RGR008 - Ding Dong, The Witch is Dead

Upon reaching the final town, I finally learned the reason why all these kyonshi appeared and started hopping around: an evil witch named Obo had settled in this town and begun spreading her magic throughout the area. So it was now up to me to destroy her and bring peace back to the people, so that the clichéd plotline could wrap itself up.

Again, the battle is prefaced with a gauntlet of lesser kyonshi, placed there only to drain my health and give Obo an unfair advantage once I reach her. The final faceoff would actually be pretty easy if the witch avoided you a bit better. She does exactly two things in this battle: she fires little magic arrow thingies, and she teleports. That's it. The problem is that she occasionally (though not occasionally enough) teleports to the spot where you're standing. The arrows are easily jumped over, but Kenchi lacks the ability to break into a sprint, so if she's about to appear where you are, you're going to get hit.

Luckily, Obo also has a habit of teleporting near you, with her back to you. When this happens, she's slow to realize, and you can get in several good hits before she turns around and teleports away. So with a little luck, you can bring her down nice and quick.

Don't you love how I keep switching between first and second-person perspectives?

No one said she was pretty.

Ha! Take that, witch!

Wait, do I get paid for this?

Kung Fu Staff Roll GO!

With Obo defeated, her magic influence over the region disappears, and the undead go back to being just dead. Kenchi, being the glutton for punishment I guess he is, goes looking for new challenges in "a far away land with sand storms raging." More power to ya, Kenchi.

I'll try to get back on track from here, so next up will finally be Dragon Warrior III! Don't miss it!

RGR008 - The Bosses

Since the game is kind of repetitive (enter a room, kick and punch the kyonshi until it bursts into flames, repeat until you have the three orbs, fight the boss, repeat), I'll skip over all the unimportant stuff and just give you a run-down of the bosses:

Boss 1 - Illusionary Kyonshi

Known as Genyoshi in the manual, this boss makes large, slow hops toward you, leaving a trail of phantom images of himself in his wake. The height and speed of his jumps makes him easy to beat, as you can just stroll on under him and give him a couple of kicks from behind each time.

Boss 2 - Knife-Throwing Kyonshi

The manual calls this guy Raunshi (he and Genyoshi are the only bosses named in the manual). He acts like every other tall kyonshi, except that after each jump, he pulls out a couple of knives and throws them at you. If you stick close to him and duck when he throws the knives, he's not too tough.

Ooh, fancy.

He really does have knives. Promise.

Boss 3 - Front-Armored Kyonshi

This boss has no special attacks, but he can be a little tricky because he can't be hurt from the front. This isn't a big deal, though, as you've most likely gotten used to attacking kyonshi from behind at this point.

There are occasional flashes of lightning during the fight, but they only serve as a distraction.

Boss 4 - Floating... Guy?

The fourth boss is drastically different from any enemy you've fought up to this point. He isn't a typical kyonshi, and his attacks are more direct than the mindless hopping seen up to this point. He actually floats, and quickly charges at you (looking a bit like a lion when he does), knocking you down on contact. I got lucky in this fight, as his pattern is interrupted when the two of you are too close to the edge of the screen, and he wound up standing there stupidly as I kicked him repeatedly.

You don't look so tough.

HATE. THIS. GUY.

Boss 5 - Super-Heavy Kyonshi

This boss acts like a normal large kyonshi, but he apparently eats bars of lead when there are no people around to feed on. When he lands from a hop, the screen shakes and you're knocked off your feet, interrupting your chance to fight back. But a small, well-timed jump avoids the knockdown, allowing you to get in a hit or two before he hops again.

Boss 6 - Axe-Wielding Numbskull

This guy is kind of ridiculous. A palette-swap of boss 4, all this boss does is slowly inch toward you and swing his little axe around when he gets close enough. Your turn kick has slightly better range, though, so you can keep him at bay and just kick him until he drops. As long as you don't rush, he's laughably easy.

EARTHQUAKE!!!

The foot is mightier than the axe.

Boss 7 - Magic Fireball Kyonshi

Ugh. The difficulty of this boss makes up for the lack of difficulty of the axe guy. It all starts when you have to fight four increasingly difficult lesser kyonshi on the way to him, so that you'll tend to have very little life left when you reach him. Then, he throws fireballs. It'll probably only take one to kill you at this point, and they're tough to deal with at close range. Fortunately, like every other kyonshi, he seems to get confused when you duck, and may turn around and hop the other way. You can use this to your advantage, especially if you have the Mirage Thrust and Mirage Walk techniques, which allow you to punch and move around while ducking, respectively. The fireballs are still a threat, though, and I only finally managed to survive this fight when I got to the boss with a fair amount of life left.

Fireballs? No fair!

Here goes nothing...

The final town contains nothing but the three orbs necessary to remove the "sealenter", whatever that is, and the final boss' hideout.

As long as there are no more fireballs, I'll be okay.

RGR Game #008: Phantom Fighter

Yeah, kick that F into place!

Who will claim victoly?

All right, folks, it looks like my guest player is going to hold off for now, so I'll get started with another game. Phantom Fighter (known in Japan as Reigen Doushi) is a one-on-one kung fu beat-em-up by FCI where you use your mad kung fu skills to fight... well, not phantoms, actually.

The story, according to the manual:

Those wacky Chinese phantoms, Kyonshies, are on the loose again, wreaking havoc in eight villages. The Phantom Fighter, Kenchi, and his incompetent assistant have been called in to save the villages. Using special skills acquired from the Kung Fu master and items gathered throughout the villages, they must chop and kick their way to victory. But the contest is not all physical--as the Phantom Fighter, you have to answer some tricky quizzes before the master will reveal the secret skills that will help you defeat the Kyonshies.

Uh, yeah. 1989. Anyway, the plot of the game is basically in there: you travel from town to town, fighting off the kyonshi and saving the people. When you enter a training hall to learn new moves, you have to answer some asinine question before you can talk to the master.

But kyonshi aren't phantoms. Phantoms, by definition, are immaterial or illusionary. Kyonshi are hopping zombies. They have substance, and it hurts when they hit you.

Oh, and I should probably mention that this game is very loosely based on a series of Chinese movies called Mr. Vampire. But it's basically irrelevant, so that's the only time I'll bother mentioning it.

But you already have a kung fu guy.

Remove the what now?

This should be a nice quick break between RPGs. Stay tuned!