If you’re like me, you watched Inspector Gadget growing up: a hilarious cartoon series produced from 1983 to 1986,that ran in syndication into the 90’s. And guess what? There’s a video game based on it. It’s a side-scrolling platformer on the Super Nintendo Published by Hudson Soft and Developped by AIM. And it’s actually good… What are you still doing listening to me instead of tracking down this game right now? What else do I need to say: Inspector Gadget, Super Nintendo, platforming... If that knowledge alone hasn’t convinced you to get this game, I don’t know what else I can say… Well I guess you need a little more convincing. Here’s Inspector Gadget for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
The plot is simple, but being an Inspector Gadget fan, I have things I need to talk about. The game starts with Inspector Gadget’s niece, Penny, being kidnapped by the M.A.D. agents of Gadget’s arch enemy Dr. Claw. This is done in an effort to drag out the Inspector to various locations hoping to finally get rid of him once and for all. Throughout the game, police Chief Quimby will point our hero in the direction of the next local/level. (He even gets blown up each time, like on the show!) Adventure ensues.
The first thing I want to point out is that all these events never happened on the show. However, a bit of research tells me that all the locations were used (thought the similarities here are only superficial). The reason this particular plot is such a big deal though, is because, if you watched the show, you’d know Inspector Gadget was never really the hero, and it was always Penny that secretly did all the work. So to have a game that actually allows Gadget to use his abilities to be the hero is awesome.
Another thing to note is that the plot finishes with a showdown between Gadget and Dr. Claw face to face (no spoiler alarm, I think that’s pretty obvious). The thing about this is that we NEVER saw Dr. Claw’s face. For those of you who actually play this game and get to the last fight, you’re rewarded with knowing one of the biggest unsolved mysteries of 80’s cartoons. Sure it’s only a partial view, the game isn’t considered canon and the internet allows you to find other versions of his “official” face a lot easier, but I can imagine that for an Inspector Gadget fan in 1993, this would have blown his mind.
It might not surprise you to learn that in this game you get to use a lot of gadgets. There are too many for me to list one by one, but they’re all useful in ways to hurt the bad guys, stop you from dying or just get farther in the game. However, you’ll have to bust some bricks and find the icon of some of the gadgets to use them. The good part about this is that it allows you to upgrade them: find more of that icon and the gadget gets more “powerful”. These gadgets use what I call “hat points”, which you will also find by breaking blocks. I feel I also need to mention that physical attacks use don’t need to be selected or use any hat points but can still be upgraded to the point of reaching all across the screen.
As for how this game handles, it’s a little stiff. Inspect Gadget doesn’t seem to move or jump as quickly as he should. However, this isn’t to the point of Super Ghouls n’ Ghosts. Speaking of that game, Inspector Gadget does have the same life system: if he gets hit, he’s in his underwear and one more hit means a life lost. Again, this isn’t very dignified for an inspector, but he was always about the comedy. But his hat always stays on, giving strength to my theory that Gadget’s hat is attached to his skull.
So that’s the Inspector Gadget video game, and it’s not perfect; the game engine feels a little stiff (not enough to ruin the game though) and there are a lot of moments of Engrish. The biggest problem however is its lack of memorability. Most of the game play mechanics have been seen before, and the graphics and music are only alright. It doesn’t do anything really new or “great”… Except be a good Inspector Gadget game, and I think that warrants its existence. I feel like the makers of the game played it relatively safe, but concentrated on quality here. I give Inspector Gadget for the Super Nintendo 8.5 levels out of 10.
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