In Japan, this game is known as Ganbare Goemon: Yukihime Kyūshutsu Emaki, and is the first in a series of four Super Famicom games that share the name. Sadly, this was the only game of the four that we got, and we didn't get another Goemon game until Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon came out for the Nintendo 64.
The story starts with Dr. Yang (Ebisumaru) telling Kid Ying (Goemon) that something has happened to the ghost woman of the temple, and that she is acting strangely and hurting people. Kid Ying and Dr. Yang go out to investigate, but little do they know that they are going on a bigger adventure than they suspect.
Warlock Zone I: Mystical Ghost
The first part of every level, or Warlock Zone, is an RPG-style village area where you can move in eight directions and attack in four.
The Control Pad moves you around, Y and A attack, B jumps and X performs a Jutsu Strike. R is used to switch between your melee weapon and any weapons you have that you can throw, such as coins (stars if you're Ebisumaru) or bombs. Throwing coins will cause you to lose money, so be careful.
Player 1 always plays as Kid Ying (Goemon), while Player 2 always plays as Dr. Yang (Ebisumaru). Kid Ying's life, lives, Jutsu Strike count, money, weapons and items will always be on the left, while Dr. Yang's will always be on the right.
There is also a timer at the top center of the screen. Do not let it get to zero.
You start out in the center of the town. The temple will be to the north, while more of the village is to the south.
Enemies include monks, samurai, men with spears and men with fish. The men with the fish will drop the fish when defeated, and you'll need to defeat the fish, too. The south part of the village has a running man with a weird expression on his face who will take $50 from you if you come into contact with him, and defeating him will not get it back. The men in blue carrying the cups will throw cups at you, so you'd better be ready to sidestep cups that fly towards what your current position was when they were thrown...or to hit them as soon as you see them.
When enemies are defeated, they will usually drop money, which you'll need to buy things, but they can also drop things such as red scrolls and lucky cats. The red scrolls let you perform Jutsu Shot if you can collect ten of them, and you can see how much you have by pausing the game. The lucky cats will increase the range of your melee weapon, and you can do this twice. If you take damage from an enemy by either running into them or being attacked, however, your weapon's power will go down one level. Take time at the start of the level running around and defeating enemies for money, red scrolls and lucky cats. You'll need them when you go north of the start.
By going into doors, you can enter establishments throughout the town. Some of the places are homes where the residents will tell you what is going on, but some places are shops. You can make your choices with the Control Pad and the B button, and pressing X or Down on the Control Pad will let you leave the building. The people here will tell you The sandals make your character faster and jump further, and you can have up to three of them. If you take damage from an enemy, though, you'll lose a pair and you'll get a bit slower. The pizza will restore your health in case you lose all of it, more or less acting as a resurrection item. The bombs can be switched to with the R button and can be thrown at enemies to hit them from a distance, but keep in mind that you have a limited amount of them.
If you see a woman in a kimono, run into her to gain some money. If you hit them, however, you'll lose money.
Some of the shops won't be running properly until later in the level, such as the travel agency or the fortune teller.
When you go to the temple area to the north, you'll find out that a fog is coming into the area. Suddenly, the area gets darker and you will have to fight ghosts instead of human enemies. Some of them bounce around at 45-degree angles, some just fly around and others roll forward. Thankfully, they're not that hard to hit. If you explore the town and enter the people's homes while the ghosts are around, you'll find out that ghosts have entered Horo Temple to the north, and that people have been changed into animals by the temple ghost.
If you enter the south side after the ghosts show up, you'll fight these trios of brown, furry enemies. They will leap at you if you approach them, but that's all they do.
You can refill your health with the food at the restaurant, provided you have enough money. The more expensive something is, the more health it will refill. If you lose all your health, you'll lose a life.
If you hit the wall to the right of the Horo Temple entrance, you'll uncover a Kid Dracula head. Grabbing it nets you $100.
When you enter the Horo Temple, you'll enter the second part of the Warlock Zone, which is a side-scrolling area. The tanuki statue will tell you that you are entering dangerous territory before disappearing You can still attack in four directions like in the RPG part, but you can crawl with Down-Left and Down-Right on the Control Pad to duck and move under some attacks and you can drop down ledges by holding Down and pressing B.
The samurai zombies are easy to take out, but the lantern fires fly around. Be ready to hit them as soon as they show up so you don't have to worry about them flying around.
When you approach the temple bell, a ring of fireballs will fly around you, but if you strike the bell, you'll destroy all of the flames at once. Grab as much money as you can here.
Underneath the bell is a hidden area. The Golden Lucky Cat will increase your maximum health by two units, but only for the current Warlock Zone. You'll only find them in hidden areas, and never out in the open.
If you see jars, smash them for items. The golden elephant acts as a checkpoint that allows you to start from where you found it as opposed to the beginning of the level should you lose a life. The zombies that move around underground will pop up just next to you, so let them come to you.
The boss here is the temple ghost. The ghost will spin plates and send them at you, and you'll need to hit the plates back and send them into her head to damage her. If you need to, jump over them to avoid them.
When you beat the boss, you'll free the ninja cat Kurobei. He gives you $100, then tells you to go to Shikoku Island and meet with the boss ninja cat, Koban. From here, you'll head back to town, where all the enemies will be human again. You can also go into shops.
The secret maze is a place where you can look for hidden power-ups, provided you have $100 to play it. You'll be in a first-person view, and the picture of your character will show what direction you are facing. The map will fill up the map for the maze should you find it, although you can see where you've been without it. The red question mark box is an extra life, so grab it if you find it. The red door is the entrance, while the blue door is the exit. If you find the exit, you can keep whatever you've found. If you want, you can enter the maze over and over again to give yourself an edge in the later Warlock Zones.
There is a game zone you can play with three games: a whack-a-mole game where you hit moles for power-ups and money, a ball-throwing game where you have to throw a ball at the top of a statue's head when an arrow is directly above it, and a painting game where you have to press the Control Pad to keep from running into areas where you've already painted as the game gets faster and faster until you paint as much of the white space on the screen as you can. If you can play any of these games well, you can get back the money you paid to play them and then some.
The house with the question mark is the fortune teller. If you spend money to get your fortune told, you'll get some funny dialogue sometimes, but other times, you can get kimono women to show up all over for a bunch of money or a bunch of enemies to show up at once for a nice fight and a good opportunity to get some money.
The travel agency allows you to go to the next level. The more you spend, the better the ride will be and the more health you restore between levels.
