All demon lord boss fights occur inside of Shangri-La. In order to access the Demon Castle to get there, you must deposit the scroll (or crystal ball) from one of the level's stages at the Witch's Hut. Once you do, you may enter the temple and face the boss. Every boss battle takes place in the same scenario, as depicted in the picture to the right. It is a single room that does not scroll in any direction. In order to summon a battle assistant, you must run to the far left side of the room and crouch. If you die, return to the Demon Castle, and resummon, the next available summon will appear. Each boss has different vulnerabilities to each of your available weapons. Use the chart below to determine the best weapon to use against each of them. Collecting different weapons in the level stages is a crucial part of boss battle strategies, so keep your eye open for them. When the boss is defeated, the Demon Castle in Shangri-La, in the background, will disappear, and you will be awarded 5000 points.
Strategy: The first boss is the younger of the two Elite brothers. The Elite brothers consider themselves to be musicians, but their music will assault the ears of anyone who hears it. Fortunately, this brother is not very difficult to beat. Summon the Pegasus or Nurikabe, and stand behind them while firing as rapidly as possible. Your summon will absorb all of that horrible music, and you will defeat the brother in no time. If you don't have any summons, be sure to jump over his notes, but watch out for the flock of four bats over your head. Make sure that you're not standing beneath them when you have to jump over the notes.
Strategy: The second boss, known as Kamisama (or Mr. Hair), is a floating mirror surrounded by a rotating shield of hair. Your normal darts (or Kitarou's hair) is useless against the hair shield, so it can be difficult to get shots through to the mirror. Instead, rely on the Shuriken (Finger) or flame weapon, which can pass through the shield and strike the mirror for substantial damage. The Pegasus (Nurikabe) summon can help you here, but not 100% of the time, so be prepared to jump over an occasional projectile while you attack.
Strategy: The third boss is the snow child, a winter spirit. He bounces across the floor throwing cold projectiles at you. Again, the Pegsus (Nurikabe) summon can help you a little bit, but don't count on it all of the time. The second summon is better, but you can defeat the spirit before you even get to summon anyone else. Being a spirit of the cold, obviously flame is a good choice of weapon. However, upon defeating the child, it will transform into an ice monster and regain 4 units of health. Fortunately, the flame weapon is still the best, and you can quickly destroy it before it even gets close to you.
Strategy: The fourth boss is known as the Burial Devil. He is a considerable easy boss, especially if you use Shuriken (Fingers) to attack him. Use your first summon to block his attacks, but his most deadly attack comes when he dies. He explodes into four pieces, which each travel in a different direction. As soon as he dies, you must prepare to jump over the lower piece that travels along the floor, but not so high that you hit the piece that travels through the air. The further away he is when you destroy him, the easier it is to jump between the two pieces headed in your direction.
Strategy: The fifth boss is the older of the two Elite brothers. His attack pattern is identical to his younger brother, so your strategy won't be terribly different. However, he has one additional strength: Your primary weapon is useless against him. The most powerful weapons, the Feather (Chanchanko Vest) and the Boomerang (Geta Sandal) are difficult to fire rapidly since you must continue to reselect them, so you're better off using the Shuriken (Finger) or flame weapon to destroy the boss with weak rapid shots instead of strong intermitant shots.
Strategy: The sixth boss, known as Wanyudo, is the face of bald headed monster surrounded by a shield of floating fire. Being a fire elemental, flame has no effect on this monster. Again, the best weapons are the ones that require you reselect them after you fire them. However, in this case, it can be quite useful to summon a Pegasus (Nurikabe) to help block some, but not all, of it's projectile attack, and select the Boomerange (Geta Sandal) to fire at the monster. Since it can be controlled remotely, you can easily direct the weapon at the monster from the ground. After you hit it twice, you can finish it off with only a few shots from the Shuriken (Finger).
Strategy: The seventh boss is the god or spirit of drought, a fire spirit. Like the winter spirit, he bounces across the floor throwing flames at you. Being a spirit of the fire, like the last boss, flame is obvious ineffective. While the Boomerang (Geta Sandal) is better, the Shuriken (Finger) is an effective weapon to use. However, upon defeating the spirit, it will transform into an fure monster and regain 4 units of health. If you're quick, you can fling two or three Shurikens (Fingers) at it, and you can quickly destroy it before it even gets close to you.
Strategy: The final boss cycles through four different forms (the 2nd and 4th forms appear identical). Each color change has a different weakness, while all forms take a single unit of damage from your primary weapon. Since the forms always occur in the same order, his first form is most vulnerable to the flame weapon. Start off with that, after summoning the Pegasus (Nurikabe), and switch to the Shuriken (Finger) weapon when he changes to the second form. You should be able to finish him off before he even reaches his third form. However, like the fourth boss, you must watch out for the final explosion when you drive his health down to zero. Be prepared to jump between the high and low pieces when you beat him.
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