Kagekiyo has been summoned from the hell. Now is the time to defeat his arch-enemy, Yoritomo, in Kamakura! His first leg of journey is to across the ancient Japan, to reach Kyoto.
Stage 1[edit]
Hell (地獄, Small Mode), part 1[edit]
Welcome to the game. Kagekiyo can find three scrolls in this stage. Use them to get rid of the bouncing rocks coming from behind, the skull boat high in the sky, and the skull spearman. You can choose to ignore the bouncing rocks and let them pass, or even take a free ride. Watch out for the large rocks, as they will pound down when you are close. You need to jump on them to collect some scrolls and attack the skull boats for sword points. You will also find some webs that are generating skull spiders. Destroying the generator yields two life points, and killing the spiders yields one Zeni each. Later, you will encounter a few skull spearmen. Do not hit their spears, as this will damage your sword. You can choose to jump on their head. Just before the torii, there is a Gaki Generator which will disappear after it has generated ten Gaki. It is a monster generator so that you can destroy it for two life points. There are two toriis in this stage, but they do not have any difference. Buy the sword between the toriis before leaving the stage, but watch out for another spider web and some stones.
Stage 2[edit]
Hell (地獄, Big Mode), part 2[edit]
Hold up your sword while moving to the right. You will encounter a few Hitodama come flying. Take them out. Once you have taken out two enemies coming at the same time, Gaikotsu will appear and challenge Kagekiyo to a swordfight. Once you've hit him enough times to make him collapse, step back until his parts have disappeared, and proceed. If you can aim his rib and destroy that, you can collect two life points. Three more Hitodama will come flying towards you. Get rid of them and continue onward to the torii.
Stage 3[edit]
Nagato (長門, Overhead Mode)[edit]
Kagekiyo has set foot on the land of ancient Japan. As you start this stage, pick up the scroll and move right. Get rid of the bone dogs and find a box and another scroll later. The box contains 10 Zeni. Grab the scroll and proceed to remove more bone dogs, two pools that generates Namazu, and a hyodan shooting small spinning tops. Destroy the generators fast to obtain two life points each, and the Namazu will drop one Zeni when killed. You will now come to a Dai Dokuraku which has eight smaller Dokuraku attached to it. If you run fast enough, you may finish it with sword wave without damaging your sword. It will drop 10 life points. Continue your running with a few more dogs and you will run into a wide path. A new swamp between two hyodans will be generating Jigokusha. Destroy the swamp and hyodans to claim two more life points each. There are two more boxes with Zeni inside. Three torii are present at the end of this stage. They will transport you to three different paths: Ishimi (Upper, Hard), Suou (Middle, Normal) and Buzen (Lower, Easy).
Stage 4[edit]
Buzen (豊前, Big Mode)[edit]
You are welcomed with theme music of Minamoto no Yoshitsune. Move with caution. A few tigers will try to leap to you from behind. Use upper cut to get rid of them. As you move on, three Hannya (purple demon face) will fly towards you. Destroy them for precious sword points, one each. Before reaching Yoshitsune, a few fire arrows will be flying. They also drop one Zeni each. This Yoshitsune with 40 life points will only throw daggers. Defeat him for five more sword points, and leave the stage and move to Bungo.
Suou (周防, Big Mode)[edit]
You are ambushed by a lot of fire arrows and tigers. Yoshitsune will appear early, but you can save your sword points by getting close to him and jump to dodge his daggers, forcing him to move back, until you see the scroll. With the spinning slash, Yoshitsune will quickly fall without wasting your sword points. Proceed, but beware of two frogs hidden in the ground with only eyes shown, and the poison mushroom they drop. You will move to Aki at the end of stage.
Ishimi(石見, Big Mode)[edit]
Surprisingly, other than there is only one tiger, nothing is different from Buzen stage. Your next destination will be Izumo.
Stage 5[edit]
Bungo (豊後, Small Mode)[edit]
Start your trip with a few charging bulls. The bad thing is, they charge fast and knock you back. The good thing is, they drop three life points each. You will then come to some large rocks. Jump on them and proceed. At around the sixth stone, you will see Moth flying in the sky, and an invincible Shakutorimushi on the ground. Destroy the moths and hop over the worm. Later you will see an "Ojizōsama" (land god) statue which will exchange 10 Zeni for 500 points every few seconds, along with a seventh large rock. A candle is above that rock, but you can collect that after killing another enemy on the right. You will then come to a Stone Lion on the hill. Just before the torii, there is another staircase leading upwards, with an iris flower and a Gaki Generator behind the torii. The flower can be picked up, but other than a character Love (愛?), it has no effect. Ignore the generator, as you cannot reach that, instead, use the torii to move to Iyo, the next stage.
Aki (安芸, Small Mode)[edit]
This stage starts to feature falling pits. Your trip starts with large rocks, followed by a scroll, a few bouncing rocks and wolves. Save the bouncing rock coming from behind, to use as your free trip. There is a candle high in the sky before the first pit, and a second scroll after. Fire bulls and fire arrows greet you at the hill. All toriis will send you to Bingo, and you can see the first after the hill. If you proceed however, you can find four buyable swords in total, but beware of fire bulls charging from both directions, and more fire arrows and bouncing rocks. The first sword is high in the sky, the second behind the second torii, and the rest two before the last torii after a pit, and you must keep the forward bouncing rock in order to buy all swords.
Izumo (出雲, Small Mode)[edit]
Before the charging bulls, two wolves will try to attack you from behind. You can collect a scroll with the help of first large rock. Two Yaheis are raining arrows from a high hill ahead. The torii to Houki is guarded by moth, Gaki generator and Yahei, so move quickly.
Stage 6[edit]
Iyo (伊予, Big Mode)[edit]
This time the theme is of Saito Musashibo Benkei, but he is not available at first. Hold your sword up to deal with monkeys jumping out from a few vortexes high up. After these generators, a fire arrow indicates Benkei's coming. He will shout "Fool!" and start throwing iron balls. Attack his head a few times to remove his 60 life points. Collect the three sword points he left, and proceed to the torii, but beware of more fire arrows. Your next destination will be Sanuki.
PC-Engine note: In this version, Benkei's weakness point is his leg instead of head.
Bingo (備後, Big Mode)[edit]
The vortexes generating frogs are hidden in the grass. Destroy them all, but do not collect the life point drop, as more likely you will collect the poison mushrooms as well. Benkei will appear with fourth fire arrow. There are three more fire arrows befor you can proceed to Bicchuu.
Houki (伯耆, Big Mode)[edit]
A vortex generating Dokuro is half-hidden behind the first pillar, and when you are close, a fire arrow will also come. Benkei is just a few steps away. Beat him and move on to Inaba.
Stage 7[edit]
Sanuki (讃岐, Small Mode)[edit]
Your first obstacle is a vortex generating wolves. Eliminate them fast. An Enormous Mukade is waiting for you, but you cannot defeat it at the moment. Instead, jump on him (you will take some damage), and use the platforms to move on. If you choose the path of floating platforms, you will find a torii in the end, which guides you to Bizen immediately. This stage also features birds as common enemy, proceed and you will encounter some. Two large rocks are in the way, one of which has a candle atop, but do not immediately collect it unless you are low in health. Your next enemy is Raijin with thunder flash in the sky, bring him down and use the candle to recover. A few more birds will try to knock you off the ground. At the end of stage there is a staircase with a Jigokusha-generating swamp upon each step. Dispose of them and find the torii behind, which sends you to Awaji the bonus stage.
Bicchuu (備中, Small Mode)[edit]
Beware of the bouncing rocks behind. Quickly move forward, and use the scroll to remove some flying and bouncing stones. At the first hill there is a Gaki generator and a stone lion. After that you can see a Yahei on the ground, and a second scroll in the sky. A candle can be found after three more large rocks. When climbing the next hill, you can see some wolves on the ground, and fire arrows coming. It's suggested to return to the left of hill and kill the wolves before proceeding. At the end of hill there is a torii which sends you to Bizen, along with more bouncing rocks. Move past that, and there is another torii on an island, which makes a detour to Mimasaka the bonus stage.
Inaba (因幡, Small Mode)[edit]
Four wolves welcome you from behind. Climb the hill with three Yaheis, and collect the scroll. You will see a Mukade and three skull boats, and two Tawaras before next hill occupied by another Yahei. You must keep at least one enemy to step on and proceed, and the best choice will be to use Mukade while collecting sword points from skull boats. Jump off the hill and you will encounter Fuujin and a few Chimoguri Kouke, collect their Zeni (5 each). Proceed and you can see a Tawara, but do not collect it, as there is a candle behind the next hill. Said candle is below a large rock at low altitude that, you are more likely to take damage while collecting that. Next you may feel surprised, as Yoritomo will appear regardless of your time, along with fire bulls. Two toriis are at the end of stage, with Yahei hidden in the land below the torii above. The upper torii can send you to Mimasaka for a rest and bonus, but you are more likely to be knocked into the lower one by Yoritomo, resulting in a boss stage Tajima.
Stage 7.5[edit]
Both Awaji (淡路?) and Mimasaka (美作?) are bonus stages that teleports Kagekiyo to Bizen when ended. Enjoy your collecting of sword power.
Stage 8[edit]
Bizen (備前, Big Mode)[edit]
This stage features the theme of Biwa Houshi. But first, a tiger will greet you from behind. After running in the bamboo woods for a while, Biwa Houshi will appear, spawning Usagi and Kame which drop poison mushrooms on death. After beating a few of them, Biwa Houshi will leave, and you can simply move on to Harima.
Tajima (但馬, Big Mode)[edit]
Other than taking place in a grass-growing ruin, there is no difference in the stage. Tango will be your next stop.
Stage 9[edit]
Harima (播磨, Small Mode)[edit]
You will notice a dragon (Ryu) screaming far away, and his life is shown. Proceed and beware of holes on the ground. Ignore the webs at the start, and move forward. A sword and a scroll will be in the air, and you need to collect them with help of the dragon. Use the scroll to dust the dragon for sword points. Just at the same time you will find a flying rock coming from the left. Do not destroy it, but use as platform. Later you will find a sword above three rows of moving platforms, and you can collect it from the right side. Proceed and remove the swamp generating Jigokusha. The rest of the stage are filled with moving platforms and rocks. Do not collect the Tawara, as later in the stage there is a candle with no cost. Instead, spend your Zeni on yet another sword. The first two toriis will bring you to Tanba immediately, but the last one will guide you to Settsu, a gag stage with an important item.
Tango (丹後, Small Mode)[edit]
Quickly run away before the Yaheis behind can hurt you. At the first hill you can see two Gaki generators, but the first one cannot be reached, so remove the second one to prevent more problems, but beware of the large rocks. The second hill is also occupied by Yahei. Then you will see a candle in a hole of third high hill, and a stone lion atop. Collecting the candle is challenging, but worthy, as you only have a small time window to avoid pushed away by the rock, then, just make a straight jump as soon as you have collected that to escape. The dragon will appear after this hill, along with fire bulls, but you have to beat him without scrolls. There is also a Tawara in the sky, which can be collected later with bouncing rocks. Another stone lion stands before the torii to Tanba, and Yahei will rain arrows behind.
Stage 9.5[edit]
Settsu (摂津, Gag Stage)[edit]
You will find many gag talks of five Namco employees, which later reappeared in 16-bit form in the ending sequence of Beraboh Man. Move forward and collect the scroll in the air, using the large rock nearby. You will encounter these enemies, in order: Yahei, Gaki generator, Mukade. Destroy them all with your mighty sword wave, jump over the four floating boxes, and you will find a stone lion guarding the Magatama. Finish the stone lion and claim the Magatama, and you are no longer afraid of any poison. The staffs will advise you to use the first torii to leave, and it will bring you to Tanba. However, if you choose to ignore the warnings and proceed... Yoritomo will laugh and appear in the background and start smashing you. You can find another torii in the end, but it also sends you to Tanba.
Stage 10[edit]
Tanba (丹波, Small Mode)[edit]
This stage has many high walls and holes, jump with caution. You will have to dispose of the Yahei in front immediately. A few more are farther away. The first Gaki generator can be destroyed. You will need to jump off those large rocks in order to land on the next. Another Mukade awaits ahead, but there is a scroll nearby, along with two Tawaras. You will find the power of your Magatama, if you have that in the pocket. Climb the hill and you will find some Chimoguri Kouke on the ground level. They drop 5 Zeni each. A Daimajin will appear in the second wave of hidden heads, but he is not a match with your sword wave. You may want to exchange some Zeni with points by visiting the land god statue. The goal torii is guarded by four Yaheis raining arrows on the high wall, ignore them and proceed to Yamashiro.
Stage 11[edit]
Yamashiro (山城, Big Mode)[edit]
You can learn from the theme that Yoshitsune is coming. After the first fire arrow, he will appear and laugh at you before attacking. This time he has 60 life points. Defeat him and proceed to the torii to Kyoto, but beware of more fire arrows.