_ _ ______ ____ _ _ ____
| \ | | /\ |___ / / __ \ | \ | | / __ \
| \| | / \ / / | | | | | \| | | | | |
| . ` | / /\ \ / / | | | | | . ` | | | | |
| |\ | / ____ \ / /__ | |__| | | |\ | | |__| |
|_| \_| /_/ \_\ /_____| \____/ |_| \_| \____/
__ __ _ _ ___ _ ___ _ __ __ ___ _ ___ _ _
| \/ | | | | _ \ /_\ / __| /_\ | \/ | __| _ | |/ _ \| | | |
| |\/| | |_| | / / _ \\__ \/ _ \| |\/| | _| | || | (_) | |_| |
|_| |_|\___/|_|_\/_/ \_\___/_/ \_\_| |_|___| \__/ \___/ \___/
The Mysterious Murasame Castle
FAQ/Walkthrough by Chauzu
Copyright 2013
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to my guide to one of the forgotten classics of the NES era; the Japan-
only Nazo no Murasame Jou, translated as The Mysterious Murasame Castle in
english, but in this guide we will be using the japanese name. This is the
first guide I've ever written so there will surely be flaws to correct, so do
feel free to point these out and I will give proper credit for it. Hope you
enjoy the game and that my guide will be of some use to you!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
===============================================================================
| TABLE OF CONTENTS |
===============================================================================
I. Legal Notice
II. Version History
III. Background Story
IV. Gameplay
a. Basic Mechanics
b. Game Screen
V. Enemies
a. Ninja
b. Ninja Commander
c. Other enemies
d. Hazards
e. Bosses
VI. Items
a. Weapons
b. Weapon upgrades
c. Special techniques
d. Power-ups
e. Recovery
VII. Walkthrough
a. Aosame Castle Town
b. Aosame Castle
c. Akasame Castle Town
d. Akasame Castle
e. Ryokusame Castle Town
f. Ryokusame Castle
g. Momosame Castle Town
h. Momosame Castle
i. Murasame Castle
j. Inner Sanctuary
VIII. FAQ
IX. Fun Facts
X. Thanks To
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. Legal Notice
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other
web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a
violation of copyright.
This is nothing personal; it is just that I've always used GameFAQs privately
and I have no interest in having to track my work over several websites. So
please respect that I'm not interested in publishing this anywhere else.
All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
II. Version History
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.0 : Completed version of this FAQ. Reread once after completion. Added
complete background story, finished gameplay section as well as the enemy and
item ones. Walkthrough is preliminary finished but can surely use some more
tactical tips on which item to take, when to use them and such.
1.0.1: Fixed a margin error of the guide.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
III. Background Story
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1986 was the year when many iconic game titles got their first games. The
Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Castlevania, Nazo no Mura... Or wait, scratch that
last one. Nazo no Murasame Jou was planned to be released together with the
Famicom Disk System but got delayed, and was instead the 2nd original game
released for it, after The Legend of Zelda. Nazo no Murasame Jou didn't reach
the heights that the other mentioned titles did, however, and never got
released outside of Japan.
The game is set during the Edo period, during the 4th shogun, Tokugawa
Ietsunas, rein. During this time there was a castle known as Murasame, and
inside the castle people were praying to a stone statue holding the same name.
The castle and the town built around it were spending their days peacefully
until a stormy night when a golden glittery object dropped down on Murasame
castle, together with a sound of thunder, so powerful it sounded like it could
tear up the heavens. People could hear odd screams coming out from the castle.
The mysterious object that had earlier dropped was in fact aliens from outer
space and they used their power to give the stone statue of Murasame life,
taking control of the castle.
The aliens didn't stop their either - they also seized the castles of Aosame,
Akasame, Ryokusame and Momosame by taking control of the castle lords and
giving each and one of them a mysterious ball. The castle lords, who were being
controlled by evil powers, used the powers of the balls to manipulate armies
of ninjas and monsters, and the people were suffering. The Tokugawa Shogunate,
who had heard rumours about the happenings at Murasame castle, decided to
secretly send the young sword instructor and warrior Takamaru to investigate
if the rumours were true and if so destroy the root of them; Murasame.
But unfortunately, Murasame was made aware of this secret mission. While
leaving Edo Takamura was attacked by assasins sent by Murasame. But Takamaru,
who also were the Tokugawa Shogunat's greatest swordsman, disposed of them and
arrived at one of the four castles defending Murasame; the castle of Aosame.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IV. Gameplay
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Personally speaking, Nazo no Murasame Jou was hard to adapt to, since I - and
I'm sure many with me - like to defeat every enemy I face when playing a game.
Although certainly doable (if you're good enough!) it's certainly not advice-
able. During the game, enemies keeps coming at you from every angle of the
screen and whilst this is very much manageable in the beginning of the game,
the difficulty increases by each castle. The enemies grow more and stronger,
sometimes combined with fire-shooting devices which can't be defeated.
In this section of the guide, I will go through every aspect of Nazo no
Murasame Jou that you will need to know for your journey.
*******************************************************************************
a. Basic Mechanics
*******************************************************************************
In Nazo no Murasame Jou you take control of Takamaru, the greatest swordsman
of the Tokugawa Shogunate. At his disposal Takamaru has but his katakana and
shuriken, as well as a number of upgrades which you can find during the course
of the game. All upgrades are lost when Takamaru loses a life, however (except
for the special techniques).
Takamaru starts the game with 2 lives and 3 "hearts", or "chikara" - power -
as they are called in the game. You should all understand the meaning of this
though - three hits and you are dead and lose a life.
The game in many aspects reminds of the original Legend of Zelda game. It is
played in top-down view with no scrolling, and like in the original Zelda, you
move around freely within a vast world. That's were the similarities end,
though. Whilst Legend of Zelda is an adventure game, Nazo no Murasame Jou is a
fast-paced action game, and you are also imposed with a time limit on each
level. The game follows the same pattern throughout it; you start at a castle
town and fight (or run, really) your way through to the castle, whilst picking
up various weapons, special techniques, power-ups and scrolls on the way. After
that you play a castle level, where you fight (or yeah, run) through it until
you make it to the castle lord (who are the main bosses of the game). After
you've cleared all four castles you will then make it to the Murasame castle
to deal with Murasame and the mystical life-forms that have invaded Edo Japan.
As I've mentioned, most of the time you will be running through the level,
wanting to get to the next area as soon as possible, only defeating the most
urgent enemies. The reason for this is simply because there's little merit in
defeating the enemies, and the cost is great for taking damage. The power
meter only consists of 3, so you can take only two hits before being in real
danger. Recovering the power meter is also not something you can count on
doing regularly, as the only way to recover it is by clearing a level or
finding the rare white medicine case. Since you lose your weapon, weapon
upgrade and all power-ups when losing a life, avoiding that at all costs is
the core of the game. Sometimes this can be challenging though; since the
best items often are put so you have to take a detour, often having to past
several areas and enemies in the process. So while the reward is great, you
often have to risk a lot as well.
Being an old Famicom/NES game, the controls are like you would expect. The
control pads lets you control Takamaru. The A button works as both your
katakana and shuriken. If you're close enough to an enemy to cut it, or if
there has been shurikens thrown at you, Takamaru will use his katakana to hit
the enemy, or block the shuriken. The B button lets you use one of Takamaru's
hidden techniques. There are two of these; the invisibility technique, that
you start the game with, and the thunder technique. Both of these can only be
used three times before running out of use so use them visely. To summarize:
Control Pad : Move
A Button : Close to enemy or projectile: Katana slice
Not close to enemy or projectile: Projectile throw
B Button : Use special technique
Start Button : Pause, choose option at the Game Over screen
Select Button : Choose if you want to Save or Quit at the Game Over screen
*******************************************************************************
b. Game Screen
*******************************************************************************
On the upper part of the screen, you find all information that is available to
you. Unfortunately there are some information that is unavailable to you. You
can't see what power-ups you have collected, for one. But since you lose all
weapon upgrades and power-ups each time you lose a life, you should be able to
keep track of it.
----------
Life Meter
----------
On the upper left corner of the screen you find the life meter. You start the
game with two lives, but you can find extra lives during the game (although
hard to come by). When the power meter is emptied, you lose a life. Losing a
life also means you lose all weapons and its upgrades, but you keep any special
techniques (the ones which uses the B button) that you've found. The scroll
meter also stays the same, and the time meter is reset. When you lose a life
it's game over - don't worry though, you'll be able to continue from the start
of your current area, and also be able to save your game. You can hold a
maximum of 99 lives (but getting that much require several reruns).
-----------
Point Meter
-----------
Below the life meter you find the point meter. This meter, as you can hear,
displays how many points you've collected. You gain points from defeating
enemies, reaching a princess in a castle, and clearing a level. When you clear
a level, all your remaining time points will be converted into points. You keep
your points if you die, but if you get a game over, they are lost. As in most
old Famicom/NES games, points are purely used for high-scores and such and have
no in-game purpose. Also important to note is that you get twice as much points
for defeating an enemy with a katana than using a projectile.
---------------
Special Display
---------------
To the right of the life meter and point meter you find the special display.
It's easily visible by the four white marks enclosing it. This display shows
your current special technique, and if you currently have none, it will be
blacked out. You start the game with the invisibility technique, which has the
mark of a blue muffler with engravings, but during the game you can also find
the lightning technique, which is marked by a lightning bolt. Once you get a
special technique you can use it three times before it runs out, and you also
keep it even if you lose a life.
------------
Scroll Meter
------------
To the upper right of the Special Display you find the scroll meter. Each time
you use a weapon - apart from the shuriken - you decrease the scroll meter by
1. When it reaches 0, you lose your weapon and go back to the shuriken. When
you start the game, the meter is at 30. You can fill the meter in two ways.
The first is by picking up a new weapon - this adds 3 to the meter. The 2nd is
by picking up scrolls, which defeated enemies regularly drops. This adds 10
to the meter. It's very important to always keep an eye on the meter, and if
it drops below 50 or so, you will need to start filling it up.
-----------
Power Meter
-----------
Below the scroll meter you find the power meter. The power meter shows how much
power you have - if you've played Legend of Zelda, power works like hearts.
You start with 3 and each time you get hit, you lose a one. When the power
meter is emptied, you lose a life. You can fill the power meter by finding the
white medicine box throughout the game. They're rare though, and not something
you can rely on finding.
----------
Time Meter
----------
Following to the right is the time meter. The meter consists of the chinese
character for time in between []. The numbers written inbetween are how many
seconds you have left to complete the current level. If the meter falls to 0,
you die.
--------------
Castle Display
--------------
Finally, to the upper right corner of the screen you have the castle display.
It simply shows in which castle area you're currently in. Seriously, though,
this display might just be the most uncessesary addition to the game. Keeping
track of which castle you're in isn't hard to begin with, and even if it was,
it's not like it's anything important to keep track of. Instead, they could've
added a display for everything you currently have picked up or something.
Ah well.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
V. Enemies
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are several types of enemies in Nazo no Murasame Jou, and some of them
only appear either outside the castle or inside them. In this section we'll go
through every enemy that appears in the game, including hazards and bosses.
*******************************************************************************
a. Ninja
*******************************************************************************
Ninjas are the common enemy of this game and they are everywhere, and come in
different colors as well. Its important to note that even if ninjas of the same
color share the same moveset and such, they don't share movement patterns.
Also, they are all very frail and die by any attack that touches them. Later
in the game they will start using black robes to disguise them.
-----------
Black Ninja
-----------
The first enemy you face in the game, the black ninja throws shurikens and runs
around the field. At the beginning of the game they don't target Takamaru
directly; instead, they run around and throw shurikens pretty randomly. In
later levels they will target Takamaru, though.
-----------
White Ninja
-----------
The white ninjas are famous for trying to surprise Takamaru. Sometimes they
hide in the water, to jump out when Takamaru is close. Sometimes they jump out
four at a time, trying to get Takamaru cornered. They can swith between
shurikens and fire balls as well, all in an effort to surprise.
---------
Red Ninja
---------
The red ninja might just be one of the more dangerous enemies - or at least
one of the more annoying. Fire is the one thrown object you can't block with
your katana, and your only option is to avoid it. A bit into the game you will
probably find yourself running around pressing the a button all the to stop
shurikens from hitting you, but fire balls shot at you will force you to
change direction as well.
----------
Blue Ninja
----------
Blue ninjas are mainly found in the woods, where they like to hide in the
trees, throwing shurikens at Takamaru. As with all enemies, they are easy to
handle when few but when many, the barrage of shurikens can be tough to
handle. If the blue ninja leaves their safe habitat in the trees, you will
see them running around, not throwing any shurikens.
-----------
Green Ninja
-----------
Green ninjas are just unpredictible. Some of them move in groups, other hide
and throw shurikens, and those who run around run at different speeds as well.
Be careful when they jump down as well as they can jump pretty far.
------------
Purple Ninja
------------
Unlike other ninjas, the purple ninjas doesn't just give up when they've run
past you. They keep coming at you until they're dead. Like some of the other
ninjas, these can also stay hidden and throw shurikens at you.
---------------
Sparkling Ninja
---------------
Since it very closely resembles the black and white ninjas - since it's
basically switching colors between white and black - it's important to always
be on the lookout for the sparkling ninja. If it touches something, it
explodes, and if you happened to have touched it with your katana, you get
hurt. It can also drop red bombs, creating another obstacle. Defeating a
sparkling ninja also explodes any red bomb in the area.
*******************************************************************************
b. Ninja Commanders
*******************************************************************************
Ninja commanders are, well, bigger ninjas. They usually appear when you try
and enter the next area, blocking the path. While looking difficult they all
have a set movement pattern and if you nail it, they should be no trouble.
--------------------------------
Ninja Commander 1 - Bomb Thrower
--------------------------------
Appears in: Castle Town
The bomb thrower loves to hide by area exits, and appear just when you think
you're safe. He'll then start throwing bombs, which Takamaru needs to avoid.
He's simple to hit or run by in between the bombs though.
--------------------------------
Ninja Commander 2 - Fire Thrower
--------------------------------
Appears in: Castle Town
The fire thrower is essentialy the same as the bomb thrower, but he throws
fire balls. Unlike the bomb thrower, he can also walk around a bit. Watch the
pattern and you'll be ok.
------------------------------------
Ninja Commander 3 - Bomb Thrower (3)
------------------------------------
Appears in: Murasame Castle
As the other bomb throwers, this bomb thrower also throw lightning balls that
explode at impact but out from them, evil spirits appear so it's important to
take them out quick.
------------------------------------
Ninja Commander 4 - Fire Thrower (2)
------------------------------------
Appears in: Murasame Castle
The same as the first fire thrower, the only changes are cosmetic.
---------------------------------------
Ninja Commander 5 - Magician
---------------------------------------
Appears in: Castle
The magician summons five fire balls which works as a shield which guards him
from projectiles, and you can forget getting in a hit with the katana (unless
you want to get hit). The barrier has a small hole though, which is open to
projectile fire. Take advantage of this and you can defeat him. Be aware though
that the magician at the same time will be shooting fire balls at Takamaru at
irregular intervals, which you need to avoid. Also, he can move around a bit,
but not too far of from his starting position.
------------------------------------
Ninja Commander 6 - Bomb Thrower (2)
------------------------------------
Appears in: Castle
Like the first commander, this bomb thrower throws electric balls at you which
explodes. The only difference is cosmetic.
-----------------------------------
Ninja Commander 7 - Halberd Swinger
-----------------------------------
Appears in: Castle
As the name implies, the halberd swinger swings his halberd around, which
deflects any projectile thrown at him. Or well, not really - weapons upgrades
like king along with white feather arrow will usually be too much for him to
cope with. Otherwise, you can also slice him down with your blade. The halberd
swinger always swings his blade seven times so if you keep your distance and
time it right you can move in to get the kill while he cools of.
*******************************************************************************
c. Other enemies
*******************************************************************************
There are more enemies in the game than the ninjas. These enemies usually
appear in special environments, like in the woods or the mountains.
------
Bandit
------
Appears in: Castle Town, Mountain parts
Only appearing in the mountains, bandits come through the holes, go a bit
forward, throw an axe and move back to the hole. It moves slowly too so
bandits are usually no problem.
--------
Musasabi
--------
Appears in: Castle Town, mainly Mountain parts, but also in subsequent areas
Musasabi is a giant flying squirrel in japanese, and if you don't know what
that is is, look it up and you'll know why. Musasabi usually appears in the
mountains, but later in the game he can also be in other areas outside the
castle. It's espescially difficult to face in the mountains due to it being
able to move across the entire screen while Takamaru doesn't have much room to
move. Musasabi can hurt in two ways; either by touching Takamaru or by
throwing shurikens.
-----
Tengu
-----
Appears in: Castle Town, mainly Forest parts
Coming from japanese religion, directly translated tengu means "heavenly dog".
In this game, the tengu usually appear in the forest, throwing wind that moves
in a circle while moving around. To defeat it, you need to keep a close eye on
the wind he attacks with and move accordingly to expose him.
--------------
Ground plucker
--------------
Appears in: Castle Town
This mystical enemy hides in the ground and appears together with a gastly
sound. It will then throw three shurikens before moving back into the ground.
In order to defeat it, you need to attack it just before or after he throws
his shurikens.
-------
Samurai
-------
Appears in: Castle
While sounding like a pretty strong foe, the samurai is probably one of the
easiest enemies in the game. He will move vertically according to Takamaru's
movement, and when Takamaru is close enough, he will rise his blade, to then
slice when you are precisely beside him. This just means though that you don't
move THAT close to him. Keep your concentration, move until the Samurai lifts
it blade and then slice. Note that you won't be able to hurt him before he
lifts the blade.
--------------
Gatekeeper (1)
--------------
Appears in: Castle
These guys will annoy you a lot, espescially later in the game, when they will
be covered by fire blasters as well. They guard the way to the castle lords
room, and you need to defeat all of them in order to proceed. They come in
groups of 3-5, where some are placed on the right and left side of the room,
moving vertically, and some are placed in the middle of the room, moving hori-
zontally. While moving up and down, or left and right, they will be throwing
ropes at you (no, not thunderbolts, although they do look like it!) so it's a
tricky opponent.
--------------
Gatekeeper (2)
--------------
Appears in: Murasame Castle
The gatekeepers at Murasame castle are a bit special. There are always two of
them standing to both sides of a raised bridge, and to lower it, you need to
defeat both of them. They shoot light balls at you, which divides into eight
pieces, which is similair to the attacks that the Momosame castle lord uses.
These balls, however, doesn't explode, they just divide into pieces. They might
seem difficult at first but really, they're easier than you think. They only
attack one at a time and they won't attack directly after one and another,
which gives you room to act. Also, by standing still by the entrance, you avoid
almost all attacks, and you can easily dodge the few that might hit you. So
wait until one of them attacks, run up and fire a projectile at it (the katana
won't work), run back, and then repeat one more time and you're set.
-----
Hanya
-----
Appears in: Castle
In buddhism, hanya means wisdom. In Nazo no Murasame Jou, hanya appears as a
demon that sometimes is dressed as a princess in the castle. Defeating him
gives a whooping 8000 points - which is the same as the princess too - but he
needs to be striked around 20 times to be defeated. If you stand too close to
him when he appears, you get hit, as well. Also important to note is that he
won't stop following you until you've defeated him, even if you leave the room.
Seeing hanya appear is the most depressing moment this game has to offer.
-----------
Evil Spirit
-----------
Appears in: Murasame Castle
The evil spirit appear instead of ninjas at the Murasame castle, but they're
basically the same, just faster. They can throw both shurikens and fire balls.
They also appear as tanukis at the Murasame castle level.
*******************************************************************************
d. Hazards
*******************************************************************************
Not exactly enemies per-say, these hazards still hinder Takamaru through his
journey, either physically or by simply hindering his movement.
-----
Water
-----
Appears in: Castle Town
Water hinders Takamaru from walking normally, unless he has the blue straw
sandals.
----------
Blood Pond
----------
Appears in: Murasame Castle
Water colored in red. But unlike water, the blood pond makes you sink into it,
which damages you. The only way to cross it unharmed is by having the blue
straw sandals.
----
Door
----
Appears in: Castle
Doors are basically locked exits, and to open them, you need to defeat 1-3
enemies, usually samurais but sometimes ninja commanders as well. Once defeated
the door opens.
---------
Staircase
---------
Appears in: Castle
Staircases appears in rooms with the gatekeepers in the castles, and they work
like the door. Defeat all gatekeepers in the area and the staircase is lowered.
------
Bridge
------
Appears in: Murasame Castle
The bridge appears in rooms with the new gatekeepers at Murasame castle, and
they work the same as the previous one - defeat the gatekeepers and the bridge
is lowered.
---------
Red Bombs
---------
Appears in: Any area
Red Bombs are either placed at the beginning of an area, often blocking the
road and needing to explode in order to pass, or can also be placed by the
pesky sparkling ninjas. You can explode them by either defeating a sparkling
ninja, or by moving close to them, which causes them to start its timer. Make
sure to get away afterwards though.
------------
Fire Blaster
------------
Appears in: Castle
The fire blasters are very though, since the only way to stop them is by using
the lightning technique. Otherwise, they will keep shooting as long as you are
in the area.
---
Lightning Blaster
---
Appears in: Inner Sanctuary
Being the only "enemy" you face in the final level, the lightning blaster is
special in that aspect. It pretty much works as the fire blaster, except it
gives some forward notice of where it's going to shoot next, giving you time
to prepare your route. As with the fire blaster, the lightning technique
removes the lightning blasters as well.
*******************************************************************************
e. Bosses
*******************************************************************************
Welcome to the boss section. As in most games, the difficulty of the game's
bosses will increase for each one. In general, though, it's important to keep
a distance from them and the windmill sword is perfect for that with their
range. As with most enemies in the game though, the key for winning is to
grasp each bosses pattern and act accordingly.
-------------------------
The Lord of Aosame Castle
-------------------------
The castle lord of Aosame will start by immediately throwing four thunder
balls at you, which explode when it drops at the ground (or hits you). These
thunder balls are also aimed at Takamaru, so it's important to keep moving.
Wait until the fourth bomb has detonated to try and either get closer to him
to hit him with the katana, or to hit him with a projectile. Then retreat and
repeat this until he's defeated.
--------------------------
The Lord of Akasame Castle
--------------------------
The Akasame castle lord is the only boss who doesn't directly target you,
which is easily abused by moving up next to him, and then just go at him with
the katana. He attacks by throwing thunder balls in a set order while moving
horizontally. Also, each time one of the bombs explode, a white ninja will
appear, and these guys are the biggest pain of this fight really. The Akasame
castle lord is also a user of the invisible technique, which will results in
him being temporarily invincible. But really, just move up next to him,
continue hitting him with the katana while taking care of any storming white
ninjas, and there should be little problem defeating him.
----------------------------
The Lord of Ryokusame Castle
----------------------------
The lord of Ryokusame castle uses the partition technique - he "splits" his
body into four, but three of them are fake, with the fourth one being his real
body, which you can hurt. He will be teleporting around the room, throwing
projectiles at you. While this could look to be a hard battle, you can actually
kill him within seconds with the fire balls. At the start, the lord of Ryoku-
same will be the third from the left, so what you do is run forward, throw a
fire ball, avoid the incoming fireballs by circling them and then hit him two
times with your sword. Game, set and match.
---------------------------
The Lord of Momosame Castle
---------------------------
This is the only female castle lord, but easily the hardest of them. She
throws a purple flower at you which does not only explode, but also splits up
in eight pieces; avoiding it is really difficult and really needs some
practise. Otherwise, the best weapon combination for this boss is the bishop
and windmill sword. If you have them, you can keep your distance while being
able to shoot projectiles at her without having to move into her line of sight.
Also, two hits of the fire ball should be able to take her out. I also want to
note that using the katana is useless unless you also have the invisible
technique; you'll just get hit by her and she'll teleport away.
--------
Murasame
--------
As you can expect - formerely being a stone statue, and all that - Murasame
won't be moving around. At all. Instead, he uses two attacks. The most
prominent one is the Devil Mask Technique, as it's called, in which Murasame
fires a green ball at you - which of course injures you if it hits - which
divides when hitting the wall, firing of three projectiles at you. The other
attack is a white ball which keeps bouncing of the walls once fired, and
continues to do so until it hits Takamaru. Now, on to the strategy. The only
way to hurt Murasame is by striking the head, but when he grabs a new ball he
will be invulnerable, so you need to strike him in between the balls he throws.
Well, it's easier said than done, and this might take some practise. The fire
ball is the best projectile for hitting him, as it should take him out in
three hits or so, but just before here you can find the windmill sword and
king, and they should do nicely. The invinsible technique won't do much good
here - instead, the lightning technique actually hurt Murasame but strangely
not as much as the fire balls. Eitherway, be quick as the green balls past you
and run past him, only stopping to fire your projectile, and keep moving
around in a sort of clockwise manner and you should be fine.
----------------------
The Mystical Life-Form
----------------------
Depending if you have any lightning technique here, the difficulty of this boss
will vary greatly. Because in this level, lightning balls will be fired at you
constantly, but by using the lightning technique, you permanently remove them!
With them gone, you only have to focus on the mystical life-form itself. It's
basically just a floating head but it can only be hurt by firing a projectile
at it when it opens its mouth. Beware though since shortly after opening it
he'll fire four consecutive bombs at you, so you need to move quick and smart.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VI. Items
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As mentioned a couple of times before, items and how they are handled are one
of the more challenging parts of the game. In this guide, I've divided the
items into five parts. If Takamaru loses a life, every item he holds is lost,
except for special techniques. So the point of the game is moving forward,
collecting items, while preferably not getting hurt. Tough call, eh? If you
lose a life, you will need to start hunting for items again.
Before moving on to the various items you can find, I will list the various
means to find items in this game.
--------------
Visible Tanuki
--------------
The visible tanuki is the orange thing moving around that has eyes and tail.
It contains weapons and you open it by either walking over it or hitting it
with the katana (shuriken and such won't do). The visible tanuki also appears
at the end of Castle Town stages, but the ones there don't move.
Note: At the Murasame castle level the tanukis will take the form of the evil
spirit enemy.
-------------
Hidden Tanuki
-------------
The same as visible tanuki, only that this one is hidden. The only way to find
it is to hit it or step on it, or using the lightning technique to reveal it.
It's constantly moving around, so you usually need to search around for it.
The reward is huge though, as the hidden tanuki is the only way to get
Takamaru's special techniques.
--------------
Treasure Chest
--------------
The treasure chest works like the hidden tanuki in that it's hidden, so you
need to hit it with the katana or walk over it to see it, and then do it one
more time to grab the item. Unlike the hidden tanuki though, the treasure chest
is stationary. It usually contains power-ups.
----------
Enemy drop
----------
Defeating an enemy sometimes makes it drop an item, and in almost all cases,
this item is the scroll, which you need to use other projectiles than the
standard shuriken.
*******************************************************************************
a. Weapons
*******************************************************************************
These are weapons that replaces the standard shuriken Takamaru start the game
with.
--------------
Windmill Sword
--------------
Found in: Visible Tanuki
Effect: Takamaru is able to throw double-edged swords
Looks like: A double edged sword, resembling a windmill
The windmill sword is one of to weapons you can find to replace the shuriken.
The windmill sword has two things going for it. Firstly, it has the largest
reach of all weapons. When thrown, it will continue to the end of the screen.
Secondly, it will pierce through other projectiles, even bombs, and possibly
hit another target on the way!
---------
Fire Ball
---------
Found in: Visible Tanuki
Effect: Takamaru is able to shoot fire balls
Looks like: A ball of fire
Picking up the fire ball lets you, well, shoot fire balls. Together with the
windmill sword, fire balls are one of the two items you can replace Takamaru's
standard shuriken with. So what's so special about the fire ball? For one, it
increases Takamaru's power. It's also the fastest item, and you can basically
shoot them without any pauses between each one. On the downside, it has
shorter reach than the windmill sword so they can't hit far-off enemies.
*******************************************************************************
b. Weapon upgrades
*******************************************************************************
Weapon upgrades are all found in treasure chests, and they are also all formed
as shogi pieces, with the name of the upgrade named after the name of the shogi
piece. The upgrades are for Takamaru's projectile; shuriken, windmill sword or
fire ball. Takamaru can only have one upgrade at a time and he keeps the
upgrade even if he changes his projectile weapon - but as with his weapon, he
loses any weapon upgrade he has if he loses a life.
------
Castle
------
Found in: Treasure Chest
Effect: Splits the projectile in four directions; up, down, left right
Looks like: A shogi piece
The castle weapon upgrade splits Takamaru's projectile in four different
directions - up, down, left and right.
------
Bishop
------
Found in: Treasure Chest
Effect: Splits the projectile in three directions; forward, upper right and
Looks like: A shogi piece upper left
The bishop weapon upgrade splits Takamaru's weapon in the different directions.
The first one goes straight forward, while the other two is split diagonally
beside it.
----
King
----
Found in: Treasure Chest
Effect: Fires three projectile close to each other straight forward
Looks like: A shogi piece
The king weapon upgrade is fired straight forward, but instead of the standard
single projectile, it's now accompanied by two more, all three sticking close
to each other. It basically works the same as before, but the projectile has
more width now, giving a larger margin of error.
------------------
Blue Feather Arrow
------------------
Found in: Treasure Chest
Effect: Decreases the time you have to wait when firing projectiles
Looks like: A blue feather with an arrow
The blue feather arrow doesn't give any extra fire balls, and only fires one
projectile at a time (and even if you had collected other weapon upgrades
earlier, you'll revert to only being able to shoot one). That's the downside;
the upside is that you'll be able to shoot more projectiles faster with this
item, which is particularly useful with the windmill sword, which is very slow
in this regard.
*******************************************************************************
c. Special techniques
*******************************************************************************
Special techniques are used by pressing the B button, and your current special
technique is showed on the game screen between Takamaru's extra life meter and
his scroll and power meter. There are two techniques in total and each of them
has a limit of three uses before being used up. Due to this, these items are
best saved for bosses, or tough situations.
----------------------
Invisibility Technique
----------------------
Found in: Hidden Tanuki
Effect: Grants Takamaru the invisibility technique
Looks like: A blue muffler with engravings
Being with you from the start of the game, the invisibility technique
temporarily renders Takamaru invisible... And invincible. During this short
time Takamaru takes no damage, and he can also use his katana (not any
throwing objects) to deal damage during this time.
-------------------
Lightning Technique
-------------------
Found in: Hidden Tanuki
Effect: Grants Takamaru the lightning technique
Looks like: A flash of lightning
The lightning technique is truly powerful as it instantly kills every enemy on
the screen, and even stops hazards like fire blasters! Not only that, it also
stops further enemies appearing on the screen while you're at it (except for
ninja commanders). It will also show any hidden items on the screen when used.
Only downside is that it won't hurt most bosses. Well, despite that, this is
probably the best thing you'll find in the game.
*******************************************************************************
d. Power-ups
*******************************************************************************
All power-ups that Takamaru has are lost when he loses a life.
-----------------
Red Straw Sandals
-----------------
Found in: Treasue Chest
Effect: Increases Takamaru's moving speed
Looks like: A pair of red straw sandals
By picking up the red straw sandals, Takamaru is able to move faster.
Very useful.
------------------
Blue Straw Sandals
------------------
Found in: Treasure Chest
Effect: Takamaru is able to walk normally in water
Looks like: A pair of blue straw sandals
Water is usually one of Takamaru's greatest enemies, hindering his movement
and making him easy pray for enemies. The blue straw sandals though grants him
the power to, like a true samurai, run on the water as if it was land. Small
spoiler warning now; they also let you walk normally on the blood ponds at the
Murasame castle.
-------------------
White Feather Arrow
-------------------
Found in: Treasure Chest
Effect: Increases the speed of Takamaru's projectiles by 1.5 times
Looks like: An arrow with a white feather
Takamaru's projectiles are very useful and the white feather arrow makes them
even faster. They also work together with all weapon upgrades, except for the
blue feather arrow.
------
Helmet
------
Found in: Treasure Chest
Effect: Renders Takamaru invincible for a short period of time
Looks like: A helmet
The helmet temporarily renders Takamaru invincible, taking no damage from
any enemy attacks. Also, the less you walk around, the longer the effect last.
Also, unlike the invisibility technique, Takamaru is still able to use
projectiles with the helmet (which also lessens the need to move around too
much).
-----
Armor
-----
Found in: Enemy drop
Effect: Grants Takamaru the windmill sword the king weapon upgrade.
Looks like: An armor
A highly secret item that isn't even mentioned in the game manual (and I
haven't seen it personally), so let's call it a legend. The legend says that
if you defeat many enemies in a very short time they can drop the armour,
which immediately grants Takamaru the windmill sword and the king weapon
upgrade.
*******************************************************************************
e. Recovery
*******************************************************************************
Here I'll list all items which has some connection to recovering something,
let it be health or scroll meter.
------
Scroll
------
Found in: Enemy drop
Effect: Replinishes the scroll meter by 10
Looks like: A scroll
Each time you use any weapon but the shuriken, the scroll meter drops by 1.
Defeated enemies regularly drops scrolls which replinishes the meter by 10,
so make sure to pick them up regularly.
-------------------
White Medicine Case
-------------------
Found in: Treasue Chest
Effect: Replinishes the power meter to full
Looks like: A snowmen... Black hat, white body. But really, it's a white
medicine case.
Being the only recovery item you'll be finding out on the actual field, the
White Medicine Cases are truly valuable. By picking one up, you fill your
power meter to full (3).
-----------------
Red Medicine Case
-----------------
Found in: Visible Tanuki (at the end of Castle Town stages)
Effect: Grants an extra life
Looks like: A red snowmen... Yeah, that was bad.
When you come to the end of a castle town stage, there will always be four
tanukis placed there. Two of these will contain the red medicine case. Each
red medicine case increases your life by 1.
--------
Princess
--------
Found in: None (only appears in Castles)
Effect: Grants an extra life
Looks like: A helpless princess
In the castle, there are special rooms which are hard to get to which contain
either the princess or hanya. If you are lucky to get a Princess, you not only
get a whooping 8000 points for nothing, but you more importantly also get an
extra life.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VII. Walkthrough
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before we get started, I'd like to explain how I've designed this walkthrough.
Because of how the game is designed - that Takamaru loses most items when he
dies - you will want to take some detours from time to time to get items.
However, if you're already fully equiped, you often won't need to take these
detours. So before every detour, I will mark clearly what you'll find and if
you're not interested in taking it, you can skip it. All items you find
throughout the guide are clearly marked out as well, which is useful for when
you die and want to see what items you can find around you. Also, at the end of
every level I'll also write a quick guide on which way you need to go to
complete the area, for those who want to adventure on their own but want to
know which way to go. Finally, on GameFAQs I can recommend checking out the
maps made by ASchultz and Kefka83 for the game, since, well, sometimes a
picture says more than 1000 words... And all that. Now on to the guide!
*******************************************************************************
a. Aosame Castle Town
*******************************************************************************
You start off in an empty area in the Aosame castle town. The starting area in
all castle towns look the same so you will be seeing this alot. I also want to
remind you that you start of with the invisibility technique, so by pressing B
you become invisible (and invincible) for a few seconds. This can only be used
three times though so use them wisely. In any case, head to the left for the
next area.
The road continues to the left in this area, and as soon as you enter the first
enemies of the game will come jumping out - the black ninjas. Remember that
the key rule in Nazo no Murasame Jou is to run rather than fight, so try and
avoid seeking out enemies. You will also see the first tanuki of the game in
this area - these creatures, when visible, contains a weapon. This tanuki holds
the |FIRE BALL|, which transforms your shuriken into fire balls. Sweet!
Remember to keep an eye on the scroll meter too; you start of with 30 scrolls
but for every time you use a weapon (except the standard shuriken) the number
drops by one. Enemies regularly drops scrolls though, and these adds 10 scrolls
to your total. Eitherway, pick up the fire balls and move on to the next area
to the left.
At the bottom left of the lake here you can find the |BLUE STRAW SANDALS| -
these make it so you can walk normally on water. Like all items though you
lose them after you've lost a life - one of the facts that makes this game so
challenging. The tanuki here holds the |WINDMILL SWORD|, which has better range
than the fire ball but isn't as powerful. From here you can go either up or
right - each area holds the same items so take a pick. Choose "up" or "left"
depending on where you go. Up is a bit harder, but has the bishop, which is
the first weapon upgrade in the game. Left is the easier option. Of course,
you can go through both if you want to! Make sure to get the blue straw sandals
if going up in any case; that place is full of water.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
--
Up
--
Items: White Medicine Case, Fire Ball, Bishop
Welcome, you who chose to go up! You've chosen the dangerous road of water.
When entering you will probably notice something moving in the water. This
would be the first white ninja you face in the game. By the sign that shows
left, there is a treasure chest that contains a white medicine case, which
replinishes the power meter. Grab it if needed and move on to the left.
More watery goodness in the area here. To continue to the next area you need
to stand on the shore to the upper left corner - you can't if you stand on the
water! The tanuki here holds the |FIRE BALL|. Move on to the left.
By the sign pointing down on this area, you will find your first weapons
upgrade! It contains the |BISHOP|, which shoots three projectiles at once!
Grab it and continue down.
----
Left
----
Items: White Medicine Case, White Feather Arrow
Welcome, you who chose to go left! You're getting a nice stroll through the
forest. Go past the puddle of water here and continue down.
The forest maze continues here, and for the first time you will face the blue
ninjas. These hides in the woods, throwing shurikens at you. Keep moving
through the maze to the left exit. Just before the exit, if you enter the
opening to the right and cut the tree, a |WHITE MEDICINE CASE| will be
revealed, which replinishes the power meter. Head on to the left.
Head on to the left here, and if you look around by the farming in the middle,
you will find a treasure chest which contains the |WHITE FEATHER ARROW|. This
nifty item increases the speed of Takamaru's projectiles by 1.5 times! Take it
and move on to the left.
-------------
MERGING POINT
-------------
Whichever way you went, you should now be at a small road going from down on
the screen to the left, with a tree at the right end of it. Unless you want to
explore the road you haven't gone to yet, head on to the left here.
The road here continues to the left, but don't be fooled by the looks here.
Before entering the next area, the first ninja commander will appears, the
Bomb Thrower! Although looking imposing, the key to defeating the ninja
commanders - and all bigger enemies really - are to learn their movement
pattern and attack - or run past them - when they show an opening. In the case
of the bomb thrower, wait until he throws his bomb (and make sure to stay
clear of it!) and then run up to him and slice him. Then, move on to the left.
You'll now enter an area that reminds a lot of where you started the game. If
you need to, you can find the |BLUE STRAW SANDALS| by slicing the 2nd folding
screen to the right. Otherwise, head on to the left.
Another crossroad! If you want to take an item detour, to get great items like
the lightning technique, go up. If you want to continue to the end of the
level, go down. In either case, at the bottom right of this area, you will
find your first |HELMET|! The helmet render Takamaru temporarily invincible,
and the effect lasts longer the less you move around. The music will also
change when you grab it, and as the music reverts, you will know that the
effects of the helmet will revert as well. Grab it and continue up or down.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
--
Up
--
Items: White Feather Arrow, Windmill Sword, Red Straw Sandals, Fire Ball,
Lightning Technique
Welcome to your first real item detour! If you're planning to grab the
lightning technique by the end you can use this opportunity to try out the
invinsible technique, since it will be lost when picking up the new one. The
only enemies in this area are the blue ninjas, and if this is your first time
seeing them in the woods, they stay there and shoot shurikens at you. At the
first wood passage at the left of the small lake you will find the |WHITE
FEATHER ARROW|, that boost the speed of Takamaru's projectiles by 1.5 times.
Head on to the left.
Continue on to the left in this area, and grab the |FIRE BALL| that the tanuki
holds if you need to.
In this area, you need to go around the trees to get to the next area below.
On the way, at the upper left of the forest in the middle, you should find the
|RED STRAW SANDALS|. These sandals boost Takamaru's moving speed! Grab it, and
move on down.
Water again! The sign here tells you to go down, but ignore it, and continue
on to the right. The tanuki here holds the |WINDMILL SWORD|.
Now, this is what you've been waiting for... The |LIGHTNING TECHNIQUE|! All
special techniques are placed in hidden tanuki's - basically normal ones, just
invisible. This means that they ARE moving around, so finding it can be a bit
tricky, but keep moving around and you should find it. The lightning technique
is the most powerful attack in the game and when used, it defeats every enemy
on the screen! Neat. Move on down to end this little item hunt.
----
Down
----
Items: None
If you chose to go down, simply continue moving through the arena until you
get to the left exit. The only enemies in this area are the blue ninjas, and
if this is your first time seeing them in the woods, they stay there and shoot
shurikens at you. Move on to the next area.
-------------
MERGING POINT
-------------
Whichever way you chose, you are now at an area with a big pond of water with
a tanuki hovering under it. The tanuki holds the |WINDMILL SWORD|. We're going
left from here but as you can see, there's a bomb-like red thing blocking the
road. And yep, that is a bomb - called the red bomb. To get rid of it, move
close to it until it starts twinkling, and get out of the way until it
explodes. Afterwards, continue on.
Just above when you enter this area you can find the |BLUE FEATHER ARROW|.
This is another weapon upgrade, and it lets you shoot your projectiles much
faster, but at the same time, you lose any other weapon upgrade you had.
Useful if you're using the pretty slow windmill sword but if you're using fire
balls and have a good upgrade, you might as well stick to it. Keep walking to
the left exit. The bomb thrower will appear by the north exit but since we're
not going there, we might as well continue moving to the left.
In this area, move towards the left exit again. Another bomb thrower appears
by it. Run or fight, you choose. Head to the next area afterwards.
Now, to the final boss of this area! Dissapointedly, it's just another Bomb
Thrower. There are many black and blue ninjas coming at you as well though, so
whatever you're going to do, don't wait too long. Continue on to the left exit
and we're done with the first level!
At the end of each castle town area, you will be granted with 4 tanukis. One
of them will always be a dud, and if you pick that one, you won't be allowed
to pick anymore. Two of them will always contain the |RED MEDICINE CASE|, which
grants one extra life (!), and the last one will hold a scroll (pretty
underwhelming, yeah). The upper right one here is a dud, so take the other
ones and then hit the dud. We're on our way to the Aosame castle!
===========
QUICK GUIDE
===========
Left - Left - Left - Down - Left - Up - Left - Left - Down - Left - Left -
Left - Left
*******************************************************************************
b. Aosame Castle
*******************************************************************************
As soon as you enter the castle, a couple of red ninjas will jump out! These
annoying ninjas throw fire balls instead of shurikens and, as you will soon
find out, fire balls are the only projectile Takamaru can't block with his
sword. Instead, it will just hit him. Your only option is to avoid it or...
Yeah, get hurt. Continue on up.
Up we go and... Another new enemy! This time it's the samurai. Despite his
mighty name, he's easy enough. He will follow you vertically as you move, and
when you get close enough, he will raise his sword, waiting for you to move
closer so he can slice you. Well, instead of moving closer and letting him do
that, you can just slice him yourself instead. The two tanuki's contain both
weapons; the |FIRE BALL| and the |WINDMILL SWORD|, so take your pick. By
defeating the samurai you open the upper door, which means we have another
crossroad here, and going up we have another - pretty safe - item detour,
which holds the 2nd weapon upgrade, castle. If you want to continue moving
on, just skip the next section.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
--
Up
--
Items: Bishop, Castle, Princess
In this room, you will find two samurais, facing each other. To open the door
to the next room you need to dispose of both of them. We also have two items
in this room. If you walk to the upper left corner you will find the |BISHOP|
weapon upgrade and in the upper left corner, you will find the new |CASTLE|
weapon upgrade. Castle allows you to fire your projectiles in four directions
at once - up, down, left and right. Pick which- ever one you prefer and move
on to the next room.
This is the |PRINCESS| room. If you move towards the princess, you will learn
if you got lucky and that she is a real princess - thus granting you an extra
life - or if she is hanya in disguise, who, although not so dangerous, does
require quite a lot of hits to defeat, and will keep following you even if you
leave the area. If you move to close to him as he appears, you will get hit as
well, so be careful. After you're done, head back to the room we were in before
the detour, and now head to the right.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
This next room has another samurai, as well as red and blue ninjas that run
around, as annoying as always. Defeat the samurai to open the door. We then
have another small detour to the right, where we can find the last weapon
upgrade, king. As always, take the detour or move along, it's your choice. If
not, go up.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
-----
Right
-----
Items: White Feather Arrow, King
I did say a small detour, right? It's just one room. Another samurai is here,
so dispose of him. Fairly quickly I should add, because soon you will
experience the first white ninja surprise attack of the game. Four white
ninjas will at the same time jump from up, down, left and right and move into
the middle, throwing shurikens at you. At the same time some black ninjas will
be running around as well so be careful. Eitherway, both items are at the
right side of the room, right next to the wall. At the upper part you'll find
the |WHITE FEATHER ARROW|, and at the bottom right you'll find the final
weapon upgrade, |KING|. It shoots three projectiles at once straight forward,
next to each other, giving your projectile incredible width. Head back when
you're done, and then proceed upwards.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
Going up, we have two samurais facing each other. If you took the item detour
earlier, you'll know what to do - chop them both down and the door will open.
At the same time, some blue ninjas will appear though, starting to throw
shurikens, so be quick, and continue up.
Entering the room, you will see the castle lord fleeing upward with his cursed
ball in hand. These rooms appear in every castle and they'll be a real pain
later, but at this point, they're still manageable. The three enemies in this
room are called Gatekeepers, and you'll be seeing a lot of them as well. They
will be moving up and down on the sides, and left and right in the middle,
while throwing ropes at you. (Yes, ropes, not thunder- bolts, although they
very much do look like it). If you have the windmill sword you can easily take
care of the gatekeeper in front of you right away (fire balls have too small
reach), otherwise, you will need to dodge the ropes he throws while waiting for
an opening to attack one of the two side enemies. It shouldn't be a problem
though. When they are defeated the stairs to the next floor will appear.
Proceed.
You're greeted to the 2nd floor by another samurai, and make sure to dispose
of him quick, since soon the white ninjas will appear. You'll remember it if
you did an item detour earlier - they jump forward from all four angles,
moving to the middle, to then throw shurikens at you. They will repeat this
pattern for around five times or so and during this time, it will be hard to
move safely across the room. Instead, stand in the lower right corner, face
forward, and just spam the A button - you should block all shurikens and slice
any foolish black ninja who dares to attack you. When the coast is clear, you
can choose to do another very small item detour to the left, or continue
upwards. Be quick though, since the white ninjas will return after a while.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
----
Left
----
Items: Blue Feather Arrow
You enter an empty room which seems peaceful enough, but just wait for it...
Oh, there they are, the white ninjas. You can repeat the previous strategy to
wait them out, or just leave the room if you don't need, or want, the |BLUE
FEATHER ARROW|. You find these in the very bottom left of the screen. After
you're done, head back out and then go up.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
You're greeted by another samurai in this room, but this time, you don't even
need to defeat him, unless you want (or need) to do another item detour. If
not, just continue to the left. For the detour, defeat the samurai and head
upwards.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
Items: White Feather Arrow, Windmill Sword, Princess
Immediately after entering, head into the small space to the right for the
|WHITE FEATHER ARROW|. Then, defeat the samurai, and head into the right area.
You'll find another two samurais here, and another locked door. You know what
to do - defeat them and the door opens. The tanuki here has the |WINDMILL
SWORD|. Oh, and be careful of those annoying red ninjas. Head on up.
Here we find another |PRINCESS| room. See if you're lucky or not, and if
you're not, you will face hanya again. Head back to the room we were before
the detour, and then head left.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
Be prepared when you enter this room, because you will be facing a fire
barrage. This is the hazard I've chose to call the fire blasters - they simply
keep shooting fire balls at you, non-stop, until you leave the area. The only
way to stop them is by using the lightning technique, but otherwise, they
can't be harmed. In the next area you will find a white medicine case, so
unless you're really hurt, you can afford to take a hit here. Otherwise, if
you have any of the special techniques left, this might be a good time to use
it. If you want to come through unhurt without using them, your best bet is
to keep moving forward from the beginning, only stopping to slice down the two
samurais. Be careful to not get too over-enthusiastic though, since moving to
close to any of the samurais will result in getting hurt. The tanuki here
contains a |FIRE BALL| but really, unless you use any of the special
techniques, just let it go.
There are two samurais in this room, but make sure to defeat them quickly,
since the group of white ninjas will be appearing shortly. This time, the
white ninjas fire off both fire balls and shurikens, so you need to be on your
toes. To the bottom left part of the screen - to the left of the left folding
screen, by the wall - you will find the |WHITE MEDICINE CASE| that I mentioned
earlier. In between the two folding screens you will also find the |RED STRAW
SANDALS|, and if you've forgotten, these items increases Takamaru's speed.
When you're done, move up.
And we're in another room with the castle lord fleeing, leaving the gate-
keepers to guard him. They're 5 now and as earlier, you need to defeat them to
get the ladder down. If you don't have the windmill sword you have to give up
the upper gatekeeper for now, and focus on first getting rid of the
gatekeepers on the sides. Pick them of one of the time and you should be ok.
Climb up the stairs to confront the Lord of Aosame Castle.
----------
BOSS FIGHT
----------
Aosame Castle Lord
Being the first boss of the game, this castle lord isn't too difficult. He
will go down after around 3-5 hits, depending on your weapons. Generally for
boss battles, where it's important to keep distance, the windmill sword is
brilliant. But if you're keeping calm you should be able to beat him even with
basic equipment. I also want to remind you that the castle lords are the only
enemies who aren't hurt by the lightning technique and even though it
temporarily removes anything the boss has thrown at you, it's really not worth
using.
The castle lord will start with immediately throwing four thunder balls at
you, which explode when it drops at the ground (or hits you). These thunder
balls are also aimed at Takamaru, so it's important to keep moving. Wait until
the fourth bomb has detonated to try and either get closer to him to hit him
with the katana, or to hit him with a projectile. Then retreat and repeat this
until he's defeated. Congratulations! Pick up his blue ball and you'll be
heading to the Castle Town of Akasame.
===========
QUICK GUIDE
===========
Up - Right - Up - Up - Up - Left - Left - Up - Up
*******************************************************************************
c. Akasame Castle Town
*******************************************************************************
Welcome to Akasame Castle Town! This town is dyed in red (which fits well with
the name; "aka" is japanese for the color red) and the first area is the same
as in Aosame. Head to the next area to the left.
As you can see, the surroundings have changed a bit in this area. You will
immediately spot a new enemy - the sparkling ninja. This guy explodes at
impact, so if you hit him with the katana, you'll take damage. If you have to
take him out, do so from distance. Also worth noting is that the black ninjas
will stop throwing shurikens randomly now; instead they will start aiming at
Takamaru. The tanuki ahead holds a |FIRE BALL|, and at the bottom of the
screen - between the two bushes - you can find the |BISHOP| weapon upgrade.
Keep moving to the left.
At the bottom right of this area, you can find a |WHITE MEDICINE CASE|, so
pick it up if you've been hit. This might also be a good time to mention that
you can always come back to an area with treasure chests and pick up the item
again if you need to! This doesn't work with hidden tanukis, though. We're at
another crossroad, which means another item detour, which includes the 2nd
lightning technique of the game! It's pretty long though. For the detour,
head up, otherwise, skip the next section and head down.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
--
Up
--
Items: Lightning Technique, King, Fire Ball
We've entered the woods! Run through this area, as the blue ninjas will start
throwing shurikens at you.
In the next area we face another new enemy - Tengu! Tengu throws wind at
Takamaru, and also changes position if Takamaru is hurt or too far away.
Otherwise, he will stand completely still, throwing wind, so just learn the
pattern and you'll be able to get a hit in or be able to sneak by. It's in
this area that we find the hidden tanuki with the lightning technique in, too.
If you're quick you should be able to spot it in the lower left area;
otherwise, just keep looking around. Obviously, if you happen to have some
lightning left, you can use it immediately to take out all enemies and find
the hidden tanuki, and get an instant refill. Either way, you can't use the
lightning technique more than three times after picking it up. Head down when
you're done.
Another tengu will appear in this area, so be careful. To the lower left below
the tree, in the bush, you'll find the |KING| weapons upgrade. If you've
forgotten, it's the one which sends three fire balls straight ahead. Pick it
up if you want/need and continue down.
A couple of sparkling ninjas appear immediately in this area, so you might
just run straight ahead. The tanuki here contains the |FIRE BALL|.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
For those of you who didn't take the detour, you'll notice we're in the woods
now. Below the sign straight ahead you can find the |BLUE STRAW SANDALS|, so
if you don't have them, get them. Continue down.
Those who didn't take the earlier detour will have their first encounter with
tengu, the wind thrower. Simply avoid his wind and he's open for attack. Don't
move too far away though, as this causes the tengu to teleport around. Below
the sign in this area as well, you can find an item - this time, the |WHITE
FEATHER ARROW|. Grab it if you don't have it, and move on. The way to the next
area is blocked by red bombs, which will be a common occurence from this point
on. Either hit a sparkling ninja - which instantly detonates them - or get
close to them, but make sure to get to safety afterwards. Move on to the next
area.
Another empty-looking area with a road - as always, it's not as simple as it
looks. Blue ninjas will start throwing at you, and blocking the road is the
bomb thrower. There's some power-ups here as well. At the middle right of the
screen, in the bush just beside the road, you can find the |RED STRAW SANDALS|.
In the lower left of the screen, but not by the bushes, you can find the
|BLUE FEATHER ARROW|. Grab what you want and move on.
Rejoice if you need to replinish health - at the folding screen by the
entrance to the area you can find a |WHITE MEDICINE CASE|. Get the red bombs
out of the way and proceed forward.
The next area contains a new ninja commander - the Fire Thrower. As last time,
he's not as dangerous as he sounds, though. Avoid the fire ball and attack or
run past him. Head on to the next area.
A few red bombs are placed here, but they are of no concern. You can easily
remove the lower once by hitting a sparkling ninja with a projectile, too. In
this area you can find the |INVISIBLE TECHNIQUE| as well - it's in the lower
left area, so start looking there. The lightning technique is more powerful,
of course, but if you're low on it, you might as well pick this one up.
There's another small item detour up ahead. As always, take it, or move down
and skip to the next section.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
--
Up
--
Items: Castle, Blue Straw Sandals
The two items are placed by the two scrolls by the upper wall. The left one
contains |CASTLE|, and the right one contains the |BLUE STRAW SANDALS|. Take
whichever one you wish and move back to the last area, and then continue down.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
The fire thrower will appear right away in this area, so take care of him and
move on to the next area.
A bomb thrower will be stationed at the other end of the screen. Be careful
moving, and keep an eye out for the black ninjas. As you can see, we're at
another crossroad, and this time, you're able to pick whichever one you like.
The upper one is more challenging but has better items than the left one,
which is easier. It all depends on what items you have at this time, and if
you're willing to take the chance. Of course, feel free to go through both
roads if you wish.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
--
Up
--
Items: Windmill Sword, Helmet, Invisible Technique, White Feather Arrow,
Red Feather Arrow, White Medicine Case
Welcome, you who chose to go up! You're in for a challenge. As you can see,
we're going to be finding the invisible technique soon, so if you're currently
stocked on it, feel free to make use of it now. You start by the lake, and the
tanuki to the upper right contains the |WINDMILL SWORD|. If you chose to take
a quick detour to the area to the left you can go to the lower left of that
screen to pick up the |HELMET| to be granted temporary invincibility. After
that, continue up from the starting area.
All of a sudden you're in the forest, with a tengu appearing. There's nothing
here so move on.
The next area is a bit tricky. The |INVISIBILITY TECHNIQUE| is found here and
if you want it, you might as well get the tengu out of the way. Once out of
the way, get the bombs away, and start looking. It's usually in the lower left
area of the screen. Grab it if you wish and move on.
Welcome to the first mountain area of the game! They all look the same: two
bridges, on the upper and lower side, that connects to the two entrances. This
time you'll only face the bandit - he throws an axe at you, but at slower
rates than other enemies you've faced so they're usually no problem. The lower
bridge leads to the |WHITE FEATHER ARROW|, while the upper bridge leads you to
the |BLUE FEATHER ARROW|. Grab the items you want and move on.
We're back in the forest and a surprise attack by the white ninjas. At the
lower right side of the lake you can find the |WHITE MEDICINE CASE|, so grab
it if you need to, and move on down.
----
Down
----
Items: Windmill Sword, White Medicine Case, Bishop, Helmet
Welcome, you who chose to go to the left! You start by a lake, and at the
middle of it there's a tanuki holding the |WINDMILL SWORD|. Move on to the
left.
The white ninjas will do one of their famous surprise attacks here, so be
careful. At the middle of the field though, you can find the |WHITE MEDICINE
CAE|, so grab it if you need to and move on up.
By the sign at this area, you can find the |BISHOP| weapon upgrade. If you
take a quick detour to the area to the right, you can find the |HELMET| on
the lower left area of that screen. Grab it if you wish, return to the
previous area and move on up.
-------------
MERGING POINT
-------------
The two roads merge here, and lead to the left. Also, in the lower left corner
of the screen, you can find the |RED STRAW SANDALS|. A fire thrower will block
the road to the left, so get rid of him and get the bomb out of the way to
proceed forward.
You've now arrived at another castle wall area. The tanuki here has the
|WINDMILL SWORD|. Up ahead we have another small item detour, and if you want
to take it, go up. Otherwise, remove the red bombs, go to the left and skip
the next section.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
--
Up
--
Items: Invisible Technique, Bishop
The |INVISIBLE TECHNIQUE| is hidden in the right side of this area, so look
around if you want it. Get rid of the red bombs and continue to the next area.
In this area, the |BISHOP| is found by the first folding screen to the right.
Grab it if you want and head down, but look out for the bomb thrower that
blocks the exit. Head back to befor the detour started and continue up.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
At the upper left corner of the screen you can find the |BLUE FEATHER ARROW|.
Grab it if you wish and head down.
In this area, you can find the |CASTLE| weapon upgrade by the folding screen
here. A red bomb also blocks the exit. Head on to the right.
The tanuki in the next area contains the |FIRE BALL|. Remove the red bombs
and head down.
At the next area, you'll be ambushed by two fire throwers - run or fight, your
choice. By the folding screen here you can find the |KING| weapon upgrade.
Head on to the left.
Another fire thrower will greet you here and lurking somewhere behind him,
there is a hidden tanuki holding a |LIGHTNING TECHNIQUE|. What a nice end-of-
the-level-present! Grab it if you want and head on.
It's the end of the level! The upper left one contains the dud, so grab the
other ones first. We're headed for the Akasame Castle!
===========
QUICK GUIDE
===========
Left - Left - Down - Down - Left - Left - Up - Left - Down - Left - Left -
Left - Up - Up - Left - Up - Left - Down - Down - Right - Down - Left
*******************************************************************************
d. Akasame Castle
*******************************************************************************
You start in a very quiet room, so move along before it gets crowdy.
You're greeted by a new enemy here! It's another ninja commander; he's called
the Halberd Swinger. As the name implies, the halberd swinger swings his
halberd around, which deflects any projectile thrown at him. Or well, not
really - weapon upgrades like king along with white feather arrow will usually
be too much for him to cope with. But don't fret if you don't have any of
them right now - he's pretty easy to read once you get to know him. The halberd
swinger always swings his blade seven times so if you keep your distance and
time it right you can move in to get the kill while he cools of. To the right
of you by the entrance to this room you can find the |CASTLE| weapons upgrade.
When you're done, you can choose to do a lengthy item detour to the right, or
move on to the left and continue on the adventure. Skip the next section if
you do so.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
-----
Right
-----
Items: White Feather Arrow, Windmill Sword, King, Bishop, Helmet x2, Princess
Welcome to quite a lengthy detour, with an extra detour included in it! You
start of in a room which is another crossroad. It's quiet at first but just
wait for it and red and sparkling ninjas will come jumping out. At the upper
right part of that thing in the middle of the screen, you can slice to find
the |WHITE FEATHER ARROW|. If you want the windmill sword and king weapon
upgrade, you can go up, but be warned that it will be tricky. If so, continue
reading. If not, just skip the next paragraph.
You'll probably get a shock when you enter: five gatekeepers coupled with a
bunch of fire blasters! Trust me, this will be something you'll have to get
used though. Luckily, the fire blasters won't reach you by the entrance, so
the best strategy is to just stay there and take out as many enemies as you
can, which should be easy if you have enough weapon upgrades and power-ups.
If not, it will be hard to get out of this undamaged - you'll have to do like
before, starting with the side ones and moving up, but this time watching out
for fire balls as well. When you're done, continue up, and you'll see the
ninjas showing of their new skill - disguising themselves. You can still hit
them. The tanuki is holding the |WINDMILL SWORD| and to the left side of it
you can find the |KING| weapon upgrade. Head back to the crossroad when you're
done, and head on to the right area.
Be careful as you enter as you'll immediately be greeted by a samurai, so just
slice him straight away. Get rid of the other samurai and you can take a
breather; no ninjas to attack you here. To the very bottom right corner of the
screen you can find the |BISHOP| weapon upgrade, and the tanuki holds the
|FIRE BALL|. Grab what you want and move on up.
Next, we have another room with two facing samurais. Take out the left one, and
in the very upper left corner of the room, you can find a |HELMET|, so grab it
to become invincible for a while. Laugh at the pitiful ninjas trying to hurt
you for a while and move on up.
Next we're at another |PRINCESS| room, so see if you get lucky or not. Also,
behind the princess, you can find another |HELMET|! Strange. Grab it, but it
will probably run out by the time you get back. When you're done, head back to
where you were before the item quest started. If you've forgotten it's: Down -
Down - Left - Left. When you're back, head to the room to the left.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
In this room, there'll be a samurai and a halberd swinger. Move to the bottom
of the screen to get the samurai away from the other, and slice him. Then take
out the halberd swinger to get the door open. Quite a few red ninjas will be
throwing shurikens at you while you're at it so be careful. Also, by the
bottom left and right side of left folding screen, there are items. The left
one is the |WHITE MEDICINE CASE|, and the right one are the |RED STRAW
SANDALS|. Head on up when you're done.
You who didn't take the item detour will probably get a small shock by the
next room. Four gatekeepers coupled with a bunch of fire blasters! Trust me,
this will be something you'll have to get used to. Bear with me those who took
the detour, as I'm going to post the exact same explanation here. Luckily, the
fire blasters won't reach you by the entrance, so the best strategy is to just
stay there and take out as many enemies as you can, which should be easy if
you have enough weapon upgrades and power-ups. If not, it will be hard to get
out of this undamaged - you'll have to do like before, starting with the side
ones and moving up, but this time watching out for fire balls as well. Head up
the stairs when you're done.
You who didn't take the earlier detour will also face the ninjas new trick now
- disguising themselves. You can still harm then when they're all black ball
looking though, so they're no problem really. Eitherway, between the two
obstacles you'll see as you enter the room, you'll find the |WHITE FEATHER
ARROW|. Grab it if you want and head on to the right.
There's a samurai in this room, and as always, you need to take him out to be
able to proceed. At the upper left of the lone folding screen you can find the
|RED STRAW SANDALS|. Continue up.
The next room is quite difficult, with two halberd swingers being close to the
entrance. To fight them, it's easiest to get to the lower left part of the
screen and wait until they've stopped swinging. It's best to just run past
them though, or maybe use one of the special techniques if you have any. The
left exit leads to an item detour, and you know the drill. Continue reading
for it, or head up and skip the next section.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
----
Left
----
Items: Red Straw Sandal, Princess, Invisible Technique
In this room, defeat the samurai to open the door. No other enemies here, so
catch your breath. In the upper left corner of the room you find the |RED
STRAW SANDALS|. Continue on.
Two samurais here, so defeat both of them to get the door open. Move on.
Another |PRINCESS| room, so see if you get lucky or not. Behind the princess
you can find the |INVISIBLE TECHNIQUE|, so grab them if you want. Return to
the room you were before the detour and head up.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
Defeat the samurai here and move on to the next room while watching out for
the fire balls the red ninjas throw. The tanuki has the |WINDMILL SWORD|.
In the next room, the white ninjas will for the first time spring their
surprise attack while being disguised, so watch out. Some black ninjas will
jump out as well. Below the lowest obstacle to the left, you can find the
|WHITE FEATHER ARROW|. At the bottom right corner of the room, you can find
the |BISHOP|. Move on down.
As always, defeat the samurai in this room. In the upper left corner you can
find the |WHITE MEDICINE CASE|. The tanuki here holds the |WINDMILL SWORD| and
with the boss soon approaching, it might be worth picking up. Continue on.
Two halberd swingers here and you need to defeat them to move on through.
Don't worry though; if you get hit, you can go back to the last room and just
pick up the white medicine case again. Neat huh? Continue up.
Another room with gatekeepers here, and with the fire balls, escaping unharmed
is hard. But if you get hit, you still can go back for the white medicine case.
Continue up the stairs to confront the Lord of Akasame Castle.
----------
BOSS FIGHT
----------
Akasame Castle Lord
Well, I told you to pick up the windmill sword earlier but really, it's not
needed. The Akasame Castle Lord is the only boss who doesn't directly target
you, which is easily abused by moving up next to him, and then just go at him
with the katana. He attacks by throwing thunder balls in a set order while
moving horizontally. Also, each time one of the bombs explode, a white ninja
will appear, and these guys are the biggest pain of this fight really. The
Akasame castle lord is also a user of the invisible technique, which he'll use
which results in him being temporarily invincible. All in all though he's very
much manageable and once defeated, pick up his red ball and move on to the
Castle Town of Ryokusame.
===========
QUICK GUIDE
===========
Up - Left - Up - Up - Right - Up - Up - Right - Down - Right - Up - Up
*******************************************************************************
e. Ryokusame Castle Town
*******************************************************************************
Welcome to Ryokusame castle town, the town painted in green! As you might've
figured out, "ryoku" is one of the readings for the chinese character for
green in Japan. As always, start by heading to the left.
Well, the green disappeared quickly enough, and instead we're in a winter
wonderland. Be extra careful of the white ninjas in these setting as they
blend in - which really is the point of ninja outfits in the first place, eh?
Watch out for the bomb thrower who'll appear by the upper exit. Defeat him,
and then take the very quick item detour to the left or head on up.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
----
Left
----
Items: Windmill Sword, Lightning Technique
This detour is just the one area, but it has the |LIGHTNING TECHNIQUE|, so it's
really rewarding. If you still have any special techniques left, just use them
to ensure you don't get hurt. White ninjas will be appearing in their surprise
attack, and a new enemy will also appear - the Ground Plucker. The ground
plucker hides in the ground, to appear and throw a shuriken before going into
hiding again. Just hit the shuriken he throws and be quick and he's an easy
kill. The hidden tanuki here is in the lower left of the screen so grab it.
The tanuki here has the |WINDMILL SWORD|. Move back to the right area and head
up.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
Another crossroad here, and a bomb thrower will appear by one of the two exits.
White ninjas will also be moving around. At the upper left corner of the area
you'll find the |WHITE FEATHER ARROW|. The left exit is the way to the item
detour, so take it if you want, or head on up and skip the next section.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
----
Left
----
Items: White Medicine Case, Helmet
This item detour is built up so whichever way you go, you'll end up back here
in the end. In the lower right part of the lake, you'll find the |WHITE
MEDICINE CASE|. To be frank, the rest of the detour only holds the helmet,
so you can skip it if you want and head back to the previous area and up. If
you want to stay and check out the whole area, continue up.
White ninjas will be appearing here, but the lack of obstacles make them easy
to handle. A ground plucker will appear as well, and if you didn't take the
earlier detour, this will be the first time seeing one. Continue to the right.
No enemies in this area and you can find the |HELMET| here if you just go down
between the snowy passage as soon as you enter the room. Continue down after
you've grabbed it.
A lot of white ninjas as well as a ground plucker will attack you here but you
should be fine with the helmet. Continue right and you'll be back where we
started, so grab the white medicine case if you're damaged, and when you're
done, head to the right area and then continue up.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
You'll be assaulted by a bunch of red ninjas at this area, and if you haven't
taken any of the earlier item detours, you'll see the ground plucker for the
first time. The ground plucker hides in the ground, to appear and throw a
shuriken before going into hiding again. Just hit the shuriken he throws and
be quick and he's an easy kill. Or you can just avoid all enemies, go over the
water and continue to the right.
We're still in winter wonderland, and we have three snowy passages we can take
to the right. The upper one has the |BISHOP|, and the middle one has the |BLUE
FEATHER ARROW|. White ninjas will start doing their surprise attack so be
quick and continue up.
The tanuki here has the |FIRE BALL|. Continue to the left and a bomb thrower
will appear. Take care of him and move on.
For you who haven't seen it before, we're now at the game's 2nd mountain area!
They all look the same - two bridges, one up and one down, connecting the two
exits. Immediately as you enter you will probably be ambushed by a new enemy,
the Musasabi. These guys fly around the screen and can be really annoying,
espescially here in the mountains were Takamaru's movement ability is limited.
From the caves bandits will appear, but they're easier to handle - they just
walk out of a cave, move forward a bit before throwing an axe forward, and
then heading back into the cave. Uh, ok. Take the lower bridge for some items.
On the way to the you'll find the |RED STRAW SANDALS|, and by the lower left
cave, you'll find the |KING|. Head on up and exit to the left.
We're back in winter wonderland. If you hit the post you'll find the |WHITE
FEATHER ARROW|. Continue to the left, while watching out for the white ninjas.
The tengu will appear here, as well as quite a few white ninjas, and the
general thumbrule in this game is to keep moving, so don't waste time but try
and take out the tengu as fast as possible. No sparkling ninjas around here so
you need to explode the red bombs yourself. At the bottom right corner you'll
- oddly - find another |WHITE FEATHER ARROW|. Continue on.
Another tengu appears, and the lake (if you don't have the blue straw sandals
left) coupled with the annoying red bombs by the exit and the white ninjas
here throwing fire balls makes this area quite annoying. Try and take the
tengu out as soon as possible, and then get the red bombs exploded, all while
keeping an eye out for the fire balls. If you have any special techniques I
recommend using on of them here, since it's hard to get out unharmed. The
tanuki here has the |WINDMILL SWORD|. Move on to the left.
We're back in the castle town, and the first crossroad for a while. The 2nd
folding screen from the left has the |BLUE STRAW SANDALS|. (Thank you very
much for being placed the area after they were the most useful.) You can
choose to go either left or down here, with the left side being the bit harder
but more item rewarding route. Choose your preferred route and head on.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
----
Left
----
Items: Bishop, Fire Ball, Red Straw Sandals, Blue Straw Sandals,
Blue Feather Arrow, King
Well, as you can see when you enter, the blue straw sandals will be useful
here. Head over the water and pass the snow passage. At the upper right corner
here, you find the |BISHOP|. Remember, to come to the next area, you have to
stand on the shore, not on the water. Continue left.
Another crossroad here, but we're going left next to return here later. The
tanuki has the |FIRE BALL|. Keep moving.
A tengu will assault you here, and once again, the road is blocked by red
bombs. Really, you can just grab the |RED STRAW SANDALS| at the bottom right
of the lake and head back to the right. The path to the left is a dead-end and
dissapointedly, all they hold are the blue straw sandals. If you want to go
there, take the tengu out and remove the bombs from the road, while watching
out for the red ninjas and go to the left. Here, white ninjas will do their
surprise attacks while shooting fire balls. The |BLUE STRAW SANDALS| are all
the way to the upper left part, to the left side of the upper snow obstacle.
Grab it if you want and head all the way back to the crossroad by the water.
Back here, we're now going down. Be careful of all the white and sparkling
ninjas jumping out though before going through.
No items in this area, and if you take the right exit, you'll be at a big
river. If you cross it and go to the middle, you'll find the |BLUE FEATHER
ARROW| so grab it if you want and head back to the previous area. There,
continue down.
Another water area. By the grass in the middle of the water you'll find
|KING|. Head on down.
----
Down
----
Items: Red Straw Sandals, Blue Feather Arrow, White Medicine Case, Bishop
At the upper right corner of the screen here, you'll find the |RED STRAW
SANDALS|. If you want you can take a quick detour by taking the left exit,
where you'll be at a big river. If you cross it and go to the middle, you'll
find the |BLUE FEATHER ARROW|, so grab it if you wish and head back to the
previous area. There, continue down.
Be careful as you enter this area as a white ninja will jump at you. By the
grass in the water you'll find the |WHITE MEDICINE CASE|. Grab it if you need
to and continue down.
Continue to the left exit here. The tanuki here has the |FIRE BALLS|.
Continue straight ahead in this area. In the lower middle part of the river
you'll find the |BISHOP|.
-------------
MERGING POINT
-------------
A bomb thrower will be at the left exit in this area, which is where we want
to go. Before that though, we have the |RED STRAW SANDALS| hidden in the
bottom right corner of the screen. Take the bomb thrower out and head on to
the left. The amount of white ninjas here makes it a bit difficult so be
careful.
We're back at a snow area again, and the road continues to the left. There's
also a hidden tanuki here, containing the |LIGHTNING TECHNIQUE|. It keeps
moving between the bottom right and upper right corners of the screen, so if
you keep walking at any of these places, you should find it eventually. Grab
it if you wish and move on. The exit here is guarded by a bomb thrower.
There's a fire thrower here, and two pair of |BLUE STRAW SANDALS| to be found
(uh, ok). The first one is by the 1st folding screen to the left, and the
second one is by the middle one. Get the red bombs out of the way and you're
headed for the Ryokusame Castle.
The upper left tanuki here is the dummy so grab the others first and then hit
it to be on your way.
===========
QUICK GUIDE
===========
Left - Up - Up - Right - Up - Left - Left - Left - Left - Left - Down -
Down - Down - Left - Left - Left - Left - Left
*******************************************************************************
f. Ryokusame Castle
*******************************************************************************
Welcome to the Ryokusame castle! As always, the first area has nothing of
value, so head on up.
There are two samurais here, so get rid of them if you wish. A new enemy will
appear as well - the green ninja! These guys are just unpredictible. Some of
them move in groups, other hide and throw shurikens, and those who run around
run at different speeds as well. To the upper right side of the green folding
screen, you can find the |RED STRAW SANDALS|. Continue on to the right.
Another crossroad here, and the item detour is to the right. It's pretty hard
but it has the lightning technique. Take it if you wish, or head on up and
skip the next section.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
-----
Right
-----
Items: White Feather Arrow, Lightning Technique
There's a samurai in this room that, and you know what to do. In the upper
right corner of the screen you can find the |WHITE FEATHER ARROW|. Move on up.
We're in a gatekeeper room now and, as always, you need to defeat all the
gatekeepers to move forward. If you still have any special techniques, now is
a good time to use them, since if you're trying to get through here, it's for
the lightning technique in the next room. Otherwise, the fire balls here won't
reach you by the entrance so take out the side enemies with projectiles (or
the central one if you have the windmill sword) and pick them off one by one.
Head on up the stairs.
When you enter this dead-end, the hidden tanuki is placed just behind the
folding screen so if you're quick, it should be around there. Or, if you have
some lightning technique left, just use it to reveal it (and taking out all
those pesking black ninjas running around). Grab the |LIGHTNING TECHNIQUE|,
head back to where we were before the detour afterwards, and head up.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
When you enter, you'll notice a new enemy - another ninja commander, the
Magician! Well, that's not really his name (he doesn't have one) but what
else do you call someone who summons five fire balls that circles him -
guarding him from projectiles - whilst firing of fire balls at you? That's
magic to me, and the hardest normal enemy yet has appeared. If you look
closely at him you will notice that there's a little hole in his barrier -
you will need to expose it by firing projectiles in that hole. Easier said
than done though, as he'll shoot fire balls at you at irregular intervals and,
as you know, with fire balls you have no choice but to avoid them. Weapon
upgrades helps a lot when dealing with the magician, espescially king in my
experience. Eitherway, be careful. When you're done, you can continue on, but
as you see, it's another crossroad. The item detour is up, or if you're
continuing the adventure, head on to the left.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
--
Up
--
Items: Princess, King
Getting through the first room here is pretty tricky, as you'll be flanked by
two samurais (the right one also being behind an obstacle) as well as a
halberd swinger ahead of you, and to top it of, a couple of red ninjas will
run out, throwing fire balls at you. First and foremost, get rid of the left
samurai at least, to give you some degree of moveability. Then, wait for the
halberd swinger to stop swinging to take care of him, and then quickly avoid
the fire balls that the red ninjas will be throwing. Finally, take care of
the right samurai and move on.
It's a |PRINCESS| room now, so see if you're lucky or not. Behind the princess
here, you can find the |KING|. Head on to the room before we started the
detour and head to the left.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
A lot of disguised green ninjas will jump at you at this room, so be careful,
since they're pretty hard to read. Continue on up to the next room.
Another room with gatekeepers and fire blasters follow here, but there's no
real difference since last time we saw such a room, so handle it in the best
way you can and head up the stairs. Remember, that it's for times when you
really fear getting hurt that you should use the special techniques.
The next room is really annoying as well since you have so much too look out
for - the fire balls the magician shoots at you, the opening in his barrier
and then those pesky black ninjas running around, throwing shurikens at you.
Thankfully, no fire ball throwing ninjas here though, because that would just
be too much. Be patient, keep an eye out for projectiles and you should make
it. Then, continue on to the left.
Two samurais here, and disguised red ninjas. Take out the samurais, as usual.
In the bottom right corner you can find the |BISHOP|. And then, we have
another item detour, which is the bottom exit. Take it if you wish, or head on
to the left and skip the next section.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
----
Down
----
Items: Windmill Sword, Princess, Blue Feather Arrow, Invisible Technique
You'll notice something odd when you enter - no enemies, not even someone
jumping out? Where's the catch? None really. And if you continue down,
there's another completely empty room. Strange. Continue left from here.
This room has a halberd swinger, but he's all alone, and you should have
little problem with these guys now. The tanuki has the |WINDMILL SWORD|.
Go on up.
It's another |PRINCESS| room. See if you're lucky, and then we have to items
here. Behind the princess you can find the |BLUE FEATHER ARROW|. Also lurking
around in the room is a hidden tanuki with the |INVISIBLE TECHNIQUE|. Take
any item you want/need and head back to the room before the detour, and
continue left.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
A samurai in this room, and another locked door. Pretty silly that the door is
locked if you ask me, since the only way to get past the samurai is to defeat
him (or get hit...). Disguised white ninjas will do their surprise attack and
throw fire balls, so be careful and move on up. The tanuki here has the |FIRE
BALLS|.
Another room with gatekeepers. Handle them as usual and head up the stairs.
As you'll notice, this castle is a bit bigger than the others, and we still
haven't catched up with the castle lord. To the right of where you begin,
below the most upper right obstacle, you can find the |BLUE FEATHER ARROW|.
Then, on to the magician. This time you'll actually be able to avoid him, by
running past behind him when he has moved forward. Do as you wish and head on
right.
Another samurai to take out here. To the left of the upper obstacle, you'll
find the |RED STRAW SANDALS|. Head on to the right.
Another halberd swinger here and if you want to take the item detour which is
the upper exit, you'll need to take him out. Otherwise, continue to the right
and skip the next section.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
--
Up
--
Items: Windmill Sword, White Medicine Case, Blue Feather Arrow, Princess,
White Medicine Case
Another halberd swinger here, which you need to defeat. The tanuki here has
the |WINDMILL SWORD|. Head on.
Two samurais here who you need to defeat, and some green ninjas who hide and
throw shurikens at you. Two items in this room. To the bottom right corner you
find the |WHITE MEDICINE CASE|, and in the left bottom corner, you find the
|BLUE FEATHER ARROW| (again...). Take what you want and head on up.
Another |PRINCESS| room, so see if you get lucky or not. Behind her, you'll
find another |WHITE MEDICINE CASE|. (First time you'll be dissapointed to hear
that.) When you're done, head back to before the detour started and continue
right.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
Another room full of fire blasters, and I don't even know if it's possible to
get through this room unhurt without any special techniques. So you better have
them or this is going to get ugly. If you have no other choice, start by
running straight down as you enter and then... Well, good luck really. To the
bottom right you'll find the |KING| weapon upgrade. Head on to the right.
There's another magician in this room, and running past him will be tight, so
it's best to just take him out. Not so easy this time though, since the
magician's movement means he'll be able to avoid projectiles which past
through his barrier, so be prepared for it to get a bit dragged out. Don't
forget the samurai (like you'd even need to hear that). The tanuki here has
the |FIRE BALL|. Head on up.
Another gatekeeper room, and now there're five of them! Shouldn't change much,
though. The easiest way to get out of this unharmed (except for using special
techniques) is to run straight up, take out the upper gatekeeper, and then
head to the left and then circle the room until you've taken out them all.
Continue up to face the Lord of Ryokusame Castle!
----------
BOSS FIGHT
----------
Ryokusame Castle Lord
The lord of Ryokusame castle uses the partition technique - he "splits" his
body into four, but three of them are fake, and the fourth one is his real
body, which you can hurt. He will be teleporting around the room, throwing
projectiles at you. While this could be easy, you can actually kill him
within seconds if you have the fire balls (due to them being the strongest
weapon, but you knew that). At the start, the lord of Ryokusame will be the
third from the left, so what you do is run forward, throw a fire ball, avoid
the incoming fireballs by circling them and then hit him two times with your
sword. He'll be defeated, so grab the green ball and move on to the Castle
Town of Momosame.
===========
QUICK GUIDE
===========
Up - Right - Up - Left - Up - Up - Left - Left - Up - Up - Right - Right -
Right - Right - Up - Up
*******************************************************************************
g. Momosame Castle Town
*******************************************************************************
Welcome to the castle town of Momosame! Momo is the chinese character for
peach, and as a color, it's pink (although this town more looks like purple
if you ask me). Head on to the left, for the biggest level of the game so far.
A bunch of sparkling ninjas will jump out here so take one of them out if you
want to head up and the first item detour. Otherwise, continue down and skip
the next section. The tanuki here has the windmill sword.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
--
Up
--
Items: Fire Ball, King
The tanuki in this area has the |FIRE BALL|. Take it if you wish and head on
left.
In the very left corner of this room you'll find the |KING|, so grab it
(because why are you if not for this?). Head back to before we started and
continue down.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
Two fire throwers will be here, so slice the first one in front of you before
he has time to react. If you want to take another item detour head left -
defeating the 2nd fire thrower - or continue right and skip the next section.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
-----
Right
-----
Items: Castle, White Feather Arrow, Lightning Technique
By the folding screen right next to you, you'll find the |CASTLE|. Get rid of
the red bombs and continue up.
To the upper left corner of this screen you'll find the |WHITE FEATHER ARROW|.
The grand prize is hiding on the right side as you enter, so look around to
find the first |LIGHTNING TECHNIQUE| for a while. When you're done head back
to before the detour and continue to the right.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
The tanuki here has the |FIRE BALL| but really, you won't have time grabbing
it, as soon white ninjas throwing shurikens and fire balls will appear, and
it will get crowded. Quickly get rid of one or both red bombs and head on down.
To the upper right corner here you can find the |BLUE FEATHER ARROW|. That's
it here, no enemies. Continue to the left.
There will be a fire thrower here, and another one of them will be guarding
the exit. Also, by the folding screen to the left, you find the |WHITE
MEDICINE CASE|. Continue on.
Another set of red bombs here and by the folding screen by the upper right of
them, you'll find the |BLUE STRAW SANDAL|. Grab them if you don't have them
and be careful, because a lot of white ninjas will come at you here (none
throwing fire balls, luckily). There's also a fire thrower guarding the exit.
Head on.
Another crossroad here, and the left leads to a small detour where you can
find the |BISHOP| by the lower left corner. Go and grab it if you wish and
then head on up.
By the folding screen here, you'll find a pair of |RED STRAW SANDALS|. The
upper room has a tanuki with the |FIRE BALL|, so go grab it if you wish. Head
on to the left.
A fire thrower will be in the water here, and take him out just to be safe.
Remove the red bombs while watching out for the red ninjas here. After
removing them, another fire thrower will appear, so watch out. Move on up.
The white ninjas here will be throwing both shurikens and fire balls. A fire
thrower will guard the exit, so take him out. Also, by the lower left of the
screen, you can find the |WHITE FEATHER ARROW|. Move on.
Another mountain area here, which means bandits and musasabi. To the bottom
right cave, you'll find the |HELMET|, which is very useful this time, in this
and the following areas. Take it and quickly move on to the left.
For the first time, musasabi will appear outside the mountains. They can be
hard to read so the helmet comes in handy, so hurry on, unless you want the
|BLUE FEATHER ARROW|, which is placed at the upper left part where you enter
the area.
If you've been fast enough, you should be able to run through this area as
well. In any case, don't stick around, as red ninjas and a tengu will appear.
The tanuki here has the |FIRE BALLS|. Move on.
Another mountain area and by the lower left cave here you'll find the |WHITE
FEATHER ARROW|. Watch out for the musasabis and head on.
If you continue on the road here and stop by the first rock obstacle you see,
you can slice the most upper stone for the |BISHOP|. Be quick since it'll get
crowded here soon. Continue down.
We've enter some purple forest now! The last crossroad of the level awaits you.
No enemies here and on top of that, two items to grab! To the right side of
the left tree you'll find the |WHITE MEDICINE CASE| and on the left side of
the right tree you'll find the |RED STRAW SANDALS|. Head down for the chance
to get the invisibility technique, or continue on to the right and skip the
next section. The white medicine case means you don't have to worry about
getting hurt so if you want it, go grab it.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
----
Down
----
Items: Invisible Technique
Be quick here, since as you'll see, a tengu appears along with a bunch of
ninjas. You should be able to keep momentum, dodging projectiles as you go,
slicing the tengu and heading on to the left.
Watch out for the white ninjas surprise attack here. You'll find the
|INVISIBILITY TECHNIQUE| around the left part of the screen. When you've
grabbed it, head back to where you were before the detour and head on right.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
Tough section here and you'd better just try and remove the red bombs as
quickly as possible. A tengu will appear along with a bunch of fire ball
shooting white ninjas, and you know what that means. Cut down anyone who
stands in your way while moving around and head on down. Also, in the bottom
right corner you'll find the |BLUE STRAW SANDALS|.
The next area is more manageable. Just get rid of the red bombs and avoid the
red ninjas. Head on down.
Quickly run and take out the tengu here, and then hit one of the sparkling
ninjas to open the road. The tanuki here has the |WINDMILL SWORD|. Head on to
the left.
By the sign in this area, you'll find the |WHITE FEATHER ARROW|. Grab it if you
want and then you can just run past everything since the red bombs aren't
placed by the exit this time.
Another mountain area here, and a very rewarding one. If you take the upper
bridge you should find a hidden tanuki lurking around, holding the |LIGHTNING
TECHNIQUE|! Also, if you head towards the left cave on the bridge you'll find
the |KING| weapon upgrade. Move on to the next area.
At the bottom of the small lake as you enter, you can find the |RED STRAW
SANDALS|. Hurry on up as the musasabi will overrun this place. Even then it
can be tough to get on unhurt, though - wait a bit before running up since
you'll otherwise get hit by one of them.
Right next to the upper right corner of the screen here you can find the
|BLUE FEATHER ARROW|. Grab it if you wish and just run through here.
The bottom right corner in this area has another |WHITE FEATHER ARROW|.
Grab it if you want and head on to the next area, while avoiding musasabi.
The tanuki here has the |FIRE BALL|. As you approach the upper exit here
you'll be attacked by a bomb thrower. Defeat him and head on up.
The tanuki here has the |WINDMILL SWORD|. Continue on the road, and look out
for the fire thrower and the white ninjas surprise attack.
Two fire throwers here, as well as white ninjas hiding in disguise, throwing
fire balls. Tough - but as you can see, the red bombs are placed here so you
can go around them. Take out only the most urgent enemies and head on to the
end of the level. Also, by the 2nd folding screen to the right you can find
the |RED STRAW SANDALS|.
We're on to Momosame Castle! The lower left tanuki here is the dud. Take the
rest, hit the dud and we're on our way.
===========
QUICK GUIDE
===========
Left - Down - Right - Down - Left - Left - Left - Up - Left - Up - Left -
Left - Up - Left - Left - Down - Right - Down - Down - Left - Left - Left -
Up - Up - Right - Up - Left
*******************************************************************************
h. Momosame Castle
*******************************************************************************
As always, just move on to the next area, nothing to find here.
Quickly take out the samurai here, as white ninjas soon will be jumping out
there. Then, you can decide if you want to take out the left samurai and head
up for an item detour, or if you continue on to the right. You know the drill
now.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
--
Up
--
Items: Red Straw Sandals, Windmill Sword, Princess, Helmet
As you enter here, you can find the |RED STRAW SANDALS| below the folding
screen. Take out the samurai and continue on.
Next we have two samurais and a locked door... You know the drill. Be careful
though as we'll encounter another new ninja here - the purple. These guys
don't give up if they run past you but keep coming until they're dead. The
tanuki here has the |WINDMILL SWORD|.
Another |PRINCESS| room, so see if you're lucky or not. You can grab the
|HELMET| behind the princess if you happen to face hanya to make things
easier. Head back to before the detour started when you're done, and continue
to the right.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
Disguised ninjas will jump out in this room, a few red ones but mainly the
new type: purple. For you who didn't take the detour just now, purple ninjas
doesn't just give up when they've run past you. They keep coming at you until
they're dead. Or until you've left the area, which I advise you to do quickly.
Head on up.
The magician awaits you here, along with red ninjas; one of the more annoying
combos of the game. Luckily, the magician is placed so you can sneak past him
if you time it right. Do as you want and head on up.
Another gatekeeper room here, and you can use the earlier strategies this
time as well. To recap; run straight up and take the one in front of you out,
and then circle anti-clockwise, taking one enemy out at the time. Head on up.
Two tanukis here; the lower right has the |FIRE BALLS|, and the upper left
one has the |WINDMILL SWORD|. From the right side a couple of purple ninjas
will run at you and guarding the exit is a newish enemy, the Bomb Thrower (2).
He looks a bit different but moves the same; just watch out for the purple
ninjas. Move on.
A samurai's in this room, so take him out. Disguised red and purple ninjas
will be jumping at you here so be careful but quick and move on up.
As soon as you enter this room, fire of your projectile (if you've got any
weapon upgrades) and you'll hopefully take out the first halberd swinger in
this room - if not, quickly go and take out the samurai instead and be quick
to strike either halberd swinger as they have their cooldown period. Defeat
all three of them and the door up opens, so head on to continue your journey.
To the left though we have an item detour, so take it if you want. I want to
note here that this is the last place where you can find the bishop, which is
very useful when you face the boss of this castle (which is a lot harder than
the previous ones).
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
Items: White Feather Arrow, Red Straw Sandals, Bishop, Princess,
Blue Feather Arrow
----
Left
----
Only two samurais in this room, so take them out. Two items here, both to the
left side of the two obstacles here. To the bottom one you find the |WHITE
FEATHER ARROW|, and by the upper one you find the |RED STRAW SANDALS|. Take
them and head on.
There's a halberd swinger here and a locked door, so take him out as soon as
you can, because soon the purple ninjas will start throwing shurikens like
crazy at you. To the bottom left corner here you can find the |BISHOP|.
Continue on.
Another |PRINCESS| room, so see if you got lucky or not. Behind here you can
find the |BLUE FEATHER ARROW|. Quite a few red and purple ninjas will run
around here but not throw anything at you. Head back to before the detour and
head up.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
Another gatekeeper room, but follow the same tactic before and you should be
fine - we've had some practise, after all! Continue up the stairs.
Very tough room this with two halberd swingers, a samurai and a bunch of
shuriken throwing purple ninjas. Well, before deciding to take them out and
open the door, you need to know that it leads to an optional item detour, so
if you feel properly stacked up already, you can just continue to the left.
Otherwise, take the enemies out and continue up.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
--
Up
--
Items: Fire Ball, Red Straw Sandals, Windmill Sword, White Feather Arrow,
Princess, King, White Medicine Case
This is the biggest detour yet which even splits in the next room. The tanuki
here has the |FIRE BALL|, and on your way to the next room, you will find the
|RED STRAW SANDALS| in the middle of the room. Watch out for the two purple
ninjas jumping at you though. Head on.
A crossroad here, but lets continue left for now (unless you're very injured,
in which case you head up - careful for a gatekeeper room though). The tanuki
here has the |WINDMILL SWORD|.
Some disguised ninjas will be hanging around here, but they're of no concern.
To the upper left corner you can find the |WHITE FEATHER ARROW|. Head on up.
Two samurais will face each other here, so take them out to open the door.
Watch out for the ninjas running around and continue up. The tanuki here has
another |FIRE BALL|.
Another |PRINCESS| room, so see if you're lucky or not. Behind her you find
the |KING|. Watch out for all the purple ninjas here, too. Go back to the
earlier crossroad now if you're interested of getting healed. Head on up.
You'll enter another gatekeeper room but hopefully you should be able to
get through these unhurt now. Continue up.
Alright, your target here is in the upper right corner, where you find the
|WHITE MEDICINE CASE|. Grab it, run out of here and back to before we started
the tour, and go left.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
The exit here is blocked by another bomb thrower, and since quite a few ninjas
will jump at you its best that you don't drop momentum; quickly dodge the
bomb and slice with the katana, and move on.
Another room with fire blasters, and to top it of, a bomb thrower. Plus some
ninjas. Geez. You can get through here unhurt but its hard on the first try
(and even if you get in some practise), so if you have any special techniques,
I urge you to use them. Otherwise, keep running straight ahead until the bomb
thrower appears, and quickly dodge down (not up, since this will hit you with
a fire ball), slice the bomb thrower and try and maneuveur out of the room.
A couple of disguised ninjas in this room, but you can just ignore them and
continue up.
We're now in another hard room. A disguised sparkling ninja will be jumping
right at you in the beginning so take cover before taking him and the samurai
out. This won't be the last sparkling ninja here though and with the magician
hanging around as well, you can't really expect getting out of here unhurt,
so either use a special technique if you have any left, or run straight at the
magician, get hurt, and quickly slice him before you get hurt again. Or try
your luck by fighting normally, your choice. I warn you though, the upcoming
boss is pretty tough. Continue up.
Another gatekeeper room, so do your thing, and continue up to face the Castle
Lord of Momosame.
----------
BOSS FIGHT
----------
Momosame Castle Lord
This is the only female castle lord, but easily the hardest of them. She
throws a purple flower at you which does not only explode, but also splits up
in eight pieces; avoiding it is really difficult and really needs some
practise. Otherwise, the best weapon combination for this boss is the bishop
and windmill sword. If you have them, you can keep your distance while being
able to shoot projectiles at her without having to move into her line of
sight. Also, two hits of the fire ball should be able to take her out. I also
want to note that using the katana is useless unless you also have the
invisible technique; you'll just get hit by her and she'll teleport away.
When you've defeated her, grab the purple ball and of we are to the Murasame
Castle.
===========
QUICK GUIDE
===========
Up - Right - Up - Up - Up - Right - Up - Up - Up - Left - Left - Left - Up -
Up - Up
*******************************************************************************
i. Murasame Castle
*******************************************************************************
Well, this area has no name but it is clearly either the castle, or its castle
town, or both. Instead of contemplating on this lets just say it's the castle
and get started. You start of in an area covered with skulls, which works as
obstacles here. Immediately a new enemy will appear - the Evil Spirit. These
guys work as ninjas here, but they're real quick and throw both shurikens and
fire balls. Hit what comes in your way and continue on.
In this area, you can actually find all of the weapon upgrades. The upper path
between the skull obstacles has the |BISHOP|, the middle one has the |CASTLE|
and the bottom has |KING|. The evil spirits here will start hiding and
shooting projectiles as well now so be careful. If you quickly head to the
left area I can explain one of the special features of the Murasame castle
level; it has divided screens. This means you cannot directly go through an
entire area which is divided, but you need to enter from the other exit to
explore the 2nd part. Absolutely no items here at all though so head back,
cross the river and go up to the next area.
Another big river here so be very careful if you don't have the blue straw
sandals. To the bottom right area here - between the skulls - as you enter,
you should be able to find an... Uh... Hidden tanuki spirit? Let's just keep
calling them tanukis, eh? Well, this one has the |LIGHTNING TECHNIQUE|! I want
to make it clear now how incredibly valuable this one will be at the end of
the game. Make sure you have at least one left. The right exit here leads to
an item detour so take it if you wish or continue to the left.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
-----
Right
-----
Items: Blue Straw Sandals, Windmill Sword, King
In this first area, you can find the |BLUE STRAW SANDALS| by the lower right
skulls by the big chunk of four skulls in the middle. Take it if you need it
and carry on up.
We've got gatekeepers at Murasame castle as well. There are always two of them
standing to both sides of the raised bridge, and to lower it, you need to
defeat both of them. They shoot light balls at you, which divides into eight
pieces, which is similair to the attacks that the Momosame castle lord used.
These balls, however, don't explode, just divide. They might seem hard but
really, they're easier than you think. They only attack one at a time and
they won't attack directly after one and another, which gives you room to act.
Also, by standing still by the entrance, you avoid almost all attacks, and you
can easily dodge the few that might hit you. So wait until one of them attacks,
run up and fire a projectile at it (katana won't work), run back, and then
repeat one more time and you're set. Continue on.
The evil spirit moving to the bottom left corner is, as you might have
guessed, a tanuki and this one contains the |WINDMILL SWORD|. To the upper
right part of the right lake you can also find the |KING|. Head back to before
the detour started and continue to the left.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
You will find a new hazard in this area - the Blood Pond. Unlike the water,
the blood pond makes you sink into it, which damages you. The only way to
cross it unharmed is by having the blue straw sandals, which you could pick up
in the earlier detour. The evil spirit-looking thing to the left is actually a
tanuki, and all tanukis at Murasame castle will look like this. You can hit it
with your katana from this side and inside it you find the |FIRE BALL|.
Continue up.
Another crossroad, and another blood pond up ahead. The left exit leads to an
item detour - you know the drill by now. Take which way you wish.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
----
Left
----
Items: White Medicine Case, Windmill Sword
You enter an area which has a divided screen, but there's nothing to find here.
Head on down.
As soon as you enter the room you can go right to find the |WHITE MEDICINE
CASE|. Two exits here, but the right one leads to where you found the fire
ball in a previous room, so no need to go there. A new ninja commander will
appear when you approach either exit; the fire thrower (2). The changes are
merely cosmetic and he will attack as before. Go on down.
Another divided screen here so nothing to find, so continue to the right.
You'll now be in the room where you saw the divided screen for the first time,
and on this side you can find the |WINDMILL SWORD| in the tanuki. Go back to
before the detour started and head up.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
New enemies here and for those who didn't take an earlier detour I'll post it
again. We've got gatekeepers at Murasame castle as well. There are always two
of them standing to both sides of the raised bridge, and to lower it, you need
to defeat both of them. They shoot light balls at you, which divides into
eight pieces, which is similair to the attacks that the Momosame castle lord
used. These balls, however, don't explode, just divide. They might seem hard
but really, they're easier than you think. They only attack one at a time and
they won't attack directly after one and another, which gives you room to act.
Also, by standing still by the entrance, you avoid almost all attacks, and you
can easily dodge the few that might hit you. So wait until one of them attacks,
run up and fire a projectile at it (katana won't work), run back, and then
repeat one more time and you're set. Continue on.
In the upper most skeleton passage here, by the very end of it, you can find
the |RED STRAW SANDALS|. Grab them if you don't have them. On the way there
though, the last ninja commander will appear - Bomb Thrower (3). He moves as
you'd expect him though but from his bombs, evil spirits will appear, so be
quick to take him out. Continue to the left.
The tanuki here has the |WINDMILL SWORD|. Grab it if you want and continue
left.
By the upper left area here you can find the |BLUE STRAW SANDALS| and as these
guard you against the blood ponds, make sure to grab it if you've lost it.
There's a very small detour up ahead so take it if you want or continue down.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
--
Up
--
Items: White Feather Arrow
The item you're looking for is at top at the screen, by the end of the
skeleton passage. There will be evil spirits firing shurikens at you but they
should be no problem. Grab the |WHITE FEATHER ARROW| and head back to the
previous area and continue down.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
At both exits here, a bomb thrower will be placed, so be careful. If you
continue down - not by going through the blood pond, but by the skeleton path
- you'll find the |BLUE FEATHER ARROW|. The right exit leads to a dead end
with no items so continue down.
The tanuki here has the |FIRE BALL|. The left leads to a very large detour
that only brings you the |WINDMILL SWORD|, but if you want, you can quickly
enter the first area there and go through the lower skeleton passage there,
which has the |HELMET|, and head back. Afterwards, let's continue down.
The skeleton passage here has a |WHITE MEDICINE CASE| so grab it if you're
hurt, and continue down. Look out for the bomb thrower at the exit though.
A fire thrower here, which is guarding the way forward. If you want you can
take a small detour to the right where you can find the |INVISIBLE TECHNIQUE|
in a hidden tanuki in the lower area where there's a skull passage. As I
mentioned earlier though you really want the lightning technique this time and
the invisible technique won't be nearly as useful at the end. Return to the
previous area and continue past the fire thrower.
A lot of blood ponds in the next area, and you can find another |HELMET| by
the bottom left corner. Watch out for the fire thrower by the exit.
Nothing here and with the helmet you should be able to easily continue on up.
Same here, nothing to find, hurry on until the helmet runs out.
A crossroad here, and a fire thrower that guards either exit. For the last
item detour of the game, head on down, or continue up.
-----------
ITEM DETOUR
-----------
----
Down
----
Items: Windmill Sword, Blue Straw Sandals
Well, it's just one room really. The tanuki has the |WINDMILL SWORD|. In the
middle of the water you can find the |BLUE STRAW SANDALS|. Go back when you're
done and continue up.
------------------
END OF ITEM DETOUR
------------------
We're getting closer to the end now. Two items here; both below the blood pond.
To the left of the two skeletons you can find the |BLUE FEATHER ARROW|, and to
the right side of them you can find the |KING|. As you can expect, a fire
thrower guards the exit here.
The tanuki here has the |WINDMILL SWORD|. A bomb thrower guards the exit, so
watch out. Continue up.
Little room for maneuveur in this area, so watch out for fire balls. Also, a
fire thrower will guard the exit but be quick and you can slice him before he
fires. Continue up.
Two gatekeepers here, so take them out as we've done before and continue up.
Murasame awaits you!
----------
BOSS FIGHT
----------
Murasame
As you can expect - formerely being a stone statue, and all that - Murasame
won't be moving around. At all. Instead, he uses two attacks. The most
prominent one is the Devil Mask Technique, as it's called, in which Murasame
fires a green ball at you - which of course injures you if it hits - which
divides when hitting the wall, firing of three projectiles at you. The other
attack is a white ball which keeps bouncing of the walls once firing, and
continues to do so until it hits Takamaru. Now, on to strategy. The only way
to hurt Murasame is by striking the head but when he grabs a new ball he will
be invulnerable, so you need to strike him in between the balls he throws.
Well, it's easier said than done, and this might take some practise. The fire
ball is the best projectile for hitting him, as it should take him out in
three hits or so, but just before here you can find the windmill sword and
king, and they should do nicely. The invinsible technique won't do much good
here - instead, the lightning technique actually hurt Murasame but strangely
not as much as the fire balls. Make sure you save one lightning technique
though. Eitherway, be quick as the green balls past you and run past him, only
stopping to fire your projectile, and keep moving around in a sort of clockwise
manner and you should be fine. Approach Murasame as he is defeated and reverts
into a stone statue once again to enter the final level of the game; the
Inner Sanctuary.
===========
QUICK GUIDE
===========
Left - Up - Left - Up - Up - Up - Left - Left - Down - Down - Down - Down -
Left - Left - Left - Up - Left - Up - Right - Up - Up - Up
*******************************************************************************
j. Inner Sanctuary
*******************************************************************************
No quick guide needed for this area since we're only going up until the end of
it. As you enter the final area here you'll notice that you'll get fired by the
walls. These are the Lightning Blasters and they work like the fire blasters
before; you have to dodge them. However, they usually show in advance which is
going to fire so you should be able to plan your route as you go. The tanuki
here has the |FIRE BALL|. Move on up.
The door closes as you enter, and this will be reaccuring for the rest of the
level. No items here so go up while avoiding the lightning balls.
Rejoice if you're hurt; there's a |WHITE MEDICINE CASE| here just to the
lower left of the next exit. Continue up for the final boss of the game; the
Mystical Life-Form.
----------
BOSS FIGHT
----------
The Mystical Life-Form
Depending if you have any lightning technique left, the difficulty of this
boss will vary greatly. Because in this level, lightning balls will be fired
at you constantly, but by using the lightning technique, you permanently
remove them! With them gone, you only have to focus on the mystical life-form
itself. It's basically just a floating head but it can only be hurt by firing
a projectile at it when it opens its mouth. Beware though since shortly after
opening it he'll fire four consecutive bombs at you, so you need to move quick
and smart. Also, the two tanuki boxes here hold the fire ball and windmill
sword, so use the one you prefer.
Once defeated, all the balls will flow up to the sky, and peace once again
returns... Only for you to return to Aosame castle again for a 2nd playthrough!
Well, the game might not give you much credit so let me personally say -
congratulations for beating Nazo no Murasame Jou! I hope I've been of some
during this, well, pretty short but challenging quest.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VIII. FAQ
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This guide is new, so I haven't got any questions yet! If I get any I will be
updating this section. Feel free to send them to
[email protected]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IX. Fun Facts
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In this section I've listed some fun facts that haven't really fit any other
place in this walkthrough.
-----------------------
Permanent Invincibility
-----------------------
The total amount of life that Takamaru can collect is 99 and once collected he
will become permanent invincible! As you might expect I haven't tried this out
myself, since this requires multiple playthroughs and, well, getting so good
at the game that you almost never die. I haven't been able to find a video of
this either so yeah, really just a fun fact and something that gives further
playthroughs some additional meaning.
------------
Castle names
------------
Every castle has the kanji (chinese character) for "rain" in it, which is
pronounced as "same" in all castle names. Other than that, every castle
(except for Murasame castle, where "mura" stands for village) has a color in
the name.
- Aosame Jou = Blue Rain Castle
- Akasame Jou = Red Rain Castle
- Ryokusame Jou = Green Rain Castle
- Momosame Jou = Pink Rain Castle ("momo" can also mean the fruit "peach" in
japanese)
- Murasame Jou = Village Rain Castle (but the word can also mean rain that is
very harsh and reoccuring.)
--------------------------
Names of enemies and items
--------------------------
Not all names used in this guide are official (i.e. taken from the manual),
and instead I've made up a fitting name for case of simplicity. For example,
the ninja commanders have no names but are listed after number, which isn't
very useful to quickly reference something. Other things that lacks a name are
all hazards and the armour item.
--------------------------
Takamaru Cameo Appearances
--------------------------
Despite in many ways being a forgotten character from a forgetten game,
Takamaru has recently figured in many recent games in one or other way.
He appeared in the 2008 action-adventure game Captain Rainbow, starring
a fallen action hero. It also stars several other forgotten Nintendo heroes.
He appeared in the 2009 hack and slash game Samurai Warriors 3 as an
exclusive character in the Wii version. In it, you can play as Takamaru as he
fights his way through the Murasame Castle mode, but you can unluck him for
other modes by collecting 33 tanukis in the castle.
A Nazo no Murasame Jou stage involving Takamaru also appeared in the 2010
WarioWare D.I.Y., a mini-game compilation, in which you have to use the
invisibility technique to avoid enemy attacks.
His most recent appearance is in the 2012 Wii U release title Nintendo Land,
which has an entire stage named after him: Takamaru's Ninja Castle. In this,
you battle through several castle levels while throwing shurikens at enemy
ninjas.
Takamaru also appeared as a sticker in the 2008 game Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
X. Thanks to...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
..GameFAQs for being there and I'm happy to finally contribute something
myself.
..Nintendo for giving me so many memories over the years, and still giving
me new ones every year.
..Banjo2553 for his FAQ/Walkthrough for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight
Princess. It was a huge inspiration, and is the best guide I've read
up to date.
..ASchultz and Kefka83 for their very useful maps for the game.
..Nintendo Wikia for having a quick reference for all games which Takamaru
has been in.
..The Super Smash community which got me interested in Takamaru and Nazo no
Murasame Jou in the first play. Here's hoping he will be in the new Super
Smash games for 3DS and Wii U!
