Ganbare Goemon

Ganbare Goemon
Developer(s)Konami
Publisher(s)Konami
Platform(s)Arcade, NES, MSX2, Super NES, Game Boy, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, mobile phone, Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4
First releaseMr. Goemon
May 1986
Latest releaseGanbare Goemon Pachisuro 2
September 2011
Ganbare Goemon – Yukihime Kyūshutsu Emaki
がんばれゴエモンゆき姫救出絵巻
Manga
Written byHiroshi Obi
Published byKodansha
PublishedDecember 3, 1991 – August 4, 1992
Volumes3
Shin Ganbare Goemon: Jigoku-hen
新がんばれゴエモン 地獄編
Manga
Written byHiroshi Obi
Published byKodansha
PublishedJanuary 5, 1993
Volumes3
Ganbare Goemon 2 – Kiteretsu Shōgun McGuiness hen
がんばれゴエモン2 奇天烈将軍マッギネス編
Manga
Written byHiroshi Obi
Published byKodansha
PublishedDecember 27, 1993
Volumes2
Ganbare Goemon fever
がんばれゴエモンふぃ~ばあ
Manga
Written byHiroshi Obi
Published byKodansha
PublishedApril 30, 1997
Volumes1
Ganbare Goemon 3 – Shishi Jūrokubē no Karakuri Manjigatame
がんばれゴエモン3 獅子重禄兵衛のからくり卍固め
Manga
Written byHiroshi Obi
Published byKodansha
PublishedFebruary 3, 1995 – January 6, 1996
Volumes3
Ganbare Goemon Kirakira Dōchū
がんばれゴエモンきらきら道中
Manga
Written byHiroshi Obi
Published byKodansha
PublishedApril 30, 1996 – December 4, 1996
Volumes3
Ganbare Goemon – Neo Momoyama Bakufu no Odori
がんばれゴエモンネオ桃山幕府のおどり
Manga
Written byHiroshi Obi
Published byKodansha
PublishedFebruary 4, 1998 – October 2, 1998
Volumes3
Ganbare Goemon – Yukihime Kyūshutsu Emaki
がんばれゴエモンゆき姫救出絵巻
Manga
Written byHiroshi Obi
Published byKC Derakkusu
PublishedNovember 21, 2013
Volumes1

Ganbare Goemon (がんばれゴエモン, "Go for it, Goemon!"), known as Goemon and Mystical Ninja internationally, is a video game series created and produced by Konami. Etsunobu Ebisu is the joint producer of the franchise.

These games revolve around the main character, Goemon and his exploits. The games are notable for their humorous tone and parodies of many aspects of pop culture, as well as of other video games. The main character is loosely based on Ishikawa Goemon, the noble thief of Japanese folklore. While the early games emphasized Goemon as a noble thief, he eventually becomes more of a standard video game hero character. His trademarks are his blue bushy hair and weapon of choice, the kiseru. The games are set in a cartoonlike, mystical Feudal Japan, with many references to Japanese folklore. Although the series has its roots in action-adventure, the Ganbare Goemon series has features from genres including role-playing, puzzle video games and board games. Ganbare Goemon is popular in Japan. The series consists of video games, with its success spawning a wide series of merchandise and an anime and manga series.

Konami has generally regarded the Goemon games as too specific to the Japanese market to be released worldwide,[1] but five of them have been released overseas: The Legend of the Mystical Ninja for the Super NES, Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon and Goemon's Great Adventure for the Nintendo 64 and two titles for the Game Boy.

In 2002–03, a mobile phone was released for the titled Ganbare Goemon: Tsūkai Game Apli series.

The latest original game of the series was Ganbare Goemon: Tōkai Dōchū Ōedo Tengu ri Kaeshi no Maki, released in Japan for the Nintendo DS in 2005. Since then, the series has been used primarily as themes for Konami's pachislot machines.

The series is represented in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with a purchasable Goemon costume for Mii fighters.[2]

  1. ^ "Konami". Next Generation. No. 19. Imagine Media. July 1996. p. 70.
  2. ^ Walker, Ian (4 September 2019). "Undertale's Sans Joins Smash Bros. As A Mii Fighter Costume". Kotaku. Retrieved 2019-09-06.