Goemon's Great Adventure

"Okay, but the prequel was better..."

Hmmmm. Every so often, there comes along a game which I really don't know how to describe. This is one of them, as it has a few good bits, but also has a lot of bad bits. When I bought the first Mystical Ninja game, I was ecstatic. It had good graphics, a huge world to play in and very funny/Japanesey style humour. In short, I loved it. That's why I thought I'd like this game just as much but things go rapidly downhill once you've seen the first cutscene.

Graphics: Actually, quite alright, but certainly nothing outstanding. There were slight camera problems in the first game but because this game is in 2D (unlike the first) Konami didn't have to worry about the camera at all. This seems to be the cheap and easy way out to me.
The backgrounds do look very nice, though. You often just wish you could explore them, but you can't. Obviously. But the thing that annoyed me most about the graphics was the fake 3D foreground scenery. For example, in the Edo castle level, bits of wood, chains etc. are hanging from the scenery. Although it might look nice at first, it tends to cover your vision at the most inopportune moments, like when you're about to make a crucial jump. Overall, the graphics get a 6.

Sound: Pretty much what you'd expect, the sound basically consists of some tunes that sound quite similiar to the first game's. There are also some excited little yells from the character you are playing as when you jump and attack. Nothing really wrong, here-8 is what I give the sound.

Gameplay:Well, the contolling is all sharp and responsive, but it's SOOOOOO BORING!!!!!! Moving to the right for the ENTIRE GAME seems pretty dodgy to me, except for the occasional Impact boss fights. And, strangely enough, this game just dosen't have that spark of originality and fun that made you want to keep playing like its prequel. When you get game over (and see the extremely disturbing scene of a hula-hooping muscle bound man, for some reason that I don't know) you tend to just turn off the Nintendo 64 and put in a better game. Konami have definately been lazy with this 'effort' of a game, and I know Konami can do far better than this. I give the gameplay a 4.

So that pretty much sums up Mystical Ninja 2. A game that tries and, in my opinion, fails. Some might say I've been too harsh on it, but I've seen far better 2D games on the Nintendo 64 than this:I recommend Mischief Makers very highly. Anyone who REALLY likes 2D games might get this but to everyone else, I say to steer clear.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 04/16/01, Updated 04/16/01