An awesome action-platformer-rpg for the N64. Surely an instant classic.
Story: Not much story here. Basically, a weirdo named Dancin' and his presumed wife named Kitty Lilly come to Japan from outer space to turn the planet into a stage for a performance. I know, it's freakin weird. Goemon (or Kid Ying as he's known in the SNES Mystical Ninja.) and Ebisumaru (or Dr. Yang as he's called in the SNES game.) venture out to fight them. Why? I have no idea. Along the way, they meet a detective name Yae and a robotic ninja named Sasuke (not to be confused with Naruto.). And two other characters appear to assist you in your battles. A giant robot named Impact (who has an awesome theme song.). He is used to fight large bosses within the game. Our heroes also meet a kid that can morph into a dragon (forgot his name.), and he is used as a form of transpotation. It turns out that a man known as the Wise Man sold Japan for a magazine (WTF?). I gotta be honest, I don't get it.
Design: The graphics aren't great, but they're not bad either. They perfectly represent what the backgrounds are supposed to be, and the castles look pretty sweet too. The music is really memorable also. It's like combining an upbeat theme that you'd expect to hear in a typical platform game, and traditional Japanese music. The game is design so that you can run across (nearly) all of Japan. You can run from the West to the East, the North to the South, up, down, all around. The design of the castles and obstacles is very well done. It's designed to be challenging without being overwhelming.
Gameplay: The gameplay is traditional platforming and castle exploring at it's finest. It doesn't have a hugely deep combat system, but it's still lots of fun to kill the robotic freaks roaming this place. All of the characters have different weapons to utilize in combat. Goemon uses a pipe (?) that can be upgraded to silver or gold, coins (??) that can be charged up and thrown as fireballs costing 5 coins (???), and a chained pipe that can attach to magnetic blocks and attack enemies from a distance (????). Ebisumaru uses a mallet that can also be upgraded, a hammer made of meat that increases the chance of health items dropping (O.o), and a windup camera that freezes enemies in place for no reason (-_-). Yae has a katana (b^-^d), that can be upgraded (t(^-^t)), a flute to summon the dragon (WIN), and a bazooka that can lock onto enemies (EPIC WIN). Sasuke uses kunai that can be upgraded, cherry bombs (*cough* Bomberman), and a kunai that can freeze enemies by throwing them (how does he not get frozen?). The characters can also obtain super powers (just go with it, the review will be shorter that way.). Goemon can increase his power while also taking more damage (Dragon Ball Z much?), Ebisumaru can shrink to small sizes (more useful than it sounds.), Yae can turn into a mermaid (which is only used in one section of the game.), and Sasuke can jump higher (not a superpower, he uses a jetpack.). What I find funny about these powers is the fact that if you have the wrong character selected, they get turned down. If you try to get the mermaid power for any of the male characters, it says, "I dread the thought of seeing a male mermaid." Well, Kingdom Hearts did it, and it's creepy in that game too. The castles and Impact boss fights are the best parts of the game. With the castles, you get to explore the areas searching for keys and you get to fight lots of enemies to test out your weapons. Then the Impact battles allow you to go into a first-person view and beat the everlasting crap out of giant robots. Impact uses his fists, his pipe, and can even fire bullets at the cost of money. And after taking enough damage, he can charge up a powerful beam of energy. IMMA FIRIN MAH LAZOR! BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! Now that we got that joke out of the way, let's go to the verdict.
The Verdict: 8.5
The game is a very well-done combination of action, platforming, and RPG elements. I had a lot of fun exploring the world of Virtual Feudal Japan, and I'd play through it again.