Legend of the Mystical Ninja

Legend of the Mystical Ninja
Developers	Konami
Publishers	Konami
Platforms	Arcade, NES, MSX2, Super NES, Game Boy, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, Mobile Phones, Handheld electronic game.
First release	Mr. Goemon 1986
Latest release	Ganbare Goemon Pachisuro 2 September, 2011
Official website	Official Website

Ganbare Goemon (がんばれゴエモン, lit. "Go for it, Goemon!"), known as Legend of the Mystical Ninja, Mystical Ninja, and Goemon in North America and the PAL region, is a long-running video game series produced by Konami.

These games revolve around the main character Goemon, and his exploits. As the name suggests, his character was loosely based on Ishikawa Goemon, the noble thief of Japanese folklore. While the early games of this title emphasized Goemon as a noble thief, he eventually becomes more of a standard video game hero character. His trademarks are his blue bushy hair and weapon of choice, the Kiseru. The games are set in a cartoony, mystical Feudal Japan, where every bit of folklore and legend about Japan is true. Although the series has its roots in action adventure, the Ganbare Goemon series has features from genres including RPG, puzzle games, and board games. Ganbare Goemon has proven to be widely popular in Japan. Along with its many video games (with more being produced to this day), it has spawned a wide series of merchandise and several anime and manga series.

Only four of its games have been released overseas: three for the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 consoles, and one for the Game Boy.

Characters

• Goemon (ゴエモン): The main protagonist and titular character of the series, he is a hot-blooded boy of Edo. With a strong sense of justice and will, he will right whatever wrong there is in front of him, although he has a short temper. He primarily uses a extending staff as his weapon of choice. Also in the future his son is referred to by the same name. His original voice actor was Shinichirō Ōta. It is also rumored that he has his own Monster Card in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game and Yu-Gi-Oh OCG, known as Goe-Goe The Galant Ninja.

• Ebisumaru (エビス丸): Goemon's longest standing partner and best friend. Although she has feelings for him she is much to shy to express them. According to the Mystical Website of Goemon, this character is derived from Nezumi Kozō. She uses a hammer and bombs in almost every game. Ebisumaru also has a daughter named Mao, according to the Mystical Website of Goemon (She also makes a brief appearance at the end of Goemon's Great Adventures). She also has a brother called Obisumaru who loathes her and a descendant from the future called Sister Bismaru (a nun). Her voice actor is Kenichi Ogata.

• Omitsu (おみつ): The local belle of Edo. She is basically Goemon's friend, although he mostly just protects her. She is also a likely target of foes.

• Yae (ヤエ): A kunoichi that works for the Secret Investigational Ninja, a secret organization of peace keepers. She often joins Goemon and Ebisumaru on their adventures under the same goal. In battle, Yae usually wields a katana, as well as her personal bazooka, and the ability to transform into a mermaid. Her voice actor is Rumi Kasahara. She is also rumored to have her very own Monster Card in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG and Yu-Gi-Oh! OCG, known as Lady Ninja Yae.

• Goroku (ゴロク):

• Baban (ババン):

• Monoshiri Ojisan (物知りお爺さん, lit. "The Wise Old Man"): A brilliant genius of clockwork machines who lives deep in Iga. Although a good fellow, he is also a big pervert. This trait was bowdlerized for the American release of Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon, however: instead of collecting hentai magazines, he collects car magazines (the "Mystial Ninja starring Goemon" anime series however still depicts monoshiri as a flirtuous girl-crazy old man).

• Sasuke (サスケ): A clockwork robot ninja. He was created by Monoshiri and often joins Goemon and Ebisumaru on their quest. A very naive and honest character. However, he also seems to have a switch that can make him from good to evil and vice-versa. Sasuke fights using all manner of weapons, including twin kunai, miniature explosives, and even his spiked topknot. He shows some signs of gender confusion, at one point in Mystical Ninja 2 asking why he cannot 'make a good wife someday'. He is based on the fictional ninja Sarutobi Sasuke. His voice actor is Junko Hori. He is his very own Monster Card in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG and Yu-Gi-Oh! OCG, known as Sasuke Samurai. He also has three other series of Yu-Gi-Oh! Monster Cards, Sasuke Samurai #2, Sasuke Samurai #3 and Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke.

• Ebisu: She's the best friend to the Goemon in the future. She wields the same weapons as Ebisumaru and possibly is his daughter.

• The Feudal Lord of Edo and Princess Yuki: The Rulers of Edo. Despite this, they do little that inspires leadership. More often than not, they too are preyed on by evil doers, as described in the manual for Mystical Ninja starring Goemon 2: They are born to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time. Yuki has a significant role in Ganbare Goemon Pachisuro, notably singing a song during gameplay.

• Goemon Impact (ゴエモンインパクト): A giant clockwork robot made by Monoshiri Ojisan. With a frightful motif modeled after Goemon himself, it was built to help Goemon take on Giant foes, but more often than not, he acts as a famous movie star in various parts of the world, and even has a planet named after himself. He shares Goemon's strong sense of justice, and enjoys fighting for the team. He also has a love of dancing, particularly disco.

• Miss Impact (ミスインパクト): A female counterpart to Goemon Impact. Was created by the Wise Man as a counterpart to Goemon Impact, and is modeled after Omitsu. Omitsu refuses to notice the similarities... Goemon Impact fell in love with her at first sight and planned to ask her out. However, since Miss Impact has not been seen since "Goemon's Great Adventure" it is unknown how their relationship worked out.

• Suzaku (スザク): A female ghost who comes from the Underworld. She made her first appearance in "Goemon's Great Adventure" and provides the gang with information about their enemy, Bismaru.

• Shogun Magginessu (?):

• Bisumaru (?):

• Space Clown Akogingu (?):

• Kinemon (?):

• Admiral Peruri (?):

• Dochuki (?):

• Yui (ユイ):

• Jurokubei (?):

• Baron (?):

• Seppukumaru (?):

Anime

Original Video Animation

A single-episode thirty-minute OVA was released in Japan in 1993 titled Ganbare Goemon: Jigen Jō no Akumu (がんばれゴエモン 次元城の悪夢, "The Nightmare of the Dimensional Castle"). The OVA starred the voice of Daiki Nakamura as Goemon and Hideyuki Umezu as Ebisumaru and feature segments parodying Gradius, Akumajō Dracula and TwinBee.

Television series

Main article: Legend of the Mystical Ninja (anime)

List of games

Original Title	Localized Title(s)	Regions	First Release	First Platform
Ganbare Goemon: Yukihime Kyuushutsu Emaki	The Legend of the Mystical Ninja	JP, NA, EUR	1991	SNES
Ganbare Goemon: Sarawareta Ebisumaru!	Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon (in "Konami GB Collection Vol.3")	JP, EUR	1991	GameBoy
Ganbare Goemon: Kurofune Tou no Nazo	Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon	JP, NA, EUR	1997	GameBoy
Ganbare Goemon: Neo Momoyama Bakufu no Odori	Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon	JP, NA, EUR	1997	Nintendo 64
Ganbare Goemon: Derodero Douchuu Obake Tenkomori	Goemon's Great Adventure (NA) Mystical Ninja 2 Starring Goemon (EUR)	JP, NA, EUR	1999	Nintendo 64
Mr. Goemon	-	JP	1986	Arcade
'Ganbare Goemon! Karakuri Douchuu: Machi Hen		JP	1986	Board Game
Ganbare Goemon! Karakuri Douchuu	-	JP	1986	Famicom
Ganbare Goemon! Karakuri Douchuu	-	JP	1987	MSX2
Ganbare Goemon 2	-	JP	1989	Famicom
Ganbare Goemon Gaiden: Kieta Ougon Kiseru	-	JP	1990	Famicom
Ganbare Goemon: Ebisumaru Kiki Ippatsu	-	JP	1990	Handheld Electronic Game
Ganbare Goemon Gaiden 2: Tenka no Zaihou	-	JP	1992	Famicom
Ganbare Goemon 2: Kiteretsu Shogun Magginesu	-	JP	1993	Super Famicom
Ganbare Goemon 3: Shichijuurokubei no Karakuri Manji Gatame	-	JP	1994	Super Famicom
Ganbare Goemon Kirakira Douchuu: Boku ga Dancer ni Natta Wake	-	JP	1995	Super Famicom
Soreyuke Ebisumaru! Karakuri Meiro - Kieta Goemon no Nazo!! (puzzle game starring Ebisumaru)	-	JP	1996	Super Famicom
Ganbare Goemon: Uchuu Kaizoku Akogingu	-	JP	1996	PlayStation
Ganbare Goemon: Kuru Nara Koi! Ayashige Ikka no Kuroi Kage	-	JP	1998	PlayStation
Ganbare Goemon: Oedo Daikaiten	-	JP	2001	PlayStation
Ganbare Goemon: Tengu-tou no Gyakushuu!	-	JP	1999	GameBoy Color
Ganbare Goemon: Mononoke Douchuu Tobidase Nabe-Bugyou!	-	JP	1999	GameBoy Color
Ganbare Goemon: Hoshizorashi Dynamites Arawaru!!	-	JP	1999	GameBoy Color
Goemon: New Age Shutsudou! (futuristic spin-off of the series)	-	JP	2001	GameBoy Advance
Goemon: Shin Sedai Shuumei! (futuristic spin-off of the series)	-	JP	2001	PlayStation
Goemon Mononoke Sugoroku	-	JP	1999	Nintendo 64
Bouken Jidai Katsugeki Goemon (a more serious spin-off of the series)	-	JP	2000	PlayStation 2
"Ganbare Goemon: Tsuukai Game Apli" series Ganbare Goemon: Dosukoi! Harite Ichiban Ganbare Goemon: Hijutsu! Sansū Juku Ganbare Goemon: Jetto GO! GO! GO! Ganbare Goemon: Karakuri Kiteretsu Rēsu Ganbare Goemon: Tentekomai-Mai Meikyū-Kan	-	JP	2002-2003	Mobile Phones
Ganbare Goemon: Mini kyodai Robo Goemon Konpakuto	-	JP	2003	Mobile Phone
Ganbare Goemon 1+2: Yuki-hime to Magginisu (port of the first two Super NES games with extra mini-games)	-	JP	2005	GameBoy Advance
Ganbare Goemon: Shishijūrokubē no Karakuri Manji Gatame	-	JP	2005	Mobile Phone
Ganbare Goemon! Karakuri Douchuu	-	JP	2005	Mobile Phone
Goemon: Toukai Douchuu	-	JP	2005	Nintendo DS
Ganbare Goemon Gaiden: Kieta Ougon Kiseru	-	JP	2007	Mobile Phone
Ganbare Goemon Pachisuro (pachislot)	-	JP	2009	Pachislot
Ganbare Goemon Pachisuro 2 (pachislot)	-	JP	2011	Pachislot

Other appearances

• Goemon appears as a playable character in the Konami crossovers Wai Wai World and Wai Wai World 2 for the Famicom, in the original MSX Parodius, in the Super Famicom version of Gokujō Parodius! ～Kako no Eikō o Motomete～ and in Konami Krazy Racers for the Game Boy Advance, the latter being the latest game released in America in which a Ganbare Goemon character makes an appearance. It also makes appearance in Wai Wai Sokoban for the Mobile Phones.
• Goemon was a playable character in Ganbare Pennant Race.
• Ebisumaru is the second player in the Super Famicom version of Gokujō Parodius! ～Kako no Eikō o Motomete～ and is a secret character in Konami Krazy Racers.
• Impact makes an appearance as one of the bosses of Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius.
• Goemon from Legend of the Mystical Ninja makes self-referenced a Jikkyou Power Pro Wrestling '96: Max Voltage.
• Goemon, Yae, and Sasuke appear as cards in Yu-Gi-Oh. Other robots made by Wise Old Man also appear as cards, all are named Sasuke Samurai and are numbered.
• Seppukumaru and his Egg-like Henchmen Tsujigiri from Ganbare Goemon 4 for the super Famicom make appearances as the main villains in the Ganbare Goemon Anime series.
• Goemon and Ebisumaru made short cameo appearances in the Twinbee OVA, Twinbee Paradise, as judges in a female beauty contest when Pastel (Twinbee) accidentally eats some shrinking cookies.
• Goemon can be seen inside the bar before interviewing a dancer in Snatcher.
• Otomedius ?

External links

• Official Konami of Japan Ganbare Goemon site
• Ganbare Goemon series at MobyGames
• Mystical Ninja/Ganbare Goemon Hardcore Gaming 101's page for Ganbare Goemon series
• Goemon International
• Goemon Mystical Ninja Wikia