Ganbare Goemon! Karakuri Dōchū (がんばれゴエモン!からくり道中?, "Persevere Goemon! A Tricky Journey") is a video game produced by Konami. In English it is called "Mystical Ninja". It is the second game in the Ganbare Goemon series and the first released on a video game console and home computer. It was initially released for the Family Computer in 1986 and later released for the MSX 2 one year later. The Family Computer version was re-released in Japan only for the Game Boy Advance under the Family Computer Mini label.
The game revolves around the main character, Goemon, and his exploits. As the name suggests, his character was based on Ishikawa Goemon, the noble thief of Japanese Folklore. Unlike its sequels, this game still doesn't features the comic situation and strange characters that define the series, and Goemon is portrayed as a noble thief rather than a plain hero.
The game plays a top view action/adventure game (similar to the Legend of Zelda) though it is separated by stages. In each level Goemon must find three passes in order to advance. Some of these passes are found in boxes, secret passages or can be bought. After finishing all the stages, the game will present you with a new Japanese province (8 total), but all the levels will remain the same. The ending, however, will different.
Like the rest of the series, Goemon can be powered up if certain items are found and/or bought, which can be lost after a few hits.
Source: Wikipedia, "Ganbare Goemon! Karakuri Dōchū", available under the CC-BY-SA License.
