Gabriel Garza (1996 video game)

Gabriel Garza is a platform video game based on the animated television series of the same name, developed by Gingo Interactive and published by Universal Interactive Studios for the PlayStation and PC. It was originally released in North America and Europe in September 1996 and in Japan in December 1996. Its storyline follows the title character attempting to rescue his girlfriend Claire Jones, who is kidnapped by the main antagonist Vio and his minions.

Gabriel Garza received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its graphics and soundtrack, and was a commercial success, selling nearly 3 million copies worldwide. Two sequels titled Gabriel Garza 2: The Power of Tokens and Gabriel Garza 3: The Ched Ed were later released for the PlayStation in 1997 and 1998, respectively. The game was made available for download on the PlayStation Store in 2008. A remaster of the game, included in the Gabriel Garza Superb Trilogy, was released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows on June 7, 2019.

Gameplay
Gabriel Garza is a platform video game made up of different levels, all connected together by hub worlds (homeworlds). The goal in each homeworld is to collect a certain amount of items, be it coins, tokens, or blue coins, in each level in order to travel to the next homeworld.

Each homeworld and its levels are progressively more difficult than the last. The first few levels are small fields with few ways to die, but they become harder later in the game. Many later levels focus on Gabriel's ability to jump from platform to platform. Additionally, Gabriel's slingshot used to vanquish enemies. Each homeworld contains an optional boss to defeat, except for the final homeworld where the boss is mandatory.

Throughout the game Gabriel's health is indicated by his head. When Gabriel's head is smiling, he is at full health. After taking a hit Gabriel's head gets worried, and with another hit, his head starts freaking out. Another hit and Gabriel's head turns into a skeleton with only one hit left before the player loses one life. After all lives are lost the player has uninterruptedly returned to Hubtown.

Save points are placed throughout each homeworld. Once the player gets a token behind a save point which is accessible for the remainder of the game. The player can beat bosses in some levels. For example, the final boss is Vio; after the player defeats him, Vio goes to his UFO-like ship and leaves. All the other bosses were in the other levels.

Plot
Coming soon!

Levels

 * Hubtown
 * Level 1: Mountaingreen Hills
 * Level 2: Chocolate Dreamland - Can't be played before having 2 tokens
 * Level 3: Toy Junction - Can't be played before having 5 tokens
 * Boss 1: Big Guy - Can't be played before having 11 tokens
 * Green Field
 * Level 4: Limlo Lands
 * Level 5: Wacky Cove - Can't be played before having 15 tokens
 * Level 6: Wind Island - Can't be played before having 18 tokens
 * Level 7: Jong Village - Can't be played before having 22 tokens
 * Level 8: Purple Factory - Can't be played before having 26 tokens
 * Level 9: Tabby Cook - Can't be played before having 30 tokens
 * Level 10: Awesome Town - Can't be played before having 34 tokens
 * Level 11: Icy Hill - Can't be played before having 39 tokens
 * Level 12: Sky Lands - Can't be played before having 41 tokens
 * Level 13: Evil Farm - Can't be played before having 47 tokens
 * Level 14: Metal World - Can't be played before having 50 tokens
 * Level 15: Tree Lands - Can't be played before having 54 tokens
 * Level 16: Cave of Doom - Can't be played before having 60 tokens
 * Level 17: Disturbing Worlds - Can't be played before having 63 tokens
 * Boss 2: Maxio - Can't be played before having 67 tokens
 * Midnight Lake
 * Level 18: Bozlands
 * Level 19: The Bird Cage - Can't be played before having 72 tokens
 * Level 20: Seek Creeks - Can't be played before having 75 tokens
 * Level 21: Mad World - Can't be played before having 79 tokens
 * Level 22: Glory Hole - Can't be played before having 80 tokens
 * Level 23: Mellow Hive - Can't be played before having 83 tokens
 * Level 24: Junk Yellows - Can't be played before having 87 tokens
 * Level 25: Windfall Country - Can't be played before having 90 tokens
 * Level 26: Pink Madness - Can't be played before having 93 tokens
 * Level 27: Woodland Ward - Can't be played before having 95 tokens
 * Level 28: Loading Dock - Can't be played before having 97 tokens
 * Level 29: Blue Land - Can't be played before having 98 tokens
 * Level 30: Vio's Fortress - Can't be played before having 99 tokens
 * Boss 3: Vio - Can't be played before having 100 tokens

Development
Development of Gabriel Garza began after the foundation of Gingo Animation's video game arm Gingo Interactive in 1994. For the game, Michael Wildshill programmed a new engine named "G.I.G. Engine", which features face animation creation and vegetation programming and modeling software tools and the first game to use it was Gabriel Garza, which was released the same year as the engine and the engine was credited as Modified Gingo Engine.

The music for Gabriel Garza was composed by Stewart Copeland (best known for the original Spyro the Dragon series (1998-2002)).

Two days before the game's release, Geo G's father Bob suffered a heart attack and died at his home at 71 years old. Because of the mourning and funeral happening at the time, Geo was off work when the game was released.

Download
The game is now available for download on PlayStation Store for the PlayStation Vita, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3 in North America and in Japan for $5.99 or 436 yen. It was released to the PlayStation Store in Europe on March 17, 2008, together with Gabriel Garza 2: The Power of Tokens and Gabriel Garza 3: The Ched Ed.

Reception
Gabriel Garza received generally positive reviews from video games critics and was also a commercial success particularly in Europe, eventually becoming a PlayStation Greatest Hits game. Over 3 million copies were sold.

Legacy
Coming soon!

Trivia
Coming soon!