Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon

aka: Ganbare Goemon: Neo Momoyama Bakufu no Odori
Moby ID: 21284
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Description official descriptions

The people of Oedo Town are in a panic! A gigantic UFO shaped like a peach has arrived, and the Peach Mountain Shoguns have turned Oedo Castle into one big stage for themselves to perform on! Everyone's relying on Goemon to save the day, but he hasn't even noticed what's happening! Can our hero stop the Shoguns before they do any more damage?

Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon is an action game with light RPG elements, similar in style to The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time. It is also the first localized Goemon game since The Legend of the Mystical Ninja for the SNES. Players control Goemon and his friends as they make their way through Ancient Japan to stop the Peach Mountain Shoguns. You can talk to characters, whack enemies with your pipe (or hurl coins at them), visit a deranged fortune teller who shrieks out "PLASMA!" at random intervals for no reason, and more.

Each member of the Goemon team can also learn a special ability to access new areas as players progress through the game. Goemon earns the "Sudden Impact" power, which lets him move blocks he normally couldn't, Ebisumaru can shrink to small sizes so he can pass through tiny cracks, Sasuke earns an extra high jump, and Yae gets the ability to transform into a Mermaid so that she can swim underwater.

As usual, the gigantic roller-skating robot, Impact, makes an appearance. Players get to use him to trample down buildings and duke it out in first-person mode against gigantic mecha boss characters in a Punch-Out!! style game.

Spellings

  • がんばれゴエモン ~ネオ桃山幕府のおどり~ - Japanese Spelling

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Screenshots

Credits (Nintendo 64 version)

60 People (50 developers, 10 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 81% (based on 24 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 18 ratings with 1 reviews)

Just a fun game

The Good
The Goemon games are always fun, and this one is no exception. You run around Edo-period cartoony Japan with a pipe and bash enemies. Who couldn't like that? Well, I suppose a lot of people considering the un-popularity of this game in places other than Japan but that's beside my point. Goemon has a lot of spark and character missing from many games in any generation. The graphics are bright, fun, and it's clear what's going on at all times (visually, anyway).

This addition to the series in particular has really great music. Of course, it's all very asian-melodies but that's really the great thing about it is that they take the general asian chord structure and turn it into something really hum-worthy.

The story is great. If you want to learn more about japanese culture, history, or legends, just take the name of a character, place, or food mentioned in this game, insert it into Google or Wikipedia and you'll get a slew of articles that will explain something very interesting and will really make the game more enjoyable as well. But, even if you don't want to take the time, the game is still fun.

The Bad
While the graphics are good for it's time, it seems that Konami really should have spent more time tweaking because there are some very prominent issues that should have been taken care of before the release.

  1. Camera is very buggy. This game was released early in the Nintendo 64's lifetime, but it still shouldn't excuse some of the terrible camera behavior going on in this game. Camera will usually freak out if brought too close to a wall or part of scenery. Also, you have to be careful when changing camera angles because it has a tendency to start trailing in the same direction you were rotating it, but long after you stopped pressing the left or right C buttons.

  2. Framerate issues. the beginning of the game is fine, but certain parts in mainly the overworld but also some castle areas seem to get some terrible framerates. I haven't formally checked, but in certain parts of the game, it's normal to be have a constant 10-15 FPS.

Lastly, the translation of this game is especially terrible. They replace certain words that originally describe the villains as homosexuals (due to their love for theater) with the word "weirdo" which I'm sure you can imagine how quickly that deteriorates into nonsense. But while they changed that word, they forgot to change some words that are very culturally significant which can really confuse even some of the more knowledgeable.

The Bottom Line
A very fun game. Some will like it, and some won't. If you're interested in the Japanese language or culture then it'll definitely be more fun. But those who grew up with the videogames in the PS2/Gamecube/Xbox generation may find the graphics, camera, and overall presentation annoying. But for those who aren't necessarily interested in either will find an enjoyable game experience and even may want to check out the other titles in the series.

Personally, I love the game for the characters, obscure references, music, and atmosphere. They're all right up my alley but I also realize that it's not for everyone.

Nintendo 64 · by Calpis (27) · 2008

Trivia

Etymology

The name Goemon actually comes from Japanese folklore about a Robin Hood-like character from the Edo period. That character's name is Ishikawa Goemon.

High Capacity

At the time of its release, and for a few months after, Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon was the largest Nintendo 64 game of its time, requiring a full 128mb cartridge.

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Related Games

The Legend of the Mystical Ninja
Released 1991 on SNES, 2007 on Wii, 2013 on Wii U
Ganbare Goemon! Karakuri Dōchū
Released 1986 on NES, 1987 on MSX, 2004 on Game Boy Advance...
Ganbare Goemon: Sarawareta Ebisumaru!
Released 1991 on Game Boy, 2012 on Nintendo 3DS
Ganbare Goemon: Uchū Kaizoku Akogingu
Released 1996 on PlayStation, 2007 on PlayStation 3, PS Vita
Ganbare Goemon: Tengu-tō no Gyakushū
Released 1999 on Game Boy Color
Goemon's Great Adventure
Released 1998 on Nintendo 64
Ganbare Goemon 2: Kiteretsu Shogun Magginesu
Released 1993 on SNES, 2008 on Wii, 2013 on Wii U

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  • MobyGames ID: 21284
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Ben K.

Additional contributors: chirinea, Calpis, WONDERなパン.

Game added February 22, 2006. Last modified January 15, 2024.