Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon (N64) high playthrough log part 3/3

After beating the 2nd level, the kidnapped kids return to Folkypolk Village and Zazen Town, and everyone in these towns has something different to say, but none of it's really all that interesting or funny, just weird...
That dog at Zazen Town creek though
"Do you want to know who I really am, arf?
In fact, I come from a Dog Star far, far away! I am none other than that famous dog movie star... Quick, follow me, there is a kid stuck down a well...
Just kidding, arf!"

One of the kids who returned to Zazen Town tells me that the door to Chikogu Region has been stuck all this time because of a magical door-stopper that he put there. But now the door-stopper is out of batteries, so the door can open.. wtf is with these weird locked door explanations

The first area of Chigoku Region is [Bizen / Kurashiki] This place still looks just like a town, with buildings and walls everywhere, but none of the buildings are enterable, and instead enemies roam the area... Isn't it weird how most of this game's environments are all surrounded by walls? Like, is this what feudal era Japan was really like, with every town and road being walled in, making it feel like you're in a building with no ceiling?

Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon (N64) high playthrough log part 2/3

After beating Benkei, he gives you a dead Sasuke with no batteries... The door behind Benkei leads to [Yamato], a large open area with no enemies and one of my favorite music tracks in the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQcV3s6_Mm8
For how big this area is, there's very little going on here. There's a tall house in the middle that you can't go in yet, an underwater tunnel that you can't go in yet, and 2 split paths leading into the forest. One of the paths leads to "Turtle Stone - Bamboo Forest", with a weird four directional rock puzzle. Pushing the rock in each of the 4 directions yields: money, a fortune doll, the key to the tall shrine in Yamato (which is a large platforming area with a couple fortune dolls in it), and a warp that leads to a tiny island out in the ocean with a fortune doll on it...

The other path in Yamato leads through the Bamboo Forest to [Kii - Awaji Island], which has another teahouse, and a travel agency that takes you to the next town by flying dragon. But the flying dragon has another of those Peach Mountain guys ontop of its head controlling it.. Beating that boss, the dragon transforms to her human form and introduces herself as Koryuuta. She says that the hot springs are where she took the children to when she was being controlled, and gives you a flute so you can call her any time to travel to any town or teahouse.

The place that you landed off the dragon is [Kompira Mountain], a huge stairway with a teahouse on the way up, and a shrine at the top.
- some guy: "I've got a really gloomy past, you see. Drifting for years, I've finally come to this place, you see.
...
...
Does that make me a nihilist?"

Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon (N64) high playthrough log part 1/3

This was actually one of the earliest 3D platformers I played, shortly after I finished with SM64 and before Banjo-Kazooie came out. So obviously I have a nostalgic soft spot for this game, and can easily overlook its early 3D era flaws... like for one thing, the camera control is awful, it likes to fight you all the time, and sometimes if you try to force the camera to move a certain way, it will just suddenly spaz out and circle around you constantly until you move somewhere else... I must've been used to these kind of flaws back then, but now that I've played so many other 3D games this flaw definitely sticks out now.

I can deal with the camera, though, because know mostly everything else about this game is amazing. For the most part I just try not to move the camera unless I have to, or just use the look around mode instead.

Here's the opening theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NQKAsvlKcE

In the intro cutscene, a shopkeeper yells at a half-naked Ebisumaru for trying to seduce him into giving a discount. Then suddenly a giant flying peach shows up in the sky, these 2 mysterious characters talk about their ominous plan, and zap Edo Castle, and turn it into a European style castle. After that, the game starts, and the first thing you'll want to do is talk to every villager, because the NPC commentary in this game is hilarious.

- some woman: "Just now, Oedo Castle was hit by a mysterious beam, turning it into European Castle. If that beam hit me, would it turn me into a model EU citizen?"
- some old guy: "What? A UFO? What do you mean? I'm 85 years old you know!"
- some guy: "That huge peach that just came flying... What in the world was that?! Who in the world is going to eat such a huge peach!"
- some kid: "The officer's duty is to defend the peace of this town. By the way, I have no job!"