Getsu Fuuma Den/First sword


 * Red letters indicate action zones. Blue letters indicate shops or help.

Main objectives

 * 1) Pass through Zone A to reach shop A.
 * 2) Purchase all of the items from shop A, then return through Zone A
 * 3) Pass through Zone B to reach shop B.
 * 4) Pass through Zone C to reach the dungeon entrances D and E.
 * 5) Enter the dungeon, and reach the entrace to the boss zone.
 * 6) Pass through the boss zone and defeat the boss to collect the first Hadouken sword

Walkthrough
You will exit from the tunnel in the lower left corner of the island. Your first goal should be to follow the path to the east and enter Zone A.

Zone A
The first few enemies that you encounter in this stage are a squid-like monster, followed by a spider-like monster, followed by another squid. If you are not killing the squid with one hit, it would be a good idea to run back and forth and kill these three monsters over and over again until your sword strength increases. You will have to exit the zone and reenter to determine if you are strong enough to kill the squids with one hit. Once you have achieved that, make the long leap to the middle column where a snake-like enemy rises out of the ground. Focus more on landing safely on the platform than on avoiding the monster's attack. Defeat the monster if you can, then proceed to the right. Another new enemy, a gigantic face, will rise out of the ground and spit a boulder at you before sinking. Stick around to defeat it next time it appears, or ignore it entirely and move on. More snake enemies will appear out of the ground, and a 1-Up doll can be easily collected from between a pair of them. Stick around and fight them if your health is high enough. After another face, you will reach what appears to be a dead-end. However, if you equip the Rock Sword, you can begin carving a tunnel through the wall to the other side. There you will find two of a new kind of enemy. This enemy starts out in a pot and oozes out of it to cover some ground before climbing back inside. They are quite strong and might be worth avoiding entirely until your sword becomes more powerful.

Once on the other side, you can access Shop A where you will find the Compass for 250 gold, the Candle for 200 gold, and the Guard charm for 600 gold. You should have no problem affording all of these items, although purchasing the Guard is purely optional. Assuming you do purchase the Guard, it is highly recommended that you activate it as your defense item every time you enter a new area to substantially reduce the amount of damage you take from enemy attacks. Once you are done shopping, you have no choice but to travel back through Zone A in the opposite direction. Then return to the island entrance and start following the path up to Zone B.

Zone B
The first enemy that attacks you in this zone is the rock spitting face that rises out of the ground. A floor rising snake enemy awaits you at the top of a hill, followed by two spider monsters on the other side. Squids pace back and forth on either side of the two floating platforms. More enemies rise out of the ground to attack you shortly before you exit the zone.

Once you are out, you have a few options. You can visit the hut in the north tip of the island, but a man will only warn you not to go inside the dungeon, which you need to do. Or you can head south along the east coast of the island until you reach Shop B. There, you will find Medicine for 250 gold, a Red Charm for 250 gold, and the Curse Dynamite for 500 gold. All you need to buy for now is the Curse Dynamite. You will find a free Medicine in Zone C shortly, and do not purchase the Red Charm unless you really want to, as you can find a couple of them for free inside the dungeons. Lastly, when you are done shopping, you'll need to travel back north a bit and back to the west until you can travel south again and head to Zone C.

Zone C
This zone starts out with a variety of enemies, including the ooze that flows out from a pot, a rising snake monster, and a spider monster. Shortly after a second snake monster, you will need to activate your Rock Sword to cut through two walls. In between them, you will find Medicine sitting next to another ooze creature. Defeat it and proceed to cut through the second wall. A spider monster awaits you on the other side. More snake monsters, ooze creatures, and spider monsters will attack you as you descend down the steps to the floor below and on to the exit.

On the other side of Zone C, the only places you can visit are the north dungeon entrance, and the south dungeon entrance. Both entrances lead to the same dungeon.

Dungeon
As you can see from the map above, the southern entrance basically forces you to walk your way to the northern entrance before you can explore the rest of the dungeon. However, the extra distance that the southern entrance forces you to cover allows for some money gathering opportunities. The yellow "!" on the map indicates the location of a bonus stage, where a man riding a cloud throws four 金 symbols out at a time (金 stands for gold). Each symbol is worth 5 gold. Once you run through the entire course, you will return to the dungeon.

Proceed inside the dungeon to navigate your way to the zone containing the boss lair. To proceed through the doors, you must use your sword to slice them open. Throughout the dungeon, you will encounter one of three demons; either a samurai, a giant crab, or a merman. No matter which enemy you face, one strategy will be true for all three of them: a strike to the head is far more damaging than any other hit. Therefore, try to jump up and strike them square in the center of their body. If done correctly, sparks will fly from your sword. It typically takes only two or three hits to defeat you enemies in this manner.

While the paths in this dungeon branch a bit, there is generally one path that you will have to follow through the majority of the dungeon. Along the way, you will pick up at least one vial of Medicine (the effects of which are immediate, you cannot store it) with the chance to pick up one more just before to enter the boss zone.

When you reach the boss zone, you will switch to a side scrolling view once more. There are no surprises in this zone, and only one type of enemy; a zone guard that carries a long pole arm. Deal with them just as you dealt with the whip skeletons from earlier in the game. Attack them from above by swinging your sword as you fall from a jump. Near the end of the zone, the ceiling will lower, and you'll need to activate your Rock Sword to cut through the barriers that block your progress. On the other side, you will encounter the boss.

Boss
Before the boss arrives, a shower of skulls will fall down on you from the right side of the screen. You can easily avoid all of them by running to the left side of the screen. Shortly after the skulls stop, the boss will appear. It is a giant zombie head of a one-eyed warrior. It will float up and down, back and forth across the screen, turning around whenever it reaches the left or right side. It will occasionally spit a ball of fire in your direction.

Activate the Guard charm as soon as the fight begins, if you do not have it activated already. Without the charm, the boss can destroy you with very few hits. If you feel that you will get hit by either the head or a fireball, get hit by the fireball since it does substantially less damage. To attack the head, it is best to try and follow behind it instead of trying to intercept it as it flies toward you. This strategy should work well until the head is about to reach the edge of the screen and turn around. If it is low to the ground, you'll need to back off in order to give it space to fly back. Continue to slash at it as frequently as possible while you chase after it. After enough slashes, it will explode in defeat, and the first Hadouken sword will appear for you to collect.

After you successfully claim the first sword, you will have to return to the main island, and head to the gate to the left of Zone G on the first map.