The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (1992)
Action - Adventure - Platformer

Publisher

Konami

The Legend of the Mystical Ninja is a light-hearted action-adventure game for 1-2 players by Konami, and was released for the Super NES in 1992. It is the first game in the Japanese video game series Ganbare Goemon to have a western release. It has also been released for the Wii Virtual Console in Japan, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.

In this game, the players control Goemon and Ebisumaru (called Kid Ying and Dr. Yang respectively in all non-Japanese releases). The story for the game involves both in their quest to rescue princess Yuki. The players need to complete some tasks in order to move to the next stage. Although both characters have different weapons and learn different attacks, they are functionally identical.

Most stages are separated into two sections. The first section is centered on town exploration where players gather information, buy items, learn special Judo attacks, play minigames, earn money, etc. One of the most notable minigames available is a recreation of the first level in Gradius.

The second section of each stage is a platformer section where the players fight through minor enemies until they reach the end and defeat a boss. In two-player mode, the characters can work together by having one ride the other piggy-back style. The character riding controls the attacks, while the character being ridden controls the movement and jumping. This ability is not particularly useful for combat, as the attacks are not enhanced and the mixed control can create confusion. Piggy-backing is probably most useful for making long or awkward jumps in certain stages, especially if one player is more skilled at this than the other.

After each stage is completed, a small scene occurs furthering the mostly simple and light-hearted plot, and the next stage is revealed.