Kid Niki: Radical Ninja/Stage 7

The Stone Wizard's Castle

 * 10: Attacks will now come at a fast and steady rate. It will take nerves of steel to get you through this stage.  You will first see an eye-patch bird toting a bomb on its head.  As you approach the bird, Blue and Red fox clan members will begin to approach.  Lure the bird into dropping the bomb early while you take out the fox clan members.  A second bird will be following behind who you must also trick into dropping the bomb early.


 * 9: Take out the two watch birds as you jump up the steps. If a Red fox clan member is following behind you, let it jump up the steps and attack it when it lands.  Striped fox clan members will cartwheel on both sides of you.


 * 8: A trio of Striped fox clan members will form a tower in front of you. Take them out and continue on.  You will eventually see a gold bell, but this bell is positioned directly beneath a Bee Clan drop point.  You must first clear out the Bee Clan before you can attempt to collect the bell.  Stop in a safe place, just to the right of the bell, turn around, and attack the Bee Clan.  Then quickly jump up and collect the bell before the Bee Clan starts reappearing.


 * 7: Watch out for any Red fox clan member who may still be chasing you from behind. At this point, Mad Monks will appear to attack you from either side.


 * 6: In addition to more Mad Monks, a guerrilla kite ninja will appear and attack. Continue to defend yourself on either side, and watch out for the kite ninja dives.


 * 5: When you drop down to the ground, the Mad Monks will be replaced with Blue fox clan members rushing in to attack you. Eventually, Crow Tengus will start to appear from the sky.


 * 4: Crow Tengus will attack you exclusively while you run through the forest, culminating in a backwards facing Frog. Be sure to wait for the flame breath to die down before leaping over to attack it.


 * 3: A quartet of Striped fox clan members will greet you at the entrance to the next building. Take them out and proceed inside.  You will encounter stabbing Bee Clan members.  Take them out safely when they dive down ahead of you.


 * 2: Attack the remainder of Bee Clan members and jump up the steps. Attack the Frog that guards the ladder when it is safe to do so, and climb the ladder which leads to the Stone Wizard's room.

Boss: Stone Wizard
The Stone Wizard can actually be quite a difficult boss to beat. He will remain on the right side of the room, but he will spit forth three fireballs to the floor. These fireballs spread out across the room, and are difficult to avoid. Since it only takes one hit to kill you, this can be especially frustrating. To make matters worse, in order to hit the Wizard, you must be clear of the stone princess dangling from the rope. What's worse, you will also lose a life if you jump into the princess. Hitting the princess will only make your weapon reflect. Your best bet is to wait for the first few fireballs to hit the ground, and then rush in and strike the Wizard in the knee. It is far easier to avoid the fireballs when the Wizard spits them while jumping than when he remains standing. With some luck, you will be deflected backward and regain control before the Wizard spits more fireballs. Back away and slowly make your approach once more. If you hit the Wizard three times, he turns into a puff of smoke and escape through a hole behind the picture on the wall. The Wizard's stone spell over the princess will be broken and she will return to life. Now you must chase the Wizard and finish him off for good.

NES differences

 * Only one eye-patch bird will appear and drop a bomb in the beginning.
 * A stabbing Bee Clan member will guard each of the tiger panel doors. They will drop down to stab you whenever you cross the front of a door.
 * After the panels, monks appear from both directions, while a kite ninja flies overhead dropping knives down at you.
 * More stabbing Bee Corps members await you in the forest at each tree. No Tengu Crows, or even any fox clan members will attack you through the forest.
 * The layout of the Stone Wizards room is completely different, as is his form of attack. The princess is handily out of the way and cannot interfere with your attack.  The Wizard awaits at the top of a set of steps.  He spits fire which lands in preset locations.  You are safe if you squat down on step located two below him.  Between the flames, jump up and strike him in the face.  Hit him five times to defeat him.

Secret Areas
7-3 through 7-5: The first four doors containing tiger decorations on the panels can be used to access bonus rooms, but you can only access one of them (unless you die). To access them, simply squat down in front of the door of your choice for a few seconds, and you will be transported to the bonus room. When you are finished, you will be deposited in front of the fifth door at 7-6. Here are the descriptions of each room, in order from left to right.
 * 1st door: The first door contains three columns of coins and scrolls that fall from the ceiling. Along the floor, a "lucky" cat bounces around trying to catch you.  If it does, you lose a life.  Jump over it, or walk beneath it while you catch the items.
 * 2nd door: A scroll will bob up and down above the hand of the large Buddha statue. You have until the statue counts down from 5 to slash the scroll as many times as possible.  Each slash awards you 1000 points.
 * 3rd door: This room appears to be the only room where no bonus can be obtained. Five scrolls are suspended in the air.  When you slash them, all five will reveal a raspberry face.  It does not seem to matter what order you hit these scrolls in, they never do anything different.
 * 4th door: Five scrolls bob up and down. Slash the scrolls to reveal up to four coins.  Collect the coins from each scroll, and leave the room.