10 Beloved Video Game Mascots You Totally Forgot

Goemon or Mystical Ninja is a bit of a strange one, in that the character has only seen 5 releases in the west, despite having over 30 games to his name. Geomon is loosely based on Ishikawa Goemon, a figure from Japanese folklore which probably explains why most of his titles were kept in Japan.

That being said, even due to his popularity in Japan, there hasn't been a title in the series since 2011 and not since 1998 in the west. During its lifetime however, Goemon would make appearances on several consoles over the years including the Nintendo 64, PlayStation and Nintendo DS. The one that most people in the west are familiar with though is Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon.

The title was an action platformer for the N64 and followed Goemon and his 3 friends on a quest to try and save Oedo Castle, which also included first person Mech battles in giant robots. Reviews and sales for this title were both very positive, with the game selling over 200,000 copies worldwide.

Goemons lack of popularity in the west however could be mostly attributed to the humor not translating well to a western audience due to the games being set all in Japan, and also pailing in comparison to Nintendos first party 3D platformer Super Mario 64.