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Ganbare Goemon
Developer	Konami
Publisher	Konami
Platforms	Arcade,NES,MSX2,Super NES,Game Boy,PlayStation,Nintendo 64,Game Boy Color,Game Boy Advance,PlayStation 2,Nintendo DS,mobile phone,Wii,Nintendo 3DS,Wii U,Microsoft Windows,Xbox 360,PlayStation 4
First release	Mr. Goemon May 1986
Latest release	Ganbare Goemon Pachisuro 2 September 2011

Ganbare Goemon (がんばれゴエモン; "Go for it, Goemon!"), known asGoemon andMystical Ninja internationally, is avideo game series created and produced byKonami.Etsunobu Ebisu is the joint producer of the franchise.

These games revolve around the main character, Goemon and his exploits. The games are notable for their humorous tone and parodies of many aspects of pop culture, as well as of other video games. The main character is loosely based onIshikawa Goemon, the noble thief of Japanesefolklore. While the early games emphasized Goemon as a noble thief, he eventually becomes more of a standard video game hero character. His trademarks are his blue bushy hair and weapon of choice, thekiseru. The games are set in a cartoonlike, mysticalFeudal Japan, with many references to Japanese folklore. Although the series has its roots in action-adventure, theGanbare Goemon series has features from genres includingrole-playing,puzzle video games andboard games.Ganbare Goemon is popular in Japan. The series consists of video games, with its success spawning a wide series of merchandise and ananime andmanga series.

Konami has generally regarded the Goemon games as too specific to the Japanese market to be released worldwide,^[1] but five of them have been released overseas:The Legend of the Mystical Ninja for theSuper NES,Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon andGoemon's Great Adventure for theNintendo 64 and two titles for theGame Boy.

In 2002–03, a mobile phone was released for the titledGanbare Goemon: Tsūkai Game Apli series.

The latest original game of the series wasGanbare Goemon: Tōkai Dōchū Ōedo Tengu ri Kaeshi no Maki, released in Japan for theNintendo DS in2005. Since then, the series has been used primarily as themes for Konami'spachislot machines. A compilation of earlier releases,Ganbare Goemon! Daishūgō, is set for release in 2026.^[2]

The series is represented inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate with a purchasable Goemon costume forMii fighters.^[3]

• A single-episode thirty-minuteOVA was released in Japan in 1993 titledGanbare Goemon: Jigen Jō no Akumu (がんばれゴエモン 次元城の悪夢; "Ganbare Goemon: The Nightmare of the Dimensional Castle"). The OVA starred the voice ofDaiki Nakamura as Goemon andHideyuki Umezu as Ebisumaru and featured segments parodyingGradius,Akumajō Dracula andTwinBee.
• A second-episode thirty-minuteOVA was released in Japan in 1998 titledGanbare Goemon: Chikyū Kyūshutsu Sakusen (がんばれゴエモン地球救出作戦; "Ganbare Goemon: Global Rescue Operation").

Goemon is the protagonist of many manga based on the video game series. There are several series, each one based on a different game. Most of the manga were illustrated by artist Hiroshi Obi and were published between 1991 and 1998 to accompany the release of each new game.

Obi died from a brain stem hemorrhage on August 3, 2014, at the age of 54.^[4]

The manga was digitally re-released in Japan on February 8, 2024.^[5]

• Official Konami of JapanGanbare Goemon site
• Ganbare Goemon series atMobyGames

• Manga series
• Ganbare Goemon
• Konami franchises
• Video game franchises
• Video game franchises introduced in 1986
• Video games about ninja
• Video games developed in Japan
• Video games adapted into television shows

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