Ganbare Goemon (“Mystical Ninja” in the West) is an action-platformer/RPG hybrid series from Konami. The games are typically set in a colorful and wacky version of ancient Japan, replete with robots and even giant mech battles.
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Although the series spans 3 decades and 20+ mainline installments, only 4 of them were ever released in English. The N64 titles were staples of my youth, and I’d been waiting decades – literally – for a new English release. But with the Goemon series being mostly relegated to pachinko machines nowadays, that doesn’t seem likely to happen.
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Enter Mameda no Bakeru from Good-Feel.
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Founded by ex-Konami employees who worked on the Goemon series (including Etsunobu Ebisu, whose name inspired one of its lead characters: Ebisumaru), Good-Feel are known primarily for the Yoshi and Kirby games they made for Nintendo. Mameda no Bakeru is their first stab at an original action/platformer and, as far as I can tell from the trailers, has perfectly captured the essence of the Goemon games and updated them for 2023.
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The colorful Japanese setting. The fast-paced action. The humor. The mech battles. It’s all there. Even the lead character bears a striking resemblance to Goemon himself.
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Unfortunately, we still don’t know if this is getting a Western release. I do remember Ebisu stating in an interview that he wanted to bring this game to the West, but there has been no indication since then that a Western release is planned.
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I do hope Good-Feel manages to work out a Western release. This game just looks too good to leave in Japan.
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[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ncizDI0myI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ncizDI0myI)