Goemon's Great Adventure

"The one game with dating robots, dancing Satans, & tea-loving robots all in one package!"

Goemon's Great Adventure is the fourth Mystical Ninja game to appear on a Nintendo system. Legend of the Mystical Ninja was sort of a unheard of game in the SNES days, and the N64 update was average, but still fun, and most of all funny. The Game Boy version was worse, but still kinda fun. Goemon's Great Adventure returns to the side-scrollers of old, but in 3-D. You start off like always with Goemon, the spiky-haird hot-shot, & Ebisumaru, the hilarious, dumpling-eating comic relief. Anyway, they head into the Wiseman's house to take a look at his invention. While trying to get Ebisumaru's ancestor, James Dean, out of the past, Ebisumaru's desendant, Bismaru, steals the machine for her own evil ways. Now it's up to the gang to stop Bismaru from getting her way.

Graphics: 10 out of 10
The graphics are awesome. Like before, they aren't as polished as Zelda or Banjo-Kazooie but still great. Kinda like Smash Bros. & Mario Party. GGA is a 3-D sidescroller, i.e. a sidescroller in a 3-D enviorment. The stages are pretty detailed for a sidescroller. There's virtually no slowdown & the game runs at a very fast pace.

Control: 10 out of 10
Control rocks. A is to jump, B is to use your weapon (which can be upgraded), R is to use your special, Z is to power-up or crawl, and if you hold in B you can run faster. Just the way I like my controls, simple. There's nothing to complicated here.

Sound: 9 out of 10
The only reason I didn't give this a 10 is because the game is missing those awesome music FMVs from the first N64 game. Everything is very Japanesey, like all Goemon's are, and is very cheery. The voices probably won't get on your nerves very much. All they say are Japanese shrieks so it's not that big a deal.

Gameplay: 10out of 10
This game is great. The weapons are mostly borrowed from the first game. Goemon has his pipe & chain pipe, and can also throw Ryos or charge up for a Flaming Ryo. Ebisumaru has a Spoon instead of a hammer this time, and a poison fart attack as well as a megaphone. Sasuke, my fave, has daggers, bombs, & can turn into a sub. Yae has her trademark basooka & katana, and can turn into a mermaid. This game also has a 2-player mode where 1 person can piggyback the other. This way, an expeierenced player can move while the other uses a super-powerful attack (That doesn't waste Ryo!). As before, you get to pilot Impact sometimes, while the 2nd player or computer controls Miss Impact. You can pass the baton, which means switch cockpit views, when one Impact is getting thrashed. The Blaster Beam is easier to use now (Thank the gods!) and the Impact levels are now more fun. Basically, everything from Mystical Ninja is ported over to Goemon's Great Adventure in a better side-scroller form.

Overall: 10 out of 10
Rent or buy? Rent first, because of the heavy Japanese influence. If you want a good time, then buy right away!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/06/00, Updated 01/06/00