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Few American gamers these days are familiar with either Konami Man or Konami Girl. Then again, very few American gamers were ever familiar with this duo to begin with - unless, of course, they had played through either the NES game The Goonies II or the SNES game The Legend Of The Mystical Ninja. In the case of The Goonies II, Konami Man appeared throughout the game in some of the different rooms, and he would refill Mikey's life bar. Konami Girl, on the other hand, ran the game rooms in The Legend Of The Mystical Ninja, although she was never referred to as Konami Girl by name in the game.
Astute gamers may have also spotted Konami Man in two other games - but only if they looked really hard. He flies across the top of the screen in the last level of the NES game Stinger, dropping powerups, and he also appears as a random save game icon in the PlayStation title Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night. He even appears in the PlayStation game International Track & Field 2000 via a code.
If you're an import-savvy gamer, then these two might be a little more familiar to you. Both Konami Man and Konami Girl shared top billing in the Famicom game Konami Waiwai World. Their goal was to rescue the different Konami heroes that had been imprisoned and restore peace to Konami World. Unfortunately, they only had brief cameos in the sequel Waiwai World 2: S.O.S.!! Paseri-jou, as the hero in that game was the cyborg Rick. It seems that Konami never opted to make another game starring either Konami Man or Konami Girl - but as evidenced, they have cameoed in several games.
The question here is what other Konami games have these two appeared in? I've already listed Konami Waiwai World, Waiwai World 2: S.O.S.!! Paseri-jou, The Goonies II, Stinger, The Legend Of The Mystical Ninja, Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night and International Track & Field 2000. Have you seen them appear elsewhere? If you have, email me and let me know!
I asked for them, and you've answered. The following readers have submitted several Konami Man sightings, most of which I had no idea even existed. Check them out!
Games which Konami Man appears as a special item:
Road Fighter (Arcade and Famicom)
The Goonies
Esper Dream
Hi no Tori
Games where Konami Man's name (Konami Mantarou) only appears on the staff list:
Getsu Fuu Ma Den (supervision: Konami Mantarou)
Mad City (Original writer: Mr.Konami)
Ganbare Goemon 2 (supervision: Konami Mantarou)
These three games were programmed by Shinamon Kazuhiro or Shinamon Aoyma. And he programmed Konami Waiwai World.
Here are some that I know of:
The Goonies: In addition to cameoing in the sequel, Konami Man also shows up in the first game. In the beginning section of level 3, go over to the vine that you climb down, but move over to the right and Konami Man will fly towards you, giving you 1000 points. There are several hidden things like this in the first game. To find them you have to hit up, duck, kick, or move certain ways in certain places. Twinbee also makes a cameo in the same stage. After you clear the cave section with the skeletons and bats, go over to the first pit and hit up and Twinbee should fly by.
Ganbare Goemon: Like The Goonies, the first Goemon game for Famicom has several hidden items all over the place. One of them naturally is Konami Man. The earliest you can get him is right at the beginning of level 2. Just walk to the right from the starting point and hit the tree.
Ganbare Goemon 2: In one of the levels, the fourth I think, there's a shop that sells Famicom cartridges, and has the Konami flag symbol in the background. If you buy one, it'll temporarily alter some of the enemies appearances. One of them will look like Konami Man, two others will look like Pentarou the penguin, and Fuuma from Getsu Fuu Ma Den. And the women you get money from will look like Konami Girl.
Road Fighter: I don't know about the arcade version, but in the Famicom one if you get through most of a track without crashing once, Konami Man will sometimes fly by on the left side of the screen and you get bonus points.
Rampart: The Famicom version of Rampart is entirely different from the US one. It's by Konami. Right away when you turn the game on there is a Konami Man cameo. He is the icon you use to select options on the title screen.
Ai Senshi Nicol: Konami Man occasionally flies by in this game. He is apparently a powerup, though I didn't notice any effects when picking him up. I don't know what triggers him to appear either. Seems random.
King Kong 2: Like Ai Senshi Nicol, Konami Man also occasionally flies by in this game as a powerup. Hidden in some levels is the Konami symbol (the flags). When you collect it, that causes Konami Man to appear. And when you collect Konami Man he completely restores your health, much like what he does in The Goonies II.
Konami Man...he appeared in a few of the videos in the original Beatmania. And he was playing with a yo-yo.
He makes a cameo in the NES game Crack Out. It's a Breakout clone that was released in Europe under the Palcom label, but I don't think it ever made it to the US. Anyway, Konami Man appears as a special bonus item. If you catch him with the paddle, you will skip the rest of the level and the level after that.
In the Super Famicom version of Parodius, both Konami Man and Konami Girl make a small cameo. At the end of the "Omake" stage, both of them, along with Goemon, Ebisumaru, and Dr. Cinnamon, appear as dolls that you can grab for points. Here's a screen showing them.
Konami Man appears as a menu cursor in the Playstation game Gungage (released in Japan and Europe), and the invitation read by Takosuke in the intro of the GBA title Konami Krazy Racers is signed "Konami Man"... screenshots of both are attached.
Konami Krazy Racers
Gungage
(Konami Man)`s also in Bishi-Bashi Special as a selectable character.
Konami Man's most recent appearance is in the highly awesome Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. He's rather well-hidden. I wouldn't have figured it out if I hadn't read in on an FAQ. See, there's this one room in the Cursed Clock Tower that is rife with spikes. There's this one isolated platform with a Tanjelly on it and a small area with no spikes on it. Maneuver Soma onto the spikeless area and just have him stand there for a bit. Soon enough, Konami Man will fly by and you can grab him! He really doesn't have much practical value, but check him out in the Item menu. The description reads "5000 Points." This here's a throwback to the original Castlevania, which had hidden items worth mucho puntos that were often accessed by standing or kneeling in a certain spot. Glad to see Konami hasn't forgotten about the classics!