The Ganbare Goemon series has not enjoyed much success here in the US. Some might remember The Mystical Ninja games for the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64, but considering the series spans more than two dozen iterations in Japan, I’m sure we’ve received the short end of the stick.
The most recent game in this long-running action/adventure is Ganbare Goemon: Tōkai Dōchū Ōedo Tengu ri Kaeshi no Maki for the DS. It was released in 2005, making it the last Goemon game for some time. I recently imported the title and spent some time with it. The only thing that disappoints me is that Konami hasn’t taken the time to localize this gem.
Like many past Goemon games, this one stars the spunky titular ninja in a wacky adventure in a whimsical feudal Japan. It has many elements in common with the Zelda series, though the two not terribly similar. There are different towns to travel to, puzzles to solve and enemies to wallop with Goemon’s smoking pipe, but Goemon does not rely as heavily on item management and dungeon crawling as the Zelda series does.
The first thing I found striking about Ganbare Goemon DS is its beautiful hand drawn backgrounds. The art style is clearly reminiscent of Capcom’s Okami, and looks very much like a watercolor painting. Character models are rendered in cel-shaded 3D and do not look out of place on the 2D backgrounds at all.
A neat feature of the game is using the touch screen to help Goemon. Early on I had to use the touch screen to pull a tight rope taut so that I could catapult Goemon up to a ledge. A bit later on, I used it to shape a pot on a pottery wheel. These inventive little touches really add to the gameplay.
It’s a downright shame that in 5 years Konami has yet to bring this one out in the west. It’s baffling that a game like Lunar Knights saw a US release, but not Goemon. Lunar Knights is a great game, but I can’t imagine its appeal is greater than that of Goemon, however niche Goemon may be. I’ve only put a couple hours into it so far, but I think it’s a terrific game, and I highly recommend it to importers. The gameplay isn’t so obtuse that knowledge of Japanese is absolutely required (though a little trial-and-error might be), and there is a handy walkthrough on gamefaqs.com should the need arise.
I believe you meant to say “hasn’t taken the time” instead of “The only thing that disappoints me is that Konami has taken the time to localize this gem.”, correct?
I was also very disappointed when I heard this wasn’t coming our way. The Goemon games on the 64 are two of my girlfriend’s favourites and we were both excited when we saw this DS game… but it never came. Sigh.
Ah yes, thanks for pointing that out. I have a nasty habit of leaving out operative words like that.