Mystical Ninja starring Goemon

"Freakishly Fantastic!"

I've played many strange games in my time, and Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon for the N64 is one of the most bizarre. I'm not even sure what genre of games you could class it under. I suppose you could call it a platform game and an RPG. The game is set in ancient Japan, and you play as Goemen, a spiky haired ninja, and three of his friends.

This game does not take itself seriously. The storyline involves you saving Japan from a bunch of singing aliens who ride around in a huge peach-shaped spaceship. This sounds strange, and it surely is. Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel that games often take themselves too seriously. Goemon is a nice departure from this, thankfully. There is a nice amount of humor and comic value which is great. None of these jokes made me laugh out loud, but they certainly made me smile.

There is a little bit of voice-acting in this game, and it's all in Japanese. The voices really suit the characters, but I wish you heard it a little bit more. Sound effects are also very good. Hitting robots with an oversized hammer makes a very nice ''PUFF!'' noise. In terms of music, Goemen is also quite good. The music sounds very Japanese and also sounds quite light-hearted and happy in most cases. Music has always been a very important factor when playing a game, and Goemen does not fail in that department.

Goemen's characters are really great. Those of you you who have played the previous games will be familiar with the main playable characters in the N64 version. Unlike many other games, Goemen steers away from over-used stereotypical characters that we've seen in so many RPG/adventure games. Instead, the characters are quite funny and memorable. Your party consists of Goemen, his good friend Ebismaru (I hope I'm spelling that correctly.) , a robotic ninja named Sasuke and a female ninja named Yea. Even though Gomen is the main character, you'll be using the other characters just as much. They each have their own individual skill, which they learn throughout the adventure. These skills include shrinking in size and turning into a mermaid, which involve fun little mini-games.

Graphics are impressive, great for an N64 game. Everything is presented clearly and is nicely polished. The character models are constructed very well and look great. However, I've experienced some slowdown in the game once or twice. This didn't last very long, but I found it to be a slight inconvenience. The dungeon maps are very good, as are the field maps. There isn't an overworld, but is constructed of paths which lead around the regions of Japan. Enemy designs are very strange... They're mostly pink robots wearing dresses. They vary a little, but the dress-wearing foe is the enemy you'll be encountering the most.

Every now and then, you will stop the platform/adventure action and be placed inside a gigantic robot called Impact. During these stages you run around smashing everything that comes in your path. At the end of these stages you face a boss, which you attack from a first-person point of view. These big robot stages are few and far between, but they're a lot of fun and they offer a break from what you're usually doing. One thing that is just plain freaky is the song that is sung before these stages. It's entirely in Japanese and is just plain disturbing. You'll have to see it to believe it.

On top of the strange Impact song, there is another strange Japanese song that is sung during the opening sequence. This actually sounds pretty darn good! I only have one large complaint about this game. It's far too short. If you really rush this game, it can be finished in under eight hours or so. There are few sidequests, apart from a strange doll-collecting adventure that you can go on. This is about the only sidequest, and I expected a lot more. I also found it pretty easy, I only died once or twice throughout the entire game.

Rundown
Graphics: 8.6/10
Sounds: 8.5/10
Gameplay:9.2/10
Storyline: 4.2/10
Overall: 8.1/10

While it has its problems, Mystical Ninja: Starring Goemon is a great light-hearted RPG/Adventure/platformer thingy. If you're after a really strange game, then you can't go wrong with this.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/19/04