Ganbare Goemon - Kurunarakoi! ayashigeikka no kuroikage!" (or "Until the Love Comes! The Black Shadow of the Ayashi Family") is the only 3D iteration of the series on the Playstation. At first glance, it looks great - running in the PSOne's high res mode, it runs at a slick 60 FPS with extraordinarily smooth graphics that look far better than the muddy N64 games. That is, until you see the horrendous amount of polygon seams that litter the environment. Each board is also suspended over what seem to be a weird blue fog, which looks absolutely terrible.
The Ayashi Family - comprised of an evil matriarch and her three goofy sons Detchi, Sun and Go - are terrorizing Edo, and Goemon n' pals are off to stop her. Early in the game, Goemon falls ill, and Ebisumaru, Sasuke, and Yae must set off on their own separate paths to find his medication. All of the cutscenes are voiced (a first for the series), which is one of the only high points.
While the game is technically 3D, the camera is always locked at an overhead view. The gameplay is nothing like any of the other Goemons. Instead of simply whacking bad guys, there's an "in depth" combat system that allows you to perform combos with various controller movement. It's not a bad idea, but it's sluggish and ultimately not much fun. The platforming is what really kills the game though, as the camera will never, ever find a position that makes jumping comfortable. The level design is pretty lazy too - you will have to traverse back and forth through one area no less than three times during the course of the game, suffering the same obtuse platforming challenges. It hurts so badly.
The only upside are the Impact battles, which are also entirely different from the norm. Each character now has their own ridiculous looking Impact robot. Additionally, you have full control over your mech, which you pilot around a small arena while shooting at your opponent. These segments are fairly simplistic, as you just keep circling and firing at your opponent until your Super Laser meter builds up, but they're a lot more amusing than any other part of the game. The music in the Impact segments are also awesome, the exemplary kind of rock that Konami is known for.
Manufacturer's description:
Isometric 3D style towns with platform sections and bosses to battle in mecha suits: yes its Goemon alright. The towns as a pleasure as ever with traditional warm-hearted friendliness to welcome you. And the 3D style boss battles add another dimension to the already varied gameplay. Overall the 3D effect has been well implemented with pretty shading and the proper balance between the trade-off of gameplay and graphical glitz.
Features:
- Third person perspective.
- 3D graphics
- Cartoon graphics
- Medieval Japan, Ninjas & Humour themes.
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