Game On: Let's Play 3.07 - Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon

Game: Mystical Ninja Starring Geomon System: Nintendo 64 Developer: Konami Computer Entertainment Osaka Publisher: Konami Player: Alex

[While we do enjoy creating in-depth articles regarding the games in question, due to our efforts to complete the Game On: Let's Play lineup and focus on more current Third Rate Game Play setups, we will now produce shorter articles for the remaining episodes of Game On: Let's Play.  Check after the jump.]



The night was late, and the levels of consciousness hit an all-time low.  However, we were determined to keep moving onward.  After filming a long selection of Super Metroid episodes, we spent almost an hour arguing over which game to take next into our lineup.  That game would eventually be chosen as the Japanese epic Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon.

Mystical Ninja stars Goemon (as the title suggests) and his friends as they venture around feudal Japan in a mission to stop the evil Peach Mountain Shoguns and their crazily-designed robots.  The game has been compared to the likes of The Legend of Zelda, complete with bosses and items to collect, although the game is its own unique action adventure experience.  The locations are all based on ancient Japanese culture, and the humor is fairly unique in its own Japanese way.  What is also significant is the ability to swap between characters on the fly, each with their own unique abilities to gain over the course of the game.

Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon is actually the fourth American release of the Ganbare Geomon series from Konami.  Originally, Mr. Goemon was an arcade and board game from Konami before becoming a full-fledged video game series.  The first American release would be a good five years later with the SNES release The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (complete with humorously poor translations for names: Kid Ying and Dr. Yang instead of Goemon and Ebisumaru).  After the N64 hit, a side-scrolling sequel, dubbed Goemon's Great Adventure, was released some two years later.  The series never emerged outside Japan afterward, although Working Designs had attempted to bring the PS2 title Bouken Jidai Katsugeki Goemon to the US.  The last major release in the series was 2005's Ganbare Goemon: Tōkai Dōchū Ōedo Tengu ri Kaeshi no Maki, a DS adventure title with a focus on drawing on the battlefield.  The chances of more Goemon adventures are minimal, as Konami closed Konami Computer Entertainment Osaka.  The main development members of the company would create Good-Feel, the developer of Wario Land: Shake It! and Kirby's Epic Yarn for Nintendo.

In retrospect, perhaps we shouldn't have done another episode that late at night.  Yes, college students have odd sleep patterns, but after filming roughly two and a half hours and then some beforehand, our energy had been sapped more than we could imagine.  In the video, you can see and hear Alex make increasingly confusing statements combined with constant mention of the time (thank you VCR for that).  There are some solid moments within the episode, and it does a solid look at the beginning segments of the game.  Will Third Rate Game Play revisit this title in the future?  Can't see why not.