Ganbare Goemon: Sarawareta Ebisumaru! - Gameboy (1991)

Gameboy Color Intro

Goemon: Saraweta Ebisumaru

Goemon: Saraweta Ebisumaru

The first Goemon for the Gameboy is just like the Famicom games. The levels are a little more straightforward, and you no longer need to worry about finding passes - instead, you do little subquests for characters. As a result, it's much more involving and less tedious than the Famicom titles. The gameplay makes the transition to the Gameboy perfectly, with large, detailed sprites that actually look better than the original. The story is simple - Ebisumaru has been kidnapped of Yagyu Jubei, and Goemon must save him. This title was also released in the Konami Gameboy Collection Volume 3. This collection was also colorized, translated into English and released in Europe as "Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon".

Goemon: Saraweta Ebisumaru

Ganbare Goemon: Kurofune Tou no Nazo/Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon - Gameboy (1997)

American Box Cover

Goemon: Kurofune Tou no Nazo

Goemon: Kurofune Tou no Nazo

"Kurofune Tou no Nazo" - released in America simply as "Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon" tries to be like the original Zelda game. Your movement is limited, so you can't move diagonally, and the hit detection is pretty bad, making the simple act of killing bad guys unnecessarily difficult. Each stage is huge, but that's only because they keep reusing the same five or so screens over and over. If you somehow have the patience to make it to a level boss, be prepared for impossibly frustrating button mashing mini-games. God forbid you lose, because then you have to start the whole level from scratch. You don't get any extra lives, and enemies don't drop health power-ups, making for a game that is not only awkward and repetitious but tremendously frustrating too. It's a shame that Konami chose to localize what is undoubtedly one of the worst games in the series, because there's absolutely nothing positive about it.

Goemon: Kurofune Tou no Nazo

Ganbare Goemon: Tengu-to no Gyuakushu! - Gameboy Color (1999)

Japanese Box Cover

Goemon: Tengu-to no Gyuakushu

Goemon: Tengu-to no Gyuakushu

The first real RPG in the Goemon series since the Gaiden games for the Famicom, "Tenguto no Gyuakushu" borrows from the concept of the Goemon TV series. You are a young Japanese boy named Hajime who is transported into the video game world of Ancient Japan, and eventually join up with Goemon and friends as you fight evil and whatnot. You also jump back between the game world and modern Japan. It's pretty much your typical Japanese RPG with a turn based battle system. The game allows three characters are on the field at once, with one as the leader and the rest supplying backup attacks. You can also switch other characters in and out at any time. Like many early Gameboy Color games, the graphic artists had no idea how to properly take advantage of color and it looks frighteningly awful. The music is ear scratchingly bad too. Like many Gameboy RPGs, it's a pretty pedestrian effort.

Goemon: Tengu-to no Gyuakushu

Ganbare Goemon: Mononoke Douchuu Tobidase Nabe-Bugyou! - Gameboy Color (1999)

Japanese Cover

Goemon: Mononoke Douchuu Tobidase Nabe-Bugyou

Goemon: Mononoke Douchuu Tobidase Nabe-Bugyou

"Mononoke Dochuu" is yet another traditional RPG for the Gameboy Color, but it's far better than its predecessor. Edo Castle has disappeared yet again, and Goemon is up to solve the mystery. The graphics this time around are much better, with some decent looking cutscene graphics, and the music is comprised of tunes from other Goemon games, including a few from the N64 game. The battle songs are surprisingly catchy too. In addition to the usual cast of characters, you're stalked by a trio of goofy ninjas: Takeru Miroku Imari Taking a big page from Pokemon, Mononoke Dochuu lets you capture monsters to add to your party. You can attach these monsters to your characters, so they fight alonside them. Like Pokemon, each monster has a certain element, and choosing the right monster for certain enemies is the key to winning the battles. You can even fuse them to create new monsters a la Shin Megami Tensei. The battles have moved to a first-person Dragon Warrior-esque viewpoint. Only one character and their familiar can attack at a time, although you can switch between any party members at any momemt. If you have a transfer pack and the N64 game Ganbare Goemon: Mononoke Sugoroku, you can transfer captured monsters. While it's clearly capitalizing on Nintendo's monster collecting fad, it's a good game and the best of the RPG Goemon games.

Goemon: Mononoke Douchuu Tobidase Nabe-Bugyou! Goemon: Mononoke Douchuu Tobidase Nabe-Bugyou!

Ganbare Goemon: Hoshizorashi Dynamites Arawaru!! - Gameboy Color (2000)

Japanese Cover

Goemon: Hoshizorashi Dynamites Arawaru!!

Goemon: Hoshizorashi Dynamites Arawaru!!

Amongst all of the RPGs, "Dynamites Arawaru" is the only side scrolling game to make it out for the Gameboy Color systems. The gameplay is pretty much like Goemon 2 for the SFC, although goofy cat enemies litter the game as opposed to rabbits. Goemon and Ebisumaru have been separated, and each has their own set of levels. While Goemon's levels are your traditional "left-to-right" scrolling stages, Ebisumaru's mix it up a bit by scrolling from "right-to-left". It's a little odd, but it keeps things fresh. The ultimate enemy is the flexing guy you see below: Sasuke and Yae show up for some minigames, but are otherwise unplayable. The graphics are excellent, with huge characters sprites, and the music is a collection of songs from various Super Famicom Goemon games. Another solid entry in the series.

Goemon: Hoshizorashi Dynamites Arawaru!! Goemon: Hoshizorashi Dynamites Arawaru!!

Goemon: New Age Shutsudou! - Gameboy Advance (2001)

Japanese Cover

Goemon: New Age Shutsudou!

Goemon: New Age Shutsudou!

Goemon's first (and only) Gameboy Advance adventure borrows the revamped characters and setting from the Playstation game Shin Sedai Shuumei - in other words, the same crappy, focus-tested, kiddie-aimed garbage. While the plotline and some of the basic level concepts are the same, the stage designs and bosses are different. While that title was at least a reasonably good game, New Age Shutsudou doesn't even accomplish that. Only Goemon and Ebisu are playable characters in the regular areas, although Yui and Sasuke pop in for certain tasks (like the underwater sections.) The cooler weapons, like Goemon's mega laser, have been removed entirely. While there are fewer stages than the Playstation, the designers tried to compensate by making each level much longer - and in the process, much more boring. In the meantime, they forgot completely to include checkpoints, so dying means trudging through the same dull area from scratch. While the Impact scenes are commendable (they are just like the SFC titles), everything else is a lobotomized version of a game that was already stripped down to begin with.

Goemon: New Age Shutsudou! Goemon: New Age Shutsudou!