MediEvil review: Retro game is still the whimsical and fun experience it always was

Released in 1998, it is one of several cult favourites from the original PlayStation era enjoying a resurgence

MediEvil is a hack-and-slash fantasy game from 1998. Photo: Sony

The first five years of the PlayStation were something of a wild west for game design. Video games had made a huge jump when the console was released in 1994, allowing for innovation and creative choices to flourish.

Titles such as Tekken, Metal Gear Solid, Gran Turismo, Resident Evil, Spyro and Tomb Raider were all advancing the medium in their respective genres, giving gamers a new and exciting experience that could only be imagined up until that point.

But between the pillars of the console, some games did things weird enough to be noticed and appreciated. Weird in the sense that they were just too goofy, eccentric or bizarre.

One such title is MediEvil, a hack-and-slash fantasy game developed by SCE Studio Cambridge and released in October 1998. The game follows the slain knight Sir Daniel Fortesque after he is resurrected by an evil wizard named Zarok.

Fortesque was the first soldier to be killed on the battlefield in the war against the evil horde of Zarok, being shot in the eye and dying immediately. Despite his failure, he is hailed a hero and buried in his battle armour, which he wears after being resurrected as a skeleton.

The game received a remaster in 2019, but what’s it like playing the original game today?

Joyfully macabre

Its description and story might evoke images of scary ghouls and a gruesome reanimated body, but it is nothing like that. Presented in a family-friendly tone, the game is quite whimsical and very witty with its comedy.

At every stage, Fortesque receives guidance and quips from faces on the walls that don’t hold back in both embarrassing and encouraging our hero. His ambition is to redeem himself and his failure on the field of battle, but no one seems to treat his death as badly as he does.

The best thing about Fortesque as a protagonist is his earnestness and eagerness. As players push through every level, giving him a skill boost and getting him closer to his goal, there’s genuine excitement and satisfaction felt for the knight.

Nostalgic but archaic

MediEvil came out during a time in which whimsical gothic television shows and films were all the rage. Fans tuned in to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed, enjoyed films like Practical Magic and Hocus Pocus and listened to music by the Cranberries and Stevie Nicks.

The game fits right in with this aesthetic, with stages set in graveyards while being attacked by enemies ranging from zombies to little gnomes. Accented with haunting orchestral music befitting the setting but keeping things light and never serious.

And while playing the game is a fun experience even today, the controls do take some time to get used to. With every stage, it becomes clearer why a remaster was necessary for modern gaming standards.

The remaster does do a good job of reinvigorating the experience but does lose some of the deep nostalgic effect the original provides.

Verdict

It’s hard to describe how magnificent some of these games seemed when played first in the late 1990s. They will always deliver a memorable experience that modern gaming is always trying to do for new generations.

MediEvil is not a huge title but has become a cult favourite over the years, with many recalling playing it on release and enjoying it thoroughly. I had forgotten about it until it arrived on the PlayStation 5’s classic games library last month.

But starting it up, I started to remember that I did indeed play it way back when even remembering the circumstances and the day that happened. Not many games can do that, and MediEvil had to be special enough to be memorable and it was.