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Goemon: Not Quite Right
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Soreyuke Ebisumaru! Karakuri Meiro - Kieta Goemon no Nazo!!
(SUPER FAMICOM, 1996)
Goemon's gone missing, and it's up to Ebisumaru to find him. But for some reason, as he travels along the path to see him, he keeps getting sucked into puzzle levels where you have to guide him to the end by flipping arrow tiles over and making sure he walks in the direction you desire. It's an interesting gameplay idea in theory, but in actual practice, it's not much fun and is more a lesson in tedium than anything else. Ebisumaru only gets one starring role, and it's in THIS. That's as bad as when Luigi got to star in his first game...only to discover it was an edutainment title. Is there no love for second bananas?
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Goemon Mononoke Sugoroku
(NINTENDO 64, 1999)
Oh my, another silly game based on rolling the dice and cards with different characters and capabilities on them. I don't have many of these types of games in my own collection, but I'm sure I have far too many. Basically, this is a board game where you move around and use your stack of cards for the sake of battling. That's fine... moving on...
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Goemon: Shin Sedai Shuumei!
(PLAYSTATION, 2001)
Oh no, they didn't. If Goemon was the equivalent to Mega Man, this take on the series would be the equivalent of Mega Man X, except that Capcom got it right and even outshined the source material. In order to keep the series fresh, they had to set it in futuristic Japan, and also the basic mechanics of the game have been left relatively intact, everything else is a mess. Goemon now looks like Cloud from Final Fantasy VII, Yae is now Yui the Whore Warrior (or "whorior" if you prefer), Sasuke is basically the same with a palm tree for a hairdo, and Ebisumaru... oh, poor Ebisumaru. Now he's a little girl named Ebisu with a hammer. Bottom line is this: the game is still fun, but the essence of the series is pretty much stomped on.
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Goemon: New Age Shutsudou!
(GAME BOY ADVANCE, 2001)
This is pretty much the portable version of Goemon: Shin Sedai Shuumei!, except the stages are longer but not more interesting, and there are fewer of them. I'm still a bit depressed that they made Ebisu a helpless-looking girl. Ebisumaru is a helpless-looking manchild, not a girl! Thankfully, there are first-person Impact battles and rare appearances by Sasuke and Yae's future counterpart, Yui, but you still have to suffer the weird new-age Goemon.
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Ganbare Goemon Pachisuro
(ARCADE, 2009)
The Japanese seem to overflow with liquid glee when it comes to their pachinko games. Pachinko machines are used for both gambling and amusement, though mostly for gambling. There are pachinko games dedicated to pretty much everything that's mildly popular, so a Goemon one was inevitable. Featuring snappy CGI graphics and several "playable" characters, this is definitely fun for the person who loves their Goemon paraphernelia and wants to lose money.
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(Screenshot of 'Goemon Mononoke Sugoroku' provided courtesy of GameFAQs)
(Screenshot of 'Goemon: Shin Sedai Shuumei!' provided courtesy of Kurt Kalata at Hardcore Gaming 101)
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