Ikuze!
It’s an absolute crime that we get so few titles from Ganbare Goemon mass in the West. Not all of them are great, but they almost always try new things and are often fun. We didn’t see our first game until the third game (Wednesday? Thursday? It’s complicated) in the series, localized as 1992 Legend of the mysterious Ninja on the SNES.
While the original Ganbare Goemon on the Famicom had a good start to the series, it will be 1989 Ganbare Goemon 2 that would establish one of the hallmarks of the franchise: simultaneous co-op.
As the story goes, Goemon is in prison, where he meets his soon-to-be BFF Ebisumaru. Ebisu-chan tells about a mysterious treasure. Bored of life in prison, the duo decide to leave and roam around Japan in search of this treasure.
There are a lot of loans and a lot of changes from the first time Ganbare Goemon. The original title has a pretty tight play loop where you have to find three passes in each level to continue. Although that makes a profit for some periods, Ganbare Goemon 2 shake things up by ending the others with bosses and cutscenes. Finding holes in the ground by jumping over them is less emphasized. It also doubles as mini-games and out-of-date pranks.
The Goemon The series has never been completely outspoken, but there’s a clear decline in madness throughout the titles. Ganbare Goemon 2 there are, for example, interrupted yokai shows, a run-to-the-bathroom option for women, and a store that sells Konami game cartridges that can change enemies into popular characters from other games. Although there are no giant robots in roller skating yet, the strangeness Goemon known to be in rotation.
That’s also where Goemon really began his journey across Japan. Most of the games in the series involve him traveling around his country, but the original game Ganbare Goemon stuck in a province. Here, you go from Kyushu to Hokkaido, one level at a time. Feudal Japan may not be as epic as it is on the SNES, but it gives Ganbare Goemon 2 a rich sense of diversity and a sense of tangible progress.
However, it can be a crush. Most of the levels that follow the double-pass rule are underground and one of them is in a “3D” maze. However, you can also buy tickets in stores, which can be expensive. There are no signs of hidden underground passages, so jump in slightly conspicuous spots to find them. You can simply buy passes to avoid getting hit and miss jumping through the levels.
But a stage doesn’t even give you the option. You must buy all three tickets. The only way to make money is by defeating enemies and gambling, so if you haven’t accumulated all the required rake by the time you reach that level, you’ll have to mull over the rest. This is annoying, especially in co-op.
It may not be the best game in Goemon series, but as it is a defining title, cohesive standards will be maintained throughout the run of the series. One thing to note is that while Ganbare Goemon movies are always interesting, rarely great. Most titles have some minor issues that make them tough, and their formulas vary so dramatically from game to game that it never quite turns things off. .
Ganbare Goemon 2’s The larger failures become difficult and abrasive demands. Money can get you far. Items will allow you to take extra hits, you can heal at various shops and inns around the levels, and you can even buy extra lives. It makes a big difference when it comes to getting through more difficult areas, of which there are a few. It’s not impossible, and I’ve overcome it with a co-op partner on multiple occasions; it can only make things so much more complicated.
Still, there’s a lot of fun in co-op, as long as someone doesn’t mind being the freaky Ebisumaru. Although the first Famicom title may have come too soon to feel the full effects of The Legend of Zelda and Metroid’s impact on console games, Ganbare Goemon 2 Skip all the old retention video games and is a much more enjoyable experience than the first one. That’s a pretty solid title for the Famicom as a whole.
You can pass Ganbare Goemon 2 without knowing Japanese? It is so difficult. I’ve done that many times already minimum Japanese, but it was enough to tell me what each building does. However, the basics of the gameplay are easy enough to grasp without it. Luckily, if you can’t navigate the language, there are fan translations that can clear things up.
It was ported to the Wii U and 3DS Virtual Console, but only in Japan. I still hold out hope that Konami will bring us a Goemon collection, but consider they have M2 . ports Getsu Fuuma Den to modern consoles and don’t bother translating it; Forgive me if I doubt.
Check out the Famicom last Friday right here.
Zoey Handley
Zoey is a gamer. She has played video games her whole life and is a lover of both new and classic games. She loves to dig in the dirt and pick out games that are perfectly fine if you clean them up a bit.
