Poll: What's The Best Ganbare Goemon / Mystical Ninja Game? 1
Image: Konami

When you consider that only a handful of the games that make up Konami's Ganbare Goemon series have been released outside of Japan, it's amazing that the franchise is held in such high regard in the West.

With its uniquely Japanese sense of humour and constant references to the country's complex history and deep folklore, it's certainly a hard sell when it comes to the international market – yet Goemon remains a popular character within the world of games, despite the fact that it's been almost 20 years since he last starred in a new mainline adventure.

The series began in 1986 with the arcade title Mr. Goemon, but Western players would have to wait until 1991 before they got to play The Legend of the Mystical Ninja, the Western version of Ganbare Goemon: Yukihime Kyūshutsu Emaki.

While this SNES instalment is viewed with a considerable amount of affection by Western fans, its subsequent 16-bit sequels are arguably far superior – it's just a shame they never got an English localisation.

However, the point of this poll isn't to lament what might have been but instead to rank all of the Goemon games to find out which one is best. Cast your vote below, and you'll help shape our running order.