Youkai Dochuuki/Stage 2

Arcade
You start this stage just outside of shop. You'll need to fight a few gray zombies and falling frogs to reach the steps, then jump up to the top to reach the shop. Defensive beginners should purchase food to replenish health, while offensive experts will probably pick up the strongest attack upgrade they can afford. Either way, be sure to save 2000 for the Sake that increases your walking speed. If you can afford it, pick up the Kappa foot as well. When you're done, hop back down the stairs. Walk to the right after taking out a few more zombies. A moth will fly overhead, and as you reach the gate, blue monks will approach you from the stairs, along with one rolling rock. Shoot them as you make your way up to the next region, where you will be greeted by a bouncing snake.

After the snake, you will face a difficult set of challenges, starting with jumping over a set of starving souls to a small cloud. These small clouds do rotate so don't stand still on them for long. Leap across to the next cloud and over to the first small ledge. Leap over the next pit of starving souls, and down into the muddy water below. You will be attacked by a set of enemies, beginning with a red hunger demon, followed by spear wielding skeleton and slower moving blue monk. You can jump over the hunger demon and up to the cloud if you prefer, or you can stand back and pick them off, but you can't charge your shots in the mud, and if you stick around for too long, face demons will appear. Use the cloud to reach the next ledge, and clear out any enemies behind you. After you walk a short distance, a giant fire breathing Buddhist will rise out of the ground. He will constantly spit fireballs at you which you should either shoot or leap over. You'll have to remove him by pelting him with a lot of shots, or four fully charged shots. Once he sustains enough damage, he shrinks back into the ground. Jump into the air to collect any money bags on your way back to the ground and continue right. You may need to fight the skeleton if he followed you underground. Frogs will fall from the sky until you reach your next challenge, a rather large and disfigured monk. They take only two charged shots to destroy, and even though they don't pose a large threat, you're best off doing it as quickly as possible so that more enemies aren't attracted to your location. After you defeat the large monk, continue right, jumping into the air to collect more money bags. More frogs will appear, and blue monks will approach when you reach the pavement.

As you reach the bottom of the next gate, you will encounter three Shishimai, or lion dancers, for the first time. They are fast, but easily removed with one simple shot each. Jump up the steps, and watch out for a rock that rolls down the ramp, as well as one that appears to the left when you reach the top. Walking your way will be the first of many more giant disfigured monks. Charge up two shots and remove the first one. Then charge up again and walk through the building interior to encounter the second monk. Hit him twice, and you won't get to advance far before meeting the third. By now, frogs may be falling from the trees and face demons may start to appear, but don't get hung up in one spot trying to fight them all for too long or things will only get worse. You'll meet one more monk your way to the next steps, where a few blue monks will approach from the right. Walk through the cavern and fight off the lion dancers and blue monks that appear. As you cross the bridge, watch out for rolling rocks, and face demons. After you make it across the bridge, you'll see another shop entrance, along with a long snake-like ghost that pass below the steps. Jump up to the shop if you wish, and be sure to purchase the Kappa foot this time to help you swim in the next level. Pick up any weapon upgrades you can afford and spend the rest on food. As you leave the shop and walk to the right, prepare to fight a bouncing snake, a few bouncing green zombies, and any face demons that might appear.

Jump up the next steps to another bridge, where you'll mostly deal with both gray and green zombies. Inside the cavern, jump over the starving soul pit. On the other side, you'll encounter an odd collection of two kimono demons and a red demon. Defeat them and continue until you reach a set of stairs. If you wish, you can continue to the right and collect more money bags, but it's much more valuable to take the steps. When you reach the top of the steps, you can opt to go left or right. Investigate the path to the left first, and you will reach a long set of polished stairs that climb to the top of the mountain. If you decide to follow them, read the sidebar to the right for more info. Be very careful not to stick around for too long now because Hell Wheels can appear now. One touch from a Hell Wheel means instant death no matter how much health you have! Having the cat or dog by your side is especially helpful against Hell Wheels. Head to the right along the top path, leaping over a few starving soul pits, and on top of small clouds, until you reach a 500 money bag floating over a large cloud. After that, walk across the last ledge, encountering a few hunger demons at the end, and then fall off the edges to reach the boss below.

Like the previous stage, when you land at the bottom of the pit, you will encounter another Oni, only this one is blue. In addition to introducing himself, he offers to allow you to pass if you give up everything you own. You might think agreeing with him will make getting past this boss a breeze, but even if you agree and he takes all your stuff, he still makes you fight him. The clear choice is to say no (the bottom option). After that, Tarosuke will summon Monmotaro and the fight will begin. Unlike the last boss, this one is oddly easier than the last one. The reason is that the ghosts which appear do not fly freely throughout the screen, but rather occupy specific heights. This allows Monmotaro to occupy a space just above where the blue demons walk. The ghosts won't fly down to that height, and while the blue demons can jump up, they don't do it very often. Once you find the correct height, you can simply stay there and shoot spirit flames until the boss is defeated. Be sure to collect the 10,000 money mark that the boss leaves behind when defeated.

PC Engine
The second stage of the game is subtitled Kugyō no Michi (lit. "Path of Penance"), and begins with two Green Zako walking towards Tarosuke just before the first instance of Zakka's shop in the stone wall. The cat at the entrance will ask Tarosuke if he wants to go in, and you must answer either "yes" or "no". If your answer is "yes", Zakka will present you with a choice of nine items to add to your inventory at the following costs:


 * 1) Yokai Jiru, 4000
 * 2) Jigoku Don, 6000
 * 3) Douchu Manju, 10000
 * 4) Tennyo no Unko, 5000
 * 5) Karu Ruisu, 2000
 * 6) Zakka Kappa, 5000
 * 7) Rensha Level 1, 10000
 * 8) Rensha Level 2, 20000
 * 9) Rensha Level 3, 30000

If you are low on energy, you may want to buy the Yokai Jiru and Jigoku Don to restore some of it, but the Douchu Manju will restore it to full if you get a game-over later. The Karu Ruisu will increase Tarosuke's walking speed, and the Zakka Kappa will increase his swimming speed (this item is vital for the next stage). If you have enough money left after buying all these items, you may want to consider one of the Rensha as they will increase Tarosuke's firepower.

Continue to the right once you have left the shop and jump onto the next platform. There is a 1000 money bag suspended in mid-air over a stone floor with several Gaeru and a Gaikotsu patrolling it (the latter of which will leave a 200 money bag behind when killed). Once you have made it to the other side, jump over the flame pit and drop down onto the next stone floor, which has two Moths and a Gaki patrolling it (the former of which will each leave a 100 money bag behind when killed). Once you have made it the next platform, you will see a Jizou blocking your path and spitting fire at you. He takes several hits to defeat, but will leave a 1000 money bag behind when killed. Shortly after, there are several 1000 money bags suspended in mid-air, along with an Oshousan who is moving slowly towards you. He takes twice as many hits to defeat as the Jizou, and will leave another 1000 money bag behind when killed. There are also two Green Zako coming down the left side of the next staircase (leading upwards), which has another 1000 money bag at its top. On the right side (leading downwards), you will see three Iwa rolling around, which cannot be killed by Tarosuke's bullets. Two more 1000 money bags and a 5000 money block are also embedded in the stone wall just before the second instance of Zakka's shop. If you have enough money for any of the remaining items, you may want to consider the next level of Rensha as this will increase Tarosuke's firepower further.

Once you have left the shop, you will see an Obousan (who will leave a 200 money bag behind when killed) and another Kao floating around in mid-air. Continue to the right, jump onto the next platform and collect the 1000 money bag as you jump over another flame pit before dropping down to the next stone floor, which has two money bags of each variety on it. The next platform has another Jizou blocking your path; once you have killed him and jumped over yet another flame pit, there is another Kao floating around in mid-air. You will now have to jump onto a series of cloud platforms in turn, collecting the 1000 money bags suspended in mid-air and watching out for the Moths as you go. Once you have made it to the other side, there is a Hitotsume and two Kumo floating around in mid-air just before the "Pond of the Gods". Tarosuke will meet up with Tennyo once he is halfway over, who will give him a heart which will restore his energy to full. Once he has made it to the other side of the pond and walked off the edge of the platform, he will fall down into the boss's cave.

The boss of the second stage is the Blue Oni, whose appearance is identical to the Red one apart from the colour. He will attack by summoning three of his minions (like those of the Red one, they look exactly like him only much smaller) and three Yuurei. Once again, Tarosuke will kneel at the statue of Buddha and pray to it in order to summon Momotaro. Momotaro must drop three energy balls on each of this Oni's minions in order to destroy them - and once he has done so, he will leave a 100 money bag, a 500 money bag and a 10000 money block behind (just like the Red one). Tarosuke will now proceed to the third stage, Yūkai (lit. "Ghost Sea").