The Mystical Website of Goemon

Ganbare Goemon 2

Screen Shots (Click to Enlarge)

Goemon, the great chivalrous thief of Edo, continues his march of justice, stealing from those who fill thier pockets with evil deeds and giving to the poor and needy. Unfortunately, in a blundered robbery attempt, Goemon was arrested and sent to prison in Kyushu for his crimes. As Goemon sits in jail, he meets Ebisumaru, who tells Goemon about a great, secret treasure held at Karakuri Castle. With the potential of securing the well being of the people of Edo with this treasure, Goemon teams up with Ebisumaru to break out of prison and do this one great heist!

Controls

--Menu Sections-- Directional pad: [not used] A button: [not used] B button: [not used] Start: Confirm selection Select: Change selection --Action Sections-- Directional pad: Run A button: Jump B button: Attack Start: Pause Select: [not used]	--Store Sections-- Directional pad: Run A button: Progress text/Confirm selection B button: Change selection Start: [not used] Select: [not used] --3D Maze Sections-- Directional pad up: forward Directional pad down: turn around Directional pad left: turn left Directional pad right: turn right A button: See Map B button: [not used] Start: [not used] Select: [not used]

As Goemon (and Ebisumaru), your ultimate goal is to get to Karakuri Castle for its secret treasure. To do that, however, you have to pass through a number of territories and towns. As you progress:

To beat stages and progress, you have to find the "end" of the stage. These generally resemble large gates, or a room in a castle. You may find a boss at this area, and you are to defeat the boss to progress. In most stages, however, you need to get to the town gate and have 3 passes with you before time expires. You will find these passes in a number of places:

Item List
	ONIGIRI: Purchase at stores, it will restore your life energy the instant it drops down to 0.
	MANEKI NEKO: This power up item will change your attack into a projectile.
	OTAFU MASK: This power up item increases your running speed as well as the distance you can jump. You can have up to two in stock.
	CANDLE: Purchase at stores, it makes all hidden passages viewable without jumping over them for a limited time.
	COFFER: A money chest, it is worth 100 ryo.
	FOOD: Found in secret passages and in stores, it will refill some or all of your life energy.
	PASS: Key item for passing most stages. You need three of these when you get to the end of the stage.
	LUNCH BUNDLE: Found in secret passages, they will extend your life bar.
	DUNG: A power down item, you loose your projectile weapon if you pick up this item.
	KOREZOH KUN: Purchase at stores, it allows you to instantly leave a 3D maze when you press SELECT
	YAJIRUSHI KUN: Purchase at stores, it will guide you to the exit of a 3D maze
	TOP: Will appear only once after jumping an obstacle, it will make you invinsible for a short while
	TIME: Purchase at stores, it will add 100 seconds to your time limit.
	CHIBI CHAN: A 1-up item.
	AMULET: Purchase at stores, it protects against human attacks 8 times.
	STRAW HAT: Purchase at stores, it protects against falling items like Rocks and Bird Dung 10 times.
	ARMOR: Purchase at stores, it protects against 8 attacks.

---Purses and gourds reset after you leave an area, so use this to your advantage to stock up on money and power-ups.
---The most important items to have are, luckily, free. Grab Koban Neko and Otafu Masks power-ups before you venture deeper into an area.
---As the Candle has a very short duration, Plan your search route in advance and don't stray/back track after you buy one!
---Be extra careful of thieves and monkeys, they will steal your money and onigiri, respectively.
---Remeber, you are not hunting for passes in the first stage, nor in the castle stages. Just rush over to beat the boss!

---Goemon and Ebisumaru CANNOT swim. Falling in water means instant death. Likewise, all falls mean instant death, so time your jumps carefully.
---Nearly all 3D mazes contain a pass to collect, so be sure to stop in for one.
---You do get a money bonus for the time remaining when you beat a stage. But compared to what you could earn from enemies and jumping purses, it's best to build up some cash with your spare time before you exit a stage.
---In two player mode, items and money are shared, and thus the performance of one directly effects the other. Even the effects of places like the sauna!

Walkthrough Guide
Written by: Gerimon Impact

This game is the first title that really defined the Goemon Series. An atomosphere of a Japan where every myth and legend that ever came to exsist are brought to life in this game, be it amazing clockwork machinery, Ice spirits that are out to haunt you, or a trip down to hell for harming the Ojisan statues.

Like it's predessor, the general goal of the game is to progress from territory to territory by getting to the gate while collecting three passes. Finding these passes is no easy task, as you must hunt out secret passages and tranverse complex mazes to obtain them. So just like the previous title, it's an Easter Egg hunt. Don't make the mistake to assume this game is exactly like the original, as there you will find it far more fine tuned. There are fewer randomly hidden passages in this title, which allows you to enjoy exploring the stage more. You will have plenty of time to enjoy the many diversions as you go along your way, be it fighting off police and stray rabbits (yes, I said rabbits, see the screenshot), buying video game carts, or trying to sneak into the woman's Onsen. And to clear the difficulty of getting lost in towns, new signs have been added to help you keep track of where you are going. Also, just about every stage also offers a store or two that will sell you passes in case you are burnt out from all the searching.

The game diverges from the original as we have more pure action stages where the goal is as simple as finding the end bosses, and stages themselves offer greater mazes and challanges. And how can one mention this game without talking about its two player cooperation mode? During two player mode, it is critical that the players work together in tandem, as one player's action directly influcences the other. Both money and items are shared in this mode, as well as the effects of items collected on screen. It can make things sorta difficult on stages that requre a lot of movement, but overall a fun and welcome addtion.

A true Suprise ending if there would be one. What is the great treasure of Karakuri Castle? Goemon opens the chest holding the famed prized mentioned by Ebisumaru, and a great blinding flash sprang out. Althought that wasn't quite the shocker until Goemon notices that Ebisumaru's face is cracking in half like an egg shell. In a puff of smoke, Ebisumaru transformed into a beautiful lady. Instinctively, Goemon shows his more manly roughed side. The lady thanks Goemon for returning her back to her original form, and explains to Goemon that the treasure of Karakuri Castle is a special magical light that dispells transfromation spells, of which she was under the influence of. She also appologizes to Goemon for tricking him into helping her transform back. Goemon is far from mad for being duped, however, as he replies, "Your idle beauty is more than enough to right your wrong."