Ah, Culture Brain. You make some very strange games. They may have questionable-at-times English translations, but there is fun if you know where to find it.
All maps by zagato blackfist.
1-Player mode will let you only play as Jack. A second player can play as Ryu, but Ryu is only available on 2-player mode.
You can choose between easy, normal and hard difficulty if you choose a new game. You can also put in a password to start from where you last left off.
The story is pretty simple. Joyful people are living happily in Chinaland. One day, trouble arose in the peaceful country. A mysterious space ship fleet covered the sky of Chinaland. Suddenly, a 3D image appeared in the sky.
"Hello, people of Chinaland. Please don't be scared. We are on a universal peace mission. I am the leader, Rub-a-Doc. We are travelling the universe to promote peace. People in Chinaland, let's work together for universal peace."
A unversal peace conference was held between Rub-A-Doc and the Emperor Chin of Chinaland. Rub-A-Doc ecame very popular. He travelled all over Chinaland to promote peace. A Rub-A-Doc boom was on!
A few months later, the spaceship fleet and the Rub-A-Doc boom left Chinaland. A quietness returned.
We then hear from Jack and Ryu. Jack tells Ryu that some troubles have happened in the capital city of Yokan. Ryu finds it strange that there are troubles shortly after the Rub-A-Doc boom, and agrees that it looks like a job for the both of them (well, for Jack, because this is a 1-player Let's Play).
Yokan is directly north of where you start the game, so go ahead and go over there.
Yokan
Pressing Start allows you to access the menu. There you can see what items, magic and equipment you have in your possession, your current stats, money and medals, the treasure that you have and a password that you can write down in case you turn the Super Nintendo off and you want to start back where you left off.
Money (known in-game as Sen) is used to buy goods and services, while medals are used as currency for mini-games you'll be playing later on.
Most of the townspeople don't really say anything important, though the man by the bridge tells you that most of the men in the town were kidnapped by thieves who reside in Mt. Sampin. The two women on the northern half will tell you about Dragon Eggs and Convenience Stores.
At the item shop, you can buy Sweet Buns, Dragon Eggs, Skin Gauntlets, Bantam Gear and Yokan Helmets. The latter three are equipment that you can buy for your character so you can increase your stats (attack for the Skin Gauntlets, defense for the Bantam Gear and Yokan Helmet). Sweet Buns restore some of your HP, while Dragon Eggs let you restart a stage and save you from falling down a hole.
If you buy equipment and it is better than what you have equipped, the game will automatically equip it for you, and you'll also be able to sell your old equipment for ease the cost of upgrading to better stuff. If not, the game warns you and doesn't let you buy it.
The building with the sign with the "C" next to it is the Convenience Store. Whenever you enter, you'll be told by the shopkeeper how much experience you have until you reach the next level. You'll also set up that convenience store as a re-spawn point, so when you die you'll end up back at that convenience store and you won't be forced to restart the game from the very beginning. Be sure to enter a Convenience Store when you enter a new town.
At the Convenience Store, you'll be able to revive your ally in a two-player mode, change a game from a 1-player game to a 2-player game and vice versa, and get a password so you can come back to your game when you turn off the Super Nintendo (though you can do on the pause menu, it is thoughtful of Culture Brain to make this so).
The Inn allows you to restore all your health.
The building with the two doors is the palace. This is where you want to go when you enter Yokan at the beginning of the game. Here, you will talk with Emperor Chin, who will tell you about thieves from Mt. Sampin who came to the town, stole jewelry and kidnapped workers. Naturally, Jack and Ryu volunteer to get them back. Emperor Chin will then tell you to see a prophet at the back of the palace.
From there, go to the building behind the palace. You'll meet Notruedamas, who is obviously a reference to the supposed real-life prophet Nostradamus and is the palace fortune teller. He will tell you to go north to the cave in the mountain to Horizon Gate, and to look for Rick. He will also give you an Escape Leaf, a magic spell that will allow you to escape battle and action scenes. This is the first magic spell that you will learn in the game.
The Adventure Begins
Now that you've done all you can do in Yokan, it's time to leave. Leave through the exit at the southern half of town, then go east and then go north to the nearby cave.
Yokan Tunnel
The Yokan Tunnel looks like a very simple tunnel despite its dead ends, but you will be running into your first monsters here.
The monsters you'll meet here include tigers that look like shamisens, grey-and-purple colored guys who look like robots who can do somersaults, kappas and bird enemies who wear gold helmets and can also somersault. The bird enemies can also do somersaults and have a little range to their attacks.
Pressing Y repeatedly lets you punch and perform a combo, while holding Y and moving allows you to run. B lets you jump. If an enemy is knocked down, you can press Y to pick them up and throw them.
Battles happen at random, and you can choose whether or not you want to take part in the battle. You can select "run," but you won't always be able to run away. At the very beginning of the game, you'll want to make sure you take part in and win every battle, as you will need the money and experience. As you'll soon learn, the encounter rate in this game can be strangely and insanely high, and it is not unusual to make it to Level 10 early on in the game. The battle scenes are like beat-'em-up games (think Final Fight or Streets of Rage, but simpler), and you can only attack to the left or right, much like your enemies.
Battles end when you defeat enough enemies. The number of enemies you have to defeat is pretty small early on, though it gets a little higher as you move on.
There are pits, but if you're paying attention, you should be able to avoid them. Be sure you do so, as dropping into pits will kill you.
The blocks marked with a "P" contain power-ups. Punch the "?" and you'll get what's inside. Power-ups you can collect include swords that you can use as weapons in battle for increased strength, "M" icons that give you energy for using special abilities, and skulls that will decrease the amount of "M" icons you have by one. Enemies will sometimes drop weapons for you to use in battle, too, such as nunchaku. The "$" icons give you more money when you win the battle.
If you make your way to the other side of the tunnel and make your way south to the chest, you will be able to obtain a free Dragon Helmet, so you'll be able to save some money.
From the exit, head to the west. You'll eventually make it to Horizon Gate.
Horizon Gate
Talking to the people will let you know that Mr. Sampin is east of Yokan. You'll also learn about the Ninja Cyclone, an attack that knocks enemies down and breaks holes in wall at the cost of 3 M icons.
At the Item Shop, you can get new items. LV Counter 1 allows you to see what level the early enemies of the game are at and how many you have to beat to attack them. The Boo Bombs allow you to blow up strange-looking walls, and you can hold eight at any given time. The Pneuma Punch is better than the Skin Gauntlet, and the Feather Gear is better than the Bantam Gear. The Portabuckler is a shield.
There are two double-door buildings here. You can enter them in either order, but if you want clearer story progression, enter the left one first. This is where you will meet Rick, one of the characters from the Hiryu no Ken series. He will tell you to go through the Chamber of Earth and Chamber of Water, and if you clear both, you will get a reward.
You'll then go to the Chamber of Earth, which is your first action scene. You can still move left and right, but you won't be able to move up and down like you can in the battle scenes. Be sure to get as many power-ups as you can and defeat enemies when you are able.. You can jump slightly higher for some things if you are jumping straight up as opposed to jumping to the left or right. You can also jump a little higher while you are running. Just remember that you will be running a little bit further forward when you land.
To latch onto walls, move into them with a running jump. From there, you can use the Control Pad to climb up the wall.
When you go to the pause menu, you'll have a slightly simplified menu. Here you can use items, look at your magic and also equip your sword, Mighty Ball and Ninja Cyclone, should you have them.
The bomb is another Boo Bomb. Besides using them to blow up strange walls, you can also use them against enemies. The blast is pretty weak, however. Some of the P blocks also contain potstickers, when can help you recover 30% of your total health.
When you get through the Chamber of Earth, you will enter the Chamber of Water. Watch your jumps, as they look framey and feel floaty. Be very careful and bring plenty of Dragon Eggs before you start these two chambers, as it can be easy to land into a pit in the Chamber of Water.
The Chamber of Water has quite a few spikes. Avoid them as they will kill you instantly.
There is a log platform moving up and down at the end of the Chamber of Water. If you jump on it and take it upwards, you will go to the Soundmaster's studio. Here, you'll play a panel matching game where you match sets of musical notes if you have 10 Sen. You only have three tries, so make them count. For every successful pair you make, you will win a Medal.
You also get kicked out of the level regardless of whether you win or not. If you skipped the Soundmaster's Studio mini-game, you would have passed Rick's test.
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