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

A hard punch sends it flying back, but this robot likes to charge back in immediately, and I take a bit of damage before sending it back again.



This robot's other main attack is a super-charged projectile. It does massive damage if it connects, and guarding won't really help much, so you have to destroy it one of two ways.



You have to hit it with three solid punches. And they have to be strong punches, weaker ones won't do the trick. Each time you hit it you send it back a bit, so you have to have the timing down to avoid damage.

Also, you could rapid fire the projectile with the Nasal Medal, but you have to really be hammering the button to hit it enough to detonate it before it hits you.

Either way, it's tricky to escape this attack without taking the hit. Unless you use a pipe bomb. (So I guess there's 3 was to handle it, then)

Anyway, the fight is practically over, but before I finish it I'd like to mention what happens when you lose an Impact fight. I realized I forgot to talk about this last time while I was trying to record an AVI of the fight, and no matter how many times I recorded the battle in the emulator, it always desynched on me, so I could never export the AVI.



When you lose this fight you first get some dialogue of the boss taunting you.



And then even McGuiness himself pops into gloat, and says the operation was a success.

Though, I just love his exclamation of 'Berii Naisu DE-SU!'.



Music: World Map 2

After that, Impact explods and you're kicked back to the World Map, with a much more sinister BGM and limited options. You have Impact as your map sprite, instead of your player character, and you can only move between the Boss and the Destruction stage. If you choose to do the boss without doing the Destruction stage you'll only have about 300 energy and a small amount of Ryo, and no bombs. If you're in a hurry, maybe you'll want to select it, but if you died at the boss to begin with then it's not likely having fewer resources will help you.



Anyway, rewinding a bit, the General tells us to fall down to hell, juuuuuuuust as I fire my Pipe Bomb at him, as if saying 'NO U!'.



Like the last guy, the General can't believe he failed.



McGuiness appears to berate his minion, and leaves him to his fate.



With an audible cry of 'Oh my God', the robot explodes, ending Area 3.



We cut to Princess Yuki and her father (who has only ever been called 'Lord' in the localized games, so that's what I'll go by), tied up in a cell. Lord frets over their fate, while Princess Yuki assures them Goemon and the others must be hurrying to their rescue as fast as they can.



MEANWHILE FOR JAPANESE



Ha ha ha, it is funny because they aren't at all hurrying due to Ebisumaru eating.

*Sad Trombone*

And that's where I'll call it here. Now, some bits of housekeeping. We're about half-way through the game now, and it's time to hit the last three areas. Now that each of the three characters have had a turn, it's time to vote for who I'll take into Area 4!

As I mentioned before, I tried to record a video of the Impact Boss, but the darn emulator kept desynching on me, no matter how many times I re-recorded it. So, while I hate to do it, here's a link to some other guy's video of the Area 3 Impact Boss, and clear cut-scene. Hopefully the emulator will behave itself next time I want to record something.

And, finally, here's an animated Gif of the Area 3 Fortress Boss which completely conveys the experience of actually fighting it:



TSUZUKU

ふじみ (不死身) means "immortal", and わしょく (和食) means "Japanese food".

(I'm a professional video game translator, though I never worked on any games in the Ganbare Goemon series.)

Immortal eh? Doesn't really fit with the stage, unless it's a reference to an actual location or something. Still, I think I like the utter goofiness of 'Revenge of the Red Chef Blobs'.

I figured the Fortress had to be called something that related to Food, but I couldn't find anything for 'washoku' when I searched. Thanks!

Or whatever Japanese myth those faceless red guys are actually supposed to evoke.

This LP has shown me what many other resources online have failed to show:
The game supports TWO PLAYERS!

If anyone is daring to buy it before I do, one of the Berryessa Flea Market shops in San Jose has a cart of this very game. I opted not to purchase because I believed it didn't support two players. Foolish!

I was going to briefly touch on the 2-player aspect in a future post, but yes it does. Much like the first game on the SNES, it supports 2-player simultaneous play.

So, no votes for characters? If not I'll go with Ebisumaru for Act 4, Sasuke for Act 5, and Goemon for Act 6.

Sounds fine to me!

Yeah, if I was going to suggest something that probably would have been it.

Music: World Map

Hey welcome back folks! Let's continue playing some Ganbare Goemon 2, shall we?

It's time to hit Area 4. We're in the latter half of the game now, and have swapped back to Ebisumaru to take on the next few levels.



Music: Town

Area 4 starts off with a Town, Hagure Town to be precise. Not sure what the dude in the first house is talking about, though he mentions... a sunburn?



Further on is the town's shop. It's the first one that sells the Gold Helmet, which we buy. I leave his old gear from Area 1 (If I forgot to mention before, the characters keep whatever items they have when you swap back and forth, everything except their extended energy bar at least).



Further on, another NPC mentions... the Horo Horo spirit?

Now why does THAT sound familiar?



Come to think of it, this house looks a little bit like



Yeah, it kinda does. I think this is the very first town from Legend of the Mystical Ninja, folks! Perhaps the 'you've been traveling backwards through the locations of the first game' theory holds up after all!

Home sweet home! Let's crash for the night.



Gaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!

So apparently, this ... woman (?) decided to crash at Goemon's house while he was gone. She (?) insists that the house is Goemon's AND hers (?). She (?) then asks if you're jealous and does the 'Ohohohohoho' laugh.

Uh



Moving on!

Next door is an old man worried about Omitsu, who went sight-seeing at Oedo Castle. Since the castle has been relocated, it's safe to say she's gone with it.

I'm not sure if Omitsu was a character in the previous games (she appeared in the first SNES game, in the same house next-door to Goemon's even, but she wasn't named, at least not in the US release) but she seems to eventually become Goemon's love interest, or the closest thing to it anyway. This might be her first proper named appearance, and she's missing for it!

Omitsu has a habit of walking into an area that suddenly gets ripped from the ground and levitated up into the sky, it seems.



Oh right, he wasn't done talking. I think he asks Ebisumaru to save Omitsu. Will do!



We move up into the next area of town, fortunately the townspeople don't turn into ghosts this time.



The first house with the red curtain is just another Floor Sweeper game. Pass.

Further to the left is a restaurant, and another mini-game (Devil bazooka). Pass again.



Hey, the Horohoro Temple! Sadly, no Kid Dracula head hidden nearby.



And inside isn't the first level from the last game, just a tunnel with some Money Boxes, and an exit to a new stage!



This is probably where the writer of the walkthrough gave up trying to name the stages properly, as he calls this one 'Lava Caves', while a proper translation would be something like 'Site of Oedo Castle', or rather, where it was. Or, under where the castle was, since the level IS a cave.



Music: Lava Caves

As I said before, I didn't know any better when I ripped the SPC sets, so 'Lava Caves' it is!

We see a return of Severed Ed, and Ebisumaru sends it flying with his fan. I'm kind of disappointed not every enemy has a 'sent flying into the background' series of sprites. The ones that don't are simply sent flying diagonally up off the screen.



Oh hey, it's a brand new enemy! Let's do another of those factually incorrect enemy profiles!


Name: Drum Dragon and Mini-Mite
Profile: Drum Dragons are among the few elite members of McGuiness's army that take several hits to bring down. As a result they lord their extra endurance over the smallest members of the army in order to feel mighty. Mini-Mites are small even compared to L'il Doskois, and are utterly incapable of harming anything. But they sure do love latching onto foes and slowing them down.



So yeah. The little guys, if given the chance, will stick to your character and slow them down. They'll even affect the height of your jumps, so it's important to get rid of them ASAP.



Once they're latched on you need to quickly tap left and right on the D-Pad as much as possible to fling them off. They'll come running right back to you, though, so take that time to defeat them.



The Drum Dragon will continuously spawn more of the little buggers, too, so take it out quickly.



Some Prickly Daruma-lined platforms pave the way forward over a bottomless pit. Even a Severed Ed pops up to try and get the drop on Ebisumaru.

Drum Dragons have an odd habit of appearing immediately after segments where their infinitely spawning Mini-Mites would've been a hassle. Case in point here, it's only after you're safely over the pits that one shows up. At most it's an annoyance that slows you down before you can defeat it.



And Ebisumaru is invisible in the second screenshot here due to picking up a Fortune Doll, which makes the character flash. Ill-timed screenshot is all. Checkpoint!

Also: the return of the Pyro Lanterns. At this point in the game there will be fewer new enemies showing up in each stage, and a lot more recurring faces. Or lack of faces, in the case of this enemy.



Ebisumaru shakes off a Mini-Mite and continues. The smoke in the second screenshot was a result of smacking away the Pyro Lantern, they're another enemy that wasn't programmed to be sent flying into the background. ::sadface::

Crunch Munchers also decide to return in this stage.



They DO have a 'punted into the background' sprite. Yay!



Again: Drum Dragon that appears a bit too late, not that I really WANT to have to do tricky jumps with Mini-Mites swarming me, but it's just odd to give them this ability and never fully use it.



A horde of Prickly Darumas surround the platforms leading to the end of the stage. Just to make things trickier, Crunch Munchers pop up as well. It's times like this I'm glad the 'damage knockback' isn't as severe in this game as it was in the first SNES game.



And there's the Tanuki, on what is probably the smallest platform it could've possibly landed on. I'm careful not to fall off while Ryo-grabbing.



Music: Town

Before going back to the World Map, let's just return to the previous town. There's another level, after all! I take the south path at the town's entrance this time.



There's a Fortune Teller in this part of town. Much like the one back in Karakuri World, it has a chance to spawn four money-giving young ladies (as opposed to old ladies). Also, much like the one in Karakuri World, there's a slim chance it can go wrong. The young ladies won't attack you like the Grannies could, but instead four thieves may spawn instead of the girls. Which could cost you 200-400 Ryo if you're not careful.



Also: Inn (meh), Travel Center (Meh), and Town exit (Woo hoo!)

This is supposed to be another level related to the site of Oedo Castle, though I'm not 100% clear on what the translation of 'chika sagyouba' would be.



Music: Yae's Trap

The first part of this stage is a totally empty area, devoid of enemies.



However, just up ahead is Yae, who we last saw in the post-Area 2 cutscene. She seems surprised to see Ebisumaru, and he asks her what's up.



Whatever she was up to, she really doesn't want Ebisumaru to take another step further. Like, seriously. Apparently it would be REALLY BAD.

So, clearly, Ebisumaru will trust his gut and listen to a friend and ally when she's trying to warn him of danger--



Derp.

...huh, 'jirai', apparently it can mean 'Land Mine'.



I blame Zoidbeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrg!



Music: Lava Mine Cart Ride

So yeah, Mr. Walkthrough Writer called this stage 'Lava Mine Cart Ride', which... kind of right? There's no Lava, though it DOES use the same background from the last stage, just with the lava colored blue. It's not quite a Mine Cart though, but it's close enough! It's time for the auto-scrolling platform stage.

Early on there's a low rock that you have to duck under, and some Prickly Darumas that you need to... ignore entirely. Don't worry, they'll actually be obstacles later on.



Like, right now!



Destructible walls also get in your way, and you have to be sure to destroy them (only takes one hit) before they push you off your ride.

It's a good thing the first part of this stage is dang slow.



Uh-oh, another track, that's never good in these stages.



A trio of Disgruntled Carpenters appear and start showering Ebisumaru with debris. Well, two of them do. I love how the third guy on the end is content to just slap his ass at the screen the entire time.

Nelson: Haw-haw!



And, of course, it wouldn't be an auto-scrolling platform stage without the need to jump to a new platform.



And another one--- whoa, buzzsaws?!



Don't worry, they don't hurt you. Instead they darken the lights and make the platform go faster.

You know, like buzzsaws would.



While there aren't any low-hanging walls that get in your way, the speed of this section can be tricky with the number of enemies it throws at you. And the cart is now going fast enough that a single hit will likely throw you off thanks to your damage knockback.



The game gives you just enough time to see and react to the enemies here. If you're paying attention you shouldn't fall.



And finally, the downward slope hits an incline, slowing the platform down.



And it's back to about the same pace it was at the start of the stage.



Well that sure is a vertical drop.



This part of the stage has a number of Money Boxes to get, but it's VERY easy to screw your jumps up and either miss them, or fly off the platform. It's sort of hard to explain, but basically, you're still tied to the platform's position, even when you jump. So if you jump up at some Money Boxes, and the platform slides diagonally down to the left, you'll also move even further to the left in relation to the platform.



It's tricky to show in screenshots. But don't worry if you miss a few Money Boxes, there are easier and safer ways to get cash in this game, after all.

And the Tanuki appears at last. Fortunately, this one won't drive you out of its sprite when you break it, which is good because there's nothing to stand on to the right of it!

Oh yeah, I should also mention, when this Tanuki appears you have to break it ASAP. Why?



Track runs out. It happens much sooner than you'd think, too, so don't dawdle.



Music: Festival Town

Anyway, with those stages done, it's time to move on to Festival Town.



The first NPC is REALLY EXCITED to live in Festival Town, I think!



The second NPC is... a cameo!

It's the pilot of Winbee. Pastel. She mentions something about a commercial for Twinbee's Rainbow Bell Adventure. I guess she's there to advertise?!



This NPC mentions something about a giant robot, but I can't tell what exactly. Hmm.



These guys look like merchants, but you can't buy anything here.

Masks. I bet they'll never be relevant later on. Pft.



Now this is something I'm actually still puzzled about. This shop sells what looks like a Snowman badge for 300 Ryo, but I'm still not sure what it does. It'll sit in your inventory, you'll see it when you press Start, but I don't know what its use is yet. Maybe I'll finally find out...

Also you can buy a extra Free Guy for 1200 Ryo. If you want.



Past there is a restaurant, and the final part of town, where there are just a couple of NPC houses.



This NPC mentions something about a large Kokeshi doll.



And the last NPC in town complains about how Oedo Castle up and flying away nearly ruined the Festival. I think.



Enough of that jank! Let's move on!

...NEXT TIME! Tune in for the end of Area 4!

The videos from "Yae's Trap" onward are marked as private for some reason. Could you fix that?

Ooop, guess I forgot something.

Much appreciated!

I forgot Kensuke showed up in this game! Kensuke is a delight.

Oh right, that's who it is! I forgot about that character.

Welcome back. The end of Area 4 is in sight, though two levels and a Fortress remain. And it's a pretty long Fortress! But before I get ahead of myself, let's hit the next level.

The walkthrough called it Mouse Woods, and so did I in the SPC set. Though 'Nebuta', I think, refers to a nighttime festival, which is appropriate I suppose since we just left Festival Town.



Music: Mouse Woods

But it soon becomes apparent why it was called 'Mouse Woods'. We have the return of the beloved Mouse Buggy! Well, beloved by me, anyway.



The stage is, for the most part, a straightforward platforming segment with few surprises. No new foes, but an assortment of previous ones. The Suption Sucks are probably the most dangerous ones in the stage for their ability to deal direct damage to you despite riding a vehicle. They're all over the place, too.



The Red Chef Blobs are back in force as well, though they're not as lethal. They're tricky to hit with the Buggy's pea shooter, though, and if you're not careful they'll destroy your vehicle with their agile somersaulting. Luckily there are replacement Buggies throughout the stage.



There aren't even any bonus Money Boxes around, I think this stage was meant to be sped through as fast as possible.



It's very easy for a Suption Suck to land on you here, with how fast the Buggy rides you can run straight into them with how small the screen real estate is compared to the player sprite.



It's also important to remember, as I mentioned in an earlier update, that there is no momentum in the jumping physics. Despite how fast the Buggy moves, if you let go of a directional button it will come to a dead stop in the air. These tiny platforms aren't as tough to navigate with the vehicle as long as you keep that in mind, but they're designed to trip you up if you try to jump while considering momentum you don't have.



Mr. Checkpoint makes his appearance, though we're more than half-way through this breezy stage.



It's hard to tell in the second screenshot with how its sprite blends into the background, but Ebisumaru is firing at a Sir Sam R. I. Woods. As you can see in the second screenshot, he's been knocked from his perch.

And the Buggy took a hit just as I grabbed a screenshot. It's not just Ebisumaru floating around without the lower half of his body, I swear.



All three types of enemy swarm you in the final leg of the stage, making it difficult to hold onto your Buggy if you're not careful. Suption Sucks will steal life directly from the player, Red Chef Blobs will bounce directly into the vehicle, and if you try to jump over them the shurikens thrown by Sir Sam R. I. Woods will no doubt do damage to it anyway.



So the only advice I can give here is: Gun it! If you entered the section with a fully intact Buggy you can afford to take several hits. Just avoid the Suption Sucks and you'll make it to the end.



And, as always, whenever you get a chance to hit a stage-ending Tanuki while riding a vehicle, do so. You can just park yourself on top of it and grab ALL of the Ryos.



Back to the World Map, the Area 4 Fortress is finally fully in view, though another stage stands in our way.

Walkthrough calls it 'Fish Lake' (Maybe he was watching a certain Strong Bad email at the time?), though 'Mutsu' probably means 'Gnomefish', and as always 'Kaidou' more means road or path. So I guess it's only kind of 33% right.



Music: Fish Lake

Right away we're assaulted by a Sniper McGee. Sorry, no new foes in this stage either, I guess McGuiness was saving them for the upcoming Fortress.

Huh, I guess I was mistaken in a previous update when I guessed only Goemon's weapon could knock the little Bunny Soldiers over. At the very least Ebisumaru can do it too.



And, if you didn't guess, we have the return of another vehicle here. The Fish Waver is still as slow on land as ever, so it's a good thing most of the stage is flooded!



It's far more dangerous than the first stage, though. There's no ground underneath you this time, so if the Waver gets destroyed you're as good as gone. The little spikey dudes are much more tightly packed, too. Jumping over them only works for so long, since it only gets good jumping distance when you've gotten time to build up speed. If you try to jump from a standstill the Waver won't be able to even clear one of them.



But, you can briefly blast them into the air by firing at them, and surfing safely underneath.

Hey, Checkpoint already! It's kind of the opposite of the last stage, here it shows up a bit too early!



The water recedes, and a few Mr. P'Tooies and another Waver-riding-McGee get in Ebisumaru's way. You pretty much have to leap off of the back of a Waver to make the jump to continue on. I wonder why the game would insist on teaching you a trick like that?



A single Mr. P'Tooie isn't much of a threat. Three at once, though, that's a bit trickier. Fortunately they all rise, fire, and fall at the same time. If their patterns were mismatched I probably would've taken a hit.



And now you see the reason Fish Wavers are peppered throughout the level, even though the water is gone. You have to sacrifice one here like poor Yoshi to advance. You might think it's alright because the Waver is just a vehicle, a machine with no feelings. Well, you'd be wrong. McGuiness programmed all of them to become chronically depressed at being abandoned, because he's just that evil.



And here's one last shot of Ebisumaru sending a Hoppers McGee flying off into the distance, since it's probably the last one he'll face in the game.



Oh goody it is totally the not-fake Tanuki despite the fact that there is clearly more stage over the wall.



Oh no how could I completely and legitimately fall for the oldest trick in the book.

:|



Yeah, your platform-fu would have to be pretty weak to fall for that.



With Fish Lake and the rest of Area 4 behind us, it's time to hit the Fortress. Actually called 'Kokeshi Fortress', the walkthrough called it 'Toy Fortress', and a Kokeshi IS a wooden doll, so it's not a total fail.



Music: Fortress

If you thought this update was going to be kind of short, don't worry. This Fortress can be long.

Also, looks like the new enemy drought is over, the very first thing we see here is a new foe!


Name: Hanafuda Soldier
Profile The Hanafuda Soldiers are the guards of the Kokeshi Dolls which inhabit this fortress. From the side they resemble simple sticks, but they are, in fact, sentient Hanafuda Cards, designed to be loyal to McGuiness's army. Like most playing cards, though, a stiff breeze can knock them over, so their dreams of climbing the ranks are as easily dashed as, well, a house of cards.

A few Band Ditz lurk throughout the stage. When Goemon fought one they took several hits, dropping a Ryo each time before running off. With Ebisumaru, though, one hit still sends them flying, and they just drop a bunch of Ryo at once.

But that's a bit of a distraction from the main feature in the screenshots. These Yo-Yo platforms are the main obstacle in the first part of the stage. These ones here simply go up and down, but there's a more complicated one later.

(And yes I missed that BG Layer 3 Enabled, my finger slipped)



Like right now! It extends downward to the right, swings around to the left, and then retracts. It retracts very quickly, too, so it's easy to jump a second too late and see the platform be snatched out from under you.



Straight ahead from there is this Yo-Yo platform which seems to extend up past the top of the screen.

We will come back to this later.



For now, moving on!



For the most part in this section, the top platforms which are easier to reach have Hanafuda Soldiers, while the lower platforms tend to have Jars with Ryo. Though at this point Ebisumaru has all the Ryo he needs. In fact, I really should've went back to a previous town and bought some Iron Armor and maybe gotten a free boost to his Energy via a Bathhouse. Oh well!



A few basic up/down Yo-Yo platforms over a bottomless pit aren't too tricky to navigate as long as you compensate for Ebisumaru's jumping abilities and wait until you're as high as possible.



Finally we reach the end of the first section and move onward to some new obstacles.



This whole section is mostly comprised of moving Kokeshi dolls which threaten to crush you.



It's also worth noting that there are no enemies at all in this part of the stage. The only hazards are being crushed, or falling into a pit.



The Kokeshi dolls in the first screenshot aren't the crushing variety, instead both the upper and lower dolls move in unison up and down.

The REST of them, though? They can crush you.



Ebisumaru finally reaches the end of the section and-- hey, free Ryo! Surely it won't hurt to pause for a moment and grab some...



Actually that's a bad idea. If you linger in this hallway the screen faintly glows red and the upper Kokeshi dolls begin to lower rapidly. If you don't stop you're in no danger of dying, but the game expects you to instinctively smash the jars and grab the contents and then, seeing the rapidly lowering ceiling, panic.



And finally we reach the Checkpoint. We COULD continue on here. But instead

REWIND!



Remember that one Yo-Yo platform I mentioned earlier? Well we're riding it upwards now!

We go into the brightly-colored upper part of the first section, which contains more Yo-Yo platforms, spikes, and a new enemy!


Name: Kokeshi Triplets
Profile: The Kokeshi Triplets aren't actually triplets, and are just unfinished Kokeshi dolls that have taken up common cause. Rather than rebel against McGuiness, who initially rejected them for being too small, they team up with other rejected Kokeshi heads to try and earn his favor. They can't do much but stay stacked on top of each other and spit projectiles, though, which makes them even less useful than Mr. P'Tooie who can at least raise and lower himself.



We can eventually climb no further and must progress to the right and quickly come upon a spinning Top balancing on a rope.

It's kind of odd to note that the pit here counts as bottomless, despite the fact that we traversed the area under here earlier and know for a fact there's more level down there. At least the game kept the pit off-screen as you climbed up, unlike other games which did something similar.



The Top doesn't wobble or rotate or anything, so you've no fear of falling off. You DO have to fear being left behind, though.

I don't think Ebisumaru needs to duck in that second screenshot, but better safe than sorry. It's like that room with the descending spike ceiling in the first Fortress of Super Mario Bros 3. You never NEED to duck at that space where the door raises, but everyone does so anyway.



Those spikes in the third screenshot there you DO need to duck and crawl under.



It's mostly Kokeshi Triplets in this part of the stage, taking a few pot shots at you as you approach. If you want to grab the Money Boxes along the way, though, better be quick. 50 Ryo isn't worth being left behind, especially when you consider an Extra Mans is 1200 Ryo in the shop.



A lone Hanafuda Soldier guards a Kokeshi Triplet near the end of the section. Despite the fact the background with the waterfall is something he can be sent flying into, he gets hung up on the rainbow colored links hanging from the ceiling. Even though they're technically in the foreground. I guess the way the game decides which objects are what is kind of weird.



Of course, a section where you have to keep up with a moving platform wouldn't be complete without as many obstacles as possible to trip you up. Sasuke would be the better choice for this stage, but Ebisumaru barely manages to make it each time.



Finally, we enter the next section, which is outside!

First thing we see is a giant Kendama. Continuing the toy theme of the Fortress, the Kendama is similar to Ball in a Cup, but instead of a Cup it's a wooden hammer.



As far as the stage is concerned, the Ball falls from the top of the screen, balances on one part of the hammer for a moment, then the hammer rotates around, catching the ball on another part of it. The first one only rotates between the top of the hammer and the smaller head. A few Hit O'Tama's get in the way to the next one.



The second one goes back and forth between the smaller head of the hammer and the larger one. You can't fall off the ball, so it's easy enough to just stay on it and watch the pattern and jump when it's safe.



There's also some Bowl Bats flying around. They like to dive at you, so be careful not to get knocked off into the pit.



The next hammer swings around to the bottom of the handle, which makes the ball come up short of reaching the next platform on its first swing.



You have to wait for it to swing back around to the other head to make the jump.

Describing how these platforms work is REALLY hard to do in text, y'know?

But that's the end of that section. Ebisumaru hops across the final Fish Kite platforms and is back where he was before we rewound the stage and took the alternate path.



So back to this section, the three Kokeshi Dolls slowly rise up (or, is it that the rest of the stage is lowering?) and you have to hop between them and avoid falling between the cracks, and getting crushed between the platforms.



Kokeshi Triplets line the way upward, but they're as easy to dispatch as always. You can even ignore them and they'll self-destruct when they come into contact with any of the three larger Kokeshi platforms. Likely out of shame.



There's a scattered Hanafuda Soldier here and there. They're also destroyed if they hit one of the larger Kokeshi heads.



When there's a long platform like that, it's easy to predict what's coming next. Ebisumaru hurries to the far end of it.



The 'zig-zag' pattern, in any auto-scrolling section there's got to be at least one.



The Band Ditz is sent flying, and we're hit with another zig-zag pattern. Ebisumaru is fast enough to make it, but only just. It would be cut a lot less close with Sasuke or even Goemon.



A few Money Boxes are available to snatch along the way, but it's tricky to get all of them. Once one is overtaken by a Kokeshi Head there's no way to get it.



That middle screenshot is Ebisumaru getting a Golden Fortune Doll. You pretty much have to be right on top of that jar when you break it in order to get it, as it immediately bounces to the left off-screen if you're not.



Top floor! Shurikens, Festival Masks, and deadly robot bosses! Watch your step.



Upon entering the boss room, three masks appear and fly to the center of the screen: a fox mask, a cat mask, and an octopus mask.

In the last update I made a comment about masks not ever being important. Well of course, it was just a bad joke.

(Even worse when I look back and see that while there was a fox and octopus mask in that image, the third mask was an otafuku mask and not a cat mask, derp!)



And here's our boss. He won't be as repetitive as the Shadow Puppeteer, I hope?



Anyway, he does the usual boss spiel of congratulating the player for making it this far and his reward for doing so is his magnificent show or something like that.

In other words, some variation of 'IT'S BOSS TIME!'.



Music: Boss Battle

Speaking of which, it's boss time!

This boss has several patterns depending on which mask he's wearing (or not wearing, in this case). When he's maskless he hops around, and is fairly easy to avoid.

Eventually he hops into the air, spins around, and lands wearing a new mask. He starts off with the cat mask.



I failed to get a good shot of his attacks in this pass, but when he wars the cat mask he throws three axes, Simon Belmont-style, before dashing forward and slamming an axe into the ground causing the screen to rumble (though, it does nothing else from what I've observed). You can see one of the axes in the third screenshot there.



After a couple of attacks he swaps back to his original pattern and hops around some more.



Then he swaps to his fox mask. What sort of attack will he unleash now?



A double-dropkick of course! You know... because he's a fox?

The dropkicks are fairly easy to avoid if you're crawling at the time. They're both pretty fast, though, so you have to be ready for them.



And back to normal once more, hop around a bit, and it's octopus time!

Well, ok, it's a hyotoko mask, but I like the animal theme more.



And of course, this mask's attack is a HADOUKEN! It's actually probably the easiest one to dodge.



Also, when the boss has lost half of his life bar, he'll start throwing shurikens as he leaps around when he's in his maskless form.

And then, he switches back to cat. The boss follows this pattern throughout the fight:

Normal - Cat - Normal - Fox - Normal - Hyotoko

Of the three, it's hardest to avoid damage with the cat, actually. If you're focused on offense, and move in to attack after the boss throws his three axes, you'll almost certainly take a hit when he rushes forward to slam the axe into the ground.



And, that's pretty much all there is to this fight. This boss and Kabuki are probably the only two proper brawling bosses in the game. The first boss is a lumbering punching bag, the third boss is mostly a battle against a slow-burning candle, and... well, I'll get to the remaining boss battles as I get to them.



I strike the final blow on the boss just as he swaps back to Hyotoko for the second time, so he doesn't even get to fire off another hadouken.



He cries out that his show is suddenly over, and explods.



Aaaaaand end Area 4!



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I'm not sure what Obi-Wise Man Kenobi dammit is saying, he mentions a flying thing, so he's probably talking about how we're approaching the abducted Oedo Castle.



JAPAWHILE FOR MEANESE



And... um... McGuiness is telling Omitsu to put on that bunny costume. And Omitsu is refusing.

I, uh, don't really want to contemplate what's going on in McGuiness's head there, so I'll just end this update on that note.

Area 5 is next, and it's actually a really short Area. However, the next update might take a bit longer than usual because of a reason. It's not a reason that might actually pan out, though, but without giving much away, I need to experiment with a few things to see if what I want to do is do-able.

Oooo mysterious.

In the meantime, here is a video of the Area 4 Boss and cutscene.

TO BE TSUZUKU

I don't know why, but this theme makes me happy for some reason. It's so... relaxing, I guess.

I think that "chika sagyouba" is supposed to be "underground workshop," based on what I gathered from Eudict.

And Mutsu was an old province in the northeast of Japan, made up of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori Prefectures plus bits of Akita Prefecture. In other words, it was right where the gang is now on the game map of Japan. Kokeshi are a famous folk craft in the area (and, incidentally, were the basis for the Mii avatars).

Ahh, that makes more sense, considering Area 5 apparently takes place in Hokkaido.