Welcome to the game. Once Rick has appeared on the screen, start walking to the right, as two Red Deadmen come walking towards you; once you've punched both of them to kill them, crouch down in order to pick up the Cleaver. Six more Red Deadmen will then come walking towards you - and once you have either decapitated each of them or just crouched down and kicked each of them to kill them you will come to a small platform. Once you have jumped over the small platform a Shibito in the background will spit out a puddle of vomit onto the ground; you can either jump over it or just wait until it has evaporated before two more Red Deadmen approach you from the front and a tenth one approaches you from behind. Once you have decapitated each of them or just crouched down and kicked them to kill them another Shibito in the background will spit out a puddle of vomit onto the ground - and again, you can either jump over it or simply wait until it has evaporated before the eleventh Red Deadman comes walking towards you. Once you have decapitated him or just crouched down and kicked him to kill him, you will come to three enormous spikes (named "Dokubari", written in Kanji as 毒針) that are emerging from the ground; wait until they have receded back into the ground before walking over them, then decapitating the three Babito that are flying towards you. You'll then come to three more Dokubari, that are emerging from the ground - and again, you must wait until they have receded back into the ground before walking over them and decapitating three more Babito that are flying towards you. If you want you can now crouch down in order to pick up the Stick as three more Red Deadmen come walking towards you; but if you'd prefer to continue using the Cleaver, you do not have to. Once you have killed each of the Red Deadmen by decapitating them, smashing them against the walls or just crouching down and kicking them, you'll have to jump over another little platform, as two more Red Deadmen approach you from the front and an eighteenth one approaches you from behind - and once you've killed both of these by decapitating them, smashing them against the walls, or just crouching down and kicking them, a Top Heavy will approach you from the front, as another one approaches you from behind. Once you've killed both of their bodies by decapitating them, smashing them against the walls, or just crouching down and kicking them (three times), their heads will fly towards you; once you have killed both of them with a strike from the Cleaver or Stick Rick will drop whatever weapon he was holding (if he still had one) and climb up the ladder to the first boss room of the game.
The boss room is filled with rotting meat, and has a Hanging Dead sticking out of that hole in the ceiling on the left side; twenty Body Eaters will crawl up the meat piles and hurl themselves across the room at Rick. Walking all the way to the right side of the room, crouching down and kicking out repeatedly can kill most of them, but a few will hurl themselves across the room at punching level so you should be prepared to push the joystick back up for them - and once you have killed all of them, a twenty-first one will burst out of the Hanging Dead (killing it as it does so), then hurl itself across the room at Rick. Once he has killed it, he will proceed to the second stage; this stage properly introduces the Hanging Dead (as well as a green version of the Deadmen). If Rick clears this stage or any of the next five with all four starting life-hearts intact when the "RANK" option is set to A, he'll also receive a fifth life-heart, and if he clears them with all two, three, or four starting life-hearts intact when the "RANK" option is set to C, he'll receive a third, fourth, or fifth life-heart.