Game:

The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (1991)

Duration: 2:23:41

9 views

1

Originally recorded: February 8, 2024
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Okay, admittedly, maybe claiming that I'd start the next game during this session was a bit premature. Even if I had finished the game as a reasonable hour, I've still got over 100 limited-time demos nipping at my heels thanks to the Steam Next Fest. All the same, at least I managed to beat the first game of the three this time around... and as a bonus, it was significantly less painful than my time with The Legend of the Mystical Ninja back in 2021. That bodes well for my initial prediction that this set of games wouldn't take me more than 10 streams to make it through. Honestly, even my presumptuous minimum of 8 streams is beginning to look too safe.

All the same, Ganbare Goemon 2 definitely had way more quality of life fixes compared to its predecessor than I was expecting. You can actually exploit the adventure game mechanics in this one, simply by the virtue of being able to revisit old levels to grind for power-ups and cash. I just wish that I'd realized that sooner -- maybe I could've finished up Act 4, had I known that checkpoints remain intact even after visiting other levels... and even from your save file. Too bad the next game isn't stage-based -- opting for a Zelda-style fully connected world map. Fortunately, it sounds like the last game of the bunch will be stage-based, so I should be able to exploit my newfound knowledge to make tackling that last one a breeze.

I do feel a little guilty for scoring this game so much higher than the Goemon game that actually managed to make it to North America back in the day. But the truth of the matter is that there are just sooooooo many improvements. I have to wonder if this is the biggest boost in quality I've ever personally encountered between a game and its sequel in all of my time streaming. It certainly feels unprecedented... well, at least since I started scoring games.

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