is a '' Goemon'' game released for the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

on December 21, 2000. This is the third game in the series set in a 3D world, following '' Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon'' and '' Ganbare Goemon: Kuru Nara Koi! Ayashige Ikka no Kuroi Kage''. Unlike most of the other games, this game departs from the quirky humor that the franchise is known for, and replaces it with a more serious tone.

Gameplay

Inspired by the three-dimensional '' The Legend of Zelda'' games with some

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

elements, the player assumes the role of Goemon, who is set once again to save Japan. Goemon is able to use a large variety of weapons (including his trademark pipe), as well as equip sub-weapons, items and magic, which can be assigned in 4 hexagons for quick use. Another twist is the addition of a white tiger known as Kotora, whom Goemon can use to attack enemies when he locks on them.

Localization attempts

The now-defunct company

Working Designs Working Designs was an American video game publisher that specialized in the localization of Japanese role-playing video games, strategy video games and top-down shooters for various platforms. Though the company had published many cult hits, i ...

attempted to bring the game to English audiences as ''Mystical Ninja Goemon'' beginning in 2002. Motivated to promote a series "that's never quite received the recognition it deserves here

n the United States N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

" Working Designs displayed the game in its booth at E3 the same year. ''Mystical Ninja Goemon'' remained on the studio's release list until its closing in 2005; it is rumored that Sony squashed the game's North American release due to subpar graphics, although this has yet to have been proven. Two prototype builds of the unreleased English language version were leaked on the internet in November 13, 2021, unveiling that it was going to be released as ''Mystical Ninja Goemon Zero''.

References

2000 video games Ganbare Goemon games Japan-exclusive video games PlayStation 2 games PlayStation 2-only games Video games developed in Japan {{Konami-stub Single-player video games