Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon is a 2000 adventure game developed and published by Konami for the Game Boy Color. It is a colorized port of Ganbare Goemon: Sarawareta Ebisumaru!, which Konami had released in Japan on the original Game Boy. The Game Boy Color version came out in Europe as part of Konami GB Collection Vol. 3, and it marks the game’s first release in English.
Only Goemon This Time
The original never left Japan. This one did, and that is the whole of its claim on a Western player’s attention.
Gameplay follows Ganbare Goemon! Karakuri Douchuu, the Famicom title. The game consists of Goemon rescuing Ebisumaru. Sasuke and Yae do not appear.
The release itself breaks down plainly:
- Platforms: Game Boy Color
- Genres: Adventure
- Themes: Fantasy
- Modes: Single player
- Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
That is a smaller game than the series’ later reputation suggests, and the port makes no attempt to hide it.
A Rescue, Not a Revolution
The scope is the point. Only Goemon is playable here. Where later entries in the series would build out a full cast, this version hands the player one ninja and a single objective: get Ebisumaru back.
This version marks the game’s first release in English, since the original Game Boy version was exclusive to Japan.
That line is the most interesting thing about the release. Konami GB Collection Vol. 3 was the vehicle, and Europe was the market. A game that had been sealed off in Japan for years arrived in color, without fanfare.
What the Port Actually Is
There is no way to judge this as a standalone work, because it is not one. It is a re-release with a new coat of paint, sold to a region that had never seen the original.
The English release is the news. The game underneath is a Famicom-era design carried forward.
That matters for anyone coming to it now. The bird view and isometric perspective, the single playable character, the rescue structure — these are not shortcomings Konami introduced. They are what the game always was.
The Measure of It
Metacritic lists the game at 6.7/10, a middling number that fits the modest scope of the thing.
The value here is historical, not mechanical. Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon on Game Boy Color is a preservation story more than a game story: a Japanese-only handheld title that finally reached English-speaking players by way of a compilation.
Anyone expecting the scope of the series’ console entries will be disappointed by a game with one playable ninja and one rescue to perform. Anyone tracking how Konami handled its back catalog should find it worth a look. The port is modest, the access is the achievement, and the two should not be confused.
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