also known as Ganbare Goemon - Yuki Hime Kyuushutsu Emaki
Super Nintendo (SNES)
🇬🇧
Reviewed in 1992
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✪ Reviewed on September 12, 2023
74
A Japanese Goemon action adventure brimming with minigames and gags. Funny, exotic, an excellent ambassador of the Konami franchise.
Your verdict
Category
Action Adventure2 players7+
Co-op
Description
Humorous action-adventure featuring Goemon and Ebisumaru exploring a fantastical medieval Japan to rescue a princess. Published by Konami, released in Europe in 1992. Top-down and side-scrolling exploration, absurd gadgets and primitive weapons, omnipresent humor and folk music. European version of Legend of the Mystical Ninja, first Ganbare Goemon localized in the West.
Legend of the Mystical Ninja, The review
MAX
Art direction
★★★★★
"Iconic"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
3/5
Story
★★★★★
"Solid"
An Edo Japan reinvented with humour, vivid colours and settings teeming with zany detail: Konami unfurls a warm, witty whimsy. The roundness of the design and the vividness of the hues overflow with charm. This art direction, polished and joyful, illustrates all the inimitable whimsy of the series.
Festive and bouncing, Konami's music revives the spirit of traditional Japanese festivals, blending flutes, percussion and playful melodies. Each town overflows with an infectious verve perfectly in tune with Goemon's humour. This singular sonic identity gives this colourful adventure all its charm.
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
Goemon's first great Western adventure, this unique blend of action, platforming and exploration dives into a deranged, colourful feudal Japan. Villages to comb, zany mini-games and spectacular boss fights chain along in good cheer. Two-player co-op multiplies the laughter. Inventive, exotic and full of charm, a treasure to rediscover in tandem.
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
Running through a zany Edo, dishing out blows and then combing every alley for its secrets sets up a joyful adventure that nudges you to explore further. Minigames, hidden passages and items to track down constantly rekindle curiosity, solo or in co-op. The sometimes dated humor doesn't dent this loop of exploration and action that holds on for a long while.
Difficulty
"Balanced"
Lifespan
"Long"
Technical info
💾0,81 MB📅23/07/1992
Published by Konami
Legend of the Mystical Ninja, The (SNES) price, value & rarity
The European PAL SNES edition of Konami's 'Ganbare Goemon - Yuki Hime Kyuushutsu Emaki', the first Goemon distributed outside Japan. The PAL cart is markedly rarer than the Super Famicom version and stands, to this day, as the only official Western release of the SNES Goemon line (the following entries stayed in Japan). PAL boxed CIB in the original cardboard box climbs hard, sustained by this historical uniqueness and by real physical scarcity.
Is Legend of the Mystical Ninja, The still worth playing in 2026?
Ganbare Goemon - Yuki Hime Kyuushutsu Emaki, released in the West as Legend of the Mystical Ninja, is a Konami action adventure that blends platforming, short shooting bits, mini games and exploration of Japanese villages. The local co op between Goemon and Ebisumaru remains one of the cartridge's main draws. The offbeat humor and the wealth of sequences give the title a unique identity. The pacing is uneven but the charm intact. Recommended for fully Konami 16 bit action comedy.
