Demon Sword/Stages

The 2 megabit American version of this game, Demon Sword, contains nearly half as many stages as the 3 megabit Japanese version, Fudo Myouoden. As a result, many of the stages presented below do not apply to Demon Sword. Furthermore, many of the bosses have also been changed. Consult the table below to determine which stages are applicable to the game you are playing.

Bamboo grove
As the first stage, the Bamboo grove gives players an introduction to the game. Skull ninjas will pour out of the sky to attack. Establish yourself somewhere safe where you can remain and attack enemies in order to amass a large collection of items. Good places to wait are locations where a branch is directly over your head, or beside the cliff walls just above certain doors. Be sure to visit many doors as well in order to obtain the powerful and helpful items contained inside. If you have to fight a mini-boss, remain a safe distance from him and throw projectiles at him as quickly as possible. He can only avoid them if he swings his sword very rapidly. As you proceed through the stage, be careful not to drop through the pits found at the bottom of certain areas. If you are unsure of what lies below you, jump to a tree trunk and use the trunk to safely climb down to the ground. Steadily make your way to the right until you reach a very large tree, where you will encounter the boss.

Boss
The boss wields a sword, and wears a Hannya mask representing a jealous female demon. It will typically jump in the air whenever it suffers damage. The best strategy to defeat this boss is to run to the spot on the ground where the boss is standing, squat down and strike at him with your sword. As long as you squat, you should be safe from attack. If you strike fast enough, you can prevent him from leaving the ground. In Fudo Myouoden, you will receive the red orb projectile for defeating this boss.

Mountain forest
The mountain forest is very similar to the previous stage, only it has much more of a downward slope to the terrain in the beginning. It's rather easy to go sailing off into the sky by leaping from the treetops and simply falling down, but you will again miss vital opportunities to collect life preserving items. The doors in the stage are actually positioned on the left side of certain pits. Be very careful when descending down these pits, as there are likely to be spikes waiting for you at the bottom. Look for trees that can safely guide you down to the ground. The boss of this stage is different between the two versions.

Cemetery
After the last two stages, you may anticipate having to run to the right in order to complete this stage. However, the goal of this stage lies above you. You must continuously jump to higher and higher ledges in order to reach the top. Be aware that the left and right sides of the stage connect to one another to form an infinite loop. At first the levels have platforms spread evenly throughout the width of the stage. As you get higher, the platforms become more spread out, requiring you to carefully choose a landing point in order to proceed. A new type of enemy will appear in this stage. Undead warriors with swords drop down from the ceiling. Doors are typically found on the left side of long platforms. This stage ends with a long bridge-like ladder that leads to the top of the stage. When you reach the top, spend some time attacking enemies to obtain items before facing the boss.

Evil temple
This is the first stage where the extent of your vertical leap will be limited by a ceiling. The basic arrangement of this stage is a group of platforms spaced out between the floor and the ceiling, with an occasional pillar that you can climb up and down. However, as you proceed through the temple, you will find that some of the levels end abruptly, forcing you to leap up or drop down to get beyond any walls that prevent progress. You face three primary enemies through this stage; the skull ninjas, the masked warriors, and a new enemy, the knife throwing hunchbacks. Hunchbacks drop straight down from the ceiling, and wait for a brief moment before throwing a knife at you that travels upward as it flies. If you are far enough away, you can avoid the knife by ducking, although you will fall through the platform if you are not standing on the floor. The snowball projectile is intended for use in Flame Mountain, so you can stick with the prayer beads for the time being, as they can hit the hunchbacks even when they are squatting down. As you get deeper into the palace, some sections of the floor are lined with spikes. You are generally safer if you remain closer to the top, although you may find it slower. Doors are scattered high and low throughout the temple, and are generally lined up against pillars. Of particular note among the scrolls that you may find are the Chibi scrolls and the art of duplication scrolls.

Boss
The boss is a ghost high priest. He is tall and carries a staff. The only means of attack that the priest has is to shoot out a trio of projectiles from the top of the staff. However, the only vulnerable spot he has is his head. Furthermore, he can render himself invisible and immune to attack for long durations. The only part of him that you can see while he is invisible is the top of his staff. The fastest strategy to deal with this boss is to approach his head and slash at it with your sword. While you risk standing near him when he uses his staff, you should be able to hit him quickly enough to prevent him from firing at you. Chase him around the giant Buddha statue and strike at his head when you are high enough until he is defeated. You will obtain the first extension to your blade.

Flame Mountain
While the environment of this stage is entirely different, the arrangement of it is not too dissimilar to the Mountain forest stage in reverse; that is, generally more upward climbs than downward drops. You never have to worry about open pits that you can die by falling through, but there are several locations where the floor is covered by damaging lava. There are no new enemies. All of the doors are located near the ground.

Cavern
This is a particularly difficult stage for a few reasons. Like the Evil Palace, there is a ceiling throughout the stage that prevents you from leaping as high as you may like. There is a new enemy in here, the winged demons who dive down and the across before climbing back up, that can be especially difficult to avoid. And lastly, there are high cliff walls that contain bottomless drops below. If you are not careful and jump into one of these walls without a Golden Peacock in reserve, you will lose a life. A stream of water runs along a majority of the floor throughout the later half of the stage. It flows to the left, so you must typically run against it. After travelling forward for a little while, you will have to scale a tall cliff by jumping from one overhead platform to the next. There are a few more times when you must climb over a cliff wall, and even one instance where you must descend from one platform to another along a long drop to reach the next portion of the stage. Keep to a safe path by identifying the next platform to land on before you make a move. Among scrolls that you are likely to find, the art of shadows scroll is particularly useful. In fact, you should attempt to obtain one just before you reach the boss.

Boss
The boss is ghost demon. He behaves much like many of the bosses you've encountered so far. He swings a large club, and spits out a trio of spirits that fan out as they fly forward. The terrain of this stage will benefit you greatly, especially if you collect a shadow scroll before fighting this boss. There is a platform above a layer of water that you can stand on and swing your sword. Contact with your sword will knock the demon down to the floor below. While you remain on the platform above, swing your sword continuously in order to lock the boss in place and hit him until he is defeated. If he manages to escape, track him down and knock him back down. You will obtain the Fireball projectile.

Frozen mountain
Just like Flame mountain did two stages ago, Frozen mountain ratchets up the challenge. This is an extremely long, and fairly dangerous stage. Skull ninja and masked warriors are joined by female assassins. They toss blades straight ahead as they move about, and they make their moves more hesitantly. Switch to the Fireball projectile before you get going. You absolutely need to keep moving on this stage; don't worry too much about finding doors, although it's always worthwhile investigating what's behind them if you find one. You are rarely safe at any location. There are so many ledges and short outcroppings that many of the enemies' projectiles will still hit you even if your squatting. They will throw them at you when they are level with the ground as they are falling. The only time you are safe in this stage is when you are standing on a long bridge. Stay centered on the screen and squat down to attack any enemy that appears on either side of you. If you're lucky, you may be able to snag an art of shadows scroll or a Falcon scroll. If you do obtain a shadow scroll, use the invincibility to your advantage, and leap through the stage from the tree tops. It's definitely in your best interest to try and obtain a shadow scroll before you face the boss at the end of the stage.

Boss
Not unexpectedly, the boss of this stage is a frozen ice woman. She is completely invulnerable to sword strikes, so you will have to hit her with projectiles. Naturally, the Fireball projectile will be the most effective weapon to throw at her. She doesn't jump around as much as levitate around the stage. Just like other bosses, she drops downward whenever she is struck by your sword or projectile. If you manage to grab an art of shadow scroll before you encounter the boss, you can easily rush the boss and overwhelm her with attacks until your vulnerability wears off. Without vulnerability, you still should be able to assail the boss with Fireball projectiles. If you're feeling bold, attempt to stand close to her and slightly above, and slash her with your sword until she is defeated. You will obtain the Air bubble projectile when you win.

Demon tower
The demon tower is a considerably short stage. It consists of a handful of floors that are not very wide, connected by long staircases that you must leap up. You will face the same three enemies as the previous stage: skull ninjas, masked warriors, and female assassins. There are only a couple of doors, and you will typically find them on the portion of the floor below the staircases. While the stage is fairly short, you definitely don't want to get caught staying in one area for too long and dealing with skeleton dogs. They're fast movement can make it difficult to climb up the stairs, although you fair much better if you happen to have a duplication scroll active. There is little else to note about this stage, you must simply aim to reach higher and higher floors until you reach the boss at the top of tower.

Boss
The boss of this stage is a Tengu wind demon. It moves like a typical boss, and it throws fans out ahead. Unfortunately, this boss is not vulnerable to projectiles, so you are required to get close to it in order to slash it with your sword. The boss likes to leap around, and it can be difficult to pin it down, especially if it's leaping up along the roof of the tower. If you can get it down to the ground below, keep it there for as long as you can, until the boss disappears in a large whirlwind. When the boss is defeated, you will obtain another extension to your sword.

Bottomless swamp
Compared to many other horizontal stages, this one is relatively level and flat. But it is no less challenging. There are a few trees that dot the landscape, but they provide little shelter from attacks. The female assassins disappear, but they are replaced with fighting monks who attack with flying kicks. They are particularly weak to the Air bubble projectile. There is another new enemy, but it will be difficult to see without the vision special item. You may notice what looks like a pair of jaws flickering lightly across the screen. You can hit them just as easily as any other enemy, provided you can tell where they are. You will start to receive the Talisman automatic item on this stage. Just as the Substitute dummies will protect you from visible attacks, a Talisman will protect you from attacks from invisible enemies. A layer of liquid lines the bottom of the stage, making running along the floor a chore. The stage is aptly named, as there are many pits that line the bottom of the stage, so you must be careful when you leap from one platform to another. Doors are found along some of the platforms above the ground. Two particularly useful scrolls that may appear are the art of shadows scroll or the dragon transformation scroll. Either one can help you sail past your enemies without fear, but only the dragon can help you safely fly over the bottomless pits. This stage is quite long, so be prepared for a fight, and keep your Substitute dummy collection up.

Boss
The boss of this stage is a Samurai that wears a bamboo hat. He can attack with his sword, or he can utilize a telekinetic wave attack from a distance. He is fairly easy to defeat, compared to the difficulty you faced reaching him. His entire body is vulnerable to attack, so like the bosses you faced earlier, it should be your goal to strike him quickly enough on the ground in order to keep him held in place until he is defeated. You can even attack him and keep him pinned while hanging on to the trunk of a tree. Once beaten, you will be receive the Thunder projectile.

Fortress exterior
You must scale the side of a cliff in order to reach the fortress that awaits you above. You'll start out by running to the right until you reach the interior of a cave. From there, you begin your ascent which leads in and out of the craggy cliff, sometimes with little more than branches to leap from. You will be attacked by a menagerie of enemies including the flying cave monsters who attacked you in the Cavern stage, a new type of soldier who attacks with a bow and arrows, and a new type of less visible blue apparition. If you can afford to hang out in any areas before the skeleton dogs appear, it may be worth your while to try and obtain an art of shadows scroll before making any major advancements. After climbing for a while, you'll reach a section where the background is a lighter shade of blue. You will have to find platforms to leap toward in order to make it to the top. However, the left side of this area offers the best chance to advance, using a combination of platforms and branches. Remember that, as you scale the mountain, the left side of the screen is generally exposed. If you accidentally leap off in that direction, expect to find yourself in a long plummet and return to the beginning of the stage. Doors are very easy to locate in this stage, as you are pretty much forced to pass them in order to progress. When you reach the top, you may notice a giant skull carved into the background stone. You will encounter the boss of the stage in this area.

Boss
The boss of this area is an armored samurai. In addition to swinging his large sword, he can also fire projectiles from it. The armor that he wears makes him particularly vulnerable to your Thunder projectile, although sword slashes work equally well. If you manage to obtain a shadow scroll just prior to challenging the boss, you can keep him pinned down for a fairly long period of time before the effect of the scroll wears off. Then continue to slash your sword whenever you are close, and fire projectiles whenever you are trying to close the distance between you. Your reward for defeating the samurai is the first Telekinetic Wave. Unlike other projectiles that have a particular strength against certain enemies, the Telekinetic Wave is equally strong against all enemies.

Fortress Gates
You're not inside the fortress just yet. Now that you've made it to the top of the cliff, you must advance through the entrance in order to reach the interior. Like the bottomless swamp, it's a long slog to the end of a relatively flat stage. The stage is divided into roughly two sections: above the roof and below the roof. You are generally safer under the roof, although there are a few sections of the stage later on where you will have to contend with bottomless pits. Above the roof, it's much harder to dodge any projectiles that are thrown your way because ducking will just cause you to drop to the ledge below you. Every now and then, you encounter a high wall that you can climb across. Doors are generally found at the bottom of these walls. In addition to skull ninjas, masked warriors, bowmen, and both the white and blue apparitions, you will also have to deal with swordsmen. Be sure to switch to the Telekinetic Wave projectile as soon as you begin. Among the better scrolls left behind, you may find a Chibi scroll, a Falcon scroll, an art of shadows scroll, or best of all, a dragon transformation scroll. Take advantage of the dragon scroll and advance yourself as far along the stage as you can. It's also a good idea to try and obtain a dragon scroll just before you reach the boss.

Boss
The boss of this stage is the ghost of a former Japanese army commander. He is quite tall, carries a long sword with great range, and wear enchanted armor. This armor contains a face in the chest that is capable of firing a flame projectile at you from time to time. It is this face, in fact, that is the only vulnerable point on the commander. If you can collect a dragon scroll before facing the boss, try to occupy the height of his chest to keep him pinned until the scroll wears off. Once it does, you'll have to rely on more traditional attacks. He tends to leap high above the fortress gates, and stands on statues of two snakes found on the roof. Keep a distance and use the Telekinetic Waves against his chest often as you can. If he approaches you, use your sword to knock him back. This boss has a large amount of health, and it will be a fairly long battle. Make sure you come stocked with enough Substitution dummies and other special items. Your reward for beating him is the advanced form of the Telekinetic Wave. This form works just like the original, except that it does five times the normal amount of damage instead of three.

Fortress interior
The fortress interior is a collection of floors connected by a set of staircases. It's is like a more complicated version of the Demon tower, if you are playing the Japanese version. The layout of the stage is not straightforward, and more maze-like, requiring you to identify just the right set of stairs that will allow you to reach the rooftop and advance to the right where the boss of the stage is waiting. There are four floors, but only the bottom and middle gray floors are solid enough to squat on. Squatting on the thinner yellow floors will cause you to drop beneath them. Doors are located throughout the fortress, typically in areas that dead-end and force you to double back in order to find the correct path. All manner of enemies will attack you here, but if you have the final Telekinetic Wave activated, you should be able to rip through them with little problem. Few scrolls will appear to help you out. The Falcon scroll and the art of shadows scroll are the best you can hope for. Use the chain special item to freeze enemies in place, or use the flight special item to fly freely around the stage in order to find your way through.

Boss
The boss of this stage is a woman in a red kimono wearing a Noh mask. She is a wielder of dark magic that protects her from attacks. When she gathers this magic around her in the form of a barrier, no attacks are effective against her, so all you can do is wait. When she's vulnerable to attack, hit her with the Telekinetic Wave as often as possible, or swing your sword rapidly to pin her in place. Sometimes she will fire off a portion of the barrier in an effort to hit you. If you time your attack well, you can fire of the powerful Aurora beam attack just as she releases her protective barrier. Keep a steady stream of attacks going until she is defeated. At that time, you will obtain the third and final extension to your blade, completing the seven-blade sword. Now it is time for you to visit the final world, the Netherworld, and vanquish the evil that is invading your realm once and for all.

Netherworld
As the final stage, the Netherworld is also the longest. A twisting maze of dragon skeleton platforms and walls with eyes, you'll have to navigate through the entire stage from start to finish in order to reach the final boss of the game. In general, you must proceed to the right, followed by a descent to the right, then double back to the left before dropping down several levels through a tunnel that snakes back and forth, and then once you reach the bottom, resuming your run to the right until you find the boss. After appearing in every stage, the skull ninjas will not be joining your enemies in the fight against you here. There are, however, plenty of masked warriors, gliding cave monsters, and slightly invisible apparitions. There are no bottomless pits to worry about, but there are a couple of pools of lava that you need to be careful around. Doors are located throughout the stage, though usually close to the ground. You can find the Falcon scroll, the art of shadow scroll, and the Dragon transformation scroll. While transforming into a dragon will help you progress a little, it won't help much against the boss. You should aim to pick up a shadow scroll before facing the final boss of the game.

Boss
The final boss is an old man who wields the most powerful dark magic. He has several tricks up his sleeve, including a blast of magic that is as tall as he is, and a throwing fan that tracks you down until it hits you or you slash it. But his most devious trick of all is his ability to instantly teleport to another location around the room whenever he gets hit. Forget about pinning this boss to one place, it's not possible. You'll have to try and outsmart him, and hope that you have enough Substitute dummies in reserve to outlast him. When he teleports, he tends to reappear somewhere close to where he once was, although that's not always the case. If you have grabbed on to the skull in the lower center of the room, he seems much more likely to appear somewhere around you. It is a good idea to pummel him with the remainder of your special powers, like the Aurora blasts, or the Lightning strikes, and if you have any extra lives remaining, the life stealing Curse attack.