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The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (がんばれゴエモン〜ゆき姫救出絵巻〜 Ganbare Goemon: Yukihime Kyūshutsu Emaki?, lit. "Go for it Goemon: The Rescue of Princess Yuki") is the first game in the Ganbare Goemon series for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as the first to be released in North America. It was released in Japan on July 17, 1991, in America on June 30, 1992 and in Europe in 1994. It was later included along its sequel, Ganbare Goemon 2: Kiteretsu Shōgun Magginesu, in the compilation Kessakusen! Ganbare Goemon 1•2: Yukihime to Magginesu for the Game Boy Advance in Japan. It was released a third time for the Virtual Console in 2007, this time available to other countries. In October 2017, the game was included on Nintendo's Super Famicom Mini in Japan only.

Plot[]

In the growing fishing village of Edo (present day Tokyu), two heroic ninjas named Goemon (Kid Ying) and Ebisumaru (Dr. Yang) talk about strange things recently happening in Horo-Horo Temple, including rumors of a Ghost Woman who apparently has started to roam the place. They head toward the temple to investigate, and on their way they come across a fleeing girl who mentions something about a foul wind blowing from the north. As she runs away, ghosts and other bizarre creatures suddenly start appearing everywhere. Nevertheless, Goemon and Ebisumaru still venture inside the temple, where they battle all these monsters, and eventually find and defeat the female ghost herself.

The ghost unexpectedly shapeshifts into a cat, who presents himself as Kurobei. He tells them that he belongs to a secret clan of ninja cats from the west. Kurobei then asks the duo to meet with his master, Koban, who resides on the island of Shikoku.

As Goemon and Ebisumaru arrive to Shikoku, they learn that the Hyotoko Army has taken control over the island and their members have even set up a carnival in town that night. The heroes manage to find the clan's headquarters and defeat their leader, the Lantern Man, who had taken Koban prisoner. After thanking them for rescuing him, Koban informs the heroes that he is the leader of a secret clan that serves their warlord in western Japan, Lord Yuki. However, they are currently facing a crisis, as his daughter, Princess Yuki, has been kidnapped. Koban believes that a rival clan known as the "Otafuku" has taken her to their domain in Yamato and asks them to help them rescue her.

After crossing the small island of Awaji, where the Otafuku have settled up a sinister mechanical amusement park, the heroes reach Yamato, which has been overrun by the Otafuku (which are known to kidnap innocent people and used weapons to beat down the ninja cats clan). The duo infiltrate the Otafuku's headquarters and defeat them and their namesake leader. They then meet a kunoichi named Yae, who tells them that she was in the middle of an investigation about counterfeiters when she got captured by the Otafuku Army. Guessing they were also looking for something, she suggests them to go seek the aid of the Wise Old Man who lives in the famous village of Iga (Iga-Ueno).

Goemon and Ebisumaru traverse through the mountains of Iga and reach the Wiseman's castle. However, it happens to be heavily guarded by clockwork ninjas, led by the intrepid robot commander, Sasuke. They manage to defeat Sasuke and his men, and finally meet the Wise Old Man, who tells them that in order to find the princess, they must seek the guidance of the White Mirror that resides in the Dragon Lake, located in the province of Izumo. In order to quickly get there, he lets them use his "Miracle Transport Machine" (which happens to be nothing more than a cannon).

Unfortunately, the machine goes haywire and instead sends them to the distant imperial capital of Kyoto, where the laws are so strict that they forbid the citizens to travel to the Tengu Mountains without a suitable decree. The pair of ninjas know that Izumo is beyond the mountains, so they buy a pass to get into the mountains, which they traverse while battling the mysterious "Tengu" clan along the way.

As they reach Izumo, they find out they must reach the far end of the Dragon Lake to get to the White Mirror. When they finally arrive, they are confronted by a guardian dragon named Hakuryu. The ninjas succeed in defeating the dragon and finally gain audience with the White Mirror, who tells them that Princess Yuki has been taken to the Ryukyu Kingdom (present day Okinawa).

Upon learning this, Goemon and Ebisumaru head to the Ryukyu Kingdom to rescue the princess. There, they have a hard time understanding the unique dialect of the Ryukyuans. They buy a codex which allows them to understand their dialect and then they head to King Ryukyu's palace. The king informs them that he suspects there's something unusual going on in his palace and suggests them to infiltrate it through a secret passageway found outside. As they venture into the palace, they battle through members of the Hannya clan, as well as other creatures, although they eventually find and rescue Princess Yuki.

Unfortunately, as they bring the princess back to her father, the latter unexpectedly removes a mask he was wearing and reveals to actually be the leader of the Hannyas, the "Hannya Shogun", who captured the real Lord Yuki and has been making himself pass for him all this time in order to allow his gang to carry out all sorts of illegal activities. He and his men then recapture the princess and throw Goemon and Ebisumaru into a dungeon underneath the castle.

At the dungeon, and with no visible means of escape, Yae luckily appears out of nowhere and releases Goemon and Ebisumaru from their cell. She informs them that the real Lord Yuki must still be held in one of the other cells and parts her way. It doesn't take long for the heroes to find his cell. Not caring for his own safety, Lord Yuki tells them that there's a secret passageway in the same cell where they were initially thrown into, and asks them to make haste and use it to save the princess; so the duo head back to their cell and effectively find the secret passageway and exit the castle. Along the way, they meet Yae again, who informs them that the Hannya Clan were the real culprits behind all the counterfeiter activities, and that they used this money to finance a remodeling of Ryukyu Castle in order to turn it into a flying castle. The heroes manage to reach the flying castle up in the sky, where they finally corner the Hannya Shogun and engage with him in a final battle.

The Hannya Shogun turns out to be a formidable foe indeed, aided in battle by a magical beast named Gonta, both appearing as a giant samurai with a bow and arrows riding on an equally giant lion. Nevertheless, Goemon and Ebisumaru manage to defeat both enemies and ultimately chase the Shogun to the castle's rooftops. Seeing himself cornered, the Hannya Shogun threatens on killing Princess Yuki if they step any closer. After hearing this, however, Gonta –whose real form is revealed to be a magical fox– reprimands him, as the Shogun promised him that the princess would be released. Disappointed, Gonta vanishes into thin air, leaving the Shogun on his own. The Hannya Shogun starts to panic, knowing that without Gonta's powers he's nothing but a defenseless old man. Goemon takes this opportunity to step forward and starts whacking the Hannya Shogun with his trusty pipe, sending his mask flying away and revealing him to indeed be nothing but an inoffensive old man.

Goemon, Ebisumaru, Lord Yuki and Princess Yuki return to Edo, where the warlord thanks the two ninjas for their bravery.

Gameplay[]

Player one controls Goemon while Player two controls Ebisumaru. There are many forms of attacking, different for each character. Each has a primary method of attack that can be upgraded by grabbing Fortune Doll Cats, as well as a throwing weapon that costs one Coin per shot. Goemon has a pipe that upgrades into a longer pipe, then a yo-yo, and for a throwing weapon, he throws coins. Ebisumaru has a wooden flute that upgrades to become longer, then becomes a party whistle, and throws shuriken as his ranged weapon.

Players may buy many items at stores, ranging from sandals that increase running and jumping abilities in the town sections, armor, pizza that restores health, bombs, and even key items from time to time. The player may also learn Jutsu at training dojos, which are powerful special attacks that can only be used in the side-scrolling levels for a limited time. However, these can only be used in the stage they were learned at and will be lost when reaching the next level.

Typical to the Ganbare Goemon series, the player may partake in a multitude of minigames the game has to offer. These range from lotteries, dice games, arcade games, quiz games, tile matching games, first person mazes, and even horse races, just to name a few. The player can earn (or lose) big amounts of money by partaking in all these activities, and on rare occasions, even collect free items in them, which will surely help them along their journey.

All levels are structured in two sections: a town section and an action area section, and the player is given 999 seconds to complete both:

Town area

All levels start in a town section, where the player can freely roam about the town (or similar areas) to talk with their residents, visit stores to stock up on items, play minigames, etc. In these areas, the player may walk up, down, left or right. Enemies are conformed by the town's own inhabitants; regardless if they may look inoffensive, they might actively attack the player and will inflict damage just by bumping into them. On rare occasions, female characters may also appear walking through the town; these will give big sums of money on pickup, but likewise, will cost the player money if attacked.

Action area

After exiting the town section of a level, the player will enter a side-scrolling area, which is the main focus of the game. In these, the players scroll in a side view perspective, typical of a 2D platformer game. In the side-scrolling stages, one player may hop onto the other's back and have a piggyback ride, letting the one on the ground walk and jump while the one riding attacks. At the end of these areas, the player will generally fight against a powerful boss; and once defeated, a bit more of the game's story will be unraveled, setting the stage for the next area.

Stages[]

No. Stage Boss Music
1 Warlock Zone I: Mystical Ghost Ghost Woman Lost Town Travelling
Misty Ghost Town
Mysterious Crumbling Temple
2 Warlock Zone II: Statue of Cat Lantern Man Goemon's Solitary Journey
Dance! Hyottoko Army
3 Warlock Zone III: Amusement Park Big Octo Tears Bridge - Fleeting Life Bridge
Heave-ho Device Island
4 Warlock Zone IV: Defeat Otafu Otafuku Black Soy Beans Please!
No More Black Soy Beans
Ok! Yae
5 Warlock Zone V: Ninja Castle Sasuke Iga's Igaguri (Short-Haired) Rascals
Iga's Cover Melody
Old Man's Sigh
6 Warlock Zone VI: Tengu Mountain Kabuki Welcome
Hello There
Boss of Puberty
7 Warlock Zone VII: White Mirror Hakuryu A Man's Towel
Izumo's White Mirror
8 Warlock Zone VIII: Save Princess Tumble
Tilt
Welcome
Burning Thieves
9 Warlock Zone IX: Final Story Hannya Shogun o-Edo de SWING
Diamond Head

Regional differences[]

Uncommon of a game with these characteristics, the international versions of The Legend of the Mystical Ninja only went through minimal modifications from its original version. The entire traditional Japanese theme was kept, and the translation, while not being completely accurate, also didn't stray much from its original script. Many signs and banners weren't translated either and kept displaying their contents in kanji. Events and behaviors that are more openly seen in Japanese culture were also kept (including certain events of nudity, such as naked Otafuku Army henchmen, the player character taking a sauna bath with women, etc.).

Some of the things that were changed include:

  • Probably the most obvious of all changes was the renaming of the two main protagonists. Goemon was renamed as Kid Ying, and Ebisumaru as Dr. Yang.
  • While the stages in the original Japanese version are referred to in-game as "Areas", in the international versions they are referred to as "Warlock Zones", and the subtitles for each stage were also slightly changed.
  • Likewise, many usable items and gear in the game were also renamed.
    • This is more widely seen in the English instruction booklet for the game, where –following Konami's usual localization practices for their products– all characters, items, enemies, locations, etc. were renamed with funny names (probably with the intention to target a younger audience).
  • Onigiri sold in stores, which are traditional Japanese rice ball confections, were changed to pizzas instead, which were better known in western countries.
  • Ebisumaru's stage dancing performance was removed. This was possibly to follow Nintendo's strict censorship policies for games for their systems back then, as Ebisumaru finishes his act by pulling down his pants and farting while exposing his bare buttocks.
  • The second stage performance was also removed, in which a woman performs a striptease. Again, this was removed due to Nintendo's policies of the era.
  • In Warlock Zone VI, inside one of the houses there is a girl named Kensuke who covers her face with the sleeve of her kimono and flirts with the heroes. Later on, in Warlock Zone IX, she is encountered again inside one of the cells in the castle's dungeons. Out of gratitude for being rescued, she finally uncovers her face and blows them a kiss, revealing to actually be a man. While Kensuke does appear in Warlock Zone VI in the international versions, she doesn't in Warlock Zone IX, thus removing her gender reveal from the game.

Gallery[]

See: The Legend of the Mystical Ninja/Gallery

Related products[]

Trivia[]

  • In non-Japanese releases, Goemon is named "Kid Ying", while Ebisumaru is named "Dr. Yang". This may be because their original names were feared to be too difficult to pronounce. In later games, they retain their Japanese names in all versions.
    • The names Kid Ying and Dr. Yang come from yin and yang, two cosmic energy modes in the Chinese philosophy of Taoism.
  • In the English localization of the game, the word "thieves" is misspelled as "theives" in two different dialogues.
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