IC Forum Archive

chazumaru* · Posts: 480

*ahem* Hello, everyone.

You know, 'Fucking' Konami Week is a very strange web-holiday. People celebrate a single editor with frantic agitation, pointless commitments and miscalculated efforts akin to a primitive and tribal behavior. You might even see topics on this side of the Internet that are completely inappropriate for smart and well-educated fellows, such as this very thread. For the following seven nights or so, you are going to witness yet another collection of pointless orange posts which I totally wash my hands off, since I can't be held responsible for anything... oh wait, I can. Hmm.

To be honest and "preventive", I am not even sure that I'll manage to squeeze in seven different inanities this year. The times have changed my friends! The previous orange Konami Week was the result of a completely disorganized effort as well, but at least I had thought about ordering the Snake Eater movie before the week begins and I had already planned to produce a radio show. Had I not been busy this that stupid game designer job all year long - a job that concidently started during FKW2005 and finished just before FKW2006 - I would have also planned some highly sophistimacated dowhackey this year. Something like a home made movie, or a radio drama, or even a mere videogame produced by Warashi with a soundtrack composed by Yuzo Koshiro. I mean, it's the least I could do. Unfortunately, I had an exciting life to live instead. And now I commit myself to yet another week of stress and turmoil, but without the possible scapegoats of a movie review or a madlibs post or a compilation of Kojima articles or a MP3 radio show or a crossword puzzle or a IRC transcription or a topical scanlation that have already been done by a fucker last year. Good grief. The good thing is I am now unemployed at least until the end of the week. Hurray for unemployment! I started thinking about possible topics for FKW a bit last night, before going to bed, and I now have about three ideas and a hunch about what I could talk about for the finale - and there is a hint in this post about what it should be, as well a a fake hint tigertrap. But my point is: it would be ill-advised of you to expect something even remotely thought up. I just didn't have the time for that, this year. Take this first post as a sort of disclaimer. So if you have sensitive children (i.e. sons of liberties), snacktacular fuckbags or friends with paraphilic tendencies next to your computer right now, you might want to turn your monitor off (now!) instead of writing angry answers following these posts.

Thanks for your attention.

On this year's menu:

MONDAY? MARVELOUS! THE PRINCIPAL AND THE PORTABLE
TUESDAY? TANTALIZING! DEEP SPACE NARUHO(Annoyed Grunt)
WEDNESDAY? WÜNDERBLASTING! EL VIAJE MISTERIOSO DE NUESTRO GOEMON
THURSDAY? THUNDERDOMESQUE! HALF-DECENT WALKTHROUGH
FRIDAY? FUNKOTRON! GUESS WHO'S COMING TO KONAMIZE DINNER?
SATURDAY? SUPERSWEET! 10 SHORT STORIES ABOUT REAL LIFE, B, A, START
SUNDAY? SHAGGYNAMIC! THE SIMPSONS 573RD EPISODE SPECTACULAR

FortNinety · Posts: 4591

The best part of FKW is easily chaz's articles.

Quick Shot II Turbo · Posts: 468

My Otaclock tells me it's 0:00 already. My excitement gauge is filling up, Chaz!

someone else · Posts: 1

Sacrebleu !

Voilà un cadeau pour toi, mon ami :
http://rapidshare.de/files/13217590/pspnami.zip.html

Tu me revaudras ça très cher, une omelette au fromage.

Et voilà, vive le système métrique !

chazumaru* · Posts: 480

And now, for our first discussion of the week...

MONDAY? MARVELOUS!
THE PRINCIPAL AND THE PORTABLE

...in which we will talk about many wonderful and completely legal th.. Wait a minute. What is it that I see?

someone else wrote:

Voilà un cadeau pour toi, mon ami :
http://rapidshare.de/files/13217590/pspnami.zip.html

Goddamit! Stop ruining my thread, you scoundrel! Now there is probably illegal content on my beautiful topic! Please, people of the internet, do not download this zipped file. Knowing these cheese-eating surrender monkeys, it would be the kind of file that would fit perfectly into any 32MB Memory Stick Duo for PSP, featuring some blasting Konami music, emulators and games ready to boot (including the translated version of SD Snatcher for MSX2), as well as a complete save files for the european, american and japanese versions of Metal Gear Acid that would allow all of you to have fun with the game and/or beneficiate from bonus items in MGA2 without having completed the first episode! What a horrible, HORRIBLE thing to do! And this person added somes space before his punctuations. Is this a man, or a beast? Please prevent havoc from happening and ban this man's account immediatly!

Gah, my day is ruined. Let's cancel this first stage.

I will come back tomorrow, if I find enough moral strength.

Shapermc · Posts: 2450

Holy shit! A reason to pull out my PSP.

This thead just made my day.

boojiboy7 · Posts: 1104

Mother fuck my fucking 2.5 psp. I wish I could just buy another one and keep it rocked out with its 1.5 cock out.

chazumaru* · Posts: 480

Also notice that just to be sure he wouldn't do anything stupid with your PSPs or fuck the few 1.00 owners, this unknown idiot let everything homebrew as for a 1.00 version. I guess most of you have a 1.50 or higher, in which case you'd just need to use KXploit as you must already be used to. But you wouldn't do that, would you? That would be a bad thing.

Wilkes · Posts: 1603

You literally have made me hold on to this PSP for another week. Maybe indefinitely.

That was a beautiful presentation, really.

haircute · Posts: 928

Chaz, that is hot. You go, boy.

Shapermc · Posts: 2450

chazumaru* wrote:

I guess most of you have a 1.50 or higher, in which case you'd just need to use KXploit as you must already be used to.

I prefer SEItools.

I also wanted to say that this package made me remember how much I hate the D-Pad for the PSP. Diagonal aiming on some of these is impossible. Also, it reminds me that the refresh rate on the PSP is pretty bad to. Blur galore! I should just update and play real games on it.

aerisdead · Posts: 556

This is cute. I don't have a PSP but I took it for the ROMZ.

chazumaru* · Posts: 480

Wilkes wrote:

You literally have made me hold on to this PSP for another week. Maybe indefinitely.

That was a beautiful presentation, really.

Thanks. Had I anything to do with this release, I would tell you it has been especially hard to produce some decent personalized FKW icons and welcome message as I only have MSpaint on my new PC.

I should have something ready for tonight.Featuring some totally non-Konami guests!

LW Joestar · Posts: 1358

I couldn't download it. :(:( It wouldn't give it to me even though I did everything right. Something about IP addresses.

Can someone re-host it or something?

Quick Shot II Turbo · Posts: 468

LW Joestar wrote:

I couldn't download it. :(:( It wouldn't give it to me even though I did everything right. Something about IP addresses.

Can someone re-host it or something?

Don't worry, I got you covered, homie.

LW Joestar · Posts: 1358

You, sir, are awesome.

EDIT: My PSP illiteracy strikes again! :( I have 1.50 and this won't go on that right.

chazumaru* · Posts: 480

Check PSP Updates to learn how to mess with your PSP, LWJ.

(tuesday's post is coming in a few minutes now)

chazumaru* · Posts: 480

TUESDAY? TANTALIZING!
DEEP SPACE NARUHO(Annoyed Grunt)

Well! I hope some of you expected a very long and thoughtful post, because it's not what you are going to get. Ha. But this thing actually took me quite some time to finish (about 6 hours straight). I had not thought about any bit of scenario or joke before starting working on it tonight, so I am sorry if the writing lacks a bit in terms of quality. Some jokes might fall flat and some english might feel awkward. But I guess that's what you get for not planning stuff...

So, this one's idea is that you guys and girls all have been smart enough to download and keep that great Gyakuten Saiban TGS video we mentioned on IC as well as on the forums. In case you don't have it yet, or don't have anymore, get it here. You'll need it for what follows. When posting the original news on IC, I realized there was a typo in one of the translated dates early in the video's sub, and corrected it myself. Which made me realize it was really easy to change any sub. You see where this is going...

Here is a new set of subtitles for the video, which gives the plot a FKW twist. It must be put in the same folder as the video. Be careful if you also downloaded Broco's subs, as once unzipped this new file will replace the older subtitles, which are the correct ones as well as a much more valuable piece of work. A precautious move would be to save the original subtitles somewhere else on your computer. Also, in case you changed the video's name, please check that the new subtitles' file is renamed exactly like the video to make sure it will work properly.

PEOPLE TOO LAZY TO READ THESE FINE ORANGE PRINTS SHOULD DOWNLOAD THE FKW SUBTITLES HERE

skinny coder · Posts: 262

Fabulous! I still mourn the fuck up of the GC/GBA connection.

I wondered most about how you were going to handle the section where it pans to show the second DS screen... I was not let down (in fact I got quite a good laugh from that part) Well done.

Now someone needs to draw Edgeworth "earning" his DS.

chazumaru* · Posts: 480

Thanks!

I just updated the file because I wasn't satisfied with one of Edgeworth's sentences which I thought wasn't clear (5:35 in the video), so feel free to dowload the latest version of the sub and replace the first version with it.

Shapermc · Posts: 2450

Sorry, I can't seem to get this video to run (much like when it was first linked to). I have a ton of codecs, so this is the first time in a long time that I have had this issue with a video, but I have never attempted to play something with a subtitle file.

chazumaru* · Posts: 480

I get it to run with Media Player Classic and its latest codecs. Some versions of VLC might have a few issues dealing with the subs.

Mr. Mustache · Posts: 551

I used VLC and it worked fine.

skinny coder · Posts: 262

I used Windows Media Player 10.

Using GSpot I can tell you that the video is compressed with Xvid (at least the current Dixv and MPEG4 both have decoders for it) and the audio is compressed as mp3. Pretty straight forward... so I doubt it the codecs.

And I hate the subtitles that WMP has so I install VobSub (2.23). Puts a much larger and easier to read subtitle right on the video, much like closed captioning.

Mr. Business · Posts: 1530

Dear Chaz,

you've just convinced me to buy that Goemon game for a Nintedo DS that I don't even own yet. The game is positively radiant with beauty, and is in fact so lovely that I'm buying it without even being remotely able to speak or understand Japanese. I thank you, sir, for showing me that this game exists. I do dearly hope that playing it will be possible, despite my linguistic handicap.

Love,
Mr. Business

Quick Shot II Turbo · Posts: 468

Haha, that was funny! I especially liked this part:

abszero · Posts: 103

Shapermc wrote:

Sorry, I can't seem to get this video to run (much like when it was first linked to). I have a ton of codecs, so this is the first time in a long time that I have had this issue with a video, but I have never attempted to play something with a subtitle file.

The easiest thing for me is usually to get ffdshow. That has all the codecs you need and comes with Media Player Classic. If you use MPC and run the movie, you should be able to do right click / filters / ffdshow / and then check the box for subtitles. You can also configure where it looks for subtitle files but if you put the subs in the same directory as the movie like Chaz recommended, you shouldn't have to fiddle with that setting.

skinny coder · Posts: 262

OBJECTION! Gumshoe would totally insist Edgeworth appear in a Blue Badger suit!!

chazumaru* · Posts: 480

chazumaru* · Posts: 480

abszero:
Though most people won't get your avatar, I think it's great.

Sorry folks I've been a bit sick today, the next feature will be delivered a bit late (or rather early in the morning for most of you).

In the mean time, have fun with these old classics:
GO FLY LIKE A BIRD!
YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY THIS TIME!
GET DOWN!
WHY ARE YOU HERE?
FORGETTING A VERY BASIC THING...
LAST BATTLE
THE JOY
I AM NOT INTERESTED IN SUCH THINGS
METAL GEAR S...

To save YouTube videos on you computer, use this, then this player to watch them.

chazumaru* · Posts: 480

WEDNESDAY? WÜNDERBLASTING!
EL VIAJE MISTERIOSO DE NUESTRO GOEMON

My take is that the best game Konami released since FKW'05 is Goemon Toukaidou on Nintendo DS. There are a bunch of perfectly valuable reasons for making such a statement: it was released on the most significant system of last year, it bombed so much I am pretty sure most of you did not play it and won't be able to contradict me, and I might have not played any other Konami game from 2005. So it's only icing on the cake that the game is actually good.

Goemon Toukaidou took part in one of the most interesting franchise subplots at Konami. The company had faced issues with the Goemon series for quite some time, failing to keep in touch with its audience and (fortunately) suffering piss-poor results with its "New Goemon" series, a gaming equivalent to New Coke that tried to change the lovable folklore hero into a hip and groovy shounen character with Nomura shorts and a stupid hairdo. However, Nintendo's release of Famicom Mini: Ganbare Goemon! Karakuri Douchuu (in the second batch of the Famicom Mini series for GBA) was an astounding and completely unpredicted success, topping the charts with about 185.000 copies sold. So that you picture better, those sales made it the 66th most successful game of 2004 in Japan, with a result akin to how Wanda to Kyouzou performed last year. This prompted Konami to revive the series by reforming the old Goemon Studio, the "historic" development team that produced all the SFC versions and the two first N64 episodes, back when they were at KCE Osaka - until the series left for other studios such as KCE Nagoya or KCE Kobe (a.k.a. those who hid at KCE Tokyo for a while and tried to kill the franchise with the insult to mankind that is New Goemon). KNE Nagoya and KCE Kobe will also be remembered by Saturn Fans for messing up most of their works on the system. You have the permission to hate them. Anyway, Goemon Studio worked on two titles that were released in 2005. Kessakusen Ganbare Gomeon 1+2 Yukihime to Magginesu on GBA was a port of the two most popular episodes (and signature games) in the series, Ganbare Goemon 1 and 2 on Super Famicom. Kessakusen Goemon had no merit in being good, since the original games were already so, and the port was considered sloppy by most. Fans complained that the praised multiplayer mode of the SFC versions had been dropped, and the compression of the BGM was faulty. It was released in april, and sales were far from spectacular. However, the game was only supposed to serve as an appetizer for Goemon Toukaidou, and the fact owning the GBA title would unlock features in the other one was revealed quite early in Konami's promotion campaign.

The DS game's real name is Try your best Goemon: the episode set in the middle of the Toukaidou in which the Tengu Gang returns - or in japanese Ganbare Goemon Toukaidou-chuu Ooedo Tengurigaeshi no Maki (and now you know why I'll stick to writing "Goemon Toukaidou" instead). As suggested in the title, this episode reunites a bunch of protagonists and antagonists from the previous games and reunites the historical good guys' team (Goemon, Ebisumaru, Sasuke and Yae). Not only that, but the guys of Goemon Studio being probably the biggest fans of their own franchise, they also included several references to the rest of the series. Goemon Toukaidou

These go from touching nods to the very first Goemon game (Mr. Goemon from the arcades, which is not part of the Ganbare Goemon cannon) to delightful bashings of the "New Goemon" episodes. For instance, the hero of New Goemon can be found rotting in a cell early in the game and the Ninja village uses decoys of New Goemon to practice their shuriken technique. When unlocking the semi-parodic secret costumes for all characters, Goemon will predicably end up with his New Goemon attire. It is quite uncommon to see a studio attacking so blatantly previous choices and other co-workers from the same company. However the lovable sense of humor of Goemon Studio prevents it from being too unsetting. And everybody hates New Goemon anyway.

The game is not a regular [x, y] axis platformer, but rather a spiritual sequel to their N64 episodes that mixed platform and action-RPG sequences. The N64 games divided people at the time of their release, although they have been gaining a better reputation over the years. Goemon Toukaidou is much less controversial, mostly because unlike the N64 games it is easily as beautiful as any of the 2D chapters. Actually, it might even be one of the most beautiful games of the DS so far. Characters are done in a rather poor 3D, however this is hidden by both the small screen(s) of the DS, and also clever choices in textures and colors. Most polygons use a pastel-like render which suits the game quite well. As for most DS games, screen captures will not do the game justice, however you'll notice the game opts for a design similar to Ôkami's, with backgrounds presented as if they were paintbrushed, inked or watercoloured depending on the feeling intended. The whole thing is rather magnificient once in motion. As the cover shows, character illustrations are done in a similar style. It gives the game quite some charm, considering of course you are sensible to japanese folklore and engravings, which is a sine qua non to appreciate the series. A huge effort has been put into setting a peculiar atmosphere for each region and village you walk in, as one key aspect of the game is to make you feel you are travelling through Japan. The "Toukaidou" (east sea road) mentioned in the title is an important part of japanese culture. Historically, it is the road that connected Ooedo to Kyôto in the Edo era (in which the Goemon series is set), and therefore the most important road in feudal Japan. Ooedo is now known as Tôkyô, and the Toukaidou still exists as a railroad connection between more than fifty train stations and as many small villages and suburbs that link the two cities. In popular culture, the Toukaidou is the setting for numerous plays and poems of the Edo era. In Goemon Toukaidou, more than any other game in the series, the player is invited to enjoy his journey as much as progressing in the story. Each village has its own traditions, cuisine specialties, tales and hobbies. When getting some rest at a yadoya (a traditional inn), you can choose between different bedrooms, with different ambiances and properties. For instance, I would regularly sleep in the bamboo room when staying in the fishermen's village - where 80% of the background is made of fish, octopi, whales and other sea monsters whose eyes still blink because they are the "freshest" you can find in Japan. There are also restaurants and public baths (and yes, you can go in the ladies' bath if you prefer to). Goemon Toukaidou

This is not done as well as in the excellent Bumpy Trot, and most of the time you actually have some advantage in sleeping in an inn or eating at a restaurant - mostly to gain your life back. But it is important to stress is that I often went to such or such place simply for pleasure, or visited a village I had no business in only to visit some characters I grew fond of or to listen to a BGM I liked (the soundtrack is excellent, with over a hundred tracks to enjoy, and a precious sound test is unlocked when finishing the game).

There is a form of "pleasure of tourism" found in Goemon Toukaidou, and you are never in a hurry to proceed in the story. Whereas I am usually glad that modern games take little time to finish so I can chain them, this was in fact the first time in years that I really did not want the game to end so fast - or to end at all. You'll need between 7 and 8 hours to complete the main story, for about as many cities and as many chapters. I could have gone for fourty or fifty more. The game is so correctly paced and the ambiances so refreshing that it incited me to make a pause after each chapter and appreciate the moment that had just been lived, as if I had just seen an episode of an enjoying and familiar show (akin to what the first Sakura Taisen games tried to do), or read a chapter of an adventure classic by Stevenson or Verne. A narrator intervenes at the end of each chapter to reinforce this storytelling aspect. He is visible as a character that speaks and moves while what he says is written on the screen, and entirely voice-speeched to make sure the game is impossible to localize. Although I started a new save to write the walkthrough of the game, I often come back to places I like such as the village of Kanagawa where I can practice pottery (in one of the numerous minigames Gomeon Toukaidou offers), or the Matsuri village with all its fireworks (and yet another minigame to find there). There is a pipe-smoking dude who can teleport you for free to whichever city you already visited, which is very comfortable. Yet after a while you actually prefer to connect two towns by crossing through the (enemy-filled) woods, bamboo fields, snowy countrysides or ricefields.

The peculiar rythm of one hour sessions might also be linked to the game being designed for a handheld. As some of you might remember, I used to have a habit of spending some days outside with a Neo Poke and appreciate the moment to its fullest, then end up writing about it either in an article or on the forums through a painfully long post just like this one. The marvels of freelance journalism and its synonym unemployment might do that to you, too. I started Goemon the day after my game designer contract ended, comfortably installed in a leather seat, inside a local café perfectly too big to notice I only ordered one drink while staying for hours. Because of the game's BGM, I had also sheltered myself behind earphones and started travelling to Edo. Handheld games are made to be transported anywhere (and not necessarly outside your house), and Goemon Toukaidou desperately tries to transport you, in another way.

When playing Goemon Toukaidou on DS, the hardware and software's ambitions reply to each other continuously. It clicks.

While on my second run that served to write down the walkthrough, I also realized how most of the game is completely annex to the main story, which is frequent in modern aventure games but uncommon in most action games (and Goemon's mechanics are mostly that, once you scratch the lacquer). The adventure could easily be completed in about two hours if one sticked to his objectives, instead of goofing around in the numerous houses and secret caves. But since I talked about mechanics, anough about this 'feeling' bullshit. Let's talk about how the game works.

Most of the game involves Goemon and his gang (Sasuke and Yae join during the course of the adventure) wandering from town to town on the Toukaidou, meeting new bizarre situations or issues that are specific to the region yet somehow share some link with a bigger evil you are tracking down. In a way, it feels a lot like a Tengai Makyou game. This translate as visiting a town in which one buys stuff, plays mini-games and eventually finds a dungeon of some sort nearby (or sometimes inside the city), beats the boss inside that dungeon, solves the region's problems, then travels through the enemy-filled countryside until reaching the next town. The action phases mix pure brawling and tricky platform sequences. If you played recent Ys games such as Napishtim or Felghana, Goemon Toukaidou is in fact quite comparable to them, although the platform sequences are a bit more thought up and the enemies a bit less persistent. Most of the game is shown in isometric 3D, though some dungeons opt for a more traditional [x, y] axis.

The game has a few (rather simple) riddles to solve, and there is even a villager in every town that will ask you a 4th-wall-breaking question about the Edo era, with money to win each time you answer correctly. I think it's what gave me the urge to play Kono Quizz Yarou!!.

The gameplay itself isn't that good. With series such as Winning Eleven or MGS, it has been an unintentional tradition at Konami to use every single possible button at disposal. I think it has something to do with a very oldschool approach to game design. And the Goemon Team definitely joins that team. But not only do they want you to focus on every button, they thought the tactile screen was such a geat idea it should be used as much as possible in the middle of the action, sometimes with such precision needed that you'd better use the stylus rather than a finger. There are so many weapons used for a character that to switch between them (which is pretty darn important) you must press 'Select'. And let me tell you Nintendo never designed the Select button of this machine with the idea someone would actually use it. It might get even worse with the tiny-gummy Select button of the DSlite. There is no place left elsewhere because the attack and action buttons are different ones, which is to maintain the tradition of being able to speak or attack villagers (and instantly cast an angry mob against you), as well as being able to prevent thieves from stealing your money.

In the mean time, weapons (used with Y) and special items (used with X in the case of magics) are switched by holding L (for weapons) or R (for items) then moving with the d-pad. You change weapons very often during the game, since each character has a regular weapon, a projectile and a "special ability" (such as Sasuke that can jump longer with balloons, or Ebisumaru that can dance like a Ballerina for... indescribable purposes). Whereas some enemies, traps in the backgrounds and specific platforms need to be activated or stimulated on the tactile screen to be used or beaten.

Which means that around the end of the game, when you must constantly move AND switch characters AND jump AND switch weapons AND do something on the tactile screen in the mean time, you end up pressing the d-pad AND Select AND the B button AND the L button + the d-pad again AND use either of your hands to interact on the screen, in a matter of seconds. Goemon Toukaidou

It's not that hard to do in pratice, to be honest. But these are times, especially on a Nintendo console, in which games are supposed to forget that kind of bad habit.

On the other hand, most of the interactions on the screen - whether on a fighting field or during a mini-game - are often well thought. For instance the turtles need to be flipped over with the finger before getting smacked, and during the course of the game you'll have to cut through bamboo fields with your stylus or interrupt a guy's shower by putting your finger in a giant statue's nostril, from where the water felt.

There are also little statues of the elephant-looking Nostrakun to collect wy tapping the tactile screen. They are to be found a bit anywhere in the background, which once you only miss a few before ending the collection will result in the awkward habit of tapping like a madman everywhere on the screen as soon as the background looks remotely close to suspicious (once you get all the statues, you unlock the secret costumes).

Whereas the adaptation of Goemon's gameplay to the DS hasn't been faultless, the Goemon Impact sequences have never been as good, precisely because they take full consideration of the hardware. At some point early in the game, you'll find a DS-shaped Impact Controller, hence bringing back the beloved giant robot. You actually keep controlling one of the characters in the foreplan during a G.I. sequence. The character must stay close to Goemon Impact at all cost (by moving around through the d-pad), otherwise contact will be lost and the robot will shut down. All Goemon Impact's moves are managed through the bottom screen, as you can see via some of the screen captures surrounding this post. One extremely fun idea has been to feature a completely useless self-destruction button in the middle of the panel. When pressed carelessly, the self-destruction sequence activate and will give you about 20 seconds to cancel it by track&fielding the L and R buttons. That feature adds quite a lot of stress, in a good way, to the fight.

Although the interface remains simple, there are quite a few strategies to develop with the Goemon Impact depending on the enemy he faces, and the duels are rather fun. This is one of the most successful parts of the game, which the devs understood enough to multiply these scenes around the end of the adventure. The boss fights and Goemon Impact fights can also be accessed separately once you beat the game. As it is a tradition since the SFC episodes, a few Konami classics with a Goemon twist can be unlocked. Quarth is accessible from the beginning, whereas Space Manbow is acquired with the Kessakusen Goemon cartridge inserted in the GBA slot (and I think there is a third one, in which case I didn't find how to unlock it yet).

Overall, despite lasting only a few hours, Goemon Toukaidou delivers a lot of different experiences, and I have been cautious about not spoiling too many of the good ideas that spice up each chapter. One of these good ideas ends up being a very frustating passage in practice (unless I didn't "get" what was supposed to make it easier), but otherwise the different gameplay challenges are as much fun as the universe they are set in. Which gets us to the important question...

Goemon Toukaidou

Is anyone not speaking japanese going to have any kind of fun with this game?

Well...
Hmm...
OK, honestly not speaking japanese will take a hell lot of fun away. But it's not hopeless. The first good news is that you don't need to be good in japanese. My japanese is awful. I am just lucky to know the usual bits of feudal dialect featured in jidaigeki (samurai flicks). All the kanji featured in the game is "subtitled" with furigana, which makes the comprehension incredibly easier, too. But yeah, it's not high standard japanese at any rate. And Konami culture is as much needed as japanese knowledge to get most in-jokes. For instance and as I said before, the game gives a nice nod to Mr. Goemon, the game that started it all. In Mr. Goemon, the hero Goemon (五右衛門) is a thief much closer to the historical/folkloric persona it is inspired from. Whereas in Ganbare Goemon, especially from the first SFC version that set the standards of the Goemon license, Konami took much more liberties with the hero Goemon (written differently: ゴエモン).

In the beginning of the game, Goemon (ゴ) and Ebisumaru are thrown in jail for a thievery they have nothing to do with. This is because the gang of the famous thief Mr. Goemon (五) is running havoc in the neighbourhood, and of course everyone mistakes Goemon (五) for Goemon (ゴ). Mr. Goemon and his gang will become recurring characters in the adventure, and to get all the salt of these encounters, you must not only know a bit of japanese, but also a bit of japanese folklore and Konami culture. The game has a few great punchlines as well as more graphic humor: Ebisu's magic farts "performed" on snout-shaped interruptors are shamefully funny.

What is more annoying for non-japanese speakers is that a few riddles might be plain right unfeasible, such as learning a secret door-knocking code from some random dude in a generic house, or understanding the word puzzle in the calligraphy house. But hell, that's why the next entry of this topic will be a walkthrough of the game.

The other good news is that I think the core of the fun remains, even if you don't catch a word from what is said. The atmosphere will still be incredible, the action/platform sequences will not get harder, the Goemon Impact fights will still kick ass and the pace of the game will remain faultless. The game has about zero chances of leaving Japan, and there are far too few titles of the genre on the DS to start moaning about meaningless details such as knowing what the hell is going on. That never bothered you in Ghost in the Shell, nor in Operation Desert Storm, nor any Winter Olympics event you could have bothered to watch. Why should it start bothering you now?

Completely useless end sentence finish blow:
Goemon Toukaidou has guts, an atmosphere, a nice backstory to tell your kids and a konami logo. Some great game do not need more than that.

Mr. Business · Posts: 1530

Again, Chaz, I love you.

Dark Age Iron Savior · Posts: 3148

Full sound test?

Geez, this is going to be the game that ultimately makes my eventual DS purchase worth it. Thanks for everything.

abszero · Posts: 103

This will of course never be coming stateside right? Seems like the sorta thing you'd want to play in Japanese even if you had the option not to anyways. Or maybe not considering the $25 import premium...

chazumaru* wrote:

abszero:
Though most people won't get your avatar, I think it's great.

Thanks! I'm glad at least one person got it.

the drunken samurai · Posts: 4645

i know where to find a rom of that Ganbare Goemon game,PM me and ill send you the link.

im not up on the whole DS emulation scene,so i dont know how good the ones out there are.

abszero · Posts: 103

If I'm not mistaken there isn't one?

I think the DS roms are just for use with a GBA flash cart and some other weird hardware arrangement. Which would be a pretty awesome thing to have anyway but thus far I haven't shelled out the bucks for such.

the drunken samurai · Posts: 4645

abszero wrote:

If I'm not mistaken there isn't one?

from what i hear there actually quite a few of them,but most of them crash easily.

dessgeega · Posts: 3317

abszero wrote:

I think the DS roms are just for use with a GBA flash cart and some other weird hardware arrangement.

you mean a passme?

Wilhelm scream* · Posts: 148

It would be Fucking great if komani brought this to NA/EU!

chazumaru* · Posts: 480

THURSDAY? THUNDERDOMESQUE!
HALF-DECENT WALKTHROUGH

Since I busted your balls to try Ganbare Goemon Touksaidou-chuu Ooedo Tengurigaeshi no Maki yet there is no online help that I know of to help one complete the game if she or he doesn't speak japanese, here's a quick walkthrough. I tried to include as few spoilers as possible.

Note that, notwithstanding a few exceptions, I strictly focus on how to complete the game, and nothing else. More than 80% of the game is side quests, side jokes, side mini-games and side anything. For instance I won't cover how to get the nostrakun statues, especially when what seems like a most viable guide is already available on gamefaqs. I therefore invite you to break away from the walkthrough and wander around as much as possible, then go back to this document whenever you feel lost or blocked. I also won't bother translating the plot.

Also, as I noted everything on a paperblock while playing, it might take me a little while to rewrite all my notes. I'll probably post a first version friday and complete it over the weekend.

Here's the current status of the walkthrough:
21/02/2006 - Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (out of 8) covered

Everything here is copyrighted ©me etc., if you see my drift. Here we go.

~The half-decent GOEMON TOUKAIDOU walkthrough~

Chapter 1

001. In case you don't know the characters: Goemon is that blue haired guy, Ebisumaru the plump ninja in a blue suit, and Yae the green haired girl that just blew up an exit for you. Get out of the cave thanks to the passage created by Yae.

002. All the objects and monsters that shine with a (sometimes subtle) yellow aura can be touched on the tactile screen, such as one of the very first enemies you meet in the game. There's only one way out, so just go on until you find yourself out in the street.

003. After receiving weapons from Yae, you can now equip them with L. Projectile weapons use coins, so be careful. You can also switch between Ebisu and Goemon by pressing Select.

004. You'll notice quickly that the villagers are after you, and hitting them won't prevent new ones to respawn again and again. This is the only part of the game where you won't get blamed for hitting them, so don't worry about defending yourself. Meanwhile, keep going to the right.

005. You'll quickly pass in front of an old guy with a small craft. Facing him, there is an open business with bright lights. Get inside.

006. Fans of the series will recognize Omitsu. She gives you a tengu mask. You can now equip items with R. Equip the tengu mask and leave the place by the same way you came in.

007. As long as you have the tengu mask, no one will attack you. Master of disguise... Now go talk to the guy with the craft. Note that you can start conversations simply by poking at people on the screen, instead of standing next to them then pressing A. When the old guy asks you a question, select the answer on the left.

008. Go up to get a new cutscene, then go up-right and tap the bell.

009. Get inside the mansion.

010. Go down the stairs, then to the right. At some point you'll need to get a stalagtite down with your finger to proceed.

011. Jump on the interruptor, then slide the giant tengu mask on the statue. The door on the left should open. Proceed there.

012. First mid-boss of the game here, shouldn't be much of an issue.

013. Use the map on the top screen to find the correct path.

014. [BOSS]
Just run around him and smash him. Never smash him twice from the same spot since his flames will always go where you hit him last.

015. You can now go around the city without needing to wear the mask. However hitting a villager will cast an angry mob against you, as in almost every village (and almost every Goemon game). To get rid of an angry mob, simply hide inside a house or shop.

016. Wander around the city if you want, but stay away from thieves (blue outfit, big green bag on the back). They are the only type of villagers you are allowed to hit. If they get in contact with you, you'll hear a little sound and half your money will be gone. If that happens, chase them down and smack'em up. The thief will then drop a coin. Take it and you'll get your money back.

017. When you reach the town's only exit, another cutscene will be triggered. The kid with the big bag and the giant paintbrush is Tokutarou. We'll meet him again. He gives you the power ("SO BAD!") glove, which Goemon can now equip with L. The power glove allows Goemon to strike enemies with a powerul (but charging) fist. It also allows him to move around conveniently block-shaped rocks (by standing against them and hitting Y).

018. Leave town. The question at the end of each chapter (after the ltittle speech from the narrator) asks you whether you want your save state to be replaced by the beginning of the new chapter. The left choice is "yes". I advise you to say yes everytime when finishing a chapter.

Chapter 2

019. Press start. The five options, from left to right, are :
# come back to the game
# show the inventory as well as the number of nostrakun statues found
# show the map of the toukaidou
# save your progress (yes/no) <you can't save during boss fights>
# go back to the title screen
Now you know.

020. Proceed in the countryside. You'll get a cutscene, then at some point you'll see some block-shaped rocks. Have Goemon equip the power glove and pull the block to create a stairway.

021. Notice the radar tower? Remember where it is, you'll need to come back here later.

022. You are now in Kanagawa, a.k.a. "Tengu Town". The guy standing with a pipe and no tengu mask at the entrance is your new best friend. He can teleport you for free to any town you've visited before. You'll see him again in almost every village.

023. Equip the tengu mask, otherwise villagers won't care about you.

024. Proceed to the right then to the up-right and you'll arrive in front of a quite imposing tengu shrine, with a guard in front of it. Talk to the guard.

025. Now proceed up-right to reach the second part of Kanagawa.

026. Go to the left, and talk to the guy that blocks the way so he lets you pass (be sure you have the tengu mask on).

027. Run through the third part of Kanagawa, and at some point you'll reach an isolated house. Remove your mask, get inside and talk to the old man. When he asks a question, select the left choice. Here begins the pottery mini-game.

028. [MINI-GAME]
Your goal is to show some decent pottery skills and reproduce the model shown on the top screen. In the bottom screen, the up-left gauge shows how unstable your pottery is, the upright meter displays how fast the plate is turning, the down-right button must be pressed if you want to start over, and the down-left button must only be pressed when you think you are close enough to the model (you need to be about 90% close to the original to validate the mini-game). Use the stylus to carve the clay and give the plate some speed. When the plate reaches ~60km/h, speed it up again until it reaches ~98km/h.

029. You can try as many times as you want. Once you succeed, he'll give you the vase you need to get in the tengu shrine. You can come back to this guy whenever you want for a more complete pottery mini-game, with different shapes and types of clay. There's quite the money to make if you develop some skills at it.

030. Press Start and check the inventory. You should see the vase there, otherwise you didn't complete the pottery mini-game - I say that because the "failure screen" of the mini-game might not be explicit if you don't know your kanji. This kind of "storyline item" doesn't need to be equiped, Goemon and his friends will use it automatically when needed.

031. Do not forget to equip the tengu mask again before going back to Kanagawa.

032. Go back to the tengu shrine in the first part of town. Talk to the guard again, then get inside the shrine.

033. Beat the crap out of everyone and tickle the Giant Tengu's nose to open a new door. Go down to reach the cell. Goemon fans will meet two familiar faces there.

034. Leave the shrine. I find it to be one of the best places in the game to quickly max out money and hearts, so come back there whenever you need some cash.

035. Go back to the second part of Kanagawa, and this time go all the way to the right. Talk to the guard so he lets you pass, and leave town.

036. At some point, you'll see a dice-shaped rock. The spots indicate the number of times you can move the block. Move it with Goemon so the rock is covering the square mark on the ground. Now jump on the rock to proceed.

037. Sasuke joins the party. Uses his bombs to light the fuse of the huge bomb that blocks the path. Then get inside the cave and get the DS-shaped "Impact Controller".

038. Now go back to the radar tower (yes quite a bit of trackback here).

039. The question asks you whether you want to save before you first Goemon Impact sequence (Yes/No).

040. [GOEMON IMPACT]
I think the commands are quite obvious. Just think about staying close to the robot by moving around and jump with the d-pad. The center button must never be touched, otherwise you'll trigger the self-destrcution procedure. If you do trigger it, mash L and R triggers like a madman. Just keep destroying the mountains on your right, all the way to the tengu mountain. Destroy it as well.

041. The charm is broken. You won't need to wear the mask anymore to talk to the villagers in Kanagawa.

042. Now go back inside the Tengu Shrine.

043. Sasuke now has a third weapon, the balloons. When he equips them, he can perform much longer jumps.

044. Now take the same road you took to find Sasuke. On your way you'll see a path you couldn't take because you did not jump far enough. Use Sasuke's balloons and laugh at Mother Nature's traps.

045. Once inside the Hodogaya temple, don't be afraid to fall into the trap on the floor, it's the only way to the boss.

046. [BOSS]
Not very hard either. For some reason, I find it easier to hit him by jumping before attacking.

Chapter 3

047. When facing the new gray blocks, use Sasuke's bombs to destroy them.

048. You'll eventually reach a border zone. Speak to the guard ; he won't let you pass for now. There's a path on the right, take it.

049. Run through the ricefields, and you should reach some isolated house.

050. Equip the tengu mask and get inside. Pay the guys fifty quids and he'll give you a pass. To be sure you have it, check your inventory again. It should be the fourth item, next to the controller.

051. Go back to the guard and he'll let you pass. Tokutarou will appear ; he needs a pass as well. It is very helpful and not very hard to complete the Tokutarou subquest, so we're going to help him. You can get him a pass the same way you got one for yourself. It will cost you 50 quids as well.

052. In exchange for the pass, Tokutarou will give you the 300 Ryô purse. Now cross the border zone.

053. After a long cutscene, you'll get to a gameplay sequence that will echo a famous PS2 game.

054. You goal is to get Ebisumaru to a guy sitting on a trunk something like three or four screens down. Let's forget Ebisu for now and go see where the guy is. While you are leaving Ebisu, you might notice a path with natural stairs going on the down-right. DO NOT GO THERE for now. Keep going down-left. Also notice the little house. In this house lives an odd couple. We'll visit them quite soon. But for now, simply proceed via the down-left path.

055. At some point, you'll see a guy standing on a trunk. That's our man. If you go past him, you'll also get to the Ninja village (but will be denied access). No go back to where you left Ebisu.

056. Ebisu disappeared! In fact, whenever you forget him or lose him (by having him fall in the water in most cases), he'll be waiting for you in the odd couple's house.

057. Get Ebisu to the guy. It took me quite a few tries the first time, and it's the MOST FUCKING FRUSTRATING part of the game. Anyway, trust me, at some point you'll make it. A good tip is to save whenever you reach a new area/screen with Ebisu, then leave the game and restart if you lose him (so that you don't start from the beginning). I wish I had known that on my first run through.

058. Leave Ebisu with the guy and go to YuiShinobi Machi, the Ninja village. As you'll see, you can't get inside yet.

059. Now remember: close to the odd couple's house, there was another road going down-right, which I told you NOT TO TAKE!

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　...take it.

060. Don't stay in front of the main door, go right and reach Yae. Talk to her, then go back to Ebisu.

061. Ebisu is cured and joins the party back. Now go to the Ninja village.

062. YuiShinobi is the only place where you don't risk anything hitting people. Try and see why. Also notice that our firend the pipe-smoking teleporting guy is here as well. Told you, he's everywhere.

063. Keep going to the left to meet the matriarch of the village, sitting on a big mushroom. Sae joins your party.

064. Pick Ebisumaru, and go back to the first part of the village. There are four houses next to each other. Go inside the one on the far left (the others are shops). After a cutscene, Ebisumaru will get his third weapon, the ballerina outfit.

065. Go back to the fort (where you met Sae while Ebisu was deflating). Now use:
- Sasuke to blow the gray block.
- Goemon to bring the dice-block closer to the fence.
- Sasuke again to jump over the fences with his balloons.

066. Get on the weird flat stone, and use Ebisu's ballerina drill dance. (Save? Yes/No)

067. The first dungeon isn't hard, just figure out how to correctly use the various tactile background elements. Sasuke's balloon jumps make it even easier.

068. [BOSS]
This one is a tad trickier. You'll need to memorize and understand his hand patterns. You can only hit him when he shows his 'kind' face. Also, Sasuke is too small to hit him effectively. Use Goemon or Ebisu instead.

069. You'll now get your first real Goemon Impact duel. (Save? Yes/No)

070. [GOEMON IMPACT]
Remember to guard a lot.When he does the tsuppari thing and pushes your robot back, do not forget to follow them or you'll lose contact. When the enemy does the floor stomp thing with his feet, have your character jump or he'll lose the controller and you'll need to run and get it while Goemon Impact is turned off. When you knock the enemy down or when he is parrying, grab him (down-right button) and either DDT him, throw him away or french-kiss him. Otherwise right punch, left punch, right punch is a good combo.

Chapter 4

071. As you'll quickly notice, this chapter's theme is "shitfuck I can't swim". This will be solved quite soon. Use Sasuke and his balloons for now, otherwise you'll fall in most rivers. Go down and you'll arrive in Ejiri, a.k.a. "Matsuri town".

072. Go straight to the left until you meet a guard that blocks the way. Enter the closest house (on the map, the one on the far left). It's a yadoya (traditional inn) and htere is one in every town. But this one is a tad different. If you check carefully, there is nothing preventing you to take the stairs, whereas usually something always blocks the way.

073. Go to the second floor, and you'll meet Tokutarou again.He'll give you the biggest purse in the game, which is necessary if you want to get every secret, such as a few magic attacks.

074. Return outside, and get in the neighbouring house. You'll chat with the town's wise old man.

075. Now keep going back towards the entrance, and take the only way down. Look at the guy in the cutscene. You'll be looking for three guys looking like him.

076. You now have the right to access the second part of town. There is a secret mini-game to find on the bridge, and there's even a way to make money out of it. In the second part of Ejiri, there is also only one way down. Take it.

077. Take the bottom exit.

078. You'll get blocked by bugs on the beach. Rub them on the screen until they clear the way.

079. Check the houses. One of them will trigger a cutscene with Hirokumaru (ヒロク丸) and Sasuke (佐助). Yae can now use the fish costume to swim inside the water (this is all a joke/reference to a japanese holiday linked with the matsuri). The costume is her third weapon.

080. You are now equiped to go search for the kids. You can get them in any order, as far as I know.

[KID A] He is hidden in the zone with the bugs on the beach. From the beach, swim across the screen and find an old man standing on a rock. Talk to the guy and scratch his back with the touch screen. Tapping the screen to talk to the guy will actually trigger both actions at the same time. Then have Ebisumaru equip his ballerina outfit and drill through the stone. One of the kids is there.

[KID B] Walk back to the first night background you get before getting back inside Ejiri (just to be sure: I am talking about the zone that connects Ejiri, the bugs' beach and a countryside with two rivers that only Yae can cross with her costume). Go up and take the exit up-left. Use Yae's newly acquired outfit to cross both rivers, then Yae and Sasuke to progress until you find a cave in which awaits one of the kids.

[KID C] Walk back to the first night background you get before getting back inside Ejiri (just to be sure: I am talking about the zone that connects Ejiri, the bugs' beach and a countryside with two rivers that only Yae can cross with her costume). Next to the up-left exit, you can actually go right and jump inside the river (check the map to see the exact spot). Go down the river and under the bridge, and you should find one of the kids, tied to a tree.

081. Once you saved all three kids, head back to Ejiri and go to the brothers' house (it's in the first part of town, remember).

082. Now go back to the second part of town, and keep going to the left.

083. After the cutscene, get inside the tent. There's a boss fight in there, so you might want to reload your life gauge before facing him.

084. [BOSS]
This boss can be a pain in the ass if you don't pay attention. He has five phases.
- The first part is the white lamps. You need to destroy the four of them, and can only destroy them when they are not turned around. Goemon and Ebisu can hit two lamps at once if you aim correctly. The boss will often sidejump, from left to right at random times,so make sure you never stay on one of his sides.
- Red lamps will then replace the white lamps.Destroy them the same way. The boss will sometimes fly and try to stomp you, but this attack should be rather easy to avoid.
- Then the boss will turn into a primitive helicopter. Simply run away from him and wait until he lands to jump at him and smack his belly. Move away as soon as you attempted, even if you missed.
- After a few hits, his real head will appear. His set of attacks consists of a flamethrower motion that can be stopped if you hit him soon enough, little homing flames, and him hovering over the stage while dropping explosive manekineko statues. He will also drop these bombs when you hit him, so never stay close to him once you did. The safest strategy is to stay far away from him and wait for him to fly up, then try to hit him as soon as he lands (he pauses for a second once landed, which is precisely when you should strike). Be careful as he still has his lateral jump "attack". Always stay behind or in front of him.
- Once you emptied his life gauge, only his head will remain. Smash it to finish the fight, and the chapter.

Chapter 5

085. Go up two screens and you'll reach the fishermen's town of Mitsuke. Wander around town until you come close to a boat aboard which you can get on. Get inside that boat's cabin.

086. Now proceed to the right, going from boat to boat, and you'll find the city's bottom-right exit. Take it.

087. As you see, a rock blocks the way. We'll need Yae to learn a new ability to progress. Head back to Mitsuke.

088. Cross the river through the boats again, and this time take the bottom-left exit.

089. The following sequence will have you showing you skills with about every character. One not-so-clear ambush is that you need to jump with Sasuke at the beginning, instead of climbing down the ladder and go inside the water with Yae. Use the map to help yourself.

090. Make your way to a cutscene with the samurai armored ghost Masakado. He'll give Yae the ability she needs.

091. Go back to the stone that blocked the way. Once in front of it, switch to Yae and have her equip her bazooka. Press and hold the attack buttons until the two switches are locked at once, and release. This ability will be very useful against future boss fights.

092. Proceed via the newly found passage. Go to the next screen and there, talk to the guard. You can't pass, as usual. On the left, you'll notice another of these switch duets. Destroy them the same way you just did, and get inside the well.

093. Be careful, because falling here will make you lose a whole life. The last jump is especially naughty. Use Sasuke and Goemon to reach the exit.

094. Once back in the delight, go to the left.

095. Go talk to the two weirdos, then find the stone-made stairways around the bottom-left of the screen.

096. There are five houses in this small village. Going inside the house on the further left will trigger a cutscene.

097. Go back to the two weirdos. Switch to Ebisumaru and have him wear the ballerina costume. Stand where the other guy was spinning around (in front of the big, suspicious rock) and spin around with Ebisu's "attack". Goddess Amaterasu will appear. After the cutscene, get inside the new passage.

098. [BOSS]
Pretty cool boss, uh? Makes we want to play View Point again.
- Your goal is to hit the guy standing on the "dragon". Some henchmen often jump out from the water. Get rid of them as fast as possible. When the dragon rises in front of the bridge, stay as far as possible. Sometimes he'll just throw some flames, and sometimes he'll throw himself on the bridge. When he does, jump at him and hit the boss. He should fall down, and you can hit him once more before he jumps back into the water. The best technique, provided you have enough money (= ammos), is to use Yae's locking bazooka. You'll be able to hit him from pretty much anywhere you want, and get rid of the henchmen easily as well.
- The second phase begins when the dragon turns red. His jumpings over the bridge will drop bombs, his fire attack will cover more ground, and after throwing himself on the bridge he'll roll up and down the bridge. Provided you keep going with Yae's technique, it shouldn't change much.

099. Now go back to Masakado. In case you forgot, he's accessible by going back to the fishermen's town and take the down-left exit, next to the boats. A long cutscene will end the chapter.

Chapter 6

100. You'll quickly trigger a cutscene. Sicne you can't cross the bridge anymore, your only possible destination is the village of Fujikawa.

101. Go left through the main street and a few screens, until you reach an opulent house with a vertical sign saying エビス in front of it. This is the house of the deity Ebisu - yes just like our chubby friend and probably based on the japanese god of wealth Ebisu (恵比寿). Quickly tap four times on the door. The god Ebisu won't answer unless you tap precisely four times. This is gave away by a random guy in a random house, so there are a few chances this is where most of you got blocked.

102. Ebisumaru now has a new power that will serve quite soon. Your new mission is to gather the shichifukudama (七福玉), the seven crystal balls of the shichifukujin (七福神), the seven gods of good fortune. Another huge mix of stupid puns and old legends. Press Start, and check your inventory. You'll see you already one red gem, and room for six more. You need to find the six others ; fortunately they're all in the neighbourhood.

103. Leave the opulent mansion and take the first road down.

104. To activate the pig-faced bridge, you need to have Ebisumaru equip his shurikens. Stand on the snout-shaped stone, then press and hold the attack button. Thanks to these, uh, magic farts, you can open all these bridges.

105. I think you can recover the fukudama in any order you want, however for clarity I'll list them in the order I unlocked them during my second run. Cross the river and go under the bridge with Yae. Destroy the block with Sasuke then unlock the pig-faced bridge and proceed.

106. Take the left passage (the bridge), kill the annoying "first-person bommers" and light the bomb's fuse with Sasuke. Take the new road up.

107. Keep following the road.

108. Once in front of the flame-vomiting statue, pick Sasuke and throw bombs in its mouth when its open. 8~10 bombs should do the trick, and you'll be rewarded with the blue fukudama.

109. Go back to the first person bommers and go left.

110. This one might be tricky for non-japanese speakers as well. Get inside the house and visit its three rooms. Your goal is to paint the signs on each room's floor, not only decently but also in the correct order. Also, you much be careful to write each sign down with a single stroke. Now I don't know how exactly it judges your skills, but it might prove annoying if you never wrote japanese in your life.
House on the left: て
House in the middle: い
House on the right: ほ
The correct order is ほてい ("hotei" = 布袋 = the shorter name of the fukujin 布袋尊), hence right > left > middle. The first one is the trickier to perform. You'll get a dreamcast-like swirl on the floor and over the sign if you succeed in writing it. However if you write them all down correctly, but in the wrong order, the puzzle will reset. After succeeding, you'll get the purple fukudama.

111. Go back to the first-person bommers, cross the bridge and take the road down to the right. Move the blocks with Goemon and tap on the hidden statue. It'll invoke Bishamonten, and you'll get the green fukudama.

112. Take the same road again, but this time go past the blocks.

113. Move the dice-shaped block toward the screen then use it to access the platform on the right.

114. [MINI-GAME]
The old guy is inviting you to a whack-a-mole game. Get your stylus ready and answer the left choice. Your goal is to whack the old guy every time he pops up. If your score is high enough, you'll get the light-blue fukudama. Yes they all use 2chAA-go in the conversation. You can come back whenever you want to play the mini-game again.

115. Go back to the screen with the river, the bridge and the pig-faced bridge. Climb up the road and jump on the bridge. Go left.

116. In the bamboo forest you can cut "sparkling" bamboos by slicing them on the tactile screen with your finger/stylus. The one standing at the far left, in the bottom part of the forest, hides Benzaiten (弁財天). She'll give you the yellow fukudama.

117. Now cross the bridge and go right. After the cutscene, climb up the ladder. Jump to the far right with Sasuke, rub the tengu-shaped vase, climb the rope and jump on the yellowish rock. Leave your finger on the screen in order to block the statue's nostril from which the water comes out. After a few seconds, the water will come down from the other nostril. No jump down in the water with Yae and go back to the ladder. A cutscene will occur. Climb up again and follow the exact same pattern to get the water back on the deity. You'll recover the last fukudama.

118. Go back to the town of Fujigawa, and invoke the god of wealth Ebisu once more (remember to tap four times on the door).

119. Be sure to have at least a hundred ryô in your purse, and head back to the bridge.

120. Get inside the tengu castle (save: yes/no)

121. This dungeon has a nice theme. Nothing special, just find your way up and out.

122. [BOSS]
Having money was important because this fight is stupidly easy with Yae's locking bazooka. Have her lock all time long and shoot whenever you can. His attack patterns are really easy to avoid as long as you stay on the ground. Anyway, that was just an appetizer. Cutscene (save: yes/no).

123. [GOEMON IMPACT]
The most important thing is to be really careful about his projectile attacks. Play it safe and you won't risk much.. Avoid the geyser attacks by moving Goemon Impact in between them. Don't bother with machine guns. Most of the damage you can give him is by hitting him with punch attacks as he swims past you, then use the special attack or grab+DDT whenever he's knocked-out. When he starts using decoys of himself, just try to guess in which side he is - looks like it's only a matter of luck. His most dangerous attack is the vaccum one, which he'll trigger once you got rid of a good chunk of his life. The trick here is to hit him with one of your punches when you are within distance. Be careful not to do it too soon, you need to be quite close to him for the punch to interrupt his attack.

Chapter 7
To be written later this week.
Chapter 8
To be written later this week.

And this concludes our pop culture-defining Goemon post trilogy. I'm still one day late on the schedule, I know.

Balzac · Posts: 361

I think I love you chaz.

Wilkes · Posts: 1603

Balzac wrote:

I think I love you chaz.

chazumaru* · Posts: 480

Balzac wrote:

I think I love you chaz.

Yeah well it didn't sound that way at all when they forced me to read your books in high school.

Also, as an amusing coincidence, it seems the new Konami game Marheaven is using Goemon Toukaidou's engine.