Played the English Translation patch

The final main entry for Goemon's SNES adventures. It has it's own set of problems, but I enjoyed it alot more than Goemon 3.

Goemon 4 takes alot of pages from Goemon 2, reverting the game back to an action platformer whilst mixing in ideas that I liked from Goemon 3. The game is initially split into 4 worlds per character that can be played in any order, and as you progress, you eventually unlock the ability to swap between characters like Goemon 3, this is where Goemon 4 really cracks open where you can replay levels and access secrets and goodies with the unique abilities each character has. The music and presentation are great, the humor is fun, it felt great playing another action platforming Goemon game again. The levels were also imaginative as well with a surfing level and boxing arena.

Now the flaws, I feel like this game was definitely a bit overtuned with difficulty. Goemon 2, despite the difficulty spike the mecha fights brought, was still a fairly challenging game you can breeze through. Goemon 4 treads those similar beats, but litters itself with some beginner traps that may take you a few tries to eventually overcome the hurdle. It's not as punishing as Goemon 3 since they did bring back Goemon 2's handling of game overs, but it still makes Goemon 4 feel stingy when recovery items and cash are handed out pretty infrequently within the levels.

Bosses were handled in a real odd way. There's only really 2 traditional bosses while the rest opt for being minigames that end up replacing the mecha fights?? One is pretty much guesswork while 2 others are trial and error. They're not really fun, and it unfortunately adds to this game ending off on a bit of a whimper, comical ending aside.

Overall though, despite my issue with the difficulty and minigame emphasis, Goemon 4 was still pretty damn fun. Not as great as Goemon 2, but more enjoyable than 3 & 1.

In a remarkable twist, it turns out that every single non-main-game diversion this game has, every non-platforming segment, the mini-games, mech battles, town fetch quests, etc., is not fun. Literally every single mini-game here just grinds my ass, with nonsense-Tetris being easily the worst of the bunch and the robot rollerskating race a close runner-up, as playing that one actually hurt my hand. Certain in-game areas as well, such as out-swimming a big golf ball and floating down a spiky shaft on top of a soccer ball, can also go fuck themselves.

I’m glad the game at least does answer why someone becomes a dancer, though, and it’s not just a kooky random Japanese-ass title

Towns and overworld segments play less of or no role compared to 3, making the game more straightforward, which I like. Unfortunately, stages are much more generic, short, and there are just not that many. They might have a gimmick like riding a surfboard, a snowmobile, or being chased but those parts don't do much to change up the gameplay or to be interesting. Characters are split for most of the game with their own stages but most do little to work with their abilities, with some of their sections only having 3-4 stages where you will need to acquire their abilities from towns after 1-2 of those stages.

Horrible mech boss fights that are just minigames, including a terrible game of Tetris and one where you mash buttons to get a short peek at an object you have to guess correctly. While you don't spend too much time in towns or doing minigames (outside of boss fights) there are still a few time wasters like needing to deliver newspapers in time to the right people in town to get a weapon upgrade or being sent out to buy a set of ingredients to earn enough money to get past some random gate guard.

Better than the second but the third was probably the best on the SNES.

Screenshots: https://twitter.com/Legolas_Katarn/status/1368719461197357059