The side-scrolling game is based on Ishikawa Goemon, an outlaw in 16th-century Japan.

Enemies charge and grab the character, ending his life unless the player jostles the control stick to break free.

[5] Microsoft released Mr. Goemon for its Game Room service in June 2010.

Hamster Corporation released it for download on the PlayStation 4 in Japan in December 2014 and in North America in September 2015, under the Arcade Archives label.

In Japan, Game Machine listed Mr. Goemon on their July 1, 1986 issue as being the seventeenth most-successful table arcade unit of the month.