Save Japan from Westernization! Let's Play Ganbare Goemon 2!

When I look at L'il Doskoi I don't think he's attacking. It looks more like he's freaking out and saying something like:
"Whoa! Hey, why don't we all just calm down and be cool? OK? Nobody else needs to get hurt. So how about you just put the fan down before that happens? You don't really want to hurt anyone else, right? We can talk this out. Don't worry - everything will be alright."

ばってん　かいどう　（罰点街道） (batten kaidou) almost literally means crossroad. Batten means cross (as in an X), and kaidou means main road or highway. Google Translate comically translates it as "residential demerit".

Mediators are always the first casuality of war. I should know, I played FFT.

I remember that I played through one of the Japan-only Goemon games... Looks like it was this one! Anyways, I'm going to vote for Sasuke next, as he was always my preferred character in this and the N64 game.

Interesting! I figured it had some legit explanation, though I like my nonsense profiles more.

Anyway, I'm going to go ahead and choose Sasuke for Area 2, so I'll see ya'll in the next update, whenever that is! Probably in a few days since I'm not doing the entire Area at once.

This site is surprisingly comprehensive in covering Goemon's cultural allusions. It only covers the first SNES game, but there's naturally a lot of overlap.

Hmmm, yeah that's pretty useful. I get a lot of the later references in Ganbare Goemon 2, the Komuso probably being the only one I flat-out missed, but the info there will probably come in handy.

Alright, let's get going again. Ebisumaru's hitting the bench, and for the next Area of the game we'll be using Sasuke. Good thing, too, the early levels in Area 2 have tricky jumps.



Here's our first stage, which the walkthrough titles 'Log Bridge Road'. Well we have 'Kaidou' again, and I think 'Maruta' can mean logs or timber or something like that.



Music: Log Bridge Road

Oh and get this: It's an auto-scrolling stage! Hoo-freakin'-ray. Well lucky for you guys this isn't a video LP so it shouldn't make as much of a difference on your end.

Once the stage gets moving we come across a brand new enemy! Didn't take long.


Name: Pyro Lantern
Function: Enemy
Disposition: Float back and forth across the screen, spitting two fireballs occasionally
Durability: Goes to pieces in one hit
Profile: Pyro Lanterns love to burn things, and often make long treks across the countryside to find new timber to burn. A number of them swarm around Log Bridge Road hoping to light it on fire. They fly around the screen, occasionally pausing to spit out two fireballs at the ground.

Lanterns are surprisingly tricky to hit with Sasuke's basic weapon, since he needs to be up close to hit something with it, and it's hard to predict when they will stop moving. I wind up taking a lot of hits in this stage thanks to them.



After a couple of lanterns another new enemy approaches!


Name: Disgruntled Carpenter
Function: Enemy
Disposition: Marches forward, occasionally throws a hammer
Durability: Goes down in a hit
Profile: The Disgruntled Carpenters spent most of the past year working on Log Bridge Road, only to be stiffed out of their fee when they finished. They now wander up and down the road, harassing travelers by assaulting them while wearing ogre masks and doing damage to the logs that support it.

This stage is pretty much all lanterns and carpenters all the time. It really sucks when you get a bunch of each type together and you just can't catch a break.



New vehicle time???


Name: Bubble Blower
Function: Someone got the bright idea to combine the Fish Waver and the Mice Buggy, it seems. The Bubble Blower is as slow on land as the Fish Waver, despite being on wheels, though since this is an auto-scrolling stage the speed isn't as much of a hindrance. Its main weapon is a bubble which makes a hilarious clown horn-like noise when you fire it.

The Bubble Blower isn't a good vehicle, but it's useful in this stage if for nothing else than to take a few hits for the player. Since its rate of fire is so slow, however, it's easy to get really overwhelmed while riding it.



Still, its damage-absorbing properties make it useful enough to take along. Sasuke knocks the top off, and tosses the Hoppers McGee riding it out on its fluffy tail.



One interesting note about this stage, if you hadn't noticed it pretty much has the same background as Dusky Way, though brighter. Disabling one of the background layers reveals the sun which was setting on the Dusky Way stage hidden behind where the mountains are. Pointless, but nifty!



This stage also has moving platforms, which can get a little tricky due to the auto-scrolling. Here, two logs extend out to meet each other before retracting entirely. You don't really want to be caught on the left side of these. While they move fast enough that it's not likely you'll wind up trapped as the scrolling shoves you into the pit, it's still not something you want to risk happening.



Eventually after suffering too many hits due to being large and slow the Bubble Blower explodes leaving Sasuke to fend for himself for the rest of the stage. Really, coming across two lanterns at once while riding the Bubble Blower is bad news, as I mentioned before the rate of fire is really slow so you won't get them both down before the second one spits some fire at you.



Sasuke cuts it close here, and hits the Checkpoint.



After the Checkpoint the stage starts throwing this gimmick at us. The scrolling comes to a stop as a Disgruntled Carpenter walks up to the edge of a log and starts sawing. While Sasuke could barely make the jump even if the log is sawed off, you don't want to have to do it if it's not necessary. These Disgruntled Carpenters can take a few hits before going down, but really aren't worth a separate profile.

Incidentally, I love the expression on its face in the middle screenshot.



Another one marches out to saw off part of the road, and this time some of his friends run up from behind to distract Sasuke. Their AI is a bit weird here, sometimes they'll run forward and jump onto the log, sometimes they'll come to a cold stop on the edge of the previous platform and throw hammers, and sometimes they'll come to a stop and just do nothing.



After a bunch of falling logs, we see another gimmick about this stage. That monster down there doesn't look all that friendly, and I'll give you three guesses as to what he's here to do.

Yeah it should've been obvious. The first ogre (Oni? Cyclops? I'm not sure what the specific reference is here) just pokes its head up and hides again, but every one that shows up after that punches the road above it. If you're standing in the center when its fist hits then you're falling.

The fist will always come when the autoscrolling brings it to the center of the screen, but you can also trigger it early by running ahead to the proper spot. It's not a bad idea to get the hole made in advance sometimes to be ready for it, though since Sasuke is the best jumper of the three it's not really an advantage he needs.



As you can see here, in the third screenshot I waited for the fist to trigger automatically right in the center of the screen, where in the one above this I triggered it a bit early.

There's only a few of these guys, which cap off the stage. In fact,



The scrolling comes to a stop and the Tanuki Statue appears.

I guess this is a good time to mention this, since this is the first proper stage clear without a vehicle. The Tanuki Statue is solid once you bust it open, you can walk through it while its still whole but once you attack it the bottom portion that remains cannot be walked through. Well, calling it 'solid' is a bit misleading, as you cannot stand on top of it either, if you try to you'll just slip off to one of the sides. This means you have to jump around frantically to get as much Ryo as possible. The only exception to this, which you saw in the first update, is when you're riding a vehicle. Not only does doing so put your character's sprite right on top of the Ryo spawning point, but vehicles, for some reason, are able to pass through the Tanuki statue's bottom half. I'm not entirely sure why, but it works to the player's advantage.



Anyway, Sasuke took a bit of damage in that stage, so he heads back to Satsuma Town and takes a quick nap. The Inn has three options for sleeping, each which restores a certain amount of energy: 50 Ryo, 120 Ryo, and 200 Ryo. This is the 120 Ryo room and is good enough to refill Sasuke's energy entirely.



After Log Bridge Road you get a choice of two stages, however since most of you just wanted me to do all the stages as I go through the Areas, I'll be doing them both. First I hit the south and enter, what the walkthrough calls, 'Goofy Woods'.

I don't really think that's accurate. I mean, I think 'Touge' can mean a mountain pass, which kind of reflects the stage, but I have no idea what 'Kibi' means in this case, but I don't think it's 'Goofy'.



Music: Goofy Woods

Though that music might have something to do with why the walkthrough writer went with the name he did, it sure is goofy!

The name of the game in this stage, for the most part, are those moving stone platforms which occasionally divide the stage up between an upper and lower area. Though early on the upper and lower parts are so short they may as well not be considered different parts of the stage, though there is a part near the end where there is a distinct divide.

I see a new enemy!


Name: General McGee
Function: Enemy
Disposition: Runs straight forward, sometimes jumps up to a platform or down off of one
Durability: Same as Hoppers McGee
Profile: General McGee likes to lord his authority over the other bunny soldiers of McGuiness's army, even though he really doesn't have any. But when you have a mustache like that, it commands respect. Despite appearing to be a higher class of soldier, all he really does differently from a Hoppers McGee is sometimes jump up to a platform, or down off of one. It is, at least, more initiative than most will take.



Sasuke comes upon some tree stumps elevated off the ground, and takes the high road until he spots yet another new enemy down below, and goes to investigate.


Name: Samurai Dan
Function: Enemy
Disposition: Marches back and forth, becomes enraged when struck
Durability: One of the few standard foes requiring more than one hit, takes three before going down
Profile: Samurai Dan wishes the other members of McGuiness's army would leave him alone, but they love to hit and smack him and marvel that he doesn't immediately explode like all the others. The abuse has caused him to fly into a rage at the lightest tap and charge the nearest offender.



Taking Samurai Dan out, Sasuke suffers a hit, but immediately finds another Fortune Doll from a General McGee. Since I picked one up but failed to screenshot it in Log Bridge Road, I'll take this time to talk about Sasuke's weapon.

His default weapon has the shortest range of the three characters, and he needs to be really close to an enemy to hit them with it. This changes with his LV 2 weapon, though, which turns into a straight projectile that flies across the screen and consumes no Ryo to use.

I should also mention that striking an enemy with his LV 1 weapon, or in melee range with the others, will slice the enemy in half. It's the special function of his weapon. Not quite as amusing as Ebisumaru's punting them into the background, but it's something!

However, killing enemies with the LV 2 weapon prevents them from dropping Fortune Dolls and Ryo. This is because it's a projectile. I think it's something the programmers put in place to keep the player from just sticking to the character's projectile weapons the entire time and constantly picking up more 'ammo' to replace what they spend. Anything killed with a projectile doesn't trigger a drop.

Does this mean Sasuke is stuck with his LV 2 weapon? Thankfully, no. If he's close enough to an enemy he'll instead swing his Kunai instead of throwing it, doing melee damage and allowing Ryo and Fortune Dolls to drop from the enemy. His LV 3 weapon (which I don't have a screenshot of in this update, I'll try for the next one!) is basically just two thrown Kunai, one straight ahead and one up at an angle. Though it's possible with the LV 3 Kunai to fire a spread of 8 outward, I'm still not entirely sure what triggers it. I'll see if I can figure it out. In the meantime,



The level throws a large bottomless pit at Sasuke, with moving platforms to help him cross. Yet another platformer staple. Sasuke's speed and agility makes these jumps fairly trivial.



On the other side of the pit are a bunch of narrow platforms, which hold a nasty surprise to anyone who hasn't played a Mega Man game before: enemies that leap up from the pit as you get close.


Name: Crunch Muncher
Function: Enemy
Disposition: Leaps up from pits whenever something tasty gets close
Durability: Back to one-hit-wonders again
Profile: Crunch Munchers resent their role in McGuiness's army which keeps them hidden away off the bottom of the screen. No friends, no TV, and no food. Suffice to say they become a bit antsy in waiting, and waste no time leaping from their hiding place whenever a target gets close. They tend to jump the gun, though, making them easy to predict.

Unlike most Mega Man games where if you try to beat the pit-jumping enemy by out-jumping it you'll just be hit and fall to your death, Sasuke is able to clear these guys with a single jump without having to stop and wait and/or destroy them. This is partly due to his speed, partly due to the way his hitbox shrinks a bit when he does his spinning jump. Ebisumaru would just take the hit, unless timed perfectly.

A few Crunch Munchers later, and a rather obnoxious Samurai Dan patrolling a tiny platform, Sasuke leaves the bottomless pits behind him and is suddenly ambushed from above by yet another new foe.


Name: "Top Bun" McGee
Function: Enemy
Disposition: Dives down from the top of the screen, and flies around dropping rocks
Durability: One hit, like all McGees
Profile: Part of McGuiness's aerial troops, "Top Bun" McGee uses its ears as makeshift propellers and attacks unsuspecting do-gooders with a barrage of rocks and dive-bombs. They like to attack in groups and mix up their attack patterns to keep their opponents off-balance.



The next part of the stage is fairly flat, thankfully, which makes fighting off the swarm of flying bunnies a bit easier, but it's not long before the stage throws more pits at you.



The Checkpoint comes a bit later in this stage, as this is something like the 2/3rds mark. They're not guaranteed to show up in the very middle.



The stage 'splits up' again, either letting the player jump down to more solid ground or stick to the treetops stumps. Unlike the beginning of the stage, though, there's an advantage to sticking with the top this time.



A few moving platforms eventually bring you higher up in the stage where you can find Money Boxes and pots full of Ryo. Going the bottom route just gives you a whole lot of nothing, like some kind of sucker.



And here's the stage goal already! See? The Checkpoint was damn late in that stage.



The way forward to the new town is already available, but we're going back to beat that other stage first. Because that's what the public demanded!

The walkthrough calls this stage 'Log Lake', though I see 'Touge' there again, which I don't think is right. The first word is 'Inaba' so I can only assume this takes place in what will eventually be the town where Persona 4 occurs. I hope there's no evil man-eating TVs!

(and yes I grabbed that screenshot after beating the level, I forgot the first time through)



Music: Log Lake

Well whatever the stage is really called, it sure has nice upbeat music.

This stage features the return of Ryukyu Resort's tileset and background, but with a dusky color scheme.



Also, there is only one thing and one thing only about this stage: tricky-ish jumps over a giant bottomless pit. Very few enemies here, just a lot of jumps.

The platforms in this image act kind of like scales. As long as you're standing on a platform that side will sink down to its bottom-most threshold while the other side will rise up. Jumping rapidly will cause them to balance out again, which you'll need to do now and them to be able to jump with enough height in a few places.



This is another stage made quite a bit easier with Sasuke. I knew you guys wouldn't steer me wrong with this LP!

That jump between the two platforms in the last screenshot is one you'll want to make as close to the platform's neutral position as possible. If the one on the left is at its bottom-most position you'll have a hard time reaching the other. I made the mistake of immediately jumping before taking that picture, making it look like the platform under Sasuke was pre-lowered.



Finally, an enemy appears! A new one at that! What do we have here?


Name: Mini-Roly
Function: Enemy
Disposition: Doesn't move on its own, but is launched easily!
Durability: One hit knocks it out of the park
Profile: The Mini-Roly enjoys staying exactly where it is and isn't interested in bothering anyone else. Which would be great if their favorite place in the whole entire world weren't part of a series of platforms which launched them directly at someone who happens to land on the opposite side. These guys don't mean to be an obstacle, it just sort of happens!

This enemy can be a pain with anyone but Sasuke. Much like the Crunch Munchers above, Sasuke has just enough speed and lift to be able to clear these guys if he jumps immediately after sending them flying. the timing isn't too hard to get down, but it's not something you should try with the other two. Fortunately, you can still avoid the Mini-Roly with them by ducking on the left side platform when you land on it and wait for it to sail over your head.

A series of Mini-Rolies eventually lead to a very small solid platform with a Money Box on it. No Checkpoint yet, still more stage to go.



Here we have the second type of platform in the level. When you land on one of the two platforms in this configuration, they will both swing down and meet under the spiked center, after pausing for a moment they'll both swing around and meet up top, and will continue like that so long as the player is on one of the two platforms.

We also see a second new enemy. I need stats stat!


Name: Super-Roly
Function: Enemy
Disposition: Stays right in your way
Durability: Goes down in one smack
Profile: While the Mini-Roly doesn't wish to make a nuisance of itself and only does so by happenstance, the Super-Roly exists only to be a dick to everyone passing through Log Lake. It won't get launched off its platform like its little brother, but is still large enough to make jumping on the edge of its platform to avoid it impossible. You need to stand on its platform to proceed, and you'll have to destroy it to do that, despite the fact it doesn't fight back. Even when killing it, they just want to make you feel bad. What a dick.



The stage throws a few more of this new set-up of platform at you, complete with free Money Boxes hanging mysteriously in mid-air. They make a tempting target to go for, and most of them are within easy reach. But a few are placed just so to trick you into walking off the edge of a platform to reach them when a well-placed jump would be fine.



Finally, the Checkpoint. And now the stage starts mixing the platform types up. Thankfully, they never mix up the enemy types, you'll always find Mini-Rolies on the balancing platforms and the Super-Rolies on the swinging platforms.



After that section there's a long, though empty, piece of solid ground which the player might think signals the end of the stage. But nope, there's one last section to go. And a new type of enemy to boot!


Name: Whirly Dhirly
Function: Enemy
Disposition: Moves up and down the screen
Durability: As flimsy as they look
Profile: The Whirly Dhirlies come out of nowhere and assault anyone riding the twin stone platforms. They move slowly, starting at either the bottom or top of the screen and make their way up or down the screen to the other end. They don't move horizontally at all, as that goes against their beliefs of a single-axis existence.



These guys move slow, but they're mostly there to get the player to make a mistake and fall while trying to attack them.

Also, the two stone platforms at the end of the stage here don't start moving until the player jumps on them. And you have to jump on them both to get them both moving, they're not connected. You could just take one if you wanted, but that leaves you with less space to move and attack.



Finally the stage comes to an end. I haven't mentioned this before, I don't think, but Tanuki Statues always fall from the top of the screen. They're never 'just there' at the end. The screen just stops scrolling all of a sudden, and bam! Giant Tanuki Statue from above.



Back to the World Map we finally move onto that town, which happens to be called 'Konami Town'. Strangely, while there are a couple of cameos from other Konami games in Ganbare Goemon 2, you won't find them here.



Music: Town

First thing Sasuke does is chow down and restore some energy, which is convenient since the first building in Konami Town is the restaurant. The 120 Ryo dish, much like the 120 Ryo visit to the Inn, restores Sasuke's bar and a half of depleted energy.



Two guards won't let Sasuke by for some reason. Turns out you need some kind of Pass, which you can buy in the shop for a whopping 480 Ryo. Reluctantly, Sasuke hands it over.

Also available at this shop is the next level of armor, which will take two collision hits for you. Sasuke leaves it for now.

The Pass stays in this shop's inventory even after you buy one, despite the fact that you can't buy a second.



Showing the pass to the two guards gets them to let us through. It's possible some of the NPCs in town may talk about why this blockade is in place, but as far as the gameplay is concerned the game just wants you to fork over 480 Ryo to proceed.

Before we move on by the guards, let's backtrack a bit and visit the other section of town. Along the way we see a blue-robed girl who, like the old lady and red-robed girl from Satsuma Town, appear randomly and benefit the player when they bump into them.


Name: Young Woman 2: Electric Boogalo
Function: Restores one bar of energy.



In the first area of Konami Town, before the barricading guards, there is a path leading to another smaller area. Here we find the town's Travel Center, and see a new kind of NPC who ignores you, but goes after you when you hit them.


Name: Ornery Yojimbo
Function: NPC with violent tendencies
Disposition: Wanders town with other NPCs, goes batshit if struck
Durability: Two hits, one to get them to go nuts, another to put em down
Profile: These town NPCs won't summon the guards if you hit them, but they'll just do the job themselves instead. Best to just leave them be, no matter how hilarious their enraged face is.



Also in that section of town is this lady. She'll invite the player to play a dice game with her. I do so and bet 200 Ryo.



Basically, here's how it works. You're prompted to pick one of two options. The first, 'Dai', or the second, 'Shou'.

She will then roll three giant dice. If the total is 10 or under and you picked Shou, you win. If it's 11 or over and you picked Dai, you win. And you lose if you pick the other option in those results.

It's pretty much a 50/50 chance to double your Ryo. (there are 16 possible results, 8 Dai and 8 Shou, since it's not possible to total a 1 or a 2 with three dice) An interesting diversion, I suppose I can see why they'd put it in the same town where you have to blow 480 Ryo on a plot coupon to move forward.

Anyway.



In this town we also come across the Bath House for the first time in the area past the guards.



For 250 Ryo you can either take a bath in the men's or women's side. It's pretty funny how the old lady at the front will be all like 'sure, go ahead and dive in with the rest of the ladies'. Though they don't seem to mind either.

But there's one important reason for hitting the baths over stuffing your face and taking a nap. Take a look at the fourth screenshot. Take a good look. Notice anything different?

Like a fourth energy bar?

Yup, springing for the baths pretty much gives you the same effect as a Golden Fortune Doll. Which is good, since I don't think they're found outside of Fortresses, and you cannot revisit Fortress stages. Not even with Super Mario World's L+R trick.

You can do this twice and max out your energy, though it'll cost you 500 Ryo each time you save and restart or get a game over. Nice to have it though.



Doing a bit of talking time around the town doesn't get me very far due to the language barrier. Though I do like the business suit-clad guy in the second screenshot casually holding up the Konami Logo. Ancestor of Konami's founder perhaps?



In the far corner of the town is this temple-looking place. There's no way inside, though.

Also, there's this NPC. Much like the Ornery Yojimbo, hitting these folks won't call the guards on you. They don't fight back though, they just kind of get up and keep walking, pathetically dragging their enormous bag of stuff with them.



Well enough of this jank, Sasuke exits Konami Town and opens away to the Area 2 Fortress!

Buuuuuuuuuuuuut we're not going there yet. Back to town!



If you go back to the locked temple you'll see a lone barrel. If you attack it you'll break it and reveal a ladder. Going down, you'll enter a short tunnel with some free Money Boxes and a secret exit.



The secret exit opens up a hidden path on the World Map to a secret stage! I'm not sure if this is hinted at from the NPCs or what, but a secret is a secret!

We'll pick up there in our next update! Stay tuned!

This game has some pretty good music.

All three Goemon games on the SNES we missed out on have pretty great music. If they didn't I probably wouldn't have went to the trouble of ripping SPCs from all of them, and if I didn't do that I might not even be doing this LP now.

hey, don't forget about Soreyuke Ebisumaru!

actually it's probably okay to forget about Soreyuke Ebisumaru. but it has good music too!

The enemy/townsfolk descriptions are awesome, keep up the good work (oh, and the LP is good too).

I haven't played any of the Goemon games (I should get around to playing Mystical Ninja), so I was pretty suprised when the music was THIS good. Guess this was Konami in their heyday.

Konami games on the SNES did have some great music, yeah. That's not even counting the Contra and Castlevania stuff, or the other Goemon games which I'll hopefully get to later.

That's great! It's funny what was censored in the past by NOA but the Racoon Dog makes it through.

For my 1991 money Legend of Mystical Ninja has the best Goemon soundtrack ever..(and it's a huge soundtrack too)...the music in the later sfc sequels became more 'boingy boingy this is so goofy!' music instead of the jazz fusion magic in LOTMN.

THIS TRACK IS ON FIRE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDapmQngM6s

0:45 - 1:00 is EXACTLY what 16-bit megaman games shoulda sounded like but they went for bad synth guitar instead...

This one is just plain beautiful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c3zmV22r04

I like the boingy boingy goofy music of the Goemon games from this one onward, though I'll agree the first SNES game had some great tunes to it too.

My personal favorite is Ohedojyo Castle Dungeon, mostly because it's a remix from the first stage BGM from the first game on the NES (And Goemon's theme from Wai Wai World). It was heard again in the Goemon medley from Stage 4 of Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius (around the 30 second mark).

If Konami ever decided to revive the series (in a way that wasn't terrible) I certainly wouldn't complain if they borrowed the musical elements more from the first SNES game than the derpalicious goofyness from the games that followed.

Anyway, next update in a couple of days hopefully!

Seriously that GBA game oh my god they turned Impact into an Evangelion.

Yeah, that 2001 ps2 game looked shockingly bad, but the DS Game looked nice... Never got to play it...

it's pretty good! not quite up to par with the SNES games, but easily the best one released since the N64 era.

I imported it along with the GBA port of the first two SNES games when Konami rereleased them at budget price! it was a sound investment.

This LP is delightful, Spoons.

Fight, Goemon! For everlasting peace!

Seriously, that looks (and appears to play) more like Mega Man X with a short-range weapon than Goemon. Hell, that opening stage appears to have been ripped directly from the opening stage of Mega Man X! Way to miss the point, Konami.

I'm not a fan of new Goemon either. The DS game actually looks pretty nice. It's reminiscent of Okami.

The 'New Age' games (one on GBA and, bafflingly, one on PSX) were all kinds of awful, and seemed to be quite transparently aping the 'Mega Man X' series by setting it hundreds of years later with an edgier design. It failed miserably, though. Thankfully I doubt Konami would go that route again, as they even poke fun at the New Age design in the DS game I think.

Anyway, is it time for an update? I think it's time for an update.



Welcome back friends, it's time to continue our adventure to save fuedal Japan from an evil foriegn man and his army of bunny men. Speaking of bunnies, it's time for our next stage! The hidden level, Bunny Valley.

Well, that's what the walkthrough calls it. 'Touge' is there again, and from what I can gather 'Kishuu' is an old term for the end of Autumn, none of these things mean 'Bunny'.



Music: Bunny Valley

The name of the game in this stage once again is wacky platform shenanigans. The entire stage is littered with platforms that swing back and forth at set intervals. Though they all have their own pattern, and some seem almost designed to trip you up. Fortunately there's more solid ground on this stage than in Log Lake.



Sasuke quickly comes across a brand new enemy not too far into the stage. Let's make up some silly thing to call it bring up some totally factual stats!


Name: Prickly Daruma
Function: Enemy
Disposition: Circles around whatever platform it's attached to
Durability: INVEEEEENCIBLE
Profile: Prickly Darumas spend their time going in circles, in both their jobs and their personal lives. They're stuck in a rut more than any other minion in McGuiness's army and is physically incapable of getting out of it. Unless they were attached to a platform which directed them out of said rut. But they'd just circle around and go back into it eventually, it's a sad existance.



Sasuke quickly dispatches a lone Hoppers and moves on. Gotta admire his guts in charging the guy who's already sliced apart dozens of his buddies alone.

The Daruma in the third image looks a little odd since their sprites have a flashing/shining animation.



Another new enemy rears its ugly horsehead. Sasuke foolishly walks right into its line of fire.


Name: Severed Ed
Function: Enemy
Disposition: Rooted to the ground, occasionally rises up to spit a projectile.
Durability: Sent to the glue factory in one swipe
Profile: Severed Ed is the horse of Mr. P'tooie, and shares his master's miserable existance. He hides in the ground, and rises up to spew a torrent of fire. Shorter range than P'tooie's projectile, but a bit trickier to avoid.

Looking in that first screenshot, there's something ELSE peculiur...


Name: Angry Eyebrows Checkpoint
Function: Like any other Checkpoint, but angry!

Wish I had an explanation here, but the Checkpoint in this stage is mad at you for some reason! It doesn't steal any Ryo or health, and if you die in the stage you'll still start at the Checkpoint so it's not a fake.



Anyway, moving on, Sasuke succeeds in taking down one Severed Ed, only to be burnt by the one that follows. Since they're invisible until they pop up it can be hard to time when you should drop in and attack. The time between them popping out and spewing fire is really small.



Platforms. Hoppers. Platforms.

Spikes have been thrown into the mix now (spiiiiiiiiiiiiiiikes!), so you can no longer safely land on the center platform while jumping around the swinging ones.



The platforms also start swinging you up into spikes if you're not careful. You can avoid these if you're ducking, though.



Yeah, Sasuke stupidly took a hit from a Hoppers, of all things, in that first screenshot, hence why he's invisible. I wish I remember what happened between the first and second to cause him to get hit a bunch more times, giving him his low life. I think I fell and had some bad spike luck.



Finally, the end is reached. However, there is an oddity in this stage! The exit platform is high up in the stage, but there is solid ground far below it.



A second exit Tanuki is found down there, but instead of Ryo this one spews out raccoons. If you haven't completed the stage yet and strike this exit, then the World Map won't let you continue on. If you re-enter the stage after striking this exit it at least has the decency to drop you off at the Angry Checkpoint. Assuming you picked it up of course.



There's one other oddity in this stage. This platform here is high above the stage's starting point. Thing is, there's nothing here. No secret exit, no items, not even any enemies. Just a mysterious dead end.

Anyway, exiting Bunny Valley properly leads you to this new town: Karakuri World, though the walkthrough and SPC sets call it 'Circo Puerto'.



Music: Circo Puerto

Welcome to mini-game central! Hey, those doors clearly say 'Circo Porto', not Puerto! Past-me couldn't even get that right when he tagged those SPCs!

Huh... Circo Porto... where does...



Huh!

According to The Internet: "The "Circo Porto" coin is not Italian, but is in-fact Japanese. It is a game token purchased in a Japanese arcade for use on the coin-operated machines. Konami (a very popular Japanese videogame company) have (or had, I don't know if they are still operational) a chain of large game arcades called Circo Porto. The logo for this brand is exactly the same as the one on the token in question. This logo has featured on background scenery on at least three Konami videogames from the mid nineties."

Three Konami games eh? Well there's Ganbare Goemon 2, Gokujyo Parodius, I wonder what the third one was?

Anyway, looking a couple of screenshots back we saw some shady-looking dude!


Name: Fumbles the Thief
Function: Robs you if you foolishly go near him. You can freely attack him without fear of reprisal from the guards.



Fumbles will steal 100 Ryo from you if you're not careful, and there's a LOT of them around Karakuri World. If you attack them after they rob you then you get 50 Ryo back, but they still run off with the other 50! Also, the color of their clothes matches the clothes of the kids running around, so if you attack too carelessly you might hit a kid by mistake. Best to just keep an eye out and avoid them entirely.



Anyway, Karakuri World is broken up into three screens, a south a north and a middle. We start off in the southern section, so let's move to the far right and move our way left and hit each house in turn.

The first house contains a mini-game!



Music: Memory Game

The first mini-game is essentially a Memory game. Find matching pairs.

You play opposite the CPU, who will also try to find matching pairs. You can't flip a card it currently has flipped, and vice-versa. Fortunately the AI is programmed to act pretty dumb, and it's not hard at all to win here, which nets you a few hundred Ryo.



Music: Circo Puerto Porto

Moving further left we enter the next house, and come across Rocket Knight! Not entirely sure what he has to say, though.



Further to the left, another mini-game!



Music: Devil Bazooka

So this game involves...

...

That music sounds awfully familiar. Like, suspiciously familiar. I know I've heard it somewhere before...



Huh.

So I guess Guts Man composed the music to Ganbare Goemon 2! Who would've thunk it?



Anyway, silly ancient flash videos aside this mini-game features two devils/oni with hula-hoops firing bazookas at each other. Yup. Your goal is to hit the other guy more before the timer runs out. When the player or the CPU is hit they'll be frozen in place, forced to swing the hula-hoop for a few moments. If you get frozen you're pretty much a sitting duck, as is the other guy. Unfortunately in this particular match the CPU was much more accurate and kind of trounced me badly.

I mean, 13-53??? Ouch.



Music: Circo Porto

Devil Bazooka is the last house in the south area, (there was an NPC's house somewhere there I forgot to capture, but he just says Karakuri World is Japan's first giant amusement park or something like that) and moving up from the far end takes you straight to the northern area of Karakuri World. The first house we see there is a Fortune Teller.

If you pay the Fortune Teller 50 Ryo you'll pretty much get a chance to run into four old ladies right outside, who give you 200 Ryo in total. Their appearance rate seems to be more than 25%, so in theory you could do it over and over and over and come out ahead in cash...



Except that now and then instead of giving you money the four old ladies will flip their shit and try to fucking murder you.

You can't kill them either. Hitting them won't summon guards, but they won't die. Fortunately you can duck them by transitioning between screens, like losing angry guards. But the bottom line is that if you try and abuse the Fortune Teller to get money then you're going to take a hit now and then since you can't tell if the old ladies will go bonkers or not until you touch one of them, at which point you automatically take damage if they do.

Interestingly, if you come across an old lady in a town normally and you attack them you get the same result. It won't call the guards, but that old granny will chase you relentlessly until you change screens.



Moving on from the Fortune Teller off to the right we come across a building with a red roof (travel center) and another house. What will we find in here?

!!!

Well if it isn't Simon Belmont! I guess this is a popular place for Konami heroes to chill. He says something about feeling Dracula's presence in Japan, but wonders if it's just his imagination. Probably! I mean, Soma won't be around until 2035 or something.



Further to the right is another dude offering a mini-game. I think. He seems a little shifty, but why not! Let's play!



Music: Floor Sweeper

Floor Sweeper puts you in a Mario Kart-esque mode where you run around a track to 'collect' as many dirty spots on the floor as possible. You can find little time extensions here and there, but most of them aren't worth going out of your way for considering how little time is added. You get some Ryo at the end for every dirty mark cleaned up collected, and here I come away with an extra 15 Ryo. Y-yay?

Can't help but wonder if that guy just got me to sweep his floor for free...



Music: Circo Porto

To the right is another red-roofed building with an Inn. Since Sasuke took a lot of hits in the previous stage I spring for the 200 Ryo suite and recover it all.



The right-most house in the northern part of Karakuri World has another mini-game on the biggest TV in the world. Frank's 2000-inch TV be damned, I want one!

He offers us a chance to play for 100 Ryo, and we do so.



Music: Xexex Title, Xexex Stage

The game is Xexex, the most elaborate mini-game in Karakuri World, and is a single-stage shooter. The first Mystical Ninja game let you play Gradius for a stage, but this one at least mixes it up.

Aside from the usual gambit of space shootery where you get a number of power ups which alter your weapons for your flimsy die-in-one-hit ship, Xexex has one unique element going for it.



You can detach the front part of your ship which turns into this giant tentacle-thing and damages anything it contacts while flailing around.

Yeah.

Pressing B detaches it, and pressing B again causes it to reattach.

The Konami Code seems to do nothing, sadly.



Most of the stage is composed of giant colored balls, as are most of the enemies.



Fortunately, power ups allow you to increase the power of your B-button tentacle attack, as well as your standard shots.



Music: Xexex Boss

Just so ya'll know, back when I ripped the original SPC set for the game, I mis-timed the Xexex Boss SPC and it missed that first rising note. But I went back and got it properly for the youtube music, just for you guys.

The boss of Xexex is another monstrosity of colored balls, with a ring of colored balls orbiting it. It's taken out fairly easy with the B-button tentacle barrage. Afterwards, um, Princess Xexex I guess thanks you for saving her world. Hey, you're welcome vaguely 80s anime-ish looking lady.



Music: Circo Porto

With the north explored, we enter the middle area of Karakuri World. On the far left we see a shop with just one item for sale: An extra Mans for 1200 Ryo. They're pretty pricey, but if you have the cash you can buy as many as you want.



In the middle of the middle area we find a castle, where a woman inside proudly proclaims it as Karakuri World's ultimate attraction: VIRTUA HELL! (at least I think 'Virtua' is what 'baachya' means)

Buuuuut for one reason or another, as long as McGuiness is around and Oedo Castle is in jeopardy the attraction can't open. Phooey, so much for that, then!



And the final house in the middle section is a restaurant. Eh, we're full on life so Sasuke passes.



On the way back I stop in to Konami Town and buy some Iron Armor and a riceball before heading off to tackle the final stage of Area 2: Kabuki Fortress.



Music: Fortress

This stage has a persistent background effect through most areas, here it's a sort of confetti, later it's SOMETHING ELSE.

But what's this? New enemy!

Name: Buki McGee
Function: Enemy
Disposition: Runs straight forward, much like a Hoppers McGee but with a Kabuki wig
Durability: Dies if you look at it funny
Profile: The Buki McGee are wannabe Kabuki actors of McGuiness's army that are forced into battle while wearing a ridiculous wig and costume. This severely limits their mobility and makes them about as threatening as a bog-standard Hoppers McGee.



Another gimmick in this stage are these drum trampolines. If you hit the jump button just as you land on it you'll be sent higher. If you hit the jump button as you land on it after falling from a great height you'll go even higher still. Sadly, it won't propel you any higher than that. I'm not a fan of these platforms because the timing feels much trickier than it needs to be.

Worse still are segments where you need to cross gaps by jumping between them. The problem I have with them comes down to this: You need to successfully hit the jump button to get the extra height needed to make it across each gap. But you'll need to be holding right as soon as you jump to be able to make it. If you mis-time hitting the jump button though, which is easy to do, you won't get enough height and fall into the pit if you're holding the D-pad (which you need to do). It's just finickier than it needs to be.



Fortunately, if you stand on the outer-most edge of a drum you won't automatically bounce on it, and can jump normally which is usually enough to make it across each pit in this stage. Screw you wonky gimmickry!



I finally succeed at getting an enemy to drop a Fortune Doll while Sasuke is on his Lv2 weapon, so it's time to talk about his Lv3 weapon!



From a standing position you just fire a Kunai forward like the Lv2 weapon, but with an additional one fired up at an angle.

However if you're jumping and press the attack button while Sasuke is in his spinning frames of his jump animation he'll fire out eight Kunai out in a spread. You have to be sure to hit it when he's in those precise frames of his jump, else he'll just throw out the usual two.



Moving on, these umbrella platforms are reminiscent of the spinning tops in Top Man's stage in Mega Man III, in that they'll move your towards the edge and back again without throwing you off. Unlike the tops, though, you're also sliding downward the entire time, and will eventually fall off the bottom if you don't keep jumping while on one.



Reaching the end of the first section of the Fortress, we enter the second, a vertical shaft with a number of bamboo-spike-lined ceilings directly over drums. You have to be careful not to jump higher than you need to here or you'll be taking damage.



It's even worse near the top, you can't hit the jump button on that last drum at all, any more height beyond the basic automatic jump you do while on one will send you into the spikes.

And no, I'm not leaving this room without seeing what's in that jar.



Golden Fortune Doll! We're up to five bars of energy again!



The next section, immediately following a Checkpoint, introduces these fans which keep Sasuke suspended in the air while you're over one, and raises him if you tap the jump button rapidly.



Mind the larger gaps between fans, as you'll lose height rapidly falling between two of them, as you can see from the first and second screenshots here.



Landing on solid ground again we come across a unique stage hazard to this stage: rotating Kabuki Hair. They're almost like those fire bars from Super Mario Bros, though curved slightly. And made of hair.



This part of the stage is just a corridor with more of these rotating hair-bars, with a few Buki McGees thrown in. I guess you're avoiding hairs while avoiding hares.



A few hair-raising jumps later (hah!) we come across the next section, though not after Sasuke takes a careless hit. Thankfully the Iron Armor absorbs it, still two hits to go! Boy, this is a long stage!



This section is one giant room, you start in the bottom left corner and want to make it to the top right. The stage zig-zags a bit as you traverse the huge room.

There is, however, a very brief shortcut. There's an opening on the bottom right corner of the room, and entering it takes you...



... to the platform above the entrance of the room. It just throws you ahead a little bit, but I'll take it!

You can go two ways here: continue upward via drums, or go on to the right.




They both take you to the same exit, with the top-route dropping you down in front of it.



This next section really highlights how long the stage is by giving us a second checkpoint. Well at least Ganbare Goemon 2 is better than Super Mario Bros X since more than one checkpoint in a stage works!

I spy a new enemy!


Name: Bunker McGee
Function: Enemy
Disposition: Hides in the floor, and pops out to shoot
Durability: Invincible while hidden, is otherwise destroyed in one hit
Profile: Bunker McGees believe in 'smart' combat, by which they really mean cowardly. They are perfectly safe in their little floor bunkers, and gladly put up with how painfully uncomfortable they are in order to stay in one piece. If it weren't for the fact they are obligated by their contract to at least try to make a token effort to fight of the heroes they'd probably stay hidden forever. As it is, they pop out now and then and fire a single shot before hiding again.



A few Bunker McGees are hiding under bamboo tiles, forcing me to take this section slowly.

It's also important to note the lanterns lining the top of the section here. Many of them will suddenly come alight, catch on fire, and fall to the ground. They'll also do this if hit with your weapon, and wouldn't you know it! Sasuke's Lv3 weapon fires upward. Best to proceed carefully and not bring them all down on my head.



On the other side of those bamboo spikes, we find yet another new foe!


Name: Shown'off
Function: Enemy
Disposition: Rides around, balancing bombs on its umbrella
Durability: One hit from your normal weapons, though will also die after three explosions
Profile: The Shown'off is the polar opposite of the Bunker McGee, and goes out of its way to put itself in dangerous situations. Riding around a giant wooden wheel under perilous flaming lanterns while balancing a bomb on an umbrella? Pft, that's nothing! You should see what he does on Tuesdays! A single hit from your weapon will defeat Shown'off and leave his wheel behind, but if you detonate three of his bombs that will also do the trick.



Lanterns rain down on Sasuke for a bit, forcing the player to slow down.



Moving onward past a few more Shown'offs, Sasuke comes across a giant pit of bamboo spikes. Anyone with even a modicum of video-game-sense can probably figure out you need to ride the abandoned wheel across.




Sure enough. The wheels bounce upward when they come in contact with a burning lantern which fell to the floor in front of it, but they're not destroyed by it, so it's a simple ride across.

Reaching the end of the spike pit, we also hit the end of the section. What is waiting for us beyond there?

(There was a Golden Fortune Doll in that jar, but Sasuke has max energy and isn't damaged, so I left it)



Finally, we hit the boss's chamber! Who has McGuiness left in command of the Kabuki Fortress?



Why, none other than Kabuki! How... on the nose.

You remember Kabuki right? He was a boss in the first SNES game.



'Dis guy.

Though now I guess we should call him Cyber Kabuki, thanks to his new cybernetic upgrades. He's out for revenge, and he'll even betray Japan and team up with McGuiness to get it!

Kabuki also mentions a 'Maaburu-buru-sama', which was a name dropped in the end of Area 1 cutscene. Forgot to point that out back then.

Marble? Marvel? Marvel-Marble? I dunno.

Music: Boss Battle

And so the wacky boss battle music starts up again, and Kabuki launches his attack. The first thing he usually does is fly up in the air and fire out a number of electrical spheres which home in on the player one by one. They're invisible first due to flickering. After either suffering a hit, or flying off to one of the sides, Kabuki drops down and begins short-hopping across the ground.



His next attack is to send his electrified wig at us, which flies to the end of the screen before circling around and re-attaching itself to Kabuki's head.

This is a weird game, have I ever said that?



Kabuki flies back up in the air, and would repeat the electric sphere attack, but a flying Kunai from Sasuke sends him plummeting again.



I make the mistake of trying to jump over Kabuki as he hops across the ground. His hitbox is far too large for that, even when he's not in the air. As he hops he stays airborne long enough to let you crawl under him with plenty of room for error.



Though you can't see it in this screenshot, I screwed up again and tried to jump over Kabuki as he hopped along the ground instead of crawling under him, hence why Sasuke's weapon has finally been downgraded to Lv2, since the Iron Armor was spent in the previous hit.



Fortunately I'm not in any danger, as Kabuki is finally brought down. He manages to say that he'll see us in hell before exploding. Pft, I bet they'll never see HIM again.



And then the castle starts exploding because 'lol load-bearing boss'. No Impact fight this time around, though, as Sasuke simply runs outside, ending Area 2.



In the post-Area 2 cutscene, Goemon Ebisumaru and Sasuke meet up with Yae briefly. She mentions she has to hurry off to.. somewhere. I'm not sure what that kanji is in the second screenshot, but I think that's her destination.



JAPANESE FOR MEANWHILE



We finally see McGuiness, brooding over his recent defeats. He mentions the same location Yae did in the previous scene, and also something about a huge mecha. That can't be good for our heroes.

I like how he ends his sentance with an extended 'DE-SU'. It just reminds me a bit of Principal Kuno. In fact, I imagine his way of speaking is pretty similar to Principal Kuno's broken Japanese, given he's supposed to be a foriegner.

Anyway, with the end of Area 2, I'll call this update here! Time to vote for the character I'll be using in Area 3!

Bonus Video: Battle with Cyber Kabuki, and the end of Area 2 cutscene. (I let Kabuki's first text box stay up far too long, sorry bout that!)

Bonus Bonus Video: Hilarious Elder Abuse