The Wonder Years 04.03.08: Week 49 - Legend of the Mystical Ninja

Posted by Owain J. Brimfield on 04.03.2008

The 16-bit debut of a certain blue-haired mystical ninja.

Welcome to the column where all gamers of a certain age come to wallow in 16-bit nostalgia. I'm your host, Owain J. Brimfield, and I'll be discussing some of the hidden gems and instant classics of gaming's golden era. Some of these games may crop up on the Wii's Virtual Console at some point, some may be consigned to the annals of history. Either way, they're worth tracking down if you missed them first time round, or replaying if you were lucky enough to catch them. Let's take a trip to:

THE LEGEND OF THE MYSTICAL NINJA

(Konami, Super NES, 1992)

You guys remember Goemon, don't you? The mystical ninja, little guy with blue hair? Appeared in dozens of games in his native Japan but only a handful here in the West? And, if you're like me, you're wondering why he hasn't cropped up in Smash Bros. yet as a playable character, which seems a completely bizarre omission. Anyway, although Japanese gamers were introduced to the character in 1986's first Ganbare Goemon on the 8-bit NES, the first taste we underprivileged heathens got of Goemon came in the form of the SNES's The Legend of the Mystical Ninja, perhaps rather fancifully translated (although Goemon the protagonist is himself apparently based on a Japanese folk hero). Seeing a US release in 1992, although it wouldn't hit European shores for another couple of years after that, Mystical Ninja follows our hero Goemon and his sidekick and fellow ninja, the podgy Ebisumaru (annoyingly, the names are translated as Ying and Yang in the western release of the game, but I guess Konami had to do something simplistic like that to offset the surreal Japanese humor) on their quest across feudal Japan to rescue Princess Yuki. How original! Mind you, of course, you don't play games like this for the plot, otherwise Mario would still be unblocking U-bends for a living, instead of running the world.

So, the game sees Goemon and Ebisumaru navigate their way through nine levels, or 'Warlock Zones' as the game rather ominously labels its stages. In a neat touch, the actual gameplay is given something of a dichotomy, with each level being divided first into a quasi-RPG "talk to the townsfolk and gather items and skills" section and then later a more traditional "scroll to the right and nobble all the bad guys" platforming section. It's a dynamic that works well because despite the dissimilar gaming mechanics, there's never any sort of jarring disconnect between the two types of gameplay, with each presented in a very alike graphical fashion (worlds away from, say, ActRaiser's similar conceit). Our two heroes can spend as much time as they like wandering around the small towns that make up the RPG-ish portion of the game, indulging in various interactions with colorful Japanese NPCs, and playing a varied assortment of minigames to earn cash with which to upgrade weaponry, buy items and learn Judo skills (sadly not the unarmed combat that first springs to mind - Mystical Ninja's idea of Judo involves flying ninjas and talking cats). Incidentally, one of the minigames is a pleasing iteration of Gradius; always nice to see a developer indulging in a bit of harmless self-reference. Then, once enough is enough and you feel the urge to kick some ass/arse [delete as appropriate], it's off to the platforming sections, which for some reason seem to be guarded by a large raccoon/dog hybrid. Goemon and Ebisumaru are armed with a pipe (not the lead kind, the tobacky kind) and a yo-yo respectively - ordinarily not exactly lethal weaponry, but in the hands of our trusty pair they seem remarkably effective. If you like, you can team up with a buddy for these sections, and although the co-op play feels frustratingly under-developed it does include a neat trick whereby one character can ride piggyback on the other.

It's all presented in a charmingly authentic feudal manner. Enemies range from psychotic fishmongers and wild boar to murderous babies, with the obligatory bosses taking many of the forms you'd expect (dragons, sumo wrestlers and the like), and weapons can be upgraded by via a Lucky Cat. The soundtrack too, presents some faithfully MIDI-ised versions of traditional Japanese music. In fact, for some westerners the game might actually feel overwhelmingly easternised, but you'll probably have an idea of whether or not that's your cup of tea from the get-go. Although the main quest itself is annoyingly short (despite an abundance of baddies to dispatch at every turn, cash is ridiculously easy to accumulate) and punctuated by one of the worst password save systems in history (the average password is 30 random characters long), there's always plenty to do in the game's Carnival section, so it's a little lengthier than yer average platforming title, even if it does rely more on its charm than its longevity to endear itself to the gaming audience. But hey, it's about quality not quantity, right?

Although the title itself is rather rare these days, thanks to the game being largely overlooked by a somewhat bamboozled western audience, it's fortunately only a cheap download away on the Virtual Console, so a whole new generation of gamers can experience the bizarreness of mid-90s Japanese gaming at its most boggling. At least there's no fat naked guys like in the N64 sequel. It's certainly worth some of your finest Wii points to experience the game, as it's a unique little platformer, and also happens to represent one of gaming's more well-established franchises (well, established in Japan at least). Plus, if the permanent expression on Goemon's face that makes him look like a crazed smackhead doesn't amuse you, nothing will. It's a constantly good-humored gaming experience and does its job at providing a fusion of styles and something a little different from your average mediocre platform title.


The Legend of the Mystical Ninja trivia

• Although the game received three or four sequels on the Super NES in Japan, the next Mystical Ninja game to hit western shores was Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon on the N64, sadly featuring the aforementioned fat naked guys.
  
• The title was also ported to the Gameboy Advance… again, only in Japan.
  
• Goemon became the star of his own TV series which ran for a few episodes back in the late 90s, and I think it's available on DVD if you're that much of a fanboy of the franchise.
  

The Videosphere

Let's take a look at this week's video highlight. I mentioned the Goemon cartoon just now, and while trawling through YouTube I came across the following treat, which seems to be the intro of the cartoon translated into Arabic. It's absolutely terrifying, but well worth a watch. Just try and keep the lights on.




Reactions and interactions

A few remarks on last week's excursion into the world of Cool Spot:

Posted by: john

"Ugh, I remember this freaking game from when I was a kid, and I actually thought it was good at the time.

Yeah Lavos sure was tough as hell back in the day, and I remember seeing the "Sad Ending" many times in Chrono Trigger before ever killing him. The worst thing about Lavos was you think you had him beat twice before you beat the core. I think Carltron and the other million baddies at the end of Evermore seems harder, to me at least, was because if you lost your main character, game over, whereas in Chrono Trigger you could have two dead characters and still use a Life spell and keep fighting strong."

It's surprising how many games you remember from your childhood as being really good that haven't held up too well. I guess that's just nostalgia at work. I guess the only problem with bringing someone back from the dead against Lavos is that they inevitably get killed again on the next turn, so you end up using all your spell points on healing instead of attacking. The odds did seem a tad overwhelming in Evermore though, I'll give you that.

Posted by: JLAJRC

"Any chance of you doing the Dominoes Pizza "Yo, Noid" game in this column as the other commercial mascot that got a video game?"

Slim to none I'd say, given that it's a NES game and I focus on the 16-bit era. However, I do remember that in a glorious bit of product placement, the game's instruction manual actually had a Domino's money-off coupon tucked inside it. This does give me a chance to tell everyone about the time I and a group of mates ordered a few pizzas from the new Domino's that had sprung up in Canterbury (where I went to uni), about half a mile from the house we were staying in. I'm not exaggerating in the slightest when I say that it took them THREE HOURS to deliver the pizza, and they even had the audacity that when we phoned them to complain, they said the delivery guy had repeatedly rung the doorbell with no answer, when the house didn't actually have a doorbell and we were sitting in the room the front door led into. And to top it all off, it was the most disgusting, shitty pizza I've ever had the misfortune of tasting.

So yeah, fuck Domino's.


General indulgences

Every week in this section I'll endeavor to provide you, the faithful readers, with a fascinating insight into the various forms of entertainment currently dominating my spare time.

This week, I have been mostly enjoying:

Super Paper Mario on the Wii. You know, I thought I'd give this the benefit of the doubt after my last playthrough was abandoned in the face of one of the stupidest bits of gaming I've ever encountered. Unfortunately, that one puzzle is still as ridiculously infuriating as ever, and I quickly shut the game off. You know the bit, with the three pillars in the desert that have to be jumped on in a certain order? Yeah, you know what I mean. Shame on you, Nintendo.

Gladiators, the old British version of the hit show that's currently getting re-runs on cable in preparation for the new British series coming soon. There's some glorious mullets on show, god bless the early 90s.

Tricks of the Mind by Derren Brown, a British 'psychological illusionist' who you may remember for his wonderful TV programme Messiah debunking a string of paranormalists. It's an intriguing book that delves into the thought processes behind his abilities, and it's at its best for my money when he's ranting about "psychics" and explaining away their "talents".

and Vista speech recognition, which isn't as powerful as it claims, but it's still pretty fun to make your computer do things by telling it to do them. Even if things it does aren't necessarily the things you wanted it to do.


And finally…

As always, reader feedback and suggestions are welcome, I respond to everything so just drop me a line or leave a comment. You can also check out my science fiction column "The Flux Capacitor" over at 411 Movies. Next week in "The Wonder Years", I'll be celebrating my one-year anniversary at 411 (and a half-century of this column) with an extra-special edition packed to the brim with 16-bit goodness. Until then - keep it real, keep it retro.