(Originally posted on April, 2015)
(1998, Nintendo 64)
I’ve always had a particular fondness for this game, as it didn’t get the attention it deserved at launch. Not even from me. I found out about GGA from a small mention in a gaming magazine and briefly thought to myself “Huh, so Konami’s making another 2D Mystical Ninja. Looks neat, but I can’t spend $50 on this.” Indeed, at the time I was engulfed in 3rd Strike and the small community it created at the local arcade, the PS1 was at its peak, Saturn games were cheap AND the Dreamcast was almost out. No matter how good the game was, a full-priced 2.5D platformer in the late 90’s was a very tough sell. I almost feel a bit guilty about brushing it off so easily, as I adored Legend of the Mystical Ninja for the SNES and was impressed by my (then) limited time with the N64’s ‘Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon’. When I got wind that KB Toys was having a $10 clearance sale for GGA, I finally picked it up. Not being let down at all by the series’ final American release, I’ve always been eager to mention the game whenever the topic of hidden N64 gems comes up.
Playing the Japanese version this time, I could tell there were differences before even turning on the system. If you hold the JP and US version in each hand, you’ll be able to notice that the Japanese cart physically weighs more than the American version, which cut out a couple fully vocalized songs (and accompanying cutscenes) entirely, likely in order to fit the game on a smaller ROM and cut costs. The series’ main attraction comes from all it’s weird charm, so this was a big blow to the US version. Not too surprising, as this is the same Konami that first tried to replace the mythological and historically significant names of Goemon and Ebisumaru with the easier to pronounce Kid Ying and Doctor Yang.
Stepping back from the flawed, but highly ambitious and well received 3D action/adventure that was “Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon,” GGA takes the series back to it’s earlier, more familiar style: Lots of 2D platforming and plenty of towns to explore. Of course there’s an unimaginably off-the-wall story, likeable reoccurring characters and new faces…all wrapped up in an amusingly insane take on Japan’s Edo-era. Although playing like the SNES games, the fully polygonal engine is able to give the levels dynamic multiple paths and flashier graphical touches and effects. A simple day/night system has been introduced, which brings out more fearsome enemies at night and gives more depth to the towns. It adds just a little bit to the gameplay, but a whole lot more to the atmosphere.
The dozens of rather massive levels aren’t particularly challenging and could be a bit more varied, but make for a memorable and enjoyable experience through their surprising ability to draw in and relax the player. During your journey, you’ll likely find your curiosity stimulated enough to return to levels and explore just for the heck of it. The rich plant life, submergible bodies of whatever, exotic and formidable architecture and bashing of such baddies as flying lantern faces and bull-spiders is nearly as much fun experiencing for the 10th time as the 1st. The levels are based on the theme of each of the game’s 5 worlds, which are quite beautiful in their own right as in-game dioramas.
Some of my favorites:
- Frog Mountain: Dealing with a huge assortment of obstacles, you gradually make your way up around a mountainous island set over an expansive ocean, made even more gorgeous with waterfalls and Chinese-style construction that occasionally peak out from all the nature.
- Edo Castle: The first big challenge of the game, you have to scale a massive, collapsing castle that’s impressively lit by the very flames which engulf it. Sometimes it’s easier to predict the moves of the enemies TRYING to attack you than the lit-up baddies busy jumping up and down.
- Maneater Road: One of the more playful and memorable music tracks accompanies this hellish looking but fun stage. The kappas are cute during other parts in the game, but not so much here…
Concluding each world is a lengthy ‘castle’ stage. The final three get rather challenging and tense, but rarely elicit sweaty palmed shouts of “BULLSHIT” like the later parts of Mystical Ninja for the SNES would often do. Besides the above mentioned Edo Castle, you’ll get to visit a gorgeous Chinese water palace, a dark and ghoulish underworld fortress and a more Western style castle guarded by witches and knights. A big complaint is that Konami couldn’t be bothered to create a unique final stage and just settled for a more difficult mish-mash of all the castles before it.
The castle’s boss fights are all inspired and impressively varied. Coming in all shapes and sizes, the bosses make good use of the polygonal engine, such as a giant club-wielding ogre who chases you with roll attacks between the foreground and background. Once you topple a boss, you’ll then advance to one of the series’ most recognizable features, the impact fights, which play like a mix between Punch Out and Star Fox. If the enemy’s getting ready to unleash an unblockable super-move, you can toss your baton to Miss Impact for a quick escape. Pro-tip: If any of the giant robots give you trouble, they can quickly be overwhelmed just by connecting your “100 Punch” auto combo a handful of times.
Each world has a town (or two), gradually increasing in size and complexity. Just like the levels, it’s great fun in itself to aimlessly wander and explore. These are the best places to up your gate pass count, which function like stars/shine in the Mario games. Here, the game’s length is padded a bit, as townspeople will need you to revisit stages to complete certain missions, such as gathering dozens of mushrooms or exterminating a gang of Tengu within a time limit. Since I enjoyed the random cultural references and didn’t at all mind revisiting levels, this rarely got annoying. There’s also semi-frustrating but charming memorization based mini-games to complete within each town, which are easily solvable with note taking. As usual, each town has inns, items shops and restaurants to visit, which feature items unique to each town. All the delicious polygonal food and cool equipment is fun to look at, but ultimately not as valuable as past games, since power-ups are now liberally dispensed during the levels and boss fights. Who needs onigiri and armor reserves when every dozen enemies will give you a kamaboko to fill up your life? Still, visiting all the shops and staying the night in differing grades of rooms is a big part of the series’ putois. Seeing the innkeeper’s somewhat inhuman animation may be scarier than the dozens of yokai…
One of the main things that made me a fan of the SNES version was all the exotic enemies, based on the wide array of monsters from Japanese folklore. Classic enemies like the karakasa (dancing umbrellas) and crow tengu make a return, along with the debut of haniwa soldiers (similar to the statues in Animal Crossing and enemies of Mischief Makers). There’s even a creature called “Shirime,” which translates to “Butt Eye.” Avoiding further description, I’ll leave it up to you to play the game and make eye contact with him.
As with the last N64 game (and many others only released in Japan), you can switch between four characters, each with varying attributes and abilities that are needed in certain situations. Most often playing with Goemon thanks to his handy double jump, he’s still a bit awkward to control, as the jump won’t activate if you wait too long on the descent. The physics and controls are honestly a bit stiff and awkward, but the game is easy enough overall to not be a huge issue. After toppling the final boss, there are still extras to unlock and even an entire new town to visit (with a most interesting way to get there). It’s a neat touch how the credit roll tells you there are still secrets to discover, along with hints on how to get them.
While containing timeless personality and odd sights, it’s not the most impressive looking N64 game from a technical perspective. If you play it on an emulator, it upscales surprisingly well, everything from the colors, image quality, character models really coming into their own versus the real thing on a CRT. The music is very competent, but a step down from the other two games I’ve beaten, the ‘Legend of the Mystical Ninja’ and ‘Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon’. It’s all good and adds even more fun vibes to the game, but is lacking in moods, with little being particularly memorable or spectacular. You’ll get a ton of catchy, upbeat tracks mixing both modern western and ancient Japanese instruments, but it’s like the same cup of tea, prepared and served in different ways. There are a couple unique standouts, such as the quizzical and mysterious ‘Mokeke Forest’. A plus is that there’s once again a ton of music, including more ambient focused tracks that play during the night cycles.
Goemon’s Great Adventure is an excellent game that missed a larger audience by landing at the wrong place at the wrong time. Now that the excitement, hype and dust of the late 90’s has long settled, if you’re in the mood for 2D platforming, the solid design and rich personality found here will satisfy both novices and hardcore fans of the series. However, almost 20 years later, history repeats itself. Until Konami does a reissue on modern systems, its somewhat high price on the second hand market will once again drive off many potential buyers.
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