Reviews from

in the past


Continuing on from beating Mystical Ninja, I moved onto its immediate Super Famicom sequel to stream the following week. While the first SNES Goemon was a game I'd played nearly to completion before, I'd never played the second or third SNES games, so this was a pretty exciting look into how the series progressed from there. I was not let down, as while this isn't exactly a perfect fix, it's a huge step forward for the series to finally bring it out of the 8-bit era that the first SNES entry is still so rife with. It took me almost spot on 3 hours to beat the game via the Wii U virtual console with limited save state usage.

Goemon and Ebisumaru are enjoying a vacation on Okinawa when suddenly Sasuke appears and informs them that not only have the emperor and Princess Yuki been kidnapped, so has all of Oedo Castle! It's all the work of the evil general Magnus, and it's up to Goemon and friends to go across Japan (once again) and save it from the clutches of a vile interloper! There's a fair bit more story in this one than the last one, but it's still just all silly gags (and thankfully no homophobic or transphobic ones, at least not explicitly, as Ebisumaru himself is basically a walking gay joke). The silly stuff is good fun and the story does just as much legwork as it needs to to stich the gameplay together.

That gameplay, while feeling very familiar, has changed a LOT since the first Super Goemon game (which I will call them from here on out, because it's a useful shorthand and the only actual difference between the Famicom and Super Famicom games' titles are long subtitles that I don't wanna type out entirely :b). First of all, joining the team of Goemon and Ebisumaru is now Sasuke, the clockwork ninja! Yae is in the story, but she's sadly not playable yet. However, I played through as Sasuke, and he brings a whole new assortment of weaponry to the team via his throwing kunai (which he can throw infinitely but are weaker than his normal slashes) and throwing bombs (which cost money). The game is still only two player co-op, but it's neat to have more options for playable characters.

The old games' style of 2D platforming segments intermixed with town segments are still here, but that's been refined to what would become a standard for the series. No longer are you being attacked constantly in towns, and they now serve entirely as hubs for you to buy equipment at and ask around for information. This is made a lot easier as the game now has a Super Mario World-style world map (complete with castles that get destroyed once you beat them) that you walk around in from stage to stage. It's ultimately not that complex, save for a few extra stages unlocked by taking different routes/finding secrets in towns, but it's really welcome as a quality of life feature to replay stages and gear up safely in towns.

The 2D platforming stages are largely the same in quality and caliber. There are technically more of them than in the last game (particularly due to the branching paths), but there are also less worlds in total, so there isn't thaaat much of a different in overall "CONTENT", if we're gonna weigh it that way. The quality of life features cannot go unstated though. Where a big problem in prior Goemon games is that they're just a bit too unforgiving with checkpoints, this game really goes the distance to improve that problem. Levels are overall smaller, tighter experiences based around one idea instead of one longer, drawn out thing. Even longer stages, such as the end of the game, that seem to be one long stage are actually subdivided on the world map. This means that even if you die midway through the final boss fight, for example, that you can pick up right from that phase shift, as each large stage of the final stage and even the boss fight's stages itself are split up into manageable pieces. This game even has a save battery in it to save your progress. I really never expected this level of QOL improvements from a Konami SNES game after how unforgiving the first Super Goemon game is, so this was a big plus for me.

Another new thing is another new character: Goemon's own mecha, Goemon Impact! Following a formula a lot like the first N64 game (although not entirely like the rest of the SNES games), many boss fights are followed by a Goemon Impact segment where you first bash through a bunch of buildings and enemies to build up ammo and health for a first-person cockpit-view boss fight. Despite the rest of the game's boss fights and level design being top notch and really good, these Impact fights are honestly one of the lowest points of the game. Your health ticks down mid-fight, Adventure Island-style, so you not only need to avoid getting hit, but you also need to beat these fights quickly. It never feels like your cursor can aim quite fast enough, and some boss attacks I was never able to really figure out how to dodge correctly. They aren't absolute garbage, and they don't ruin the game as they're not super duper hard, but it's clear that Konami is still experimenting with how to make these actually enjoyable to play.

The presentation is as excellent as ever. That reliable Konami musical score is bangin', and the graphics have been prettied up quite a fair bit since the last game. It's still very much Goemon, but the colors really pop, and the game has a ton of different music tracks and there wasn't a single miss among them, for my money.

Verdict: Highly Recommended. This is a really solid Japan-exclusive action/adventure game. If I had to hazard a guess as to why it never came out in English, I'd reckon it has to do with the several decade-long idea among Japanese devs that certain games were just "too Japanese" for Westerners to be interested in. It's not a perfect game, as I've already said, but it's a really solid entry and the quality of life improvements and generally better difficulty curve make it an easy game to recommend. The Goemon Impact segments do drag it all down, but not unforgivably so, by any means. Where Super Goemon 1 was more or less a 16-bit version of the formula of the 8-bit games, its sequel really takes leaps and bounds into the 16-bit era and the design improvements that went with it. It's a pretty easy game to play without knowing Japanese as well, and some fan translations recently came out for it as well. If you like action games, this is one you shouldn't let pass you by.

Japanese ethnocultural commentary on westernization and colonization

It's great! No idea why they didn't localise this one. I think it would have been regarded as an alltime classic if it was. It's a very zany game, there's plenty of creative level themes and designs, and the mecha fights are awesome and satisfying. Probably the best SNES Goemon game.

A very original and clever 2d platformer, held back by the abundance of auto-scrollers and some kinda frustrating (but kinda cool) mech fights. Still one of the best games of its genre on the SNES.

This game is crazy good. Also you can play with a friend controlling the two characters IN THE SAME SCREEN, unbelievable for a snes game


I always come back to this ever few years and today was one of those times. Significantly better than the previous game, which we got in the west as Legend of the Mystical Ninja, and at the very least much easier than I remember Goemon's Great Adventure being (heck I need to try and actually beat that thing someday).

A lot shorter than, say, your Mario Worlds, and less complex, but this isn't actually to its detriment! I can play every level and blow through this in an evening. There are only a couple of stinker auto-scrollers, but nothing that will really super ruin your day, and it's plenty forgiving with the consequences for dying.

And also the thing about being a smaller game is that every non-castle level has a unique song as far as I can tell! And every single one kicks ass! There are a boatload of cool gimmicks and fun unique animations spread through the levels, like one of the castles is food themed so you bounce around on bottles that pop you up and fight takoyaki robots. This was also the first game in the series to give us Impact The Giant Robot for big 3D first-person mecha battles, and while they obviously aren't as advanced as the ones you've played on the N64 there is no world in which a giant 3D first-person mecha battle isn't the coolest thing! Come on!!! It was also the first game you can play as Sasuke who is a robot ninja, so I always pick him. Yae is in this one but didn't get a playable spot until the next game sadly.

Love this game. Sitting in the uppermost tiers of platformers on the system but maybe like, one down from the very top. But really, the only thing keeping it down is the fact that you can play the N64 ones to get the cool Impact fights. If they were only here I'd be screaming at you to play this.

This was my first time playing with the English patch, which helped me find some secrets and is recommended for making things a little easier if you don't know Japanese, however I think I understand the plot less now.

ゴエモンインパクト初登場作。ミニゲームも豊富

Decent SNES sidescrolling action game. The goemon soul is present but not even half as cool as the N64 game since it felt like a fairly standard sidescroller. The platforming action is alright but can feel pretty unfair at times. The town sections are simple and kinda just make me wish there was a sprint button. The best part of the game is the thematic styling of the stages like the toy castle that look pleasant and distinct. Also kinda sad I couldn't play as Yae. The Goemon Impact parts were very similar to their N64 counterparts and were fairly enjoyable.

Slooow and floaty platformer. The sprites are lovely, the adventure-exploration elements are cute, and the mech boss battles are great fun, but the whole package is unconvincing. It is very short, though. The more exploration-heavy stages fare way better.

Played the English Translation Patch.

My favorite of the SNES Goemon titles and its one I first played a chunk of when I got into emulation when I was a teen (it was also before the game got a translation patch). Never beat it until now and I'm so glad I did.

Goemon 2's level design is super satisfying & imaginative with the Food Castle being my favorite theme having enemies & hazards based off Japanese cuisine and utensils. The humor is solid, alongside the music and presentation blowing the first SNES game out of the water. Goemon 2 is an absolute must play on the SNES library and I'd consider it somewhere in my Top 10 SNES games.

Only nitpick is the mech fights definitely being a difficulty spike later on, but considering how generous the game is with continues & game overs, you'll be zipping back in action in no-time flat.

Don't know why this game's as gassed up as it is with its autoscrollers and leaps of faith and borderline nonfunctioning sections (in co-op)

It's cute, but it quickly wears its jokes thin and the shameless meta advertising gets old and leans into gross.

All said it controls well otherwise and is still a bit removed from awful territory, and the minigames help mix up the pacing slightly. The mech fights are bad tho. Surprisingly high quality samples for SNES too.

Beaten with @Nowhere.

Great stuff. Whacky coop fun and many levels to play.

Recommended by Shinkiro as part of this list.

My only experience with the Goemon games before playing this were the N64 titles, so I have no idea if this game's story pickups immediately after its predecessor. Here's the story; a weeb general of an unspecified nationality wants to westernize Japan with his army of bunny men. Go to his castle and put a stop to his antics.

The game is an action sidescroller and my initial thoughts were that it felt great to play. Your attacks are quick and snappy. You can select from three different characters. They all have a standard melee attack which can be upgraded and a projectile attack. Goemon is your all-rounder. He swings around a pipe and tosses coins. Ebisumaru is the slowest of the group but hits the hardest and throws shurikens. Sasuke, as you can probably predict, is the most agile of the three but is also the weakest and has a bomb projectile. I honestly stuck with Goemon for my playthrough. It's not like I didn't want to try out the others, but you can only switch characters by saving your game, resetting, selecting your file and then you can choose another character. The other characters are not upgraded and have no money at all, you have to start from scratch, so I just stuck with Goemon.

In a few stages you'll find rideable mechs and, honestly, they're fine! I feel like they slow the pace of the game down but never to a point that they harm my overall enjoyment. At least they were optional for the most part and few and far between. Some levels have alternate exits but I'm not sure if I found any of them. I do know there is a secret boss fight with [Dracula] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn4ZY39w8xE ) I didn't find. In-between a few of the platforming stages, you'll arrive in towns where you can save your game, heal up, buy temporary upgrades, play mini games to earn money or encounter one of the many references to other Konami games. The game is split up into 6 worlds and at the end of every world you get your tried and true boss fight, but every other boss fight you get an Impact boss fight. This is Impact's first appearance and is clearly inspired by Tokusatsu shows and films. In a later game, it even gets its own theme song! These fights are played in first person. You have a fast jab, a straight punch, a projectile attack, you can block with the L and R buttons and a literal pipe bomb with limited uses. During these fights you have an energy meter that's constantly going down, but before every Impact fight you get an auto scrolling destruction sequence. This is where you'll get energy for the boss fights. The energy you get for these boss fights is fully dependent on how much havoc you cause during these sequences, so don't be afraid to go ape shit! Causing enough destruction is also how you get pipe bombs.

There's not much else to say. It's just a very solid action platformer that doesn't overstay its welcome. You can finish this in about 2 hours and it's not too difficult. This and the rest of the Goemon games on Super Famicom got English fan translations in 2020. Even "The Legend of the Mystical Ninja" got a retranslation! I should probably play that before jumping into the other two, huh?

I like this more than the first "Legend of the Mystical Ninja" for Super Nintendo in almost every way. I was especially impressed with the sound quality, there are some really crisp instruments and lots of sound effects, even some voice samples. Not a fan of that mech boss battle at the end of area 5 though!

What an incredible difference it makes to finally not have to fight every single passerby in the villages. I’m glad Goemon and co. finally learned how to behave in public.

Action side scroller. Fun gameplay, three characters with different weapons and strengths, varied level design but the stages are often short and pretty straightforward. Can be hard but difficulty can be mitigated through the ability to save and easy gain of money that can be used on defensive items or ones to give you life when your health runs out (though that won't help against falling off cliffs which is the main obstacle).

Some cheap moments where platforms might not spawn or work correctly. The only way to switch between the characters is to save your game then reset the console and load your save to bring up the character select screen which just ended up with me playing as the character I liked more the entire time. Short, a lot of mini games to found in towns but none that are particularly enjoyable. Town smashing sections to gain power before the robot fights are poorly done and just kind of strange in general.

Decent but not up there with the platforms best.

Screenshots: https://twitter.com/Legolas_Katarn/status/1367757433423097856