Ganbare Goemon! Karakuri Douchuu/Gameplay

Controls
The controls for this game are dependent upon the context in which you are using them.

Overground/Underground

 * : Use the direction pad to control Goemon. Pressing a direction will cause Goemon to run in that direction.  Goemon can run in the four cardinal directions, as well as in each diagonal.
 * : Press the A button to make Goemon jump. Use it in conjunction with the control pad to direct which way Goemon jumps.
 * : Press the B button to attack. Ordinarily, Goemon attacks with his Kiseru smoking pipe, which he uses like a club.  He can only attack in four directions, whichever direction Goemon happens to be facing.  After he collects the sling shot, he can fire a koban coin at his enemies.  This too can only be fired in four directions.
 * : Pauses the action mid-game.
 * : Unused.

Dungeons

 * : Moves Goemon one step forward in which ever direction he happens to be facing.
 * / : Rotates Goemon ninety degrees to the right or to the left.
 * : Makes Goemon perform an about-face, rotating him 180° from his current direction.
 * : Press the A button to view the map, if Goemon currently possesses one for the particular dungeon he is in.
 * : Unused by itself. However, if you happen to possess an Inrou, the pill box that heals you if you are touched by an enemy, you can press A and B together to see the map of a dungeon, even if you haven't collected the map yet.

Shops/Dialogs

 * : Though only useful to reach the entrance of the dungeons, you can use the direction pad to run around in a shop.
 * : Press the A button to purchase the selected item in a shop, or to select the highlighted response in a dialog.
 * : Press the B button to cycle through the shop items, or dialog choices.

Player
This is Goemon, the hero of feudal Japan. As the name suggests, his character was loosely based on Ishikawa Goemon, the noble thief of Japanese folklore. Goemon is very much like a Robin Hood figure of Japan; he primarily steals from the rich in order to give back to the poor and oppressed. And that is precisely what you need to help Goemon do. Goemon is a very good hearted person with a strong sense of justice. Goemon must collect three passes in each of the 13 stages in order to advance to the next stage. He must do so within a set time limit, or he will be unable to help the poor. Upon escaping from each stage, he delights the nearby villagers by waking them at night, dispensing much of the money he has collected from the corrupt noblemen (this money does not come out of the fund that you are maintaining for Goemon). Goemon is capable of donning a lot of equipment that can protect him from several different kinds of attacks, but this equipment can wear down and break over time and must be replaced. Although he typically attacks with his Kiseru smoking pipe, using it as a club, he can upgrade his weapon to a koban coin firing sling shot, which allows him to attack his would-be captors from a distance. He can only take so many hits before dying, but if he finds a scroll, he can extend the number of hits that he can withstand by one. Goemon has only so many chances to complete his mission before he runs out of tries, but he can collect extra chances by finding the bonus life scrolls in dungeons.