, known as Goemon and Mystical Ninja internationally, is a video game series created and produced by Konami. Etsunobu Ebisu is the joint producer of the franchise.
These games revolve around the main character, Goemon and his exploits. The games are notable for their humorous tone and parodies of many aspects of pop culture, as well as of other video games. The main character is loosely based on Ishikawa Goemon, the noble thief of Japanese folklore. While the early games emphasized Goemon as a noble thief, he eventually becomes more of a standard video game hero character. His trademarks are his blue bushy hair and weapon of choice, the kiseru. The games are set in a cartoonlike, mystical Feudal Japan, with many references to Japanese folklore. Although the series has its roots in action-adventure, the Ganbare Goemon series has features from genres including role-playing, puzzle video games and board games. Ganbare Goemon is popular in Japan. The series consists of video games, with its success spawning a wide series of merchandise and an anime and manga series.
Konami has generally regarded the Goemon games as too specific to the Japanese market to be released worldwide, but five of them have been released overseas: The Legend of the Mystical Ninja for the Super NES, Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon and Goemon's Great Adventure for the Nintendo 64 and two titles for the Game Boy.
In 2002–03, a mobile phone was released for the titled Ganbare Goemon: Tsūkai Game Apli series.
The latest original game of the series was Ganbare Goemon: Tōkai Dōchū Ōedo Tengu ri Kaeshi no Maki, released in Japan for the Nintendo DS in 2005. Since then, the series has been used primarily as themes for Konami's pachislot machines. A compilation of earlier releases, Ganbare Goemon! Daishūgō, is set for release in 2026.
The series is represented in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with a purchasable Goemon costume for Mii fighters.
On March 27, 2026, Konami Digital Entertainment held the Ganbare Goemon Lottery, a lottery sale to commemorate the series' 40th anniversary. The lottery sale offered a chance to win Ganbare Goemon items featuring numerous original illustrations, as well as special postcards as bonus gifts.
Related media
Anime
Original video animation
- A single-episode thirty-minute OVA was released in Japan in 1993 titled . The OVA starred the voice of Daiki Nakamura as Goemon and Hideyuki Umezu as Ebisumaru and featured segments parodying Gradius, Akumajō Dracula and TwinBee.
- A second-episode thirty-minute OVA was released in Japan in 1998 titled .
Television series
Manga
Goemon is the protagonist of many manga based on the video game series. There are several series, each one based on a different game. Most of the manga were illustrated by artist Hiroshi Obi and were published between 1991 and 1998 to accompany the release of each new game.
Obi died from a brain stem hemorrhage on August 3, 2014, at the age of 54.
The manga was digitally re-released in Japan on February 8, 2024.
List of games
Video games (main series)
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
! Original title
! Localized title(s)
! Regions
! First release
! First platform
! Additional platform(s)
|-
!scope=row | Mr. Goemon
|
| JP
| 1986
| Arcade
|
|-
!scope=row | Ganbare Goemon! Karakuri Dōchū
|
| JP
| 1986
| Famicom
|MSX2, Mobile phones
|Wii VC, 3DS VC, Mobile phones
|
| JP
| 1994
| Super Famicom
|Wii VC, Wii U VC
|-
!scope=row | Ganbare Goemon Kirakira Dōchū: Boku ga Dancer ni Natta Wake
|
| JP
| 1995
| Super Famicom
|
|-
!scope=row | Ganbare Goemon: Uchū Kaizoku Akogingu
|
| JP
| 1996
| PlayStation
|PlayStation Network
|-
!scope=row | Ganbare Goemon: Neo Momoyama Bakufu no Odori
| Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon
| JP, NA, EUR
| 1997
| Nintendo 64
|
|-
!scope=row | Ganbare Goemon: Kurofune Tō no Nazo
| Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon
| JP, NA, EUR
| 1997
| Game Boy
|3DS VC
|-
!scope=row | Ganbare Goemon: Derodero Dōchū Obake Tenkomori
| Goemon's Great Adventure (NA) <br />Mystical Ninja 2 Starring Goemon (EUR)
| JP, NA, EUR
| 1998
| Nintendo 64
|
|-
!scope=row | Ganbare Goemon: Kuru Nara Koi! Ayashige Ikka no Kuroi Kage
|
| JP
| 1998
| PlayStation
|
|-
!scope=row | Ganbare Goemon: Tengu-tō no Gyakushū!
|
| JP
| 1999
| Game Boy Color
|
|-
!scope=row | Ganbare Goemon: Mononoke Dōchū Tobidase Nabe-Bugyō!
|
| JP
| 1999
| Game Boy Color
|
|-
!scope=row | Ganbare Goemon: Seikūshi Dynamites Arawaru!!
|
| JP
| 2000
| Game Boy Color
|
|-
!scope=row | Ganbare Goemon: Ōedo Daikaiten
|
| JP
| 2001
| PlayStation
|
|-
!scope=row | Mini Kyodai Robo Goemon Compact
|
| JP
| 2003
| Mobile phone
|
|-
!scope=row | Kessakusen! Ganbare Goemon 1 & 2 <br /> (port of the first two Super Famicom games with extra mini-games)
|
| JP
| 2005
| Game Boy Advance
|
|-
!scope=row | Ganbare Goemon: Shishijūrokubē no Karakuri Manji Gatame
|
| JP
| 2005
| Mobile phone
|
|-
!scope=row | Ganbare Goemon: Tōkai Dōchū Ōedo Tengu ri Kaeshi no Maki
|
| JP
| 2005
| Nintendo DS
|
|}
Video games (spin-offs)
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
! Original title
! Localized title(s)
! Regions
! First release
! First platform
|-
!scope=row | Ganbare Goemon: Ebisumaru Kiki Ippatsu
|
| JP
| 1990
| Handheld electronic game
|-
!scope=row | Soreyuke Ebisumaru! Karakuri Meiro – Kieta Goemon no Nazo<nowiki>!!</nowiki> <br /> (puzzle game starring Ebisumaru)
|
| JP
| 1996
| Super Famicom
|-
!scope=row | Goemon Mononoke Sugoroku <br /> (Sugoroku game)
|
| JP
| 1999
| Nintendo 64
|-
!scope=row | Bōken Jidai Katsugeki Goemon <br /> (a more serious spin-off of the series)
| Mystical Ninja Goemon Zero (unreleased)
| JP
| 2000
| PlayStation 2
|-
!scope=row | Goemon: Shin Sedai Shūmei! <br /> (futuristic spin-off of the series)
|
| JP
| 2001
| PlayStation
|-
!scope=row | Goemon: New Age Shutsudō! <br /> (futuristic spin-off of the series)
|
| JP
| 2002
| Game Boy Advance
|-
!scope=row | Ganbare Goemon: Tsūkai Game Apli series <br /> Dosukoi! Harite Ichiban<br /> Hijutsu! Sansū Juku<br /> Jetto GO! GO! GO!<br /> Karakuri Kiteretsu Rēsu<br /> Tentekomai-Mai Meikyū-Kan
|
| JP
| 2002–2003
| Mobile phones
|-
!scope=row | Ganbare Goemon! Daishūgō