Project Goemon
@projectgoemon.bsky.social
Documenting Ganbare Goemon history. All Goemon, all the time! **On hiatus**
—Not affiliated to Konami in any way.—
日本語OKでござる。がんばれゴエモン！🍣🌊🎭
https://projectgoemon.wordpress.com/
—Not affiliated to Konami in any way.—
日本語OKでござる。がんばれゴエモン！🍣🌊🎭
https://projectgoemon.wordpress.com/
Ganbare Goemon! (Mystical Ninja)!
November 14, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Ganbare Goemon! (Mystical Ninja)!
I can confirm that this is true for Bakeru as well. (That said, you might as well also check out the website for the game for more.)
mameda-bakeru.com
mameda-bakeru.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:25 PM
I can confirm that this is true for Bakeru as well. (That said, you might as well also check out the website for the game for more.)
mameda-bakeru.com
mameda-bakeru.com
Being serious for a second, I think Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon for the Game Boy was a huge missed opportunity. Given the circumstances, an original game was a mistake: it should have been an adaptation of the N64 game, but made in top-down 2D.
November 1, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Being serious for a second, I think Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon for the Game Boy was a huge missed opportunity. Given the circumstances, an original game was a mistake: it should have been an adaptation of the N64 game, but made in top-down 2D.
With all the power that current consoles and computers have, why don’t we have more games that look like this?
October 18, 2025 at 5:46 AM
With all the power that current consoles and computers have, why don’t we have more games that look like this?
If you see this, post a dragon 🐉
September 28, 2025 at 9:40 PM
If you see this, post a dragon 🐉
That’s impossible. I didn’t see any ghosts in the game…
September 20, 2025 at 11:57 AM
That’s impossible. I didn’t see any ghosts in the game…
Yeah, from the late 70s until the 90s, there was a trend of trying to make katakana sound more "authentic"—ダイヤモンド(ダイヤ) vs ダイアモンド(ダイア), ファイア vs ファイヤ—but the trend now seems to be simplifying the pronunciation of consonants and focusing more on vowel sounds. Marvel in the 90s was adapted differently.
September 8, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Yeah, from the late 70s until the 90s, there was a trend of trying to make katakana sound more "authentic"—ダイヤモンド(ダイヤ) vs ダイアモンド(ダイア), ファイア vs ファイヤ—but the trend now seems to be simplifying the pronunciation of consonants and focusing more on vowel sounds. Marvel in the 90s was adapted differently.
The point about the promotional event at an elementary school is true—although it might be only true for one school.
Translation in alt text.
Translation in alt text.
![EVENT
Goemon comes to your town!
Morning radio gymnastics! One, Two Three!!
Konami's popular character, Goemon, is coming to everyone's town. It's 6:30 in the morning. What does he do this early in the morning? Well, if we're talking early mornings in summer vacation—that's right! Radio gymnastics!
As it happens, Goemon is currently making a tour around Japan as part of a nationwide campaign to enjoy summer festivals and radio gymnastics with children. On July 31 [1997], Goemon visited Shiratori Elementary School in Katsushika Ward, Tokyo.
Unfortunately, it turned out to be rainy on the day, so Goemon and the children gathered at the gymnasium. With the directions coming from the speakers in the gym, all of them together did the gymnastics. At times during the exercise, Goemon seemed to have forgotten the steps. Seeing that, the children helped him out by showing him what to do using big, obvious gestures.
When the exercises were over, the children rushed around Goemon and made a big fuss. The Konami representative told us, "Goemon loves children, and he said that he wanted to go out and meet everyone this summer vacation. So we organized this campaign."
After the gymnastics session, Goemon shrewdly promoted his upcoming game. Hopefully he will visit your town next time!
Goemon also promoted his newest game, Ganbare Goemon~ Neo Momoyama Bakufu no Odori [Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon].
⬆︎ After the gymnastics, Goemon was mobbed by the children. The children were all smiles.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cfir3dy2crir2h2uuvfi75bm/bafkreihjhvuslm45jm5fnl3gmr5dz24f6fdaak4iua7axlproalmupysfa@jpeg)
August 9, 2025 at 2:40 PM
The point about the promotional event at an elementary school is true—although it might be only true for one school.
Translation in alt text.
Translation in alt text.
- A 2-player simultaneous mode was planned for this game, but apparently the team could not get it working properly. I think it says a lot about the optimism regarding the new technology that they thought it was possible on the N64.
August 7, 2025 at 3:13 PM
- A 2-player simultaneous mode was planned for this game, but apparently the team could not get it working properly. I think it says a lot about the optimism regarding the new technology that they thought it was possible on the N64.
- Most Goemon fans would agree that either Legend of the Mystical Ninja or Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon has the best soundtrack in the series. (Dark horses: Goemon’s Great Adventure, Ganbare Goemon 2 (FC)) The OST for this game was, thankfully, also released as an album.
August 7, 2025 at 3:13 PM
- Most Goemon fans would agree that either Legend of the Mystical Ninja or Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon has the best soundtrack in the series. (Dark horses: Goemon’s Great Adventure, Ganbare Goemon 2 (FC)) The OST for this game was, thankfully, also released as an album.
Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon has also been recompiled for Intel-based systems which modernize the game in many ways. (I will defer from linking to it here, however.) Despite some audio glitches, the game is also almost perfect under emulation.
August 7, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon has also been recompiled for Intel-based systems which modernize the game in many ways. (I will defer from linking to it here, however.) Despite some audio glitches, the game is also almost perfect under emulation.
That said, MNSG has a remarkable sense of presence and momentum that is only matched by a handful of titles in the series. While other Goemon games were more about adventures, MNSG really feels like a virtual trip of an entirely new environment.
August 7, 2025 at 9:25 AM
That said, MNSG has a remarkable sense of presence and momentum that is only matched by a handful of titles in the series. While other Goemon games were more about adventures, MNSG really feels like a virtual trip of an entirely new environment.
Almost 30 years later, it is easy to point out the deficiencies of the game: the camera has problems and the camera controls are not obvious. The game is a series of rooms, many of them just made for the sake of the trip, and the scale of the game itself is smaller than other games in the series.
August 7, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Almost 30 years later, it is easy to point out the deficiencies of the game: the camera has problems and the camera controls are not obvious. The game is a series of rooms, many of them just made for the sake of the trip, and the scale of the game itself is smaller than other games in the series.
That said, the Edo-era madcap adventure of Gomeon's world, the unique script with a Japanese sense of humor, and the soundtrack with fully-vocalized songs made a tremendous impact on a generation of players. Konami had greater success with other games on the N64, but MNSG was a great flagship title.
August 7, 2025 at 9:25 AM
That said, the Edo-era madcap adventure of Gomeon's world, the unique script with a Japanese sense of humor, and the soundtrack with fully-vocalized songs made a tremendous impact on a generation of players. Konami had greater success with other games on the N64, but MNSG was a great flagship title.
The reviews did not really translate to sales comparable to Zelda or Mario, unfortunately. The unique world of Goemon was perhaps not so appealing. especially in comparison to major Nintendo-published titles such as the heavily anticipated Banjo-Kazooie.
August 7, 2025 at 9:25 AM
The reviews did not really translate to sales comparable to Zelda or Mario, unfortunately. The unique world of Goemon was perhaps not so appealing. especially in comparison to major Nintendo-published titles such as the heavily anticipated Banjo-Kazooie.
MNSG received very positive reviews in Japan, but it was even more critically acclaimed outside Japan, with glowing reviews that were perhaps also included by the timing. Ocarina of Time's delays had created a demand for a similar game that Goemon fulfilled, to a point.
August 7, 2025 at 9:25 AM
MNSG received very positive reviews in Japan, but it was even more critically acclaimed outside Japan, with glowing reviews that were perhaps also included by the timing. Ocarina of Time's delays had created a demand for a similar game that Goemon fulfilled, to a point.
That resulted in the release of Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon, officially released approximately six months later on April 16, 1998 in the North America market and perhaps two days later in the European market.
August 7, 2025 at 9:25 AM
That resulted in the release of Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon, officially released approximately six months later on April 16, 1998 in the North America market and perhaps two days later in the European market.
The game was a mid-size success in Japan, most likely due to the low popularity of the N64 in the country, but the quality and critical success of the game seems to have been influential enough to make Konami release the game outside Japan, the first time since the first Super Famicom game.
August 7, 2025 at 9:25 AM
The game was a mid-size success in Japan, most likely due to the low popularity of the N64 in the country, but the quality and critical success of the game seems to have been influential enough to make Konami release the game outside Japan, the first time since the first Super Famicom game.
Leaning even more into the Zelda-like mechanics of Ganbare Goemon 3 on the Super Famicom, the first Goemon games was a spectacular triumph for the series, not just in terms of being a transition to 3D, but also taking the series in a new, exciting direction.
August 7, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Leaning even more into the Zelda-like mechanics of Ganbare Goemon 3 on the Super Famicom, the first Goemon games was a spectacular triumph for the series, not just in terms of being a transition to 3D, but also taking the series in a new, exciting direction.
There was a lot riding on the first Goemon game on the Nintendo 64. The PlayStation was rapidly gaining momentum, so series producer Etsunobu Ebisu and the Goemon team knew they needed to produce something outstanding on the next generation Nintendo platform.
August 7, 2025 at 9:25 AM
There was a lot riding on the first Goemon game on the Nintendo 64. The PlayStation was rapidly gaining momentum, so series producer Etsunobu Ebisu and the Goemon team knew they needed to produce something outstanding on the next generation Nintendo platform.