Dash! Dash! Dash! Let's Play Goemon!

It's time to get all Japanese with our Zelda clones! We shall be playing my favorite Zelda clone of the N64 era, Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon. The main reason for this Let's Play is that this is a game that is deserving of more attention than it got. It came out very close to the release of Ocarina of Time and got overlooked when it came out. It was also one of the first U.S. released N64 games which contained numerous Japanese references. In fact, it was swimming with them, as the setting of the game was in medival Japan. Very few people would be into this type of thing back then, so it didn't sell very well. So! We shall take a fantastic trip into the often-humerous world of Goemon. It is a fairly linear game, so there will be no possibility of breaking order. Nor will I do a speed run. This will be a get-everything run. As well, I will be explaining specific Japanese references that are scattered within the game, as real-world...uh..."things" can be found in the game. Context is important to getting into the world, and here you shall get it. Now let's get started!


So to set the mood, here's the opening movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFP71Y64ZN0

There are numerous musical numbers scattered within the game, and they are all sung in Japanese with English subtitles. "A Japanese musical made into a game? Crazy!" Brother, that is just the tip of the iceberg.



Funny, I remember the title being more round. Oh well. It's a title all right.

Now let's begin the game.



Er, yeah remember Controller Paks? They were the next big thing in memory storage! To this day we stick chunky cartridges into our controllers to take our saves to other people's houses! Wait...

Preface: Uh Oh UFO!



It is a peaceful day in Oedo Town. Happy people with frozen faces are busily walking back and forth on the streets. Nothing unusual there. But suddenly...



A ruckus! It seems that we meet our hero, Goemon, in the direst of curcumstances!



...uh...running from a shop manager. Not too heroic there.



And...here we have Goemon's friend, Ebisumaru. He's...special. (Hint: This would be the character we would name "Pants" if we could.)




Oh yeah. He really means this. Believe it.

Should we tell him? Nah, it's funnier to let him think he's "unique". Man that's cruel of us. Shame on you guys. You all made me do it. Yeah that's it.



Well, we now know who the normal one is. BUT WAIT! WHAT'S THAT SOUND?!



Why, a peach-shaped UFO is flying towards the castle. That's...novel.



What's this? A evil-looking dude is going to attack the castle? Oh noes!



Uh...get used to that. She tends to do that.



This is Oedo Castle. This is where the lord of the land lives. Duh.



Does anyone seriously say that in a video game when something bad isn't about to happen?



Um...okay? The attack changed the castle into a European one. Um...why??? Does someone want to build their own Disney Land before Disney was even born?



Yes yes nefarious plans and all that. We've heard that before.

You didn't think we'd get by without hearing his signature evil laugh too, now, did you?

Time for Goemon action!




Oh. He wants to come too. I was fine with his delusions, but I can't handle him naked. It should be fine if he wears some clothes, though. Maybe...

And...that's the start of our journey into weirdness! More next time cause I'm sleepy.

Next Time: Chapter 1: Engrish Time! --or-- Why You Should Thank Your Lucky Stars For Tomm and Nich

Edit: I promise I'll fix the sizes tomorow I need sleeeeeeep

I love this game, glad to see someone giving it the LP treatment.

I need to play this, but there's that stupid controller pack issue...

But yeah; I'd like to play this sometime. It has a musical or six? Sweet! I didn't know that!

I rented this game when it came out and it blew my mind and made me a Goemon fan forever. it's DELICIOUS.

This game is awesome. Anyone who doesn't agree either hasn't played it or pays homage to some dark lord long forgotten by man.

I rented this game so often, I should have just bought a copy.

Unfortunately, I never had a controller pack, so I only ever made it to the first giant robot battle. But what an awesome fight that was.

I AM IMPAAAAAAAAAAACTOOOOOO!

I love that song so much, if a video isn't linked when it shows up, I'll cry.

Noted!

This is a sequel, right? I remember some game on SNES.

Actually, Ganbare Goemon is a long-running Konami staple. This game was preceeded by at least 11 or 12 other games on various platforms. Very few came to the states, though, and the SNES one might have been the last U.S. one before this.

Huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh
Huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh

Is Goemon's Great Adventure any good? I remember being intrigued by it when I was younger, but I never wanted it more than I wanted other games.

I never got that one, as I seemed to take a hiatus on video games when it came out. But it comes closer to Goemon's 2D roots than the first Goemon 64 game. Now that I look at it, it looks intriguing. I want to play it some day. However, I really like the way that the first 64 game creates a cohesive world that references Japanese culture semi-effectively.

PLASMAAAAAAAAAA!!

I've heard good things about Goemon's Great Adventure, but as silent said, it's a 2D Goemon, so as long as you know not to expect Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon it'll probably be fun. I didn't know not to expect that, but I managed to have some fun when I played it. Can't remember much about it, though, as I only played it for a little bit.

I. Fucking. Love. This. Game.

I really loved Legend of the Mystical Ninja for the SNES(it still stands as one of the games I've rented the most, I even eventually bought it out of a bargain bin for like 20 bucks in 1994). I was incredibly disappointed that none of the SNES sequels came out, so I was pretty thrilled when I learned this game was coming out on the quality title-starved N64.

One thing I remember, it took MONTHS for this game to come out, Nintendo Power reviewed it in like February, but I didn't see it on store shelves til mid June. It drove me nuts.

Chapter 1: Engrish Time! --or-- Why You Should Thank Your Lucky Stars For Tomm and Nich

So now is the time where we take control of our hero Goemon!



We begin inside his house. Notice how we can't jump up into the upper section. Ah invisible walls. This must be the N64.


Heh. Oddly enough, the first thing we shall do is lay on the ground and crawl. The best part is that if you do it back and forth, it looks like Goemon is doing the worm.
***INNOVATION ALERT***Goemon used crawling in a 3D space a whole year before Metal Gear Solid AND made it look a lot funnier!

Now let's step outside and see a little of what we can do.



Well, he can jump, and high too.
***INNOVATION ALERT*** Instead of running off a cliff to jump like in Zelda 64, here all you have to do is push a button! And you jump! WOW!


Now let's take Goemon for a swim in the nearby pool of water. My this is odd to see a pool in such a humble neighborhood. What's that now? Latrine? Uh...


Well, at any rate, we can jump out of the water and get some cash. The money in this game is called Ryo. Feel free to use the space provided to debate whether it is "Ree Oh" or "Rai Oh". Oh Street Fighter II and Breath of Fire series. How you slay me.



So now let's talk to the good citizens of Oedo to gather information. Uh...it seems in the panic of the attack, this good woman has forgotten how to use verb tenses properly.



Uh...sorry Goemon. Just stepped away to leak the lizard. Back to the adventure!



Ah! Something is highlighed in yellow. This must be a clue!



Yeah um...this is indeed a different house. Good use of repeating character models!



So the thieves in this game are the ones in the pink kimonos and the high-pitched voices. Insert your own joke here, for you know you're thinking it. Shame on you.

One whack of the pipe will get rid of them, though. And I just wrote that as a regular face value sentence believe it or not. Stop scowling at me.



We talk to a man of the law to get some directions and it gives us a choice on what we can ask.



If we ask for directions, we get prompt directions to several landmarks. If not...





Looks like someone has confidence. Hey why don't you go out and be the hero if you're so badass. Yeah I thought so.

***INNOVATION ALERT***Goemon did branching dialogue trees before Mass Effect...wait...you're telling me that those have been around since I was a little kid? Rubbish. Nothing that was made past this decade could be sophisticated. Psh. You crazy.



Ah more yellow text. Clearly we're on to something.



***CULTURAL TOUCHSTONE***The bridge that you see here is actually a recreation of a real Japanese landmark. The Nihonbashi bridge spans the river of the same name and eventually sparked a business district of, you guessed it, the same name. As you can see in the picture, it started life as a wooden bridge, which was built in 1603. The district as it stands today stretches from Akihabara in the north to Ginza in the South. Currently, the bridge is a stone incarnation of the original and looks like this:



Anyways, now let's see where this goes. Ah yes. This is the way to Oedo Castle. But what's this?



Is it just me or is this a bit elaborate?

it's really good, but it's bastard hard. also, they took the songs out of the US version. :{ :{ :{ :{ :{

it also has a SECRET 4-player mode, which is probably the best secret ever!

Secretly the best secret...?

Anyway, good to see old Goemon getting some love. You know, they ended up boiling the real Goemon alive in a giant cauldron when they caught him.

Also, why is it so villainous that they turned Edo Castle into a western-styled one? Because it's western styled. The games are sort of xenophobic. The villain of Ganbare Goemon 2 on the SNES is basically Admiral Perry and in the game after that, the villain is an evil Catholic nun who looks like Ebisumaru called Sister Bismaru. She's the villain again in Goemon's Great Adventure. So Goemon's basically saving Japan from the West. It's fairly good natured xenophobia as far as that stuff goes, though.

Now is the time where we talk to a weird kid!




Somehow, those sentences don't seem to flow together well. At least that's what my composition teacher would say.




While this game has a lot of great humor within it, some of the jokes are either awkward thanks to subpar localization or fall flat. Which can also be funny. Heck, it added to the charm of the game.



***CULTURAL TOUCHSTONE*** See that big red lantern in the background? The old man refers to it as the Thunder Gate. In fact, this is a real landmark in Japan. In the area of Tokyo known as Asakusa resides the real Thunder Gate, or Kaminarimon. The gate is about 11.7 meters tall, with its giant lantern leaving just enough room for people to pass underneath. Surrounding it are four statues of Shinto and Buddhist gods. The front two are Raijin, god of thunder, and Fujin, god of wind. The rear two are Tenryu and Kinryu. The gate is known as the face of Asakusa and is very popular with tourists.




Okay enough fooling around let's get to the final sections of town. The one we will visit before we make our way to the exit is the business district. After that, we will definitively find out where to find this pipe maker so we can get the chain pipe to cross the star blocks to the castle.



This is the inn. It is a place where you can...rest. Of course, your health will fill back up when you do. By the way, expect me to recycle this screen for all future inn visits. They don't differentiate.



This is the item shop, where you can buy any non-armor items. This means riceballs in this case. The nifty thing about rice balls is that if you lose all your health, you will gain back some hearts depending on what kind you have. They never did that it Shiren...



This is the restaurant. Each town has one. They serve different foods of the Japanese persuasion. You will gain health if you buy one. Usually you will want to go to the inn, but if you have a certain amount of hearts you want to refill, then this might be a better bargain.
***CULTURAL TOUCHSTONE***The restaurants serve authentic Japanese dishes. Sushi is, of course, various kinds of raw fish and vegetables wrapped in rice and seaweed. Oden is a winter one-pot dish consisting of various ingredients, such as boiled eggs, daikon radish, tofu, miso, and the like. The ingredients vary by region. The oden shown here is on a skewer, which is another variation. Dumplings are fried with eggs and eaten with dashi. One popular variation adds octopus and spices, which is known as takoyaki.

Oh, so this is famous Kaminarimon, yah?

I hope someone gets it or I'll just look dumb.

This is the part of the general store that sells different types of armor. In this game, armor works differently than in most games. If you buy a piece of armor, then you will be able to sustain a certain number of hits. After that, the armor disappears. Armor is for physical while helmets is for magic (most projectiles).



Finally, we have the coffee shop. Nothing really here for us to buy, but it is a good source of information.





Um...that's TOO much information.



This is Goemon's token love interest, Omitsu. She works in the local coffee shop.



As you can see, she's...uh...quite the catch. More on her later.

Now that we are done looking around the town, we will now try to pinpoint the location of the pipe maker. I mean, two people telling us to go to Mt. Fuji is JUST NOT ENOUGH.



Hm. Maybe we should see the fortune teller. Heck, it's worked in numerous other games.



Swanky place, huh. And by swanky, I mean freaky.

Speaking of freaky...



This is the fortune teller. He's also known as the Plasma Man. Wonder why.

For someone so weird, it's even weirder that he says "Howdy".



Ah. That's more like it.



Yes we get it. Plasma. That's a nifty word.




And...we are told exactly how to get to Mt. Fuji. Conviniently enough, it is right next to the fortune teller's shop. So! Let's exit the town and find the pipe maker in Mt. Fuji!

Next Time: Chapter 2: Okay, We Get It, The Bad Guy Likes Peaches

This game is not very divergent, so there really isn't a whole lot of opportunities for participation. But I have a couple of things I want you guys to do. First, you guys will be completely in charge of my cash flow. I will give you guys options as to what you can do with the cash in a town and you guys will tell me what to do with it. At the moment, we only have 42 ryo, so we can't afford anything as of yet, but when we get more, then we can actually prepare for any quests. Secondly, in this game, you can change characters at will. So far, we have Goemon and Ebisumaru. You guys will tell me who to use throughout the next chapter.

Lastly, tell me if you guys want to see anything specific from this Let's Play. Anything at all. I will try to comply with suggestions!

The only character I used every time I played was Yae. <3 Yae

Nice. I just walked through the Kaminarimon last week. Wonder how many other things I just saw will show up in this game.

Seconded. Awesome character, Yae.

I love Goemon. This game and Goemon's Great Adventure are the only things keeping me holding on to my N64. If they're ever released for Virtual Console, it's bye bye to the clunky black beast.

Anyone else here play Goemon's Great Adventure? I actually prefer it to the 3D game.

I played Goemon's Great Adventure, and felt it rocked hard. I mean, it was one of very few games at the time that had 2P Co-op (or, at least, it seemed that way).

Though, looking back on it -- I'm trying to remember if it was more the gameplay or the atmosphere that made it excellent. The latter stands out more in my mind.

If Konami could re-insert the songs into the VC version, that would make my day, even if I don't yet have a Wii. (Not really counting on it though, if they didn't change the names back to the originals in Legend of the Mystical Ninja for the SNES. Still would be awesome if they could get the songs back in, though.)

I could never seem to find this game when I had an N64. Thank you for playing through it.

Also, I thought of something completely different when I saw the 'Dash! Dash! Dash!' in the title: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfGmTzabFM8