Pistol Daimyo no Bouken/Gameplay

Controls

 * Joystick: Use the 8-way joystick to direct Pistol Daimyo around the screen. He is always moving forward, but you can direct him anywhere; as with Kissy, Takky, and Hommy, from Baraduke and Bakutotsu Kijūtei, if you stop holding it up, Pistol Daimyo will float back down to the ground if he is in mid-air. He can also still move after losing one of his suits of armour, as a result of getting hit, but will not be able to fire his pistol for a few seconds.
 * Firing Button: Use this button to make Pistol Daimyo fire his pistol at the enemies. Pressing it lightly makes it fire a small cannonball; holding down the button charges the pistol (much like Alice's bubbleblower in Märchen Maze and Apollo's sword in Phelios) and on releasing the button the pistol fires a medium-sized or large cannonball. Even the smallest enemies in this game take multiple hits to kill, so the small cannonballs are of little use.
 * 1 or 2 Player Buttons: Push these buttons to begin a 1 or 2 player game.

Pistol Daimyo (ピストル大名)
This gun-toting feudal lord first appeared as a boss character on the eighth and twenty-second stages of Beraboh Man in 1988 (which also ran on Namco System 1 hardware), and attacked by setting up an invisible wall in front of himself that would not go away until he was defeated; he would then hover up and down in a fixed position behind it while firing missiles from his pistol (strapped to his head) at that game's eponymous main character, and took eleven hits to defeat on both occasions. However, since the defeat of Dr. Bakuda at the end of the game, he appears to have undergone a makeover - and he now faces the right side of the screen and no longer holds fans in his hands. In the game's opening cutscene, he dances past his eight advisors (four male and four female, who bow down as he passes them) before performing a somersault and setting off on an adventure over five worlds themed around Feudal Japan: Tabidachi no Maki (旅立ちの巻), Waru Gappa no Maki (悪ガッパの巻), Shuriken-dan no Maki (しゅりけん団の巻), Ayakashi no Maki (あやかしの巻) and Gonsuke-dan no Maki (ゴンスケ団の巻); he also now fires three different sizes of cannonballs from his pistol instead of missiles, and will die in a single hit, unless he breaks three blue vases with a medium or large cannonball and collects the Hanafuda  cards they leave behind, which will cause a Kusudama  to come down from the top of the screen. If he breaks it open, with a medium or large cannonball, before it goes back up off the top of the screen again, it will leave a suit of wooden, or metal if you already have the wooden one, armour behind - and once he has put it on, he will keep it until he gets hit, at which point it will fly off and reduce him to wooden (or no) armour. Also, if he should break a yellow vase, of which there are just three in all of the game, with a medium or large cannonball, it will leave a shot powerup behind; once he has collected it, it will increase the powers of his shots for the remainder of the current stage (2, 9 and 13).

Suzume (すずめ)
These small brown birds appear on the first, second, third and fifth stages of the game; one small cannonball will kill them, and they are worth 100 points.

Dokuro (どくろ)
These skulls appear on the first and twelfth stages of the game; on the latter, they will also emerge from doors that appear in front of Pistol Daimyo, take one large cannonball to destroy, and are worth 300 points. One medium-sized cannonball will kill them, and they are also worth 300 points.

Kappa No Sara (カッパの皿)
These flower-heads appear on the first, second, third, fourth and fifth stages; they cannot be killed by Pistol Daimyo and must be avoided.

Tatami Kozo (たたみ小僧)
These flying priests appear upon the first and fourteenth stages of the game; one small cannonball will kill them, and they are worth 400 points.

Kanameishi (要石)
These keystones appear on the first, sixth, seventh, eighth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth stages of the game; one large cannonball will kill the blue and yellow ones (which are both worth 300 points), but the purple ones (which are worth 800 points) take three of them. The enormous ones, however, only take two large cannonballs to kill, and are also worth 800 points - they will also create an (enemy-harmful) explosion on death.

Sakura Nosuke (サクラのすけ)
This pink-clad samurai is the boss of that first stage; he will first hover into view from that right side of the screen, rise into the air, and speak that Hiragana/Katakana text of ''Setsu shi ya Sakura Nosuke to mōsu. Chika-ra wo tameshimaseu!'' (せつしやサクラのすけともうす ちからをためしませう!) to Pistol Daimyo. He will now hover around for a few seconds before speaking the Hiragana/Katakana text of ''Teki ha taitei a tama gaja kutendegozaru. Botan wo o shiteki ai wo tameru nodegozaru'' (てきはたいていあたまがじゃくてんでござる ボタンをおしてきあいをためるのでござる) to Pistol Daimyo as a sakura tree emerges from his head - and he will now hover randomly around the screen, while firing flowers at you from his tree (which you cannot afford to get hit by). Once you have fired ninety-six small cannonballs, forty-eight medium cannonballs or six large cannonballs at his tree (as sixteen small cannonballs, eight medium cannonballs, and one large cannonball will all register as half a cross upon his Waru meter), it will recede back into his head and any flowers that are still on the screen will explode as he descends back to the ground; he will then speak the explosive Hiragana text ''O migotodegozaimasu! Ki ai kki desu!'' (おみごとでございます! きあいっきあいです!) to Pistol Daimyo as the game's "stage clear" theme is heard from the Yamaha YM-2151 for the first time before hovering away off the right side of the screen.

Kaeru (かえる)
These frogs appear on the second, third, fourth, fifth, ninth, tenth, and fourteenth stages of the game; a small cannonball will kill the green and purple ones (which are both worth 100 points), but the red (which are also 100 points) and black ones (which are 400 points) take a medium one.

Gama Gaeru (ガマガエル)
These enormous purple frogs appear on the second, third, fourth and fifth stages of the game; one large cannonball will kill them, and they are worth 500 points. A three-Waru yellow version of them is also the boss of the second stage - see the section below for more details about him.

Yellow Gama Gaeru (黄色いガマガエル)
This enormous three-Waru frog is the boss of the second stage; he will first speak the Hiragana text Gero-ge ero! (げろげえろ!), to Pistol Daimyo thrice (his Waru meter will also appear in that bottom-right corner of the screen at this point) before starting to bounce into view from the right side of the screen. If you want to, you can first fire two medium cannonballs or one large cannonball at the slightly larger green Kaeru who is standing on the purple seat atop his head to knock him off (for 200 extra points) - and once you have fired out forty-eight small cannonballs or six medium cannonballs or three large cannonballs at him (eight small cannonballs and one medium cannonball will both register half a cross on that Waru meter, and one large cannonball will register as a full cross on that Waru meter), that "stage clear" theme will be heard from the Yamaha YM-2151 for a second time as the aforementioned purple seat that was on his head explodes for 500 extra points and he falls off the bottom of the screen while speaking the explosive Hiragana/Katakana text of Kero ro ōo n keron! (けろろオオオん けろんっ!), to Pistol Daimyo. 黄色い also literally reads as kīroi.

Kokappa (子カッパ)
These duck-like creatures only appear upon the third stage of the game; one medium-sized cannonball will kill them, and they are worth 100 points.

Kapa Kepe Kohoon (カパケペコホオン)
This duck-like creature, who is encapsulated inside a protective and anticlockwise-spinning tornado, is the boss of the third stage; he will first speak that Katakana text Kepepekkapakepekohōn. (ケペ ペッ カパ ケペ コホオン) to Pistol Daimyo twice as he emerges from the water (his Waru meter, comprised of three Waru, will also appear in the bottom-right corner of the screen at this point). He will then start to hover across the surface of the water, while occasionally jumping out of that protective tornado to spin around rapidly in the clockwise direction, and throw shurikens at you - and once you have again fired a total of forty-eight small cannonballs, six medium cannonballs, or three large cannonballs at him while he is out of the tornado (as eight small cannonballs and one medium cannonball will both again register as half a cross on that Waru meter, and one large cannonball will again register a full cross on it; also, medium and large cannonballs can be fired into the tornado while he is encapsulated in it), the tornado will explode and the "stage clear" theme will be heard from the Yamaha YM-2151 for the third time as he stops spinning, faces the camera and speaks the Hiragana text of ''Ka pappa! Ru n pappa!'' (かっぱっぱ! るんぱっぱ!) to Pistol Daimyo before fainting and disappearing in a puff of smoke. The outward appearance of blue-clad ninja Makishinji, who is the boss of the sixth stage, is also identical to him.

Kokakkake (コカッカケ)
The boss of the fourth stage. Four large cannonballs will kill him.

Kappa Shien (カッパ仙人)
The boss of the fifth stage. Three large cannonballs will defeat him.

Ninjas (忍者)
They appear on the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth stages. The blue, yellow and purple ones will die after a small cannonball hits them, but the red ones take a medium-sized one.

Makishinji (まきしんじ)
The boss of the sixth stage. Three large cannonballs will kill him.

Tonbi (とんび)
They appear on the seventh stage. One small cannonball will kill them.

Bonito (ぼにと)
They appear on the seventh stage. One small cannonball will kill them.

Generators (ジェネレーターズ)
They appear on the seventh and eighth stages. One medium-sized cannonball will kill them.

Mokumoku Nosuke (もくもくのすけ)
The boss of the seventh and eighth stages. On the seventh stage, he will take five large cannonballs, but on the eighth stage, he will only take four.

Rocks (岩)
They appear on the eighth and twelfth stages. One large cannonball will kill them.

Nekodori (ねこどり)
They appear on the eighth, eleventh and thirteenth stages. One medium-sized cannonball will kill both types.

Karakuri Cannon (からくり大砲)
Appears on the ninth stage. One large cannonball will kill him.

Shuriken Dan Leader (しゅりけん団の団長)
The boss of the ninth stage. Five large cannonballs will kill him.

Geta (げた)
They appear on the tenth stage. One medium-sized cannonball will kill them.

Bacura (バキュラ)
They appear on the tenth and thirteenth stages. They can't be killed, and every time Pistol Daimyo hits them, they will come towards him faster.

Yuurei (ゆうれい)
They appear on the tenth, eleventh and thirteenth stages in jars. If you don't shoot them in time with a medium-sized cannonball, they will break out and fly directly at Pistol Daimyo.

Two-Headed Lion (獅子舞)
The boss of the tenth stage. Three large cannonballs will defeat him, but only if they hit his body. If they hit his heads, they will fly off and attack Pistol Daimyo.

Neko Hitode (ネコヒトデ)
The boss of the eleventh stage. Four large cannonballs will defeat him, but it is the star on his head that must be attacked.

Dokuro Nosuke (ドクロのすけ)
The boss of the twelfth stage. Six large cannonballs will defeat him.

Hakaba (墓場)
They appear on the thirteenth stage. One large cannonball will kill them.

Hinotama Cannons (人魂発射砲)
They appear on the thirteenth stage. One large cannonball will kill them.

Chouchin (ちょうちん)
They appear on the thirteenth stage. One medium-sized cannonball will kill them.

Floating Graveyard (浮上墓場)
The boss of the thirteenth stage. Six large cannonballs will kill him.

Galaxians (ギャラクシアンズ)
It is not known which stage they appear on, or how many hits they take to kill, but they will attack Pistol Daimyo by firing their shots at him.