Ganbare Goemon 2: Kiteretsu Shogun McGuiness (1993)

Preliminary: Ganbare Goemon games always ahve such a distinctive Sound to them, and their concept/universe is always very consistent/expected, but it adds up nicely. I really have become attached to this series, not just because there are so many, and notj ust because Legend of the Mystical Ninja is an undeniably excellent game, but also it's just such a unique universe that grew on me over time, especially from the early games that I had never even known about but oddly hooked me with their odd mix of brawler and adventure game elements.

Cute world map in this. Not in love with the gameplay itself so far, it was fun riding teh fish but the level/enemy design and pop-out enemies/infinitely respawning enemies weren't my vibe. Oh nice, the village parts are the classic Goemon perspective/"brawler/adventure" gamepaly.

Day 1

It feels like I'm flying along. Already done with Sumo Castle. I am liking it, I loved the sunset for the uh second platofmring level not sure what it was called, though the enemy placement/level design continues to be banal. Just, hey, let's have 4 of the enemy this time! Very redundant feeling when killing them. Also, the vehicles seem to be quite redundant so far. But I still enjoy it and it's still straightforward fun platforming so far. In a universe I like.

Lol uh the giant mecha Impact sequence is cute and funny and everything but... silly gameplay-wise. Oh wait that was the sidescrolling part, this first person part is really not my vibe. I didn't sign up for a mecha battle game... I got through it (thanks to an English translation of the manual), but meh.

The level design/enemy placement continues to be lacklust and/or annoying in Area 2. Very repetitive in how it just repeats the same setup, with increasing number of enemies, for many levels. I lovvvve the autumn Look of one of the 2 options for which level to do next in Area 2. But again, the level design of both these options weren't clicking with me. I'll return to this tomorrow.

Day 2

There are normally speed power-ups in Goemon games but I haven't come across one yet. As usual there are the weapon power-ups though. Some really good tunes so far in the game, especially tonight. And nice they have the Pass from the earlier games and the underground dungeons of the Towns, etc. All the usual Goemon features. However, where are my boots to walk faster in these parts at least?!

I really like the Super Mario World-esque way of the world map and secret levels.

Great colors in these interludes

The level design continues to be hit or miss. It feels a lot like they're "trying too hard" like they're trying to fit in minigames, and all the old Goemon styles but also a mecha fighting thing, and vehicle riding but it's always a new vehicle and now I have this Draqon to ride but it's actually a burden because it keeps going off screen, etc. Just let me enjoy my straightforward platforming fun! Even with the quirks like the rotating umbrellas and the unnecessary 2 jumps to get a high jump on the drums, etc., those types of quirks/tryhard things are more my vibe.

Wow I died on this annoying dragon level and I lost not only my powered up weapon, which I knew happens, but also the Iron Armors I bought with my own coins?! Boo. I didn't even die by being hit, thus using up the Armors, I just went off screen because of the annoying antic of many platformers with a riding portion where if you chose to stay on one, it's an inevitable death... never like trial and error mechanics in a platformer. Wow lol and a bunch of sprite slowdown near the end... bad level. Could've been much better especially with decent music and a great Look for that level that honestly compares to arcade quality.

Luckily the next level was fun and led me to powering up my weapon again (hallelujah) and had that feature I often like in games where normally small things are large, like there were giant rice cake or sushi roll (?) platforms and giant bottles whose caps blew up as platforms, etc. Love that Honey Shrunk the Kids vibe.

Welp on to Area 4 of 6, think I'm calling it for the night.

Day 3

The Area 4 boss was super easy.

This snowball falling level where you are kept to teh right of the screen but enemies and gaps appear there is annoying. Again, not a fan of trial and error level design. Imo it's a lazy form of level design and challenge. Yeah if it weren't for the great responsive controls and the familiar, nostalgic, series-I-like setting/concept/Feel, then I would've likely moved on and given a 3 due to the frequent bad level design. Even after the rolling trial and error section, it returned to the early game borign repetitive hit enemy wait a second another of the same enemy appears wait a second 2 of that enemy appears and so on (albeit now having to land back on a snowball that is melting in the water, which was an interesting touch btu still). Speaking of, in many ways these vehicle parts actually just served to slow down the fast-paced fun platforming gameplay. And oten contributed to the increasingly frequent sprite overload slowdown.

Oh wow that World 5 was very short... and with one of my least favorite levels so far... and now way too hard and long of a mecha battle fight. Meh, good thing there's only one World left. I hope this doesn't end up at a 3 star after how much time I spent playing it, adn with some great tuens like the one in Snow Town

Ugh I was gonna finish up tonight but this last level is confusing and it's my calm night. So nah. And I just read that there's another mecha fight. Boo. (Oh that's not correct. And I did end up playing to the end tonight lol). But I'll finish up the review tomorrow cuz I already gamed later than I was supposed to.

I always like a sunset/sunrise, especially for an ending. I was hoping for a different tune during the credits, which didn't happen, but it did finally at the The End screen which was a nice calming tune.

Look: 8/10 I dunno how to explain it exactly but so much of these games, and this one in particular, remind me of Tomba. The screens between levels were nice. But for the most part, the Look wasn't one of its striking points.

Sound: 8/10

Play: 8/10 Some frustrating antics, but cool that I can play the game as other characters. I could've loaded into as different characters throughout the game, but it's structured in a way that makes that a bit difficult: you have to save and reload the game, and also your money doesn't transfer between characters. So I stuck with Goemon for this playthrough.

Feel: 8.5/10 Tomba feels, connection to a now-beloved series, and fun throughout despite its faults.

Attachment: 8/10 I'd likely return to its predecessor instead, but still an overall solid game with potential for replays thanks to the different playable characters.

Overall: 8.1/10

Completion: Main Story

Playtime: ~2h 10m

I'm going to keep this review short and sweet, much like the game itself. Goemon 2 provides a platforming experience that holds up very well. The controls are generally tight, the levels are creatively designed, and the bosses, as is the case with most Goemon games, are a highlight. I managed to find a great fan translation and got a lot of enjoyment out of just reading the wacky dialogue.

I only have a few gripes with it, the main one being that the run button is the same as your attack button, and it takes a beat for the run to start after you hold the button down. Some may find the difficulty a touch too high, but being a big fan of this series I think the difficulty is right in line with my expectations. Others might think the gameplay is too basic, but I think it's fresh enough for its length (took me maybe 5 hours to complete).

This is one of those games that is tough for me to rate because it does almost everything decently well, but doesn't really wow you barring a few exceptions. If you love platformers from this era and are looking for a game to blow through in one Friday night, go ahead and give it a try. Who knows, you might find yourself wanting to go through Hell and back just to get 100%!

It's Goemon August! This month while I finish up Unicorn Overlord I'm going to be going through Ganbare Goemon 2, 3, and 4 for the SFC. 3 and 4 I actually have never played before, while 2 I've played through once a few years back. I'll be starting with the 2 and working sequentially.

I actually have an original SFC cart of Goemon 2 but decided to go with an English fan translation for this one and I'm glad I did. I remember getting stuck in the second area town because I didn't realize you needed to buy a pass from the store to proceed. No such troubles this go-around! It's also really cool to see how much stuff that would become semi-staples of the series gets established here. Also, it's a fair bit harder than I remember! Luckily it is VERY generous with it's continue system, and money is pretty easy to make back when you game over.