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Ganbare Goemon Gaiden - Kieta Ogon Kiseru!

Screen Shots (Click to Enlarge)

After a lenghty journey, Goemon finally returns home. As a priorty, Goemon goes straight to the Kamidana (a shinto shrine made to respect the deceased) to talk to his ancessors. But a startling discovery would soon result. "It's gone!" The golden kiseru, prized heirloom of Goemon's family, was missing. After a frantic search at home, no kiseru was to be found. As coincidences would have it, Goemon would be visited by his partner, the ninja of justice, Ebisumaru. After hearing of his plight, Ebisumaru gives Goemon some clues about the missing Kiseru, and in light of his insight, the status of the kiseru changes from "lost" to "stolen". As a faithful friend, Ebisumaru joins Goemon as the two set out a new journey, to retrive the lost Kiseru. As the two head off, little did they expect what adventures lied in store for them.

Controls

--Menu Section-- Directional pad: Move Cursor A button: Make Selection B button: Cancel Selection Start: [not used] Select: [not used]	--Overworld Sections-- Directional pad: Walking A button: Summon Menu Screen/Talk/Search B button: [not used] Start: [not used] Select: [not used]

Goemon and Ebisumaru are out on journey to find the Golden Kiseru! But before they can venture out, start with a visits to towns and settlements and:

With all preporations made, set out with the new leads you have found. Be warned that you will run into many enemies along the way:

---Build Up your level near a town before venturing out to a new area. This is the best way to ensure you won't get knocked out by some standard foe
---Some enemies are strong against ninjitsu but weak against physical attacks. Some enemies are the reverse. Experiment to see what is most effective for referance in future Battles.
---Ebisumaru's Ninjitsu is very useful, be it to replenish your HP, cure conditions, or warp to a town. Make use of it often, and exploit it before you go into an Inn.
---Always save before you enter a town or dangerous area. A boss battle can happen at any time when you are in these areas.
---As with any RPG, talk to eveyone for information. You will need all the leads you can get!

---Don't forget to equip new weapons and armor that you get. They won't do any good sitting in your sack.
---Be sure to visit the general store to sell off your old equipment. There is no point keeping old weapons, after all.
---Learn to divide the focus of your attacks among a group of enemies. If a target enemy is defeated or escapes before a member of your party can attack it, he will forfeit his turn!
---Like above, don't use the auto fighting mode. Despite what its apparent function (To save you time), it will most likely waste you more time, as your characters won't exploit ninjitsu weaknesses or distribute attack damage.
---Like the last two Goemon Game titles, there are easter egg secret items! so be sure to look around for them for a monitary bonus!

IN DEPTH GAME GUIDE
Game Attack's detail site covering Ganbare Goemon Gaiden

Hit off as Goemon's first RPG title during the rise of the RPG genre in Japan, Ganbare Goemon Gaiden made a most definite impression on the Ganbare Goemon Series. This is the first game to showcase Goemon as a general do-gooder rather than just a chivalrous thief. Goemon will be righting wrongs all along his journey for his pipe, be it defeating tyrants and bandits, to restoring water to villages.

As it is among the early RPG titles, the game had a lot of the flaws associated with these titles. For starters, main commands are executed all with the same button, be it checking inventory, searching an area for items, to talking to people. So it is easy to get fustrated if you trying to check for a hidden item, and painfully ending up with the time wasting menu bar. The game's pace, like many early RPGs, is also painfully slow. Goemon's party walks at snail's pace all the time and menus always have to be reset to the main menu if you make an incorrect selection. Although we can't really blame the game for these problems (as I stated, pretty much all RPGs of that time suffer these simular problems), they still take some of the fun away from the gameplay.

But in return, you do get a pretty fantastical RPG experience with a Goemon feel with this title, from buying pipes and onigiri, to warding off Tengu, to learning new ninjitsu. As an rpg, it extends the depth of the series greatly. It takes the world presented in the previous Goemon games and expands it tenfold. We finally have a "Team Goemon", as this is the first time Goemon will find friends other than Ebisumaru to join him on his quest. Of this cast we have Koban Neko, Yae, and Lin. This is also the first time Goemon will meet Omitsu. In this title, we see the introduction of many long-term characters.