Before you ask, this is comic book related. The "Ganbare Goemon" series has anime AND manga. So boo-yah haters! Also to be clear, I do not like anime or manga. I just like Mystical Ninja because of the N64 game.
If you've never heard of Mystical Ninja, it's probably because it's more popular in Japan than America. But, the series had a decent run in America, and the one N64 game titled "Mystical Ninja: Starring Goemon" was a diamond in the rough. The series had a lukewarm success in the Super Nintendo era with:
The Legend of the Mystical Ninja. I've played this one, and it's cool for a SNES game, albeit kinda dumb in retrospect.
So here's the basic rundown of Mystical Ninja's story. Goemon and his fat ninja friend, Ebisumaru, are attempting to sweet talk a local shop. Ebisumaru's "tactics" fail them miserably, and they are kicked out. Moments later, the earth begins to shake like nobody's business. Looking up into the sky, they see that a UFO is descending upon their land. It turns out that these aliens are the "Peach Mountain Shoguns", and they have a very sinister plan for Japan: they are going to turn it into a gigantic...terrifying...evil fine arts theater! Goemon and Ebisumaru embark on a quest to save Japan from the odd and slightly queer aliens. They pick up a few friends on the way to help them.
This game goes everywhere from Earth, to Space, to under the sea. It has giant robots, rock music, random break-outs into song, and lots of laugh out loud moments. The gameplay is adventuring and exploring, like Super Mario 64. It's mostly free-roam across the mythological world of Japan. It's a pretty solid 20-40 hour title too. It will surprise you...it's got many more hours of gameplay than you'd expect. The soundtrack was haunting and catchy as well.
I'm thinking this game should get some updated graphics for the Nintendo 3DS, and it could include the SNES title as a bonus. Please tell me some of you have played this amazing game! If not, and I hate to do this, you can easily find everything you need to play it on your computer online in about 5 minutes. Sorry, i'm not promoting illegal activities...just sayin'.
For more info...Google it!!!!! What are you waiting for, go do it now!