Gargoyle’s Quest is one of the many titles available in the Game Boy section of the Nintendo Switch Online’s retro catalog. I had no idea it was actually related to Capcom’s Ghosts ‘n Goblins series. From the cover alone, I assumed it was based on some weird cartoon I had never heard of.

Apparently, the hero of this game is a gargoyle named Firebrand, and there is at least an attempt at a story, but I did not find it particularly interesting. At least in Ghosts ‘n Goblins, you can immediately understand the simple setup of Arthur the knight trying to save his princess. Here, I honestly had no clue what Firebrand was even trying to accomplish.

Let’s talk about the graphics. This game was made during the very early years of the original Game Boy, and that becomes painfully obvious almost immediately. Much like Super Mario Land and the first Game Boy Castlevania, it does not really show off the handheld’s potential or try very hard to impress visually.

As for Firebrand himself, he controls like a big, lumbering gargoyle that can hover slightly while shooting projectiles at enemies. Since this is a spin-off of one of the hardest game series Capcom ever made, I originally thought maybe it would not be too brutal, especially since I managed to get through the opening section without much trouble.

But yeah, it absolutely is that brutal. The learning curve is incredibly unforgiving, just like the series it comes from. I know there are gamers who genuinely love this kind of challenge, but I honestly disliked this game even more than the much more critically acclaimed titles it is connected to. And just like the first Castlevania on Game Boy, the controls feel sluggish, even compared to the NES games those titles followed up on. That really hurt the experience for me. Even with the rewind feature, which I try not to rely on, this game still feels ridiculously difficult.