MediEvil was inspired by Capcom's Ghouls n Ghost as well as Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas. As a kid, Nightmare Before Christmas left a huge impression on me for years. Of course, I do get to play MediEvil on PlayStation 1 often as a kid. It plays like an horror theme action adventure game.
Sometimes you need to use your head to figure out puzzles or survive in difficult sections. The difficulty will spike but not badly enough to hurt the experience. There's a great variety of enemies in this game. I really loved how beautifully done the map screen is. Almost every level is connected with one being hidden in another level.
The story is Sir Daniel Fortesque died while his army took on the sorcerer Zarok. When the sorcerer casts a spell at a graveyard, it woke Sir Daniel from his eternal slumber. Thus he is on a journey to stopping Zarok. Sure some might consider Sir Daniel's voice acting kinda strange. You got to consider he is missing his lower jaw lol.
Some levels you have to revisit because previously you couldn't enter sections. Either requiring a key item or weapon. There's a great variety of weapons including one of his arms I'm not kidding. You can kill enough enemies to fill up the chalice to gain access to the Hall of Heroes. Where one of it's heroes not only talks to you but also gives you something helpful.
It is required to get all of these for the best ending. There's a lot of variety in where you get to explore. There's a level you have to avoid killing people whose been turned into zombies. No not those zombies, the other one where they're being manipulated to attack you. The game actually tells you not to kill them since they're souls becomes loss if you do.
Some of the cut scenes are still chilling to this day. I remember the scarecrow cut scene used to get me the creeps. I liked how this game doesn't change too much in the long run. MediEvil has an appeal that a lot of people could enjoy. It never was meant to be scary, in fact it does have some humor too. You can buy stuff from the other gargoyle in some of the levels.
The default gargoyle tells you information you will need to know. Yes you can skip the dialogue but be warned some levels can be tricky. Like a swamp level that can lead to several levels. I was able to get far enough to say I love this game. It made a great use out of saving your process. Trust me some of these levels will take you awhile to get through.
There's a particular level about riddles aka doing puzzles. It starts out simple but it gets trickier as it goes on. I used to spent hours being stuck on this level. Thankfully it doesn't have a boss fight. Some levels are some you been to before with some changes like the graveyard. I liked how the bosses has a similar health bar to you including a picture of themselves.
This tells you how close you are being them. I also liked you get these potions that do act like extra lives. You can find them, buy em or go to areas with a moving green gust. But the last option will work until it runs out or your potions gets refilled. Some levels it is crucial to have those potions to survive.
Some levels requires going through multiple paths for particular items. MediEvil is surprisingly kind about how to deal with some hazards like broken glass pieces. You could get a club or hammer to slam em. Some areas might be a little difficult to see with little to no light. Thankfully the game does have ways of fixing that problem.
You can get your club caught on fire that works very well. MediEvil successfully combines Ghouls n Ghosts with Nightmare Before Christmas. You have a knight similar to Arthur from that series taking on all kind of creatures with the overall horror feel. Plus Sir Daniel is a skeleton like Jack Skellington.
These levels do look like something right out of that movie. There is some great voice acting in this game too. You can replay levels to learn them better or getting chalices or practicing strategies for later ones. This game has so much to offer, I would've been upset if Mini PlayStation console didn't include it.
MediEvil is an unique classic that more people should play. The character designs alone sold me on this game. I always respected it's sound effects & soundtrack, both of those are very good for PS1 standards. This game does an amazing job pulling you right in. It doesn't have any real problems to get in the way.
Sadly I missed out on MediEvil: Resurrection on PSP. I am very excited to own an PS4 to play several games including MediEvil Remake. I would say I was almost as excited for it as RE2 Remake. I felt if it doesn't suck, it will likely have a similar reception to both Crash & Spyro trilogies remastered.
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