____ _ ____ _ _ / ___| __ _ _ __ ___ _ _ _ __ __ _(_) / ___| |__ ___ ___| |_ \___ \ / _` | '_ ` _ \| | | | '__/ _` | | | | _| '_ \ / _ \/ __| __| ___) | (_| | | | | | | |_| | | | (_| | | | |_| | | | | (_) \__ \ |_ |____/ \__,_|_| |_| |_|\__,_|_| \__,_|_| \____|_| |_|\___/|___/\__| Full FAQ and walkthrough Version 1.0 By Luke J. Martinez, a.k.a. 1stTobalMan May not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal and private use. May not be placed on any Web site, other than GameFAQs.com and its partner sites, or otherwise be distributed publicly. Use of this document on any other Web site or as part of any public display is strictly prohibited and violation of copyright law. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. Copyright Luke J. Martinez 2010. This FAQ/walkthrough is intended to show all the known features of Samurai Ghost for the TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine, and provide a straightforward method of completing the game. Table of Contents 1. Controls 2. Gameplay basics I. Object II. Power ups III. Damage, lives and continues 3. Tips 4. Walkthrough 5. Tricks 6. Author's notes 1. Controls Run: start game/pause Select: move cursor at continue screen. I: jump II: attack D-pad: move in corresponding direction. Down is duck. 2. Gameplay basics I. Object Sometime after defeating the armies of 12th century feudal Japan, and his own death, Kagekiyo is resurrected to defeat his former enemies, including Yoritomo, in the underworld known as the Dark Side. The Dark Side is a waiting area for spirits to return to earth; if Kagekiyo doesn't defeat all his enemies in the underworld, they will return to our world and wreak havoc again. The player will slash through seven zones of action, defeating bosses along the way, and eventually Yoritomo. Each zone is divided into parts, the last being the zone boss. The game has a score system, and points are achieved by defeating enemies. II. Power ups Most enemies drop green spheres. Human-like enemies usually drop life refills. Weapon upgrades are gained by attacking the floating blue fireballs that appear every so often: Yellow sphere restores half a candle. Clear sphere protects against slime. Blue sphere protects against mushrooms. We carry the clear and blue spheres until all lives are lost. Purple sphere comes in four versions and upgrades weapon to: - shoot long range projectiles. Very useful. - increase the sword's range. Somewhat useful. - spin in all directions in the air. Very useful. - swing the sword in a windmill manner. Somewhat useful. One may use the ability of an upgrade only a few times, then the upgrade is gone. Unless one reads Japanese, they all are indistinguishable from each other, therefore, the location of each purple sphere is mentioned by version in the walkthrough. Package: adds one candle to life meter. Scattered along the way. Big candle: adds four candles to life meter. In mid-boss parts. Green spheres give a 1-up after 100 are collected. III. Damage, lives and continues The player starts with three lives. Kagekiyo's life meter is represented by five candles. When an enemy or projectile collides with Kagekiyo, half a candle will be lost. We can add life through power ups or by reaching the end of a part. After all the candles are gone, we lose a life. We must restart the part (of the zone) we were on. If we lose all three lives, we can continue infinitely, but must restart the whole zone again. 3. Tips Practice, practice, practice! Doing so will familiarize one with the power up locations, obstacles and enemy patterns. In addition to the default attack, we can perform special moves. Most of these moves will be used sparingly, but the defensive attack no. 1 is quite useful. The attack system offers depth by including offensive and defensive moves. Note the default attack is offensive attack no. 1. Defensive attack 1: attack (hold) Defensive attack 2: down (hold) + attack (hold) Offensive attack 2: up (hold) + attack. This can be done while jumping. Offensive attack 3: jump, down (hold) + attack (hold) The defensive attack no. 1 is so useful, it is recommended to always be in this attack stance so to protect against sudden, incoming enemies. Keeping one's guard up is the best way to breeze through Samurai Ghosts. Additionally, defensive attacks throw human enemies off guard, and allow use to stay within range for an offensive. Because we are given unlimited continues to finish the game, lives aren't a big issue (but, yes, continuing will delay finishing). Thus, don't sweat picking up the green spheres; they're more of a burden than a benefit. The best way to get through Samurai Ghost is to be patient and approach the zones defensively. Many enemies try to attack first, therefore, being on guard will instantly defeat them or open them up to offensive attacks. Some obstacles may take a while to pass, and since there is no time limit, we should take our time. Some parts, like boss parts, require more aggression though. 4. Walkthrough Entrance to the Dark Side Part 1 We fall from the sky into the underworld. Head right while guarding against the flying skulls. Sword fight the samurai and go on until we see a spike in the ground. Jump over it and the rest along the way. Keep this up for a little bit to reach the end (the end of a part is marked by a red opening). Part 2 We are now on the surface of the underworld. Proceed on, to more spikes. We can use the moving platforms to avoid the spikes. Be careful not to walk under a platform or it will fall on our samurai. Take out the undead dogs with the offensive attack no. 3. The end will appear after a while of spike jumping. Boss part A skeleton with sword and shield will rise up. Attack it with aggression; try jumping at it while attacking, then ducking and attacking. The boss will back up, allowing us to repeat the offensive. When its four candles are gone, we can proceed to the exit. Volcanic Zone Part 1 Kagekiyo starts near a volcano. Take out the two clawing enemies and then jump the lava pits. Guard against the claws that will materialize. The rest of the part consists of basic platform hoping. If we should fall in the lava, spring for the closest solid ground (it's not worth trying to get back on the platform one fell off). That's about it. Part 2 We are now running from a lava wave. The most challenging enemy is the spider-like one that will slow us down with webbing projectiles. Catch up to it, then jump at it while guarding. The rest of the enemies should be avoided or guarded against. If we keep up the pace, we'll reach the exit without trouble. Mid-boss part This floating thunder spirit will throw down lightning we can attack. It has five candles. Watch out for its long appendages; they do lots of damage. Lead it all the way to the red opening, then pick up the big candle. Now jump on the last platform and let this guy have it. Jump back up every time we get knocked down, and step down when it extends its appendages. Soon it will be a thing of the past, and a gold entrance will appear. A gold entrance will appear after each mid-boss. It takes us to a bonus part where we collect green and yellow spheres for a limited time. There are also flowers there that add to our score. Part 4 We are now on a collapsing bridge. Standing in one place too long will cause us to fall into the lava. Lava will do the same damage as any enemy. Keep jumping, and slashing and guarding when necessary. There are several power ups to aide us along the way. Shortly, an exit will appear. Boss part This robot's head starts shooting at us. The first projectile will come right at us. Jump it, then continue forward to dodge the second one. Keep this pattern up until the boss shows its whole form. The weak spot is the chest. All we can do is jump right at it while attacking. Then it is a matter of destroying the bosse's five candles before it destroys ours. Hurting Zone Part 1 Attack or guard against the fish that jump out of the water. Get close to the stationary land fish, then wail on 'em. There are a lot of enemies in this part, but there is a weapon extension 2/3 into the part. If we can survive the onslaught of enemies, we'll move onto the next part. Part 2 Inside the cave, we want to go right. This part is similar to Volcanic Zone, part 1 because there is a lot of platform hoping to do. Except, now there are frogs that jump at Kagekiyo. The best plan here is to avoid them and just reach the end ASAP. Mid-boss part A wind spirit will appear. It has five candles. Often, it will dip down to blow mushrooms our way. Then is the time to get hits in. Avoid landing on the mushrooms on the ground and jump over them. Repeat. If we lead it to the other side, there will be a Big candle waiting for us. Part 4 Here we face a desert of quicksand. Standing in one spot too long will cause us to sink and lose a life. Fortunately, there are many platforms to keep us afloat. Watch out for the spiders here; handle them the same way as before. Shortly, we'll be right at the red opening. Just be sure to get the spin upgrade near the end. Boss part Even though this boss has six candles, this part will go by fast if we charge at the enemy and keep spin jumping at it. If we are fast enough, we can defeat the boss this way. Otherwise, we will have to finish it off with regular, aggressive attacks. Arctic Zone Part 1 We start on a bridge. Proceed, but watch out for the shards of ice that come up. Slash them enough to jump over them. Next will be some floating samurai; it is best to attack them head on. Near the first fire throwing stature should be a blue flame that drops a projectile upgrade. Use it to blast away the statue and the next one. More samurai lie ahead. If we follow this plan, we'll reach the exit. Mid-boss part This spirit floats on the screen and plays music, however, the notes turn into mushrooms on the ground that hurt us. Don't stop running, jumping and attacking it, and the five candles will go and he'll be playing a sour note. Part 3 Now, we will cross the ice plains. Several samurai are scattered throughout. Also, watch out for the ground based enemies. Jump over them and get close to the flowers and attack them. Halfway through, a spinning upgrade will be found. After enough slashing, the end will be in sight. Part 4 The ice plains continue. Near the beginning is a windmill upgrade. This time we will face booby traps: wooden spike boards will spring out at us. We should have enough reaction time to jump over them (or just go through them with the windmill). There are more of the same enemies from the last part. A spinning upgrade is close by the end. Boss part Butterflies will form a lady who will first jump around. She has six candles. After the jumping, she'll stand still and prepare to throw projectiles. That is the time to do multiple attacks. The boss will back up and try to throw more projectiles. Don't let up on her. Kamikaze Zone Part 1 Head right, through the cave. Have one's guard up to ward off the many, blood thirsty bats. Around halfway through is another spin upgrade. It will come in handy to reach the other side. This part has two red openings. The first one makes us restart the part. The other is the exit. Part 2 This part consists entirely of floating platforms above the ground. It is best to platform hop across this part to avoid the falling platforms and dragon. There are very few enemies here. A projectile upgrade is 2/3 to the end. Part 3 We will face a sleuth of human-like enemies here. In fact, this part is basically a line of enemies to take out, one by one. A mix of defense and offense works here, but it is recommend to become more familiar with the attack system to pass this part with ease. Slash the lunging tigers. Life refills are somewhat common in this part. Part 4 Like the previous part, there are a sleuth of enemies, except they throw statues and lighting storms into the fold. Again, a bit of experience is needed to pass through the sword fights with ease. Boss part At last, the boss! This wild man charges at us on a beast. Jump over the beast and engage the boss. He fights similar to the skeleton from the first zone, except more aggressively. One should take his cues from that fight. With enough patience and practice, this samurai will be no more. Ambush Zone Part 1 We begin on a collapsing bridge. There are a lot of projectiles to avoid this time around. Also, there will be indestructible green objects that move around to block the way. Time their movements and jump over them, but be quick. Use a moving platform to jump to a high big candle. Near the exit is a spinning upgrade. Part 2 This trek through the wilderness can be a headache. We will be facing a potpourri of enemies. Use the same strategies as before to defeat 'em. The storms can be particularly nasty. Take them out ASAP. We will encounter more green moving objects: the small and large variety now. These objects can cause lots of damage, so learning to avoid them will be necessary. Be patient, remember there isn't a time limit! Part 3 Although not as bad as the last part, the small green objects make a return here. It is similar to the platform jumping with frogs, but with lots of green objects moving around. Getting caught between two green objects can cause a pinball effect, taking away much life, so be accurate when landing. A statue is perched on solid ground near the end. Also, watch out for the big green object to come out of no where at the end. Try jumping it. Mid-boss part The musician reappears. Take him out just like before and move on. Boss part A huge samurai emerges from the sea. It has eight candles. Most hits will be blocked while he has his spear, but we can try to get them in anyway. This boss has two attacks: a stab and a move where he'll throw up his spear to throw the green objects (from before) at Kagekiyo. Jump back right before he stabs his spear. This samurai is most open to attacks when his spear is in the air. However, we risk being hit by those objects if we have are too close to him. Try to collect as many life refills in the bonus part from before to survive this though encounter. Hear of Dark Side Part 1 The calm before the storm! We will soon face many bosses from before in the next parts with only one life meter. But now, we must run from the lava wave behind us to the exit. There will be a ton of power ups to collect from the blue flames along the way. Stock up on life. Boss part We face the robot from before. Resort to the strategy of the corresponding boss earlier in this section in case one gets stuck. We have to fight these bosses with one, long life meter, so we must fight better and more accurately than before. Boss part (cont.) It's the lady from the Arctic Zone. Boss part (cont.) Yes, it is that wild man who would rather die by his own sword than the enemy. Yoritomo The final boss has three forms, each tougher than the next. The first will float slowly around and shoot masses of lightning onto the ground. Slash it every chance we get, until all seven candles are gone. He's not too bad, but the next form has nine candles and is worse. This one is fast and casts down big lightning bolts to trap us. We need to stand still when he is about to cast the lightning to avoid them. This boss's form will also try to slash us and throw straight projectiles. Yoritomo is less likely to block our attacks if we duck and slash. Be quick to lunge forward and attack a couple times, then quick to jump back to avoid his close attacks. Get close when the big lightning dissipates. What seems like an unreasonable task will become more possible over time. When we manage to beat this form, he will turn into a third form, a spirit-like enemy. All it does is shoot small lightning on the ground. If we can get around these projectiles, we are free to open up on the defenseless spirit. Be patient since our life meter will be low; we don't want to get sloppy. With consistent attacks, this spirit will dissipate and fighting will be all over. We've done it! The Yoritomo and the spirits have been banished from the underworld. There is no reward for Kagekiyo, except for knowing that his actions have prevented future chaos on the unknowing world. He returns to his peaceful slumber. 5. Tricks Press up, left, down, right, II, I at the title screen to access the cheat screen. There, we can change the difficulty, life meter and start at any zone. Also, a sound test is available. 6. Author's notes Special thanks to my family for their moral support. Thanks to HyperSilence for the code and Toneman for sharing his videos. Submit questions, comments or corrections to: kevinrian@live.com.