Higemaru Makaijima/Finale

The mystery of the monoliths
The chart that you got back on Dokuro Island explains how to translate the strange language that appears on the monoliths into something that you can understand. However, if you are playing the Japanese version, you may not find the chart very useful, as the ultimate translation of the monoliths includes: "MARU", "NISHIKARASAN" and "TARUZYUU" which will only make sense if you speak Japanese. The American prototype of the game, which was to be published as "Makai Island" contains alternate arrangements on the monoliths, which can be seen in the pictures below. They ultimately contain the words "MARU", "3RD FROM THE WEST" and "TEN BARRELS". They bare the same meaning; "NISHIKARASAN" means 3 from the west, and "TARUZYUU" means 10 barrels. The only word that makes little sense is "MARU". However, one of the men on J.Knife Island will inform you that MARU is the name of a ship. So you are looking for a ship that is third from the left. The only place where many ships can be found in an ordered arrangement is the harbor at Ookami Island.

Return to Ookami Island
Sail back to Ookami Island. From the entrance, approach the harbor that lies to the east. Once you arrive there, begin to count down the ships that you pass. There are two per screen, so the third one that you count will appear on the left side of the second screen of the harbor. Clear out the pirates in the screen before you continue. Now that you've found the ship known as Maru, you need to figure out what to do next. The clue comes from the monolith which indicates 10 barrels. At this time, pick up and toss ten barrels into the back of this third ship. When you are finished, you will receive no indication of your successful completion of this task, but return to the left and head down to the location where you previously saw a broken bridge. After hitting the Maru with ten barrels, the bridge will appear complete, allowing you to cross over to the tiny island that Ookami Island surrounds. Here, all you will find is an odd structure which happens to serve as the dread pirate Baido's tomb. If the game has taught you anything so far, it is that you should throw rocks at strange objects. Sure enough, if you throw four rocks at the base of the tomb, an earthquake will occur. The effects of the earthquake will not be immediately obvious (like so many things in this game), but if you happen to look at your map at any time after, you will notice that the map has been miraculously updated to include a far longer J.Knife Island at the top of the sea (it will actually resemble a knife now.)

The missing tablet
If you were to visit the newly shaped J.Knife Island, and found your way to the entrance to Baido's treasure, you might be disappointed to be informed that you do not possess enough tablets to translate the inscription on the door. You are in fact missing the square tablet, and it cannot be found on any island. Instead, it can only be found on the ghost ship which begins to sail around the ocean once you defeat the boss of Dokuro Island. It can be difficult to track down as it sails various regions of the ocean, but it can quite typically be found in the north west corner of sea, near Jack Knife and Mermaid Islands. It does not appear like one of the large pirate ships, but rather as a black version of the small green merchant vessels that sail around. Once you track it down and board the ship, you will be faced with a seemingly typical pirate ship encounter. In fact, you will only be required to knock down ten pirates in order to face the captain. Once you reach the captain, defeat him in the usual manner. Instead of being rewarded with a key to any island, you will obtain the square tablet which will complete your trio of tablets needed to obtain Baido's treasure. With all three in your possession, return to J.Knife Island.

A disappointing discovery
Having triggered the earthquake, and obtained all three tablets, you may be excited to explore the new region of Jack Knife Island which as appeared. However, no matter how far east you travel, you will find that the layout of the island is no different than before, which may seem puzzling given that the island has been extended significantly from the view of your ship out on the ocean. It turns out that the only way to visit the extension to the island is to duck inside a seemingly random igloo. That igloo can be found near the lower right hand corner of the island. Carefully jump over the cracks in the ground to avoid a nasty 7,000 health point penalty, watch out for the two Higemarus occupying the screen, and make your way to the igloo entrance.

The remainder of the island is spread across eight screens which you must zig-zag through in order to reach the room which leads to Baido's treasure. Throughout this region, you have little to fear; there are no enemies. The only threat to your presence are a pair of statues that are located in the top four rooms, which shoot fire at you. They are easily avoided. Quickly make your way through the rooms, and down to the room in the lower right hand corner. Here you will find groups of rocks. Under the set of rocks in the lower left hand corner of the room, you will discover a hole which leads to none other than Baido's treasure room. However, upon descending down the hole and arriving at the door, you will be informed that the doors will only open if you have Baido's tear. Where on earth can you find Baido's tear? There's only one region that hasn't been fully explored at this time; the fortress on Ookami Island.

Baido's tear
Out of all the islands, the only one which you may not have fully explored by this time is Ookami Island. And if you did, you may have discovered a large iron door that would not open for you. It just so happens that visiting the door to Baido's treasure is the event which triggers the unlocking of this door. You can now visit the fortress that sits in the middle of the east side of the island and approach this door. You will successfully pass through it, only to find an extra boss on this island. If you were wondering what happened to Bous of Pirate Ship Higemaru, wonder no more as he stands before you. While he appears like a regular pirate ship captain, he is far from regular. Rather than attacking you with throwing knives, he appears to have a bionic attachment connecting his arm and the hook at the end of it. He can launch this hook forward in an effort to attack you. There is no special strategy to defeat him. Simply avoid him and his hook as much as possible and throw barrels at him until he is defeated. Once you beat him, Baido's tear drop will appear in his place. Run over and grab it, and you have finally picked up the last remaining item needed to collect Baido's treasure. It's time to collect it.

Back to J.Knife Island
After all your hard effort, you are finally equipped with the tools needed to access Baido's treasure. At this time, you must retrace your steps; return to J.Knife Island, head east across the island to the special igloo, jump inside and traverse the eight screens to the hole which leads to the treasure doors. However, when you jump inside, you may be surprised to find that the hole does not take you to the room it did once before. You will find yourself in a new room with a golden statue in the middle. It won't take long for that statue to come to life and reveal itself as the Red Arremer from Ghosts 'n Goblins! However, if you managed to locate the ultra-secret Satan Sword, you will find that the sword instantly defeats the Red Arremer, and you will proceed directly to the ending of the game. If you did not find the sword, or purposely avoided collecting it, the final battle with this boss will commence.

The Red Arremer is, not surprisingly, very strong, and he spits flames at you throughout the fight. He follows a pattern that takes him across nearly every corner of the room, but it is predictable after observing him long enough. Contact with him will cost you 4,000 life points and is entirely unadvised. Getting hit by his fireballs costs a mere 100 points, but it is still recommended that you make every effort to power up your health points on J.Knife Island before you proceed to this battle. You will have to hit him with a number of rocks before he will go down, and the other rocks in the room can become a bit of a nuisance if he hides behind them. Try to clear out a middle row of rocks to provide yourself with a way to hit him cleanly regardless of where he flies to. Once you defeat him, you will be able to jump down the hole in the upper right corner and proceed to open the door to Baido's treasure. If you managed to collect all three crystals, you will be rewarded with the best ending in the game.

MSX2 Version Differences: The monolith puzzle was altered a bit in this version. The second message in Curse Island now read "NISHIKARAYON", which is Japanese for "4th from the West". From where the broken bridge is in Ookami Island, go down two screens, left one screen, and throw 10 barrels at the 4th Pirate Ship. A sound effect will be played, if you did it right.

The Pirate on the Ghost Ship now has a Skull Face.