Youkai Dochuuki/Stage 3

Arcade
Just like the previous stage, you start this stage just outside of a shop. It's guarded by bouncing zombies that take two shots to kill, and some moths. Go shopping if you need to, but do your best to leave with no less than 30,000 in money. Purchase vitality if you need to, and offense if you can afford to. Be sure to purchase the Kappa's foot if you haven't already, as the boost in swim speed will help tremendously in this stage. From the shop, run to the right, shooting the zombies and dashing under any moths and the bouncing snake. Jump right into the water, and start swimming. Jump up to collect any money bags, but watch out for the falling frogs from above. Try to time your approach to the giant water demon heads so that you can jump over them when they sink. Back on dry land, run to the right as more background and face demons appear and attack. You may even be followed by a hell wheel. If you see one appear, stop immediately and turn around to deal with it by charging up your ki and shooting it three times. After running to the right, you will encounter a set of stairs. To determine which path to follow, examine your money. If you already above 30,000, or within 5000 of reaching it, take the lower path to the water. If you are well below 30,000, you're going to need to accumulate that much in order to complete the stage. The upper path is much more difficult, but it will provide you with plenty of opportunity to collect the money you need.

Jump up the stairs. Jump over or shoot any zombies that get in your way, and run straight right to the water. As you do, it's very likely that face demons and hell wheels will gather to follow behind you. Swim across as quickly as you can, avoiding any water demons along the way. When you reach the opposite end of the water, a red demon with a bow will be waiting to shoot at you. In addition a group of mini-demons will be bouncing around, and many floating demons are likely to be following you from behind. Clear the demons out ahead of you to make space to deal with the demons floating behind you. As you walk further to the right, you will find a green demon with a single horn who will try to jump on to you and cling to you. While he does this, he drains your money away. You must shake the joystick left and right to get him off of you, and shoot him twice to knock him down. It's difficult to reach the set of platforms that lead further up without many threats following you. Clear the area as best as possible before you tackle the platforms. Anything can knock you down to the floor if you're unlucky. Jump back and forth from one platform to the next until you reach the top. Then run to the right, watch out for another bow and arrow demon, and jump up the steps as a skeleton attacks. When you reach the ledge, you can try to jump over to the small ledge where a 500 money bag is, and then on to a cloud where you can reach a silvery platform that contains a 5000 money tile. It's very difficult to accomplish all of these jumps, and you're probably better off just falling down to the bottom and heading to the left. You will fall down to an area that is occupied by small versions of the first and second bosses. There are two red Onis and one Blue Oni on the right. They aren't accompanied by any servants, but they do shoot fireballs at you. Charge up one ki shot and shoot it to remove both red Onis. They will each leave a 5000 money tile behind. The blue Oni is much harder to kill as it takes more shots to defeat, but it leaves a 10,000 money tile behind. Hopefully, you will have earned enough money to reach 30,000. As soon as you do, you can leave the area by walking through the cave below the blue Oni, and falling down to the lower path.
 * Top path

By comparison, the bottom path is less dangerous, though it's still quite challenging. From the stairs, stay down and follow the path to the right. Shoot or dash under any jumping zombies that you encounter on your way to the water. Swim across the short stream, and climb up the steps of the bridge. Ignore the first two money bags, but collect the third and dive into the water. This is where possession of the Kappa feet really helps. To swim better, tap the jump button while holding the joystick in the direction you want to swim, including up and down. Swim down to the bottom, and swim along the small tunnel. You will encounter small sea demons swimming around. You're also likely to be chased by a Hell Wheel from behind. Tap jump and fire simultaneously to remove the small demons from your path while you swim as fast as possible. You'll find some money bags along the way, which you can collect if you need to, but don't slow yourself down or go out of your way. You'll reach a set of steps and have to climb out of the water and take a short trip on land full of zombies, background demons and face demons. You will walk under the chute that arrives from the top path.
 * Bottom path

From where the top and bottom paths rejoin, continue to the right, jump up the steps and dive into the water. After only swimming a short distance, you will find a hole in the ground leading further below. If you still haven't collected 30,000, you can stay above the hole and swim to the right. After passing a few 500 money bags, you'll find a 5000 money tile on the floor of a dead-end. You'll be forced to turn around and swim back to the hole. At the hole, swim down to the bottom and continue swimming to the right. An eel or two will swim by. Keep swimming right until you get close to three blue sea demons swimming above a turtle. They will offer to sell the turtle to you for 30,000. If you do not have that much money, or refuse to buy it, they will swim away. If you continue swimming to the right, you will encounter what appears to be the boss of the stage, a large green merman demon. But if you defeat him, he will simply drop a 1000 money bag and leave you stranded in a dead-end. To get the turtle sellers back, swim back up and down the hole and return to their original location. Agree to buy the turtle for 30,000.

By liberating the turtle from the sea demons, the turtle will reward your kindness by taking you out of the stage, and into the Dragon Palace under the ocean. While you are there, you will be treated to a show of dancing mermaids. Tarosuke will appear to be very pleased by the show. When it ends, the queen of the palace will offer you a present: Pandora's Box. You carry it with you as the turtle swims you out of the palace and to the end of the stage. When you arrive at your destination, the turtle will ask if you'd like to open the box. You have the option to refuse, and he will ask you again, up to two more times. If you open the box, you will always earn 10,000 in money, but there's also a very good chance that you will be turned into an old man, incapable of moving quickly until you purchase the Tennyo no Fun, or Angel Poo, from the shop for the same 10,000. There is a chance that you will not turn into an old man, but the question which you must answer yes to in order to prevent that from happening is chosen at random.

PC Engine
The third stage begins with a green zombie walking towards Tarosuke, as well as a single horned green demon which tries to jump on Tarosuke and drain him of money. Move left and right to shake him off of you. Enter the third instance of Zakka's shop and buy food to restore your energy if you are running low. Make sure that you have purchased the Kappa's foot before you leave, but do you best to leave with as much money as possible, preferably close to 30,000.

Once you have left the shop, continue to the right until you see another green demon jumping around (which do not leave any money behind when killed), and a 500 money bag suspended above a platform (don't try to collect it.) You must enter a long pool of water inhabited by both sizes of water demons. Several head demons will also be floating around in mid-air as you make your way over, and you should try your best to shoot and kill everything if you have less than 30,000 in money. There are two skeletons and a bouncing gray snake to contend with once you have made it to the other side. Jump over the heads of the skeletons and make a run for it until you reach the steps, at which point you can turn around and shoot them. You can also collect three 500 money bags suspended in the air, and you will encounter Ganto the dog. If you purchased the treat from the bouncing monk, you can use it to ask the dog to fight by your side for a while. Then jump in the water and swim across to collect four 500 money bags. At this point, you have a choice. You can continue to the right bank of the water and proceed to a small mini-boss battle where you can earn a lot of money. If you already have close to 30,000 or more, you may instead choose to swim down below the surface of the water and reach the end of the stage that way.

Assuming you chose to swim to the opposite bank, you will have deal with several mini-demons will be bouncing around (which will each leave a 100 money bag behind when killed) waiting for you. After that, a demon with a bow and arrow will shoot at you as you try to use the hovering clouds to reach the platforms ahead. Jump up to the top platform, and you will reach a collection of Onis, a bit smaller than those that you encountered as bosses at the end of the two previous stages. There are two red Onis and a blue one, and they all spit fire at Tarosuke. The Red Onis only take one powered up shot to defeat and leave behind a 5000 money tile each. The blue Oni is a lot tougher, but will drop a 10,000 money tile when defeated. When you're done, drop Tarosuke down the pit below the blue Oni's perch, and you will hook back up with the lower path.

If you chose instead to dive down into the water, you will be met immediately by a large group of tiny ocean demons. Remember that in order to swim, you must tap the jump button along with the direction you would like to swim in. There are a few 500 money bags, and the ocean demons will drop 200 money bags when you defeat them, but be sure to clear the area around the money before you attempt to collect them. After swimming for a while, you will be able to climb out of the water and walk along a short path. This path is where you hook back up if you completed the mini-boss fight along the top path. Jump in the water, and clear away the last few ocean demons before collecting the money bags and swimming down into the hole below.

You are now at the entrance to the Dragon Palace. The three large ocean demons are holding the turtle captive and will hand him over to you for 30,000. If you don't have the money, you will have to return to the beginning of the stage and try to collect more money. Otherwise, they will sell the turtle to you. As a reward for saving him, he will escort you out of the stage, and into the Dragon Palace, where a lone mermaid performs a short striptease with colored spotlights that circle around the room. Once the show is over, Tarosuke will be given a box by the lead mermaid; if you decide to open it, you will either get 10,000 in money or be turned into an old man. The prize is random, and you will be asked several times whether you wish to open the box or not. If you do not wish to take the chance of becoming cursed, continue to say no.