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)
They appear on the second, third, fourth, fifth, ninth, tenth and fourteenth stages. The green and purple ones will die after a small cannonball hits them, but the red and black ones take a medium-sized one.

Gama Gaeru (ガマガエル)
They appear on the second, third, fourth and fifth stages. One large cannonball will kill them.

Yellow Gama Gaeru (黄色いガマガエル)
The boss of the second stage. Three large cannonballs will kill him, and the player may want to consider knocking the green Kaeru on his head off for extra points.

Kokappa (子カッパ)
They appear on the third stage. One medium-sized cannonball will kill them.

Kapa Kepe Kohoon (カパケペコホオン)
The boss of the third stage. Three large cannonballs will kill 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.