Genpei Touma Den/Walkthrough

Namco's Japan-only 1986 beat 'em up arcade game of Genpei ToumaDen is divided into twenty-two stages (nine Small Mode, nine Big Mode and four Overhead Mode); as mentioned on the main page, the player controls the real Japanese samurai Taira no Kagekiyo (the image above is of him as he appeared in Namco x Capcom along with eight other older Namco characters), who's been resurrected after 800 years and must make his way over the Imperial Regalia of Japan, fighting other characters who actually existed such as Minamoto no Yoshitsune and Saito Musashibo Benkei, as well as collecting the game's three sacred items to defeat his old arch-enemy Minamoto no Yoritomo. The game's score display (along with the Ken and Zeni counters in its bottom-left corner), uses Kanji numerals instead of Arabic ones, which were later reused in Mirai Ninja for the eponymous protagonist's life meter - and for those of you who cannot read these, here is what they mean - 〇 = 0, 一 = 1, 二 = 2, 三 = 3, 四 = 4, 五 = 5, 六 = 6, 七 = 7, 八 = 8, 九 = 9. (You should remember it).

Above is an overview of stages. They are named by the Gokishichidou rule. Guide of the map: Kagekiyo will reach next stage by entering a torii in the end of stage. Sometimes a stage may have more than one toriis.
 * Stages with blue circle are Big Mode stages.
 * Stages with green circle are Over Mode stages.
 * Stages in yellow are bonus stages.
 * Stages in purple are gag stages filled with staff memo everywhere.
 * Other stages are standard Small Mode stages.
 * Red arrows indicate the shortest path to beat the game.

If Kagekiyo is unfortunate enough to fall down a hole in a Small Mode stage, he'll be reduced to an energy of 10 and end up in a non-standard Overhead Mode known as the "Pit Stage". There are only two ways to escape from it, and one of these does not always work. As mentioned on that Getting Started page, Kagekiyo meets up with Emma-O, God of the Underworld at the end of the stage, his fate will be decided when he strikes one of the eight Tsuzura surrounding him with his sword to open it - opening a box with "生" will send Kagekiyo back to the stage he has fallen, or Kyoto if he has visited there at least once, while "死" results in an instant death. The more Kagekiyo falls in the Pit, the higher chance he will open a death box. However, if Kagekiyo possesses at least 70 Zeni (displayed as 七〇) when he ends up in the "Pit Stage", he can walk to the pool of blood, in order to be warped to Kyoto by paying the money.

Also, if Kagekiyo enters a torii at the end of a stage, that transports him to a specific location on the map of the Imperial Regalia, he will end up in a non-standard Small Mode stage known as the "Bonus Stage"; in it, Sun Goddess Amaterasu flies around at the top of the screen dropping powerups on top of Kagekiyo, whose only goal is to collect as many as he can before the song he is hearing from the Yamaha YM-2151 fades out. Once the song has faded out, Kagekiyo will automatically dematerialize and proceed to the next stage.

If Kagekiyo remains upon any Small Mode stage for too long, Yoritomo will rise up in the background and try to flatten him with a fan which can cause a significant injury if it connects; however, if he remains upon any Big Mode or Over Mode stage for too long, a Bird will slowly appear in the top-left corner of the screen and start flying around above him. As mentioned upon the Getting Started page, they are worth 100 (一〇〇) points, and will leave a Zeni that is worth 1 (一) behind when killed - however, up to nineteen more will appear in that top-left corner of the screen, as Kagekiyo kills them off and collects their Zeni.

General Tips

 * You cannot jump from a falling platform.
 * Do not waste your sword points. Only attack hard enemies when necessary or with a scroll.
 * Always collect some money in order to buy swords and health recovery.
 * Not-opened boxes and enemy generators can be used as jumping platforms.
 * In the bonus stage, aim for sword points first.

Stage 1 (Hell part 1, Small Mode)
Welcome to the game. Kagekiyo can find three scrolls in this stage. Use them to get rid of the bouncing stones coming from behind, the skull boat high in the sky, and the skull spearman. You can choose to ignore the bouncing stones and let them pass, or even take a free ride. Watch out for the large stones, as they will pound down when you are close. You need to jump on them to collect some scrolls and attack the skull boats for sword points. You will find some webs that are generating skull spiders. Destroying the generator yields two life points, and killing the spiders yields one Zeni each. Later, you will encounter a few skull spearmen. Do not hit their spears, as this will damage your sword. You can choose to jump on their head. Just before the torii, there is a Gaki Generator which will disappear after it has generated ten Gaki. It is a monster generator so that you can destroy it for two life points. There are two toriis in this stage, but they do not have any difference. Buy the sword between the toriis before leaving the stage, but watch out for another spider web and some stones.

Stage 2 (Hell part 2, Big Mode)
Hold up your sword while moving to the right. You will encounter a few Hitodama come flying. Take them out. Once you have taken out two enemies coming at the same time, Gaikotsu will appear and challenge Kagekiyo to a swordfight. Once you've hit him enough times to make him collapse, step back until his parts have disappeared, and proceed. Three more Hitodama will come flying towards you. Get rid of them and continue onward to the torii which will transport Kagekiyo to Nagato, the third stage (which is the first Overhead Mode).

Stage 3 (Nagato, Overhead Mode)
This is the first stage to feature the Map of Japan's Imperial Regalia before it starts (and its associated jingle). As you start this stage, pick up the scroll and move right. Get rid of the bone dogs and find a box and another scroll later. The box contains 10 Zeni. Grab the scroll and proceed to remove more bone dogs, two pools that generates Namazu, and a hyodan shooting small spinning tops. Destroy the generators fast to obtain two life points each, and the Namazu will drop one Zeni when killed. You will now come to a Dai Dokuraku which has eight smaller Dokuraku attached to it. If you run fast enough, you may finish it with sword wave without damaging your sword. It will drop 10 life points. Continue your running with a few more dogs and you will run into a wide path. A new swamp between two hyodans will be generating Jigokusha. Destroy the swamp and hyodans to claim two more life points each. There are two more boxes with Zeni inside. Three torii are present at the end of this stage. They will transport you to three different paths: Ishimi (Upper, Hard), Suou (Middle, Normal) and Buzen (Lower, Easy). For the fastest and easiest path, pick the lower torii to Buzen.

Stage 4 (Big Mode)
Note: This guide is for Buzen route, but it may apply to Ishimi and Suou routes with minor variations.

You are welcomed with theme music of Minamoto no Yoshitsune. Move with caution. A few tigers will try to leap to you from behind. Use upper cut to get rid of them. As you move on, three Hannya (purple demon face) will fly towards you. Destroy them for precious sword points, one each. Before reaching Yoshitsune, a few fire arrows will be flying. They also drop one Zeni each. This Yoshitsune with 40 life points will only throw daggers. Defeat him for five more sword points, and leave the stage and move to Bungo. (Izumo next to Ishimi, and Aki next to Suou.)

Stage 5 (Small Mode)
Note: This guide is for Bungo only.

Start your trip with a few charging bulls. The bad thing is, they charge fast and knocks you back. The good thing is, they drop three life points each. You will then come to some large rocks. Jump on them and proceed. At around the sixth stone, you will see Moth flying in the sky, and an invincible Shakutorimushi on the ground. Destroy the moths and hop over the worm. Later you will see an "Ojizōsama" (land god) statue which will exchange 10 Zeni for 500 points every few seconds, along with a seventh large rock. A candle is above that rock, but you can collect that after killing another enemy on the right. You will then come to a Stone Lion that is spitting blue fireballs at you, and once you have killed it, it will leave a (randomly-generated) 1000-point bonus item behind (it is either a Galaxian Flagship, a Rally-X Special Flag, a Libble Rabble Hoblin or a generic red car). Just before the torii, there is another staircase leading upwards, with a Gaki Generator behind it. Ignore the generator, as you cannot reach that, instead, use the torii to move to Iyo, the next stage.

Stage 6 (Big Mode)
Note: This guide is for Iyo route, but may apply to Houki and Bingo routes with minor variations.

This time the theme is of Saito Musashibo Benkei, but he is not available at first. Hold your sword up to deal with monkeys jumping out from a few vortexes. After four generators, a fire arrow indicates Benkei's coming. He will shout "Fools!" and start throwing iron balls. Attack his head a few times to remove his 60 life points. Collect the three sword points he left, and proceed to the torii, but beware of more fire arrows. Your next destination will be Sanuki. (Inaba after Houki, and Bitchuu after Bingo.)

PC-Engine note: In this version, Benkei's weakness point is his leg instead of head.

Stage 7 (Small Mode)
Once Kagekiyo has rematerialized (in his smaller form yet again), run down the staircase he is standing near the bottom of and continue running to the right once he has reached the bottom as you come to a Wolf-generating vortex; it will disappear after it has generated three Wolves, but if you manage to destroy it before it has generated its required quota, it will leave an Inochi worth 2 behind (and the Wolves themselves will each leave a Zeni worth 1 behind when killed). You will now come to an Enormous Mukade, who will leave the first instance of Doku Kinoko behind, when killed - you should wait until it has disappeared to avoid losing energy from picking it up, then jump onto each of the eight "Kojima" platforms in turn. The last two move up and down, so good timing is essential on that last one if you want to reach the torii which will transport you directly to the eighth stage; however, if you miss the jump, you must continue running to the right as a Tonbi comes flying towards you. Once you have struck it with your sword enough times to kill it, it will leave a Zeni it worth 3 behind - and you will now come to two "Kanameishi" moving up and down (the second of which has a Candle at the top of its height). Once you have jumped onto both of the "Kanameishi" in turn and collected the candle, you will come to a staircase leading upwards as a Raijin flies around at the top of the screen while firing Inazuma at you; once you have struck him enough times with your sword to kill him, he will leave a Zeni worth 5 behind. Another Tonbi will now come flying towards you - and once you have struck it with your sword enough times, to kill it, it will leave a Zeni worth 3 behind. You will then come to three more "Kanameishi" that are moving up and down in front of you; once again, you can either run under them or jump onto each of them in turn. A third Tonbi will now come flying towards you - and once you have struck it enough times with your sword, to kill it, it will leave a Zeni worth 3 behind. You will now come to another staircase leading upwards, with a Jigokusha-generating swamp upon each step; they will all disappear after they have generated ten Jigokusha, but if you can destroy them all before they have generated their required quota, they will leave an Inochi worth 2 behind (and the Jigokusha themselves will each leave a Zeni worth 1 behind when killed). Once Kagekiyo has entered the stage's second torii at the top of the staircase, it will transport him to the first instance of a "Bonus Stage" - before a differently-backgrounded version of the eighth stage.

Stage 8 (Big Mode)
Once Kagekiyo has rematerialized (in his larger form yet again), start walking to the right and hold your sword high in the air, by pushing that joystick into the "north-east" position; as with the fourth stage, you will have make a pause and turn back to the left whenever a Tiger tries to leap on you from behind (you should remember that they will each leave a Zeni worth 1 behind when killed). About halfway through this stage, Biwa Houshi will appear, spawning Usagi and Kame from the soundhole in his lute (the song you are hearing from the Yamaha YM-2151 will also change to his theme at this point to create the illusion that he is playing it) - and the Usagi and Kame will leave Doku Kinoko behind when killed (which means that you will have to jump over them, or wait until they have disappeared, in order to avoid losing energy from picking them up), but Houshi himself can't be killed at all as he manages to stay ahead of Kagekiyo on the right side of the screen at all times. Once you have made it to the torii, it will transport you to the ninth stage when you enter it.

Stage 9 (Small Mode)
This is the first stage to feature holes in the ground that will have Kagekiyo end up in the "Pit Stage" if he is unfortunate enough to fall down one of them; so once he has rematerialized (in his smaller form for a fifth time), start running to the right, as you come to two Skull Spider-generating webs. These are too high for Kagekiyo to jump up and destroy, before they've generated their required quotas of Skull Spiders, but the Skull Spiders themselves will each leave a Zeni worth 1 behind when killed - and you will then have to jump over a hole in the ground. You'll now come to another hole in the ground (which has a Sword suspended in mid-air over it); once you have collected it, it will increase your Ken by 3, at a cost of 10 Zeni. You'll now come to a Makimono that is suspended in midair - and once you have jumped up to collect this, you will come to Ryu that is flying around at the top of the screen while spitting blue fireballs at you. Once you have struck it with your sword enough times, to make it collapse (unusually for a normal enemy, it has an energy of 20), it will leave a Ken worth 3 behind; you will then have to jump over a fourth hole in the ground. You will now come to three rows of three "Kojima" platforms, that are moving left and right above you with second Sword above them - and in order to reach it, you will have to time your jumps so Kagekiyo can pass through the gap in each row. Once you have jumped up to the top row and collected the second Sword, you will have to jump over two more holes in the ground; you will then come to a staircase leading upwards, with a Jigokusha-generating swamp at the top of it (it will disappear after it has generated ten Jigokusha, but if you manage to destroy it, before it has generated its required quota, it will leave a Inochi worth 2 behind, and the Jigokusha themselves will each leave a Zeni worth 1 behind when killed). You'll now have to jump off the top of this staircase, in order to land on a "Kanameishi" that is moving up and down in front of you - and once you have done so, you will have to jump onto nine more "Kojima" platforms in turn to make it over a seventh hole in the ground beneath you (the first of which is moving to the left and right, so good timing is essential, if you want to land upon it). You will then come to another "Kanameishi" that is moving up and down in front of you; once you have jumped onto it, you'll have to jump onto fifteen more "Kojima" platforms in turn (the tenth and twentythird of this group are moving up and down, while the fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, nineteenth, twenty-second and twenty-fourth of which are moving left and right, so good timing is again essential if you want to land on them). The nineteenth one also has a third Sword that's suspended in midair over it - and if you know you can collect it without falling off the "Kojima", do so. Once you've dropped off the twenty-fourth "Kojima" you'll come to a Tawara; once you have collected this, it will increase Kagekiyo's energies by 10 at a cost of 10 Zeni. You will now have to jump onto six more "Kojima" platforms in turn to make it over an eighth hole in the ground (the twenty-seventh, twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, and thirtieth of which move around in circles, so good timing is once again essential, if you want to land on them) - there are also two torii suspended in mid-air over this hole, which will both lead to differently-backgrounded versions of the tenth stage (so if you know you can drop down and land upon them, do so). However, if you do not wish to risk ending up in the "Pit Stage", you will come to three more "Kanameishi", that are moving up and down in front of you; the second of which has a Candle near the top of its height, so once you have jumped onto the first and second ones in turn, and collected that Candle, then jumped onto the third one, you will come to a third torii. Once Kagekiyo has entered it, he will be transported to another different-backgrounded version of the tenth stage.

Stage 10 (Small Mode)
This stage features caricatures of five Namco employees, which later reappeared in 16-bit form in the ending sequence of Beraboh Man; once Kagekiyo has rematerialized in mid-air (he is still in his smaller form) and fallen to the ground, start running to the right and a caricature of the game's programmer, Ryouihi Ohkubo, will appear. Another one will appear as Kagekiyo continues running to the right, followed by one of the game's director, Norio Nakagata - and you will now come to two "Kanameishi" that are moving up and down in front of you, along with a Makimono suspended in mid-air. You will have to jump onto the first "Kanameishi", and jump back to the left from the top of its heights to collect the Makimono; once you have done so, a caricature of the game's music composer, known only as "?", will appear. Another one will appear as you come to two Yahei that are shooting flaming arrows at you, after you have jumped onto the second "Kanameishi", and dropped off it, and a third one will appear once you have jumped over that first hole in the ground - and you will then come to a Gaki Generator (which will disappear after it has generated ten Gaki, but if you manage to destroy it, before it has generated its required quota of Gaki, it will leave an Inochi is worth 2 behind). You will now come to an Enormous Mukade; once you have struck its head with your sword to kill it, it will leave a Doku Kinoko behind (which means you will either have to jump over it or wait until it has disappeared, to avoid losing energy from picking it up). As Kagekiyo continues running to the right, a caricature of this game's stereo papa, Kazunari Mimura, will appear (even though it has monaural sound) - and you will then come to another hole in the ground which has four Tsuzura suspended in mid-air over it (but they are all too high for Kagekiyo to jump up and strike with his sword to open). So once you have jumped over this hole, continue running to the right, until you come to a Stone Lion which is spitting blue fireballs at you; once you have struck it with your sword to kill it, it will leave the game's first sacred item (the Magatama Jewel) behind. It will make Kagekiyo invulnerable to Doku Kinoko when collected - and once you have picked it up, it will be displayed in the bottom-right corner of the screen as another caricature of "?" appears, followed by two more of Ohkubo. You will then come to a third hole in the ground (this one has a torii suspended in mid-air over it); as you jump over it, another caricature of Nakagata will appear (and if you know you can land on the torii, do so; it will lead to the eleventh stage). However, if you jump over that torii, two more caricatures of of "?" and Ohkubo will appear, once you've landed - and you will now come to four more Tsuzura that are suspended in mid-air (a fifth caricature of "?" will appear when you jump up to the first one), and a "Kanameishi" that is moving up and down, in front of you (a third caricature of Nakagata will appear, just before you jump onto it). You will then come to this stage's second torii; and once Kagekiyo has entered this one, he will be transported to a differently-backgrounded version of that eleventh stage (which can be skipped).

Stage 11 (Small Mode)
Once Kagekiyo has rematerialized in mid-air (again, he's still in his smaller form) and fallen to the ground, you'll come to a Yahei who is shooting flaming arrows at you; once you have struck it with your sword to kill it, drop down to the platforms below and jump over the first hole in the ground. You will then come to another Yahei, who is shooting flaming arrows at you - and once you have struck it with your sword to kill it, you will have to jump over a second hole in the ground. You will now come to a "Kanameishi" that is moving up and down in front of you; jump onto it and leap from the top of its height to get over a third hole in the ground. You will then come to a Gaki Generator - and it will disappear after it has generate ten Gaki, but if you manage to destroy it before it does so, it will leave a Inochi worth 2 behind. You will now have to jump over a fourth hole in the ground; once you have landed, you will come to another "Kanameishi" that is moving up and down in front of you. Jump onto it as you'll come to a third Yahei who is shooting flaming arrows at you on the platforms at the top of its heights - and once you have struck it with your sword to kill it, you will come up to three more "Kanameishi" that are moving up and down in front of you. You will have to jump onto each of them in turn at the top of their height in order to clear the fifth, sixth, and seventh holes in the ground; once you have landed, you will come to a fourth Yahei, who is shooting flaming arrows at you. Once you have struck it with your sword to kill it, you will come to sixth "Kanameishi", that is moving up and down in front of you; you will have to jump onto it, then jump from the top of its height to get over an eighth hole in the ground. Once you have landed, you will come to an Enormous Mukade - and once you have struck its head with your sword to kill it, it will leave a Doku Kinoko behind (which you will neither need to jump over or wait for to disappear now you have the Magatama Jewel). Once you have jumped over a ninth hole in the ground, you will come to three Tawara and a Makimono; you should collect the latter (and the 3 formers if you have enough Zeni to do so), before coming to a seventh "Kanameishi" that is moving up and down in front of you. Once you have jumped onto this, jump onto the platform at the top of its height, before dropping down to the platform below, and coming up to five Chimoguri Kouke that are burrowing around - and once you have struck each of them with your sword to kill them, they will leave a Zeni worth 5 behind. You will then come up to Daimajin; once you have struck his chest with your sword to kill him, he will leave an Inochi worth 7 behind. Just before the torii, you will come up to an "Ojizōsama" statue - much like the one on that fifth stage, it will give you 500 points at a cost of 10 Zeni every time you run behind it. Once Kagekiyo has entered the torii, he will be transported to the twelfth stage (which, much like this stage, can be skipped if you fell down hole in the tenth stage after collecting the Magatama Jewel).

Stage 12 (Yamashiro, Big Mode)
Once Kagekiyo has rematerialize (in his larger form after a three-stage absence) start walking to the right and hold your sword high in the air by pushing the joystick into the "north-east" position; about halfway through the stage, you will meet up with Yoshitsune again, and he has an energy of 60 this time. Once you have hit him enough times to defeat him again, and collected the Ken he has left behind, the song you are hearing from the Yamaha YM-2151 will change back to the normal Big Mode theme - and you can continue onward to the torii which, when entered, will transport you to the thirteenth stage.

Stage 13 (Kyoto, Overhead Mode)
This is the stage where the old woman who appeared at the start of the game appears for a second time; if you fell down a hole in either the ninth, tenth or eleventh stages and ended up in the "Pit Stage", and had the maximum amount of Zeni (99) when you walked into the lava pool down there (instantly transporting you to this stage), she will speak out a different message. So once Kagekiyo has rematerialize (in his smaller form, for an eighth time), start running to the right and destroy that pagoda directly in front of you (not that one north-east of you) - you will come to a rickshaw cart which is generating Onihime. It will disappear after it has generated ten Onihime, but if you manage to destroy it before it does so, it will leave an Inochi worth 2 behind (and the Onihime themselves will leave a Zeni worth 1 behind when killed). After this, move down, then right, then down again, then up, then right, and finally up again, until you come up to two more Onihime-generating rickshaw carts; again, these will both disappear after they've generated ten Onihime, but if you manage to destroy them before they have done so, they will leave an Inochi worth 2 behind. You will now have to continue running to the right, then move up and left in order to destroy Dokuraku-generating "Hyōtan" (it will disappear after it has generated three Dokuraku, but if you manage to destroy it before it does so, it will leave a Inochi worth 2 behind) - and you will now have to move back to the right, then down, and then destroy either of the two pagodas south and west of you in order to strike the Tsuzura behind the remaining one with your sword to open it (it will increase you energy by 7 which means that it contains a "crystal ball"). You will now have to move back to the right, then up, then right again, then up again, then right again, then down, and finally left, until you come up to two more Dokuraku-generating "Hyōtan"; again, they'll disappear, after they've generated three Dokuraku, but if you manage to destroy them before they do so, they will leave Inochi worth 2 behind. You will now have to continue running back to the right, until you come up to two Namazu-generating ponds; they will disappear after they have generated three Namazu, but if you manage to destroy them before they do so, they will leave Inochi worth 2 behind (and the Namazu themselves will each leave a Zeni worth 1 behind, when killed). You will now have to move down and left, as you come up to two more Tsuzura - and once you have struck both of these with your sword to open them, they will increase your energy by 7 (which again means that they both contain "crystal balls"). You will now have to back to the right, then up, then right again, and finally up again (killing two Honeinu as you go), until you come up to the first instance of a Heiankyo Generator (which is identical in appearance to the old Gaki Generators); it will disappear after it has generated three Heiankyo, but if you manage to destroy it before it does so, it will leave of an Inochi that's worth 2 behind (and the Heiankyo themselves will leave a Zeni that is worth 3 behind, when killed). You will then have to move back down, then right, then up, then left, then up again, and finally right again, as you come to a second Heiankyo Generator - and again, it will disappear after it has generated three Heiankyo, but if you manage to destroy it, before it does so, it will leave of an Inochi that's worth 2 behind (and the Heiankyo themselves will leave a Zeni that is worth 3 behind when killed). Once Kagekiyo has entered the torii, he will be transported to the fourteenth stage; however, if you should end up in the "Pit Stage" after falling down a hole after this point, the blood pool will still transport you back to this stage when you enter it with 70 Zeni...

Stage 14 (Big Mode)
Once Kagekiyo has rematerialized in his larger form, start walking to the right and hold your sword high in the air by pushing the joystick into the "north-east" position; and as with the fourth and eighth stages, you will have make a pause and turn back to the left whenever a Tiger tries to leap on you from behind. They will each leave a Zeni worth 1 behind when killed, and about halfway through this stage, you will meet up with Yoshitsune for a third time - and as with his first appearance on the fourth stage, he has an energy of 40. Once you have hit him enough times to defeat him for a third time now and collected the Ken he has left behind, the song you are hearing from the Yamaha YM-2151 will change back to the normal Big Mode theme, and you can continue on to the torii which, when entered, will transport you to the fifteenth stage. (The Tigers will also be trying to leap on Kagekiyo two at time now).

Stage 15 (Echizen, Overhead Mode)
Once Kagekiyo has rematerialized (in his smaller form for the ninth time), start running to the right as you come to a Namazu-generating whirlpool; it will disappear once it has generated three Namazu, but if you manage to destroy it before it does so, it will leave an Inochi worth 2 behind (and the Namazu themselves will leave a Zeni worth 1 behind when killed). You will then have to continue running to the right, around ten mounds of turf, destroying three Dokuraku-generating "Hyōtan" as you go - and you will then come to four rows of three Oriental houses. You'll now have to continue running to the right around twenty pagodas, destroying three more Dokuraku-generating "Hyōtan" as you go; you will then come to maze made up of more Oriental houses, with more pagodas blocking the gaps. Move down and right until you come to a twenty-first pagoda, then strike it with your sword, to destroy it - and you will then come to a Skull Spider-generating web. It will disappear after it has generated three Skull Spiders, but if you manage to destroy it before it does so, it will leave one Inochi worth 2 behind (and the Skull Spiders themselves will each leave Zeni worth 1 behind when killed); you will then have to move up and right until you come up to twenty-second pagoda, then strike it with your sword to destroy it. You will now have to continue running to the right as you come to four more Dokuraku-spawning "Hyōtan", in this next part of this maze - and once you have destroyed them all, you will come to twenty-third pagoda. Once you have struck it with your sword to destroy it, it will leave a Candle behind; once you've collected it, the Oriental houses will be replaced by grass-covered walls. You will now have to move up, then right, then down, then right again, then down again, and finally right again, until you arrive at another part of the maze with two more Dokuraku-spawning "Hyōtan" in it - and once you have destroyed them, you will come to a twenty-fourth pagoda. Once you have struck it with your sword to destroy it, you'll come to three more pagodas; when you strike the one on the right with your sword to destroy it, it will leave 1000-point bonus item behind (again, it will either be: a Galaxian Flagship, a Rally-X Special Flag, a Libble Rabble Hoblin, or a generic red car). Once you have collected it, you should strike the one that's to its left to destroy it - as this one will leave an invisible torii behind, which will transport Kagekiyo to the sixteenth stage when entered (this stage contains the game's second sacred item, which will make Kagekiyo invulnerable to Inazuma)...

Stage 16 (Ecchuu, Small Mode)
This stage, like the tenth one before it, features the caricatures of Namco employees that were later reused in the ending sequence of Beraboh Man; so once Kagekiyo has rematerialized (still in his smaller form) and fallen to the grounds, start running to the right and a caricature of this game's supervisor, Yukio Takahashi, will appear. A second one of the game's music composer (known only as "?") will appear once you have dropped down to the platform below and jumped onto the pagoda and a third one of the game's stereo papa, Kazunari Mimura (again, even though it has monaural sound) will appear when you jump off the pagoda to collect the Makimono that is suspended in midair - and a fourth one of the game's director, Norio Nakagata, will appear as you come up to a Daimajin. Once you have jumped up and struck his chest with your sword to kill him, he will leave an Inochi worth 7 behind; you will then come to a "Kanameishi", that is moving up and down in front of you. Another caricature of Nakagata will appear once you have jumped onto it - and once you have jumped from the top of its height, you must continue running to the right until you come to a Tsuzura that is suspended in midair. Another caricature of the game's programmer, Ryouihi Ohkubo, will appear when you jump up and strike it with your sword to open it, and another one of "?" will appear once you have landed; another caricature of Mimura will appear, just before you come to a torii, which will transport Kagekiyo to the seventeenth stage when entered. However, if you continue running on to the right, a third caricature of "?" and a third caricature of Nakagata will appear as five small "Kanameishi" come bouncing towards you - and much like the three on that first stage, you can either jump onto one of them for a free ride, or just stand in a place where they will not land on you. Another caricature of Takahashi and two more caricatures of Nakagata will then appear, as you come to three more Tsuzura that are suspended in midair; once you have jumped up and struck each of these ones with your sword to open them, a third caricature of Takahashi will appear as you come to the game's second sacred item (the Kagami Mirror). Once you have collected it, it will be displayed in the bottom-right corner of the screen - this will make Kagekiyo invulnerable to Inazuma when picked up, and a fourth caricature of Mimura and a fourth caricature of "?" will then appear, as you come to this stage's second torii (which will transport Kagekiyo to a different-backgrounded version of the seventeenth stage when entered; it contains arguably the most aggravating regular enemy in the game due to the fact that you have to jump and strike each of its heads)...

Stage 17 (Small Mode)
Once Kagekiyo has rematerialized (still in his smaller form again), he will land on a "Kojima" platform, that is moving up and down, over the Sanzu River beneath him; you will then have to jump onto three more "Kojima" platforms, that are moving up and down in turn, before jumping onto six more that are moving around in circles, so good timing is essential if you want to land upon them. You will now come to a "Kanameishi" that is moving up and down in front of you with a Candle to the left of it and a Tsuzura to the right of it; once you've jumped onto the "Kanameishi", collected the Candle and struck the Tsuzura with your sword to open it, you will come to a Mitsubiryu that is spitting blue fireballs at you from each of its three heads. They will each leave a Ken worth 5 behind, when destroyed - and once you have destroyed it completely, it will leave this game's third sacred item (the Tsurugi Sword) behind. Once you have collected it, it will be displayed in the bottom-right corner of the screen; not only will it stop Kagekiyo's swordpower from going down, but it will also glow when he is in his larger form (as you will soon find out). You will now come to three Tawara, which will increase Kagekiyo's energy by 10 at a cost of 10 Zeni when collected - and once Kagekiyo has entered the torii, he will be transported to the eighteenth stage (with all three sacred items).

Stage 18 (Big Mode)
Once Kagekiyo has rematerialized (in his larger form after a four-stage absence), start walking to the right and hold your sword high in the air by pushing the joystick into the "north-east" position; you should watch out for the seven Tekyuu that are suspended in mid-air, which will drop down on Kagekiyo as he passes under them. About halfway through the stage, you will meet up with Benkei for a second time - and he now possesses an enormous staff with a Tekyuu on each end. Once you have hit him enough times to defeat him again (he has an energy of 100) and collected the Ken he has left behind, the song you are hearing from the Yamaha YM-2151 will change back to the normal Big Mode theme; you will then come up to Makimono that is suspended in mid-air. Once you have jumped up to collect it, Kagekiyo's right (sword-holding) arm will start revolving in a clockwise direction as he passes under an eighth Tekyuu that is suspended in mid-air and dropping down on him as he passes under it - and you can then continue onward to the stage torii which when entered, will transport you to the nineteenth stage. There are only four stages left now (one Small Mode, one Overhead Mode, and two Big Mode).

Stage 19 (Suruga, Small Mode)
Once Kagekiyo has rematerialized (in his smaller form for the twelfth time) and landed on a "Kojima" platform over the Sanzu River beneath him, he will have to jump onto six more "Kojima" platforms that are moving left and right in turn (the fourth one has Tawara suspended in mid-air above it; and if you know you can collect it without falling off the "Kojima", do so). You will then come up to a "Kanameishi", that is moving up and down in front of you - and once you have jumped onto it you'll have to jump onto thirty more "Kojima" platforms that are moving left and right in turn (the twelfth one has a Tsuzura and another Tawara suspended in mid-air above it and if you know you can collect them without falling off the "Kojima", do so). The nineteenth one also has another Tawara suspended in mid-air above it, and the twenty-second one also has a Candle suspended in mid-air above it; again, if you know you can collect them without falling off the "Kojima", do so. You will then come to a torii, which is suspended in mid-air - and once Kagekiyo has landed on it, he will be transported to the twentieth stage (however, if you miss it, you will fall into the Sanzu River and end up in the "Pit Stage" as if it was any hole).

Stage 20 (Musashi, Overhead Mode)
This is the stage old woman who appeared at the start of the game reappears for the third time; so once Kagekiyo has rematerialized (still in his smaller form), he will find himself surrounded, by eight Kishokugan. Once you have struck each of them with your sword to kill them (they will each leave a Zeni worth 1 behind), start running to the right, and collect as many of the nine Tawara in front of you as your Zeni amount will allow - and you will then come to six Jigokusha-generating swamps. They will disappear after they have generated ten Jigokusha, but if you manage to destroy them, before they have done so, they will leave a Inochi worth 2 behind (and the Jigokusha themselves will each leave a Zeni worth 1 behind when killed); you will then have to run back to the left and enter the torii next to the remaining Tawara (if there are any left) in order to be transported to the twenty-first, penultimate stage.

Stage 21 (Sagami, Big Mode)
Once Kagekiyo has rematerialized in his larger form, start walking to the right and hold your sword high in the air by pushing the joystick into the "north-east" position; the vortexes suspended in mid-air will drop Doku Kinoko on Kagekiyo as he passes under them, but the Magatama Jewel will render him invulnerable to them. About a quarter of the way through the stage, you'll meet up with Benkei for a third time, and he still possesses his enormous staff with a Tekyuu on each end - but once you have hit him enough times to defeat him for a third time (he still has an energy of 100), and collected that Ken he has left behind, the song you are hearing from the Yamaha YM-2151 will change to Yoshitsune's theme as you continue walking to the right. You will then have to watch out for the eight Tekyuu suspended in mid-air which will drop down on Kagekiyo as he passes under them; and about three-quarters of the way through the stage, you will meet up with Yoshitsune, for a fourth time. Once you've hit him enough times to defeat him for a fourth time (much like his second appearance on the twelfth stage, he has an energy of 60) and collected up the Ken he has left behind, the song you are hearing from the Yamaha YM-2151 will change back to the normal Big Mode Stage theme - and you can continue on to the torii which when entered, will transport you to the twenty-second and final stage. (Kagekiyo must have all three sacred items in his possession, if he wishes to defeat his old arch-enemy of Yoritomo).

Stage 22 (Kamakura, Big Mode)
You have reached the final stage. If you have missed one of the sacred items, you are not even able to defeat his first form. Minamoto no Yoritomo tries to stay ahead, and attacks by firing Inazuma, but your Kagami Mirror will render them useless. Yoritomo has three forms, each with 80 life points. By removing his first life bar, he will reveal a monster face, and starts to fire a different bolt, which is not affected by your mirror. Remove his second life bar and he will transform into a giant statue of Buddha. Deliver the last 80 damage to him, and the background will turn black. Yoritomo will shout "My soul will never perish!" and disappear, and Kagekiyo will then fall over and explode - just as if he had run out of energy. You can now sit back and enjoy the ending - which features a poem consists of 104 Kanji and Hiragana (no Katakana) characters scrolling across the screen - as sakura leaves begin raining down in front of Mount Fuji (which had been the setting for Namco's own Pole Position back in 1982).