.

Toyad's only negative comment was regarding the extreme difficulty in reaching the final stage and good ending.