"Tales of the Edo Era: The Dual Screen"

Famitsu Offensive

As some of the more die-hard Nintendo fans on this website know, I'm not exactly an admiring fan of the “gaming bible” Famitsu; the magazine is more-or-less the Japanese version of Gamepro, only with reviews consisting of a whopping three or four sentences total. And yet, the whole world seems smitten with their scores, as if high sales are in any way indicative of quality or substance. Arguably staffed by Nintendo fans, the members of Enterbrain that work on the weekly publication frequently applaud anything and everything made by-or for-Nintendo's consoles. It's all the more surprising, then, why this unabashed bedroom partner would offer such a relatively low score for the DS Goemon. I for one, see nothing at all wrong with it, at least nothing to the extent of meriting such a low score-they "awarded" the game with a combined 27/40.

Know Your Edo

Although the franchise dates back to the early days of 8-Bit gaming, most foreigners knew nothing of Goemon and his sexually questionable friend Ebismaru until they appeared as Kid-Yin and Dr. Yang in 1992's Legend of the Mystical Ninja…you gotta love how seemingly anything “Asian” back then was automatically written off as Chinese. Taking place in historic Japan (back when Tokyo was know as Edo), it featured an epic quest to save a kidnapped princess. Although no less than four other Goemon games appeared on the Super Famicom, it wouldn't be until the Nintendo 64 that the outside would could reacquaint themselves with this dynamic duo, which actually became a quartet during the “lost” games via the addition of clockwork ninja Sasuke and samurai girl Yae (whom Electronic Gaming Monthly originally referred to as a male back in an import SFC preview ages ago).

After an ill-fated series “revival” (featuring a new and redesigned cast) back in 2001, the series looked to be more-or-less dead with Konami focusing on internationally successful franchises instead. However, with the new Nintendo DS “Ganbare Goemon: Toukai Douchuu Daiedo Tenguri”, hereafter referred to as Goemon DS, the series looks to be back and better than ever before.

Watery Wonderland

From the get go, many gamers immediately took to the unique graphical approach Konami opted for. Resting somewhere in-between traditional Japanese artwork and watercolour painting, there is no denying the visual brilliance washed over this product. Each area explodes with more detail and life than any game in recent memory, especially a portable one. Masks lined up for sale on shop displays, bushels of hay piled up for future use, bridges composed of tiny little stones…it's all here. Though I've never lived in ancient Japan, Goemon DS would serve to offer a great suggestion as to what it might have looked like. In addition to the remarkable backgrounds, the graphical prowess extends to other areas as well: all of the game's characters are comprised of 3-D polygons, and all embody a seemingly impossible existence of appearing to be two dimensional while not. The end result is a diverse lot of people (Player Characters and Non Player Characters alike) that mesh effortlessly into the hand drawn backgrounds. In addition to appearances though, they also animate well to boot: Goemon's pipe swinging antics are every bit as natural as the day Konami created him.

”These Sounds Fall Into My Mind”

Musically, this is perhaps the best sounding game I've played in a long time. Making use of traditional sounding Japanese music, but giving it a modern feel, Konami has once again provided pure aural delight. Some of the tunes are remixed versions of classic Goemon, others brand new, fresh creations, and thanks to the fantastic sound capabilities of the DS, you'll be able to enjoy them with a definitive level of quality be it via headphones or the console's speakers. There is even a limited amount of voice acting at work here, and each of the characters emit vocal “onomatopoeia” each time you have them attack, jump, etc.

Rise of the Impostor, Attack of the Clones

Plotwise, this is the same silly nonsense you've no doubt come to expect from the Goemon series (afterall, the franchise is basically a parody of all things Japanese): it all starts when Goemon and Ebismaru are falsely imprisoned for criminal activity and within no time, the pair quickly find the culprits: a couple of overweight imposters with a penchance for our heroes' distinctive haut-couture. As the adventure progresses, you'll soon find that these goons have clones for all *four* party members! With the people of Edo miffed by these ugly imposters, it's up to Japan's fantastic four to stop the trouble, and restore honour to their debilitated reputations! Comprised of a variety of chapters, each new segment of the game will find situations and scenarios even more bizarre than the last!

64 Shuttle

In some ways, Goemon DS has more in common with the first Nintendo 64 game than it does any other installment in the series: both involved a rather expansive overworld, and both featured a variety of abilities for each of the game's four characters. While this game lacks the “Hyrule Field” type exploration seen in the N64 version, there is still a number of overworld areas that bridge each town and dungeon; instead of simply moving an avatar on the world map, you'll instead have to travel to each location (though each town has an individual who will let you warp to any previously traveled town). This goes a long way for creating a total experience, as well as making Goemon DS much more of a true adventure game than the more “arcade” presentation the franchise traditionally embodies.

What surprised me the most however, was the aforementioned character ability aspect. Ganbare Goemon: Neo Momoyama Bakufu no Odori (the first N64 game) employed the ingenious concept of giving each playable character a unique set of traits and equipment, such that it was impossible to plow from start to finish for lack of the proper tools. Thankfully, Goemon DS makes use of this system once more: Goemon, for example, receives a set of Power Gloves, used to push and shove massive stone blocks; Ebismaru-in his typical “dandy” fashion-receives a ballerina dress allowing him to tunnel underground. Likewise, both the other two characters (Sasuke and Yae for those of short memory) have their own unique gadgets as well, and each area may require the use of one or more character abilities in order to progress. While not exactly mind boggling stuff, it's so much more than mindless hack-and-slash, and easy as pie thanks to the immediate selection via the “L” button.

In addition, the real-time accessorising extends itself to items as well: whereas previous installments automatically made use of recovery or defensive items, in Goemon DS you'll need to manually select them with the “R” button. Taking a step beyond the mundane selection of support goods however, our heroes will also find some interesting items, such as the Tengu Mask, which (when worn) allows them to travel in the guise of these winged creatures; as for the many uses of it, I'll leave that up to your discovery and subsequent amusement.

Gameplay Goodness and Robot Revolutions

Keeping true to the roots however, the core gameplay in Goemon DS is as simple as ever: The characters' signature weapons (Goemon and his pipe, Ebismaru and his mallet, Saskue and his kunai [dagger], and Yae and her kataka [sword]) have three different power levels, accessible from the little kitten statues dropped randomly by defeated monsters. While one hit drops your weapon a power level, purchasing items such as armour or a helmet while in town can absorb a set number of blows, thus keeping not only your weapon strong, but your health as well. Most of the time, you'll be bashing the various monsters or bosses to bits, then making a mad dash to collect their belongings, so rest assured Konami didn't do anything *that* drastic here, it's still the same series you know and love…

…although there is one aspect of the game that most definitely received a complete overhaul for the better: Goemon Impact. A parody of the Gamera/Godzilla crazy that still entrances Japan even today, Goemon has his own gigantic “Power Rangers” like robot with which he uses to smite the equally large boss monsters his team may come across. Whereas before the Impact battles always took place with a pseudo-3D (First Person Shooting) approach, this time the action is 2-D, and remote controlled?! Yes, you read correctly: instead of residing in the cockpit, Goemon actually runs along side Impact-along the roof of nearby houses and buildings-with a handy remote control that you actually get to “use” via the DS' bottom screen. Offering a variety of attack and movement options, you'll swear this should be an entire game in-and-of itself. Just watch out for the hardware limitations; should Goemon roam too far away from his mechanical alter-ego, you'll get a “Out of Service” warning and Impact will temporarily shut down until the signal link is reestablished.

Double Vision: A Mixed Gift

Making good use of the DS' architecture, the top screen typically serves as a map/status screen (except for the Impact battles) and the bottom for gameplay. There are a number of creative uses attempted for the touch screen, such as swinging ropes, spinning poles, or even detonating hanabi (firecrackers). My only complaint is the often-cumbersome implementation, whereby the game expects you to touch the screen *and* control the characters simultaneously. It can be terribly frustrating and begs the question as to if Konami forced the development team to make use of the feature in as many ways as possible, even if the situation didn't call for it. Equally annoying are the frequent situations whereby you need to tap specific areas of the screen to interact with the background for investigative purposes: it feels terribly artificial and actually removes you from the otherwise consistent gameplay; aside from the Impact battles, I honestly don't think the touch screen needed to be used at all.

While on the subject of annoyances, I should also make note of the game's frequent in game “challenges”, none of which infuriated me [or others] more than the “Roll Ebismaru” section: A few hours into the game, Goemon's adversaries will inflate the oft cross-dressing hero to Violet Beauregarde-esque human blueberry proportions, forcing the remainder of the cast to manually roll him to a nearby town for some hot air expulsion. The problem, though, is that one wrong step can push the obese orb right off the treacherous path you're required to navigate forcing you to collect him back at the start and redo the entire process all over again. I kid you not, it took me almost an hour just to do this one section, and that's just plain appalling.

Another equally troublesome in-game requirement occurs shortly after entering the second town, wherein the game forces you to engage in some pottery designing. Despite the satisfactory instructions delineating the process, it's nonetheless an unwieldy process that will no doubt see you failing over and over again. The game requires your hand-made pot to be about 90% accurate to the required design, with any kind of deviation resulting in an immediate failure should you “submit” it to the artisan-teacher early. Thus, you'll spend a profuse amount of effort trying to create the ideal pot, only to find out it's unacceptable. The real problem seems to be the horrible touch screen sensitivity, which too often ruins the shape more than chisels it. In general, it's a great idea, but sadly one gone awry because of incompetent design.

In fact, it's actually quite revealing more than anything else: the biggest flaw Goemon DS suffers from is that, despite all its graphical splendour and creativity, the game is too damn short. Sure it encompasses a sprawling number of areas, but they consist of only a few screens at most, meaning you could technically get from start to finish (in theory) within only a few minutes. It's a bit of a let down in that dungeons typically rely on solving one or two puzzles at most instead of deep exploration and tough fights. After so much effort went into the game, I truly expected something more, something more Zelda-like to flesh out the other half of the experience.

ADD Institution

Fortunately, there are still some mild diversions for those times when frustrated with the game, or else finished with it entirely: available from the start is the classic Konami mini-game: Quarth, the classic block/shooting game hybrid. Sure it's positively archaic in terms of depth, but the gameplay is addictive and even features modern graphics (who wouldn't love to play as a super deformed Impact anyway?!) and sound.

As if that were not enough, two additional surprises await: After completing each boss and Impact battle, you can then select them from the title screen and replay them alone…or with a friend! The final detail? An additional bonus, and a small bit of fan-service, specifically catering to all those who purchased Konami's recent GBA port of the Super Famicom Goemon 1 and 2 games, titled “Kessakusen! Ganbare Goemon 1+2”. Simply insert both the GBA and DS carts before powering on the console, and you'll unlock the Space Mambo mini game (a Japan-only shooter in the vein of the Gradius series). Even better, fans will be delighted to know that this dual relationship also places various characters from the first two SFC installments in select locations around the Goemon DS world! Try and find them all to be a true Edo-era dynamo!

Go Get Goemon

Although it's been out for almost 7 months now, the Nintendo DS has very little to show for in terms of “quality” games that justify the portable's existence; many can count the must-have games on one hand, especially if you're not fortune enough to live in Japan. With that said, there is absolutely no excuse why Ganbare Goemon: Toukai Douchuu Daiedo Tenguri shouldn't be on everyone's must have list: a sizable adventure, charming characters, an amusing storyline, and some truly fantastic touches elevate this product to something no fan of gaming should be without.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/27/05, Updated 06/28/05