--------------------------------------- ---- S H I N O B I ---- --------------------------------------- for Playstation®2 Shinobi Boss F A Q / Guide By AdrenalineSL E-mail: toiletrabbit(at)hotmail.com Version 1.4: Released March 5, 2003 I know you think looking at these type of help files puts your reputation as a hardcore gamer to shame, but when you have died for the 108th time you know you need some form of help (not that I have died 108 times, mind). Care to hear how this guide came into existence? Well, I was enjoying my jaunt through Stage 1-B until I came face-to-face with the boss of that stage, whose calm aura and slow swaggering seemed very intimidating. I thought to myself, "How hard could he be?" Ten seconds later, I found myself cursing at the TV and at SEGA. Yet, at the same time, I felt a sort of hidden joy and intensity--feelings which hardly ever surfaced unless my ears are treated to some sweet ass-thumping beats. It was this boss battle that pushed me to believe all the reviews I have read and finally realize that Shinobi won't be an easy win. From my mistakes and innumerable pathetic deaths, this guide was born. The tale of frustration, re-told by someone who has conquered Shinobi and lived to tell about it, teaches the reader about strength, honor, and gym shorts! With this guide, I hope you can find the solution to your problem. And if you are having problems with the game itself, read my full walkthrough found at GameFAQs! Without further ado, let's pop the hood on these fiends and explore their innards. ***************************************************************************** Before we start, there are just a few things I'd like to impart. The staple strategy for all bosses (except for the first two) is building Akujiki's blade power by killing all of the lackeys, then whacking the boss. The boss will ALWAYS be accompanied by an infinite number of lackeys. There's absolutely nothing you can do to change that. Their main mission in life is to serve as a diversion and generally be annoying. They add to the difficulty of the boss, hence the reason that SEGA even put them there. Sometimes, though, the lackeys can really help by releasing white balls called Yang. These restore your health by one health slot. Just bear in mind that the key point is to take advantage of Akujiki's power. Although the purpose of this guide is to provide insight and strategies on how to defeat these bosses, I cannot guarantee you will win on your first try after reading up on this FAQ. Your success lies mainly in your skills AND your determination to beat down your obstacles. Here are some words of encouragement: you will ALWAYS DIE unless you refuse to give up and exercise perseverance. If you can't beat the boss on even your 10th try, don't despair. Instead, pause the game, do something else for awhile and return to try again. KEEP IN MIND that these boss strategies were designed to help you with the boss. They were NOT designed to help you achieve one-hit kills all around. There was one person who deemed my strategies as worthless primarily for the reason that he took more than one-hit to kill each boss. It's true that you can Tate a boss and kill him instantly, but if I were to emphasize on that alone then this FAQ would REALLY be worthless, as the skills of all Shinobi players differ in some way or another. Thanks for understanding. On another note, all the boss strategies as of now are mainly for the Normal difficulty. I don't believe I have the capacity to write the strategies for Super. If you have any strategies for Normal, Hard or Super, please do share! You will be credited, praised and fawned upon. NOTE: I will not add ALL strategies that are sent to me. For most cases it's a first come, first serve basis. Enough chattin', let's get-a-rockin'! +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ S T A G E 1 – A B O S S +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ This is a normal helicopter outfitted with a bunch of missiles. It also comes equipped with side winders. There's not much of a strategy to discuss here. Keep up with the chopper until it stops. Then get under it and slash at its underside. This is the easiest way to destroy this unsound helicopter. Don't mind the ground troops. If you try to attack the "nose", its fast, spinning propeller blades will slice you up. You can deal double the damage by attacking a missile as it is released from its compartment. As an interesting note, you can destroy the missiles as they come at you by timing them right and slashing with Akujiki. In no time at all this aircraft will go down with minimal effort. +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ S T A G E 1 – B B O S S +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ Your ultimate weapon is using his own attacks against him. Whenever he starts his attack, a blue light surrounds him for a brief moment. Then he rears back and lunges forward, covering a great distance in front of him. At the start of the fight, refrain from doing any drastic movements and slowly back up to the edge. He approaches you very slowly, so you have to wait. He has to come in moderately close range for this to work. Just as he is about to pierce your heart with a powerful stab attack, stealth-dash behind him or to the side. When he charges while you're standing near the edge, the momentum of his attack pushes him over the edge. Let me stress that you should never move the analog stick in his direction when you dodge, or dash backward. Each time he falls off the roof, about 1/8 of his life diminishes. Repeat this until he is left with the last bit of his health. Now it appears as if SEGA knew we would pull this trick off, so they decided that the last chunk of his health must be stolen by Hotsuma's own hands. Simply use Ka'en ninjutsu magic (fire) to finish him off. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ [BOSS STRATEGIES FOR ALL MODES] Submitted by Newtype Ace Basic strategy: Stealth-dash to the side or behind him, but it doesn't work if he starts one thrust from his starting position and then immediately does a second thrust - he will push you towards your death if you don't move away, and he doesn't fall if you move away. The most effective thing to do when you see this is to jump once during his second thrust, and then when you're about to fall jump once again. When you're about to fall again, stealth-dash towards his back. That will certainly make him fall to the edge and is quite easier to do. Be watchful though because sometimes he doesn't do a second thrust right away but runs towards you. If he does this, just do nothing and wait for the thrust (he WILL do it whenever you're close to him). HARD (Moritsune): start with basic strategy. When he starts summoning his lackeys, fill up your Tate gauge to 4 and give him the final slash from behind him. One hit miracle. You could also use your shield while filling up your Tate gauge. HARD (Hotsuma): Same strategy as Moritsune and it's two-hit miracle this time unless it's a critical blow. SUPER (Joe): Start with basic strategy. But when he starts summoning distractions your job will be a lot harder coz it's very difficult for Joe to collect Tate points with his weak sword and even kill the boss with one slash. My strategy is to keep on making the boss fall over the edge by getting close to him and making him chase you to the edge. You'll need to do a lot of dashing to keep his lackeys from tracking down your movements. You can also use his attack to make him kill his own men which is very effective. If you find yourself cornered, just do a shuriken burst to cancel the opponents' moves. for the finishing blow, choose one: shuriken, shuriken burst, flame scroll. SUPER (Moritsune): Same as Hard /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ S T A G E 2 – A B O S S +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ Akagane (the girl) and Shirogane (the guy) form a fearsome duo. Akagane is the agile one, while Shirogane stays mostly in one place and swings his weapon over his head to create an oscillating blade that is always in constant motion. He can also stretch out his chain and hurl it in your direction. It could break through obstructions and has a reach of over a yard or two. Avoid getting close to him, or you will suffer terrible whiplash. Akagane, on the other hand, prefers close-range combat. The only time you should attack her is when she is about to perform an attack of her own. Even then, you must attack in moderation because she can break free and retaliate. Always be ready to dodge away. Though it may seem logical to remove Akagane first, you will have a better chance at surviving if you eliminate Shirogane. While it's hard to get past his weapon, it's not impossible. You can easily freeze him in place with a Shuriken. Afterward, quickly get up all in his face and deliver unrelenting pokes to his belly. He can't attack if you're too close, so he will try to run farther away from you. Therefore, you need to stealth-dash up to him to keep in his face with continued flurries of slashes. In the meantime, be on the look-out for Akagane. Akagane is much easier to deal with. Hotsuma's stealth-dash technique EASILY discombobulates her, giving you a wide opening to hack her up. However, most of the time, she appears to be unfazed by your attacks and could return a few attacks of her own. In any case, she still shouldn't be taken so lightly. If you don't eliminate either Shirogane or Akagane in time, they will come together and send out a slew of white mongrels to distract you. While you are busy dealing with those rabid dogs, they combine their powers to create a powerful fire ball. Once you hear Akagane yell out "Catch this!" be ready to move away, or be ready to be roasted. Keep in mind that you shouldn't totally ignore the dogs, or Akujiki will drain your waning health. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ [BOSS STRATEGIES FOR HARD/SUPER] Submitted by Newtype Ace HARD (Moritsune): Wait for the dogs. Use Raijin (optional), make everybody gather up close to you and do Shuriken Burst (also optional), fill up Tate points to max, slash Akagane (one hit will most often do ^_^), and then slash Shirogane. Easy...oh, Shirogane might survive one slash if it's not critical. HARD (Hotsuma): Same strategy as Moritsune, but I believe you need to slash them a little more if you're not doing critical hits. SUPER (Joe): Run (dash if you like) back and forth above the fence on either side of the arena until the dogs show up, or keep doing Shuriken Bursts above the two (Shurikens can hurt them too). Just make sure you dash before you land or Akagane's retaliation might hit you. When the dogs come out, get close to Akagane and Shirogane and do a Shuriken Burst to stop them from doing their combination attack, then attack the dogs while dashing like crazy to prevent Shirogane from tracking your movements. You can use Raijin now if you like, just make sure you land two or three hits on Akagane to hurt her or kill her (most preferable pattern is: dash towards a dog, slash once, then dash again, then slash, and so forth until it dies). When you kill Akagane, Shirogane will be easy. Just keep throwing Shurikens at him while waiting for the dogs, or practice on how you would slash him when you fill your Tate gauge. The best way to be able to land a sword slash at him is to hit him with a Shuriken first so that he'll stop swinging his weapon and roll somewhere else. So stop in front of him when he's about to stand up, then slash him and follow him to where he's escaping while slashing (you can land two or maybe even three hits on him before your Tate gauge fades if you're lucky). Keep repeating the pattern until he dies. Another strategy is to run towards him then jump or double jump, lock-on and slash (but sometimes, he gets to hit you first). SUPER (Moritsune): Use same strategy as in Hard. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ [ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES] Submitted by ShadowNemises The girl Shirogane is easy to beat if you wait for the dogs to appear and Tate her. I have also found that they both occasionally double over and yell "No!" I'm assuming they're fighting the curse of the talisman, but it gives you an opportunity. I suggest taking her out first by dancing around the edge and dodging the fire ball, which also hurts the devil dogs (go figure). Akagane the boy is easy after she's dead, just shadow dash in and give a slash before he roles away. They both freeze for about three seconds if you hit them with a shuriken. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ Submitted by Christopher Richards During the stage, if you search all the small red houses like things you can find different items that are useful. One such one is another Makimono. I found that saving the two Makimonos, the one you picked up and the one you start with, for the boss helps out a lot. When you get into the battle, all you have to do is do a stealth-dash as soon as they appear and press L2 twice using both Makimonos with the bursting inferno (the fire attack). This right- off-the-bat kills the girl and leaves the guy almost drained. Now all you have to do is hold down the R1 lock on for him since there are no other enemies in the area and use stealth-dash to get up into his face. This turns the battle into a very short battle. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ Submitted by Zallonzio Immediately at the beginning of the fight walk up to Akagane and Shirogane as she is moving away from him. Use the Ka'En (fire ninjutsu) it will kill Akagane right-off-the-bat and take out more than half Shirogane's life. Then use Kamaitachi (Shoots out blue waves from the sword) to quickly finish off Shirogane. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ S T A G E 2 – B B O S S +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ A helicopter back from hell...with a vengeance! Beating it involves the same strategy from the first encounter: simply stay under it and slash its underside. You may notice that it hovers slightly faster than before and that it doesn't remain in one spot for an extended period of time. Deal with the demon warriors as they come, but always follow it and stay under it, or you will drown in a shower of bullets. Keep attacking its belly, and you'll permanently down it. +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ S T A G E 3 – A B O S S +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ This old man is guarded by those sword-wielding mongrels, making this battle a bit tougher. Hell, which battle isn't tough? Oh yeah, those helicopter ones. Anyway, the boss himself isn't tough. The guy is a damn chicken wuss. He doesn't attack you per se. Instead, he sics his pets on you; he can summon them at will. If you approach him in an attempt to cover Akujiki with his blood, he curls up and retreats into his portable Chinese take-out box thing and teleports to another part of the battle area. His craven antics alone are what make this battle so frustrating. His pets are way more aggressive around him, so stick to the walls and keep a move on to avoid getting mauled to death. Head to where the old man is, jump over his line of mongrels and attack him straight on. You can manage to squeeze in only one slash before he teleports, leaving you alone with the pups. Instead of sticking around, take to the walls and move away. Shortly after he disappears, his dogs will follow. Here's the main problem: whenever the old man receives any blows, he uses his healing power to restore his health, albeit slowly, but steadily. If you allow him to revitalize himself completely every time, you will get nowhere in this battle. To prevent this, you need to spring into action every time he appears. Set up camp in the center of the room and keep an eye out on all four ends by rotating the camera. As soon as you spot a larger and thicker puff of smoke begin to appear, swiftly move in that direction. Jump over his soldiers and go for a full frontal assault. Attacking his backside is useless, since the giant container protects his ass. Repeat this method until you reduced his health to a moderately small amount. Then use Ka'en ninjutsu magic. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ [BOSS STRATEGIES FOR HARD/SUPER] Submitted by Newtype Ace HARD (Moritsune): Use Raijin (optional). Make the dogs gather up close to you and do a Shuriken Burst (also optional); just make sure you don't hit the old geezer or he'll run away when he recovers. Then get face-to-face with the fool and kill him with ONE blow (Beware, he can recover his HP when you're not attacking him...BAH! Who cares!) HARD (Hotsuma): Same with Moritsune but takes two or three hits this time (one if critical). SUPER (Joe): Same as Hotsuma, only this time, you can't paralyze them with Shuriken. SUPER (Moritsune): Same as Hard. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ [ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES] Submitted by ConspiracyMan First, run towards him and run around in circles until all his dogs are around you, then do a Shuriken Burst (press triangle while double jumping). This should effectively paralyze all of his dogs, then you can take them out with a few swipes; that should charge up Akujiki quite a bit. Now you can slash him (the boss) for a very large amount of damage. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ Submitted by Bryan Thompson As you know the mongrels may be the first thing you see. Instead of dodging them though take all of them head on. Every time you kill one, Akujiki becomes stronger. The easiest way to kill the mongrels is to stealth-dash behind them and slash. Once all the mongrels are gone go for the old man. If this is done correctly you should get "Tate" and a nice bonus when you see your stage results. This is how I got a S rank on stage 3-A. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ [TIP] Submitted by Studly_do_right While a head on attack does do minimal damage, but if you attack him from the side you will do much more. Stand on either side of him and slash or use Ninjutsu magic to dispose of this character very quickly. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ S T A G E 3 – B B O S S +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ This is one enormous spider who has gone through a morbid mutation. It's so large that its body can hardly fit in the space you're in. It can use its powerful legs to attack when you're close and spit acid balls when you're far away. It is protected by an incredibly hard-plated exoskeleton that can deflect any weapon right back at the aggressor. The only viable weak spot is its rear end. You must somehow jump that high to attack it. The environment here allows you to run on the walls, so you could jump toward the mama spider from there. In fact, using the walls is part of the strategy. Notice the spider nests scattered about? They may seem like a hindrance, but they actually help you. They spawn more spiders with which you need to appease Akujiki's hunger. Not only that: by killing all the spiders, you increase Akujiki's cutting power. So when you attack the big momma, you could dish out a significant amount of damage. Keep whacking its weak spot with a fully charged blade to end the battle. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ [ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY] Submitted by ShadowedSoul At the beginning of the match, stay far enough away from the Boss so that all he does are his long distance projectiles. Make sure not to touch the 'Spider Manufacturers' either, just evade his attacks until the peons appear. All the small spiders should come up at about the same time, and when they do, back up away from the boss. All the small spiders should walk closer, gathering into a nice little package. Kill them all quickly with normal attacks and more attacks, then immediately go in for the kill. The projectiles are very easy to dodge, with simple front/side dashes, and if you mix in enough dashes while you kill the small spiders, they shouldn't bother you then either. All in all, the killing session is only a matter of seconds. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ S T A G E 4 – A B O S S +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ IMO, he's one of the coolest characters ever. Too bad he had to turn into a bad apple. As with all other bosses, you have to exercise caution with this guy. He has no real combat skills other than his special, inherent powers. This means that Hotsuma's Shurikens will have a profound effect on him. Like the 3-A Boss, he too likes to teleport around the place, except his teleportation skill can become a lethal weapon. When he does his disappearing act, move as far away from him as possible because he could disappear with a big bang. Literally. As he begins to teleport, he envelopes himself in a sphere of flames that explode outward, dealing major damage if you are close enough. While he is on the ground or in reachable places, go up to him and cautiously maneuver around the fireballs he shoots out. He can shoot only three at a time, so rush in after the third flies by. Sometimes he sends out a single fireball that is larger and moves slower. Don't look down on it! It is all of his energy condensed into one ball. If you are caught within the range of the blast, you can guarantee that even the biggest band-aid won't patch up your wound. If you're having trouble getting close to him, chuck a shuriken to put him in place. To inflict more damage, eliminate as many of those disc-like enemies to power up Akujiki, then attack Homura (the boss). If you can execute a Tate, you can end the battle very easily. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ [BOSS STRATEGIES FOR HARD/SUPER] Submitted by Newtype Ace HARD (Moritsune): I don't remember if he's as "shy" in Hard as he is in Super or not. When you try to get close to him too quickly (dashing, air dashing, jumping) he will teleport away with a bang. Anyway, wait for the army of soda caps, fill up your Tate gauge, Shuriken him to make him stay in place before you approach him, slash once, and he's dead... HARD (Hotsuma): Same as Moritsune. I just don't remember how many times you need to hit before you can kill him. It ain't that hard anyway. SUPER (Joe): Same as Moritsune but you can't paralyze him with Shurikens this time, so you have to approach him while he retaliates. Just make sure you don't dash or jump when you're close to him because he's very shy and doesn't like to be surprised :P SUPER (Hotsuma): Same as hard. Shurikens may not work if you throw them from a distance. Don't dash or jump when you're close to him, or you'll go Boom! /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ S T A G E 4 – B B O S S +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ Fighting an aerial opponent over hot, molten lava always spells trouble. Here are the things you need to focus on: you need to avoid falling into the lava and incinerating yourself, dodge all of her attacks, take care of her underlings while dodging THEIR attacks, pacify Akujiki, feed Akujiki to charge it, and keep in constant motion. Whew. Did I get everything? Probably. The only thing that somewhat facilitates the battle is the climbable walls around the cavern. Those rocks which are marked with a white dotted line are climbable. Therefore, you could scale the walls to kill the time until the next army of fire moth-like creatures appear. You could also jump from the wall or jump from the center platform to the boss and slash her to inflict (very little) damage upon her, but it's effective only with a fully charged Akujiki. As you begin the fight, immediately cling to the walls and start running in either a clockwise or counter-clockwise fashion until you run into the Moth Lady hovering somewhere close to you. Take this chance to swipe her once. It takes off about a centimeter of damage--every bit counts! A single slash impels her to move to another part of the cavern, so run along the walls until you see her again. Repeat this until she yells, "Let the fun begin!" That's when her small army of fire moths encompasses the center platform. On the center platform, execute an Air Combo (or Air Tate as some other people call it) to take care of the moths, but in the meantime you need to watch out for the Moth Lady's attacks, such as the devastating napalm bomb or something of similar nature. You need to kill all, if not most, of the fire moths to fully charge Akujiki. When Akujiki is glowing purple or a fuchsia color, it's time to go in to deliver a fatal blow to the Moth Lady. A fuchsia-colored Akujiki can take off nearly 2/3 of her life! Keep whacking her with a powered-up Akujiki, and she will bite the dust. Whew. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ [BOSS STRATEGIES FOR HARD/SUPER] Submitted by Newtype Ace Things to watch out for: 1. She'll say something and fly over the center platform (don't know what she says in English) that will make the center platform burst into flames and hurl you away with massive damage. When you see this trick coming at you, forget about the butterflies and cling to a wall. If there are butterflies remaining while your Tate gauge is gone, you must kill them 'cause they will just give you a hard time the next time she starts summoning them. 2. If you have a fully charged sword, lock-on to her BUT before you jump make sure she's not hovering in circles around the center platform, or you will 99% of the time hit air. And if she's throwing fireballs at you, just move a little to the left or right before you jump at her. HARD (Moritsune): Keep running in circles on the walls of the arena and occasionally slashing her if you like. When she starts summoning her butterflies, do a jump-dash-jump to get to the center platform (use Raijin now if you like) and start powering up your Tate gauge. Be sure you don't jump too far away from the center platform, or you may fall down and ruin your chance. Make sure you come back on the platform and just hit another target if you feel like you will wander too far away from the center (the butterflies tend to gather around you if you stay in the middle). When your sword is fully charged, lock, jump, dash towards her and show her who's boss. SUPER (Moritsune): Same as Hard. SUPER (Joe): Same strategy as Moritsune, but you need to hit her with a fully charged blade around 4 or 5 times before she dies, or once if you score a very critical hit. (I did it once, but I don't know how it happened and I was even surprised that a critical blow can deal FIVE times damage...Hmmm, it really puzzles me.) Anyway, you don't always have to fill up your Tate gauge before you hit her. If you feel like you'll just ruin your chance if you try to chase the last butterfly, then forget about it and go for the boss (with at least 6 kills. Any less and you won't be satisfied with the damage you will inflict). It's gonna be the longest battle you've yet to experience in Super mode. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ [ALTERNATE STRATEGY FOR SUPER ONLY] Submitted by Xybreed THIS TRICK ONLY WORKS ON SUPER MODE, AND YOU MUST PLAY AS JOE MUSASHI: If you can't beat the boss of 4-B on Super Mode, you're probably still a pretty good gamer 'cause you made it to Super Mode to begin with. If you don't mind getting a C rank on the level, you can easily beat Benisuzume with Joe Musashi without getting hit. Here's what to do: Right at the start of the battle, jump over to the wall to the left of her, lock onto her, and throw a Shuriken (without releasing on the lock). The lock will carry your view over to the other side of the room after she does her all powerful fire explosion on the middle platform (hence the reason you're on the wall right now, she does this EVERY time you hit her on Super Mode). When she stops on the other side of the room, throw another Shuriken at her. When she starts to do her all powerful technique, let up on the lock. For the next instruction, it is kind of hard to explain so I'm going to use compass directions. Let's say that when you started the level you were facing north, staring into her face. South is roughly where she was the 2nd time you hit her, so the wall behind her is the south wall. You were on the wall to the left of her, so we'll call that the Blessed West Wall. The four walls each have a small damaged part where you have to jump to get to the next segment. From the Blessed West Wall, move toward the south wall until you would have to jump to get to the south wall. Now turn around so you are facing the north wall, and lock onto her again. Wait until she stops moving and throw a Shuriken. The view will carry you over to the south wall, only now you are equally close to her no matter which one she stops at. As long as you hit her every time she stops, she will not get the chance to summon the small moths. Since your sword does not eat your health, you may continue this pattern until she dies. It will take roughly 15 minutes, but you will defeat her without taking damage, and you will not fall off the wall because you are throwing a Shuriken every now and then. Note that Joe's Shurikens really only do about 1 millimeter damage each on a 19" TV, so the 15 minutes is no joke. Good luck! =) /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ S T A G E 5 – A B O S S +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ After facing such a tough aerial opponent in the last match, it should be a relief to battle against a human again--well, a supposedly dead human who was a former member of the Oboro Clan. Kongou wields an enormous Shuriken with a wide diameter and spiky things on the sides. Even if he appears to be very bulky and muscular, he's very swift, acrobatic and able to parry most of your attacks. Kongou controls the power of electricity--both his body and weapon channel with this innate power. His lackeys, though, spit fire balls. Attack his body only when you see an opening. Always attack the area where his weapon won't be in the way or it will block all attacks. Kongou likes to cart-wheel around the area, so follow suit and stealth-dash. The best time you can catch him off guard is as he is about to swing his Shuriken around at you. He has a few impressive moves: 1) he leaps into the air and dives back to the earth, creating a slight tremor on his impact, 2) he uses a leg stomp move that's similar to something you would see in a wrestling match. With his first attack, he can leap from one side to the other as if he were a friggin' cricket and fill you with a tangy jolt of electricity. You wouldn't even see him coming. That attack has the potential to knock you into the water, and unlike lava, once you get in you will never come back out. Fortunately, you have a safe refuge from his ravaging, electricity-suffused blows. See that small storage building? Get atop it and Kongou can't touch you (although there is a slight chance he CAN reach you, but that doesn't happen very often); his sidekicks can, but they aren't the huge threat Kongou is. When you try to jump slash his lackeys, always be sure you dash away while airborne, or you will suffer some intense pain. As always, super charge Akujiki and deliver lethal blows to that damn ruffian. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ [BOSS STRATEGIES FOR ALL MODES] Submitted by Newtype Ace Hmm...5-A. This stage really pisses me off. Too many lucky shots from those bats will eventually hurl you into the pit. General strategy: Killing the lackeys is the most difficult task in this battle 'cause they're too far away from one another. The best thing to hunt them down is to face the direction of where you think your next target is while holding target. This will automatically rotate the camera and focus on where the next target is. HARD (Moritsune): He's a pretty easy boss for this stage of the game. I don't have much strategy for this guy 'cause it's pretty easy to get behind him and slash him. I even killed him once with Joe without using Tate gauge. SUPER (Joe): Hunt down lackeys before killing him if you want a short battle. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ [ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY] Submitted by ShadowNemises 1. His drop-kick thing leaves him open to attack from the rear and everywhere except the side with the huge shuriken...I found it easy to kill him without powering Akujiki... 2. Shadow dash seems to be the only thing you have do in the battle except slice...I found it easy to ignore the enemies altogether because its easy to avoid the projectiles they shoot... 3. On that note, you can slash him 3 times from behind him...and then he does his drop-kick thing again, just repeat it and use the fire Ninjutsu when he's near death... That's sorta a cheap way to beat him...to each his own, but I found this a very quick way to kill him. Just don't let him get into a corner or your dead. That's about it, he's one of the easier bosses in my opinion... /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ S T A G E 5 – B B O S S +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ Damn snake-fox-whatever hybrids are nothing but trouble! This thing is a user of ice, so his attacks have the ability to freeze its victims. On a lighter note, using the Ka'en ninjutsu magic will be one of the deciding factors of this fight. The first thing you should notice is that he lacks the mobility you have. His only method of movement is--you guessed it--teleportation. When he teleports, he surrounds himself in a column of ice. If you are within its range, you will definitely get painful frostbite. Whenever he teleports, look at the ground. If some cold air start to gather around under your feet, MOVE away! The strange disc-like thing affixed to his back is the source of all his ice power. By observing how the "slots" (or hole things) move, you will be able to read his attacks and avoid them. If all of the holes glow, he will unleash a huge particle beam. If the holes glow one at a time, he will shoot some ice balls consecutively. If he opens up all the slots, then a bevy of swift-slithering snakes will emerge from them. They are LIGHTNING FAST, and I'm not kidding. Watch out when their fangs glow red. Keep on your toes and lop off their heads without regard to your health. If possible, do a Shuriken Burst to momentarily paralyze them. They are way too fast for you to dodge all of them completely. When dealing with the snakes, always do it behind him where his attacks can't touch you. If he's leaning against the edge, attack his body once and retreat. This forces him to teleport to another area. The preferable location to resume the fight is in the center. Skinning all of the snakes increases Akujiki's cutting power to a near-maximum, so take this opportunity to strike the body, not the snake coils, but the semi-human body. Attacking other parts, even the back, is ineffective. Once you attack him once, get out of the way. He usually begins to teleport as he receives damage. To add extra damage, jump into the air and cast Ka'en magic. It's particularly effective against him. Charge up Akujiki once again and deliver the coupe de grâce. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ [BOSS STRATEGIES FOR HARD/SUPER] Submitted by Newtype Ace This guy does his ice blast after summoning his lackeys, so the challenge is to beat the cheapest paralyzing move in the game. HARD (Moritsune): With one scroll and one Shuriken Burst, he doesn't deserve to be boss of this stage ^_^. When he summons his snakes, use Raijin and then immediately do a Shuriken Burst (but make sure they're already mobile or you won't hit them) to keep them in place. Just whack away at the snakes to fill your Tate gauge then deal the final blow on the boss, and he'll die in one slash! SUPER (Joe): This time, you can't paralyze the lackeys. But hey, your Shurikens can hit him. So what you do is hit him with a Shuriken after (not during) he summons his snakes to prevent him from doing that ice blast and make him teleport somewhere else. Then whack away at the snakes and deal the final blow to him. Do this twice and he's dead. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ S T A G E 6 – A B O S S +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ Your battle ground is a flooded, claustrophobic corridor with climbable walls all around. Your opponent is deprived of the ability to see; he's blind, but DO NOT look down upon him. He's refined his skills to take on any sort of danger. The purpose of the ankle-deep water is to help him determine which direction you're coming from. After all, even a ninja can't walk across water so quietly. When he pinpoints your location, he sends out a myriad of powerful air missiles nonstop! To avoid this, get on the walls and stay there. In order to trounce this guy, you need to master the art of scaling walls without any slip-ups. Though he is blind, he has reflexes and instincts that can rival a lion's. You won't be able to touch him without getting impaled by his painful attacks. Helping him will be a little more than half-dozen of those tripod laser-shooting things. For this battle, they have been enhanced with a new attack that could shoot a stream of sizzling lasers over long distances and move them around at will. Your Shurikens are going to be the sharpest tools in the shed, alongside Akujiki in this battle. It's imperative that you use them just as you are told to. When you begin the fight, hang around the walls and wait for the machines to appear. Don't waste your Shurikens yet. When the peons finally appear, they always are positioned close to the walls, except one or two. Don't try to destroy them by jumping from the ground unless you enjoy dying. Get yourself at the same height as they are on the walls and approach them. Then swing your sword to lay waste to each. You have to do this quickly in order to keep Akujiki charged at a fairly constant level. Once you've built up Akujiki's cutting power, quickly run back to the boss, jump off the walls and while still airborne, target him and throw a Shuriken. This paralyzes the boss, giving you one chance to deliver a devastating blow. After ONE blow, quickly retreat and climb back onto the wall. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Once you get the hang of things, this won't be such a frustrating battle, although it would be nice if we could just trash those pesky machine things. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ [BOSS STRATEGIES FOR HARD/SUPER] Submitted by Newtype Ace HARD (Moritsune): Wait for the army of lackeys, fill up your Tate gauge while making sure you don't step in the water. If it happens when he's swinging his sword like crazy, he'll just deflect whatever attack you use on him. Hit him with a Shuriken before the last slash so you can get behind him and slash him there. SUPER (Joe): Your Shuriken can't paralyze him but it's still useful. Before or after you kill the final lackey, hit him with a Shuriken or do a Shuriken Burst above him. This will make him run away to the other end of the corridor. He'll be vulnerable from behind, so just chase him while he's running from you, and slash at his back. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ [ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY] Submitted by Z? The Makimonos do a LOT of damage to him (as in, about 1/3 of his life), if you can set them off right next to him. If you're quick with math, you're probably thinking: 1/3 x three scrolls = dead boss. So, to hell with honour among ninjas; let's get cheap on his ass. Here's what to do: Play through the level from the start, making sure to pick up the other two Makimonos as you go through the level. Once you get to the boss, immediately stealth-dash to the far end of the room, and stand on the stairs right behind him. He can't sense you when you're on the stairs. Hold down the target button; as soon as he's done talking, the lock symbol will appear over him. Cast the Makimono immediately. As soon as you have control again, smack him with a Shuriken, slice him once in the back, and jump on the wall. (This is to make him run to the far side of the level.) Follow him to the far side. When he stops, smack him with another Shuriken. (Otherwise, he may run away from your blast...not good.) Drop down right beside him, and let him have it with the Makimono. Again, once you have control, Shuriken him and slice him again, then hit the wall. Follow him to the far end, and repeat with your final Makimono, and he should be dead before those pesky minions even show up. Sometimes he seems to take less damage than expected from the Makimonos, so even with this strategy it took four tries for me to beat him. Still, I had much better luck than I did with the regular strategy. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ S T A G E 6 – B B O S S +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ Yatsurao is just like any other boss you have encountered in the game, which translates into heavy hits and lots of frustration. At first, it may seem nearly impossible to beat him, but the key is to calm down and focus. If you get too anxious, you are sure to die all the time. Yatsurao isn't exactly the mobile type, but since its upper body is ten times the size of Hotsuma's body, you can predict that his arms are able to reach long distances. In fact, they could sweep across the entire platform in front of him. Therefore, it wouldn't be a good idea to stay in front of him for too long. He uses his arms to squash, pound and backhand Hotsuma, inflicting major damage upon our hero. You can dodge these by either double jumping over them or quickly dashing to the other side without delay. You also have to realize that you're fighting over some bubbling toxic waste. If Hotsuma decides to take a dive or gets knocked into it, it's an automatic game over. Because of this it's also not a good idea to remain on the narrow ramp leading up to the boss. In addition to Yatsurao's hand attacks, he can cast various spells from his eyes and forehead. One spell manifests under Hotsuma's feet and erupts in three pillars of intense light energy. This spell is more annoying than threatening. If Hotsuma is hit, the impact will push him away and possibly into the toxic waste. This spell, thankfully, can be avoided very easily by moving forward or backward a little. He doesn't use it as often as his one other spell. One of his other two spells is hardly worth mentioning. He creates a barrier in front of him to shove his aggressor away. It takes him a long time to conjure such a barrier, so you can see it coming from a mile away, indicated by its frothing head and glowing hands. His last spell is the most threatening. He shoots double balls of energy from his eyes. If Hotsuma is struck by them, he will become momentarily paralyzed. Once he is paralyzed, it is hard to wriggle free from Yatsurao's grasp. You need to mash the stealth-dash button to get away. Yatsurao is able to consecutively fire three of these at once. The one factor that makes this boss difficult is that a normal sword swipe to his face cuts away less than a centimeter worth of his health. The only way we can inflict a decent amount of damage is to strike only when Akujiki glows a deep purple and practically radiates purple-ish flames, which means you must murder about six of Yatsurao's minions. That doesn't demand too much from you, except you also need to avoid getting fried by his attacks. The best way is to stand at the very back, where you are free to move around without fear of falling into the goop. Wait for Yatsurao to fire up his twin purple balls and dodge the first two. As he charges the third, start running up the ramp and prepare to jump over it as it comes by. At this point, you will get a brief reprieve from his attacks. Take this opportunity to kill as many of those floating heads to strengthen Akujiki. As soon as it glows a pretty purple, go up to Yatsurao's head and slash it once or twice. Retreat back to the back platform and repeat. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ [BOSS TIPS FOR HARD/SUPER] Submitted by Newtype Ace HARD/SUPER (Anybody): I don't know if anybody's come up with this trick already but here it is anyway: if you do a to his forehead you can't follow it up with another because it takes a little longer before his head props back into place, I guess ^_^' So, what you should do is press Yep, these ninjas have the ability to swing their swords more than once while airborne! Follow up with again and again and again. So there! Fill up your Tate gauge with 8 or 9 kills, then get in his face and stick to it until he dies. You really don't have to do the double slash if you want - it merely helps your timing while you're waiting for his head to bounce back into place while in midair. /-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/ +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ S T A G E 7 – A B O S S +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ Well, well, this is surprising. The little missy can stealth-dash too! This will make things pretty damn tough. Unlike before, the main problem now is actually being able to hit the boss. Even your own stealth-dash won't be able to confuse her so easily--although it WILL, just not very often. Her lackeys are unlike anything you have SEEN before, but they are the very same projectile-shooting scumbags of a different cloth. However, they won't be appearing until after a few minutes have gone into the battle. You need to make use of this time to learn how Ageha moves and reacts. Attacking her poses the main problem, as she can stealth-dash and practically mimic anything Hotsuma can do. Her custom-made Shurikens not only paralyze, but they also devour a little of your health. I found that she receives more damage than a boss normally would, so even Akujiki at its neutral state will have a significant effect on her. I still recommend that you should power up Akujiki to its peak power to show her what a real ninja is all about! When her reinforcement arrives, go around finishing them off, or they will be a huge burden. This might sound a little unsophisticated, but you need to keep jumping around to keep Ageha from slapping you silly while you deal with those strange creatures. Although she was a former member of the Oboro Clan, she doesn't quite possess great ninja skills as you would expect, and it shows. Your Shurikens have a great effect on her. Therefore, once Akujiki is ready for some killing action, stun her with a Shuriken, then go for a quick and dirty kill. She can sometimes block them, but it doesn't happen very often. If it does, jump up Hotsuma style and fling one at her from the air. Surprisingly, I defeated her on my first try. Not to flaunt my abilities or anything, but she was a rather easy boss. Now YOU can show her who's boss and give what this traitor deserves! 
/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/
[BOSS TIPS FOR HARD/SUPER]  Submitted by Newtype Ace

Weakness: Her backside

Stay airborne when she does her special move 'cause she can't use it in the 
air.

HARD (Moritsune): Wait until there are 8 lackeys, then slash away at them, 
run towards the girl (never dash or jump when you're close to her), lock, 
then dash around her and slash her back. This strategy works if you don't 
want to spend too much time memorizing all her moves.

SUPER (Joe): Use Moritsune's strategy.

/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/


+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
 S T A G E  7 – B  B O S S 
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+	

For the first time, the lackeys aren't so annoying. They are, in fact, your 
lifesavers. If you are in dire need of Yang (restorative items), you can 
murder these lovable seahorse-like creatures. As they perish and reduce to 
nothing, they leave behind a memento of their peace. Beware of their 
headbutts! Though they could hardly be considered threatening, they sure can 
get annoying if you are rammed in the bum one too many times.

This is just like fighting  your own shadow, except Moritsune just happens to 
have twin sabers...and has heckuva lot more life than you do. Splendid. He 
can also perform Hotsuma's trademark stealth-dash, except he is much more 
skilled at it. Again, the problem here is actually being able to attack 
Moritsune himself. He could deftly avoid any attacks you throw at him and 
still reciprocate. Moritsune casts powerful spells to keep you at bay and 
throws life-sucking Shurikens that create a puff of green smoke upon contact.
Never stay in one spot too long, or you will suffer paralysis from the said 
Shurikens. Deciding to jump slash him is also a very bad idea. If you aren't 
going to attack, stay away from him!

Don't get too cocky when  you think you've got him  ensnared. Look again. See 
how easily he can pull away from your attacks and make you eat dirt? 
Sometimes he might appear to be off-guard, but he's not. The safest moment to 
attack is the second he composes from an attack. However, be aware that he 
doesn't stop at one slash, he could try to strike at least five times before 
he ceases. Sometimes if you can stealth-dash to him when he least expects it, 
you may be able to catch him off-guard and give him a taste of your blade. 

You should take that opportunity to deliver at least three slashes, then 
STOP. Quickly dash away, or you will be a sitting duck. Afterward, continue 
to kill off his lackeys in great numbers to strengthen Akujiki. Once its all 
powered up, quickly approach him and pray that you will be able to make 
contact. If not, quickly retreat. As I have mentioned previously, the deaths  
of his lackeys will keep you alive if you employ them properly. 

Remember to dance around him always, and do NOT stay in one spot for too long 
unless you enjoy watching Hotsuma spew a fountain of blood, you masochist. 
This battle itself is more like a test of endurance--it will take a long time 
to beat this guy down. Be patient, and you will eventually defeat him. It 
personally took me 15 minutes. Take as long as you want. To hell with the 
Boss Points! You need to beat this guy! You can try besting him with minimal 
attacks later!


/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/
[BOSS TIPS FOR HARD/SUPER]  Submitted by Newtype Ace

Bro's reflexes are as fast as a PS2's processor. I wonder if that's fair...

Weakness: kick (darn! with all the fast moves he can evade, it took me two
hours to figure out that your slowest move is the one and only move he can't
see!)!!

HARD (Moritsune): Wait until there are 8 or 9 lackeys before you start 
whacking at them. When your sword is fully charged, approach him by running. 
Never dash or jump towards him 'cause he's even more shy than the 4-A boss, 
and he will chop your butt. When you're close to him, kick him and then dash 
around his back and then slash away at his health.

SUPER (Joe): Use Moritsune's strategy.

/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/
[TIP]  Submitted by LessThanJake2486

When Moritsune is near you jump, and he will copy that jump. Then do a double 
jump; he, however, does not copy this; instead he tries to slash thin air. =) 
Now dash on the ground and unleash a devastating combo.

/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/


+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
 S T A G E  8 – A  B O S S 
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+

Welcome to the door of death. The other side  awaits. This is one tough door. 
At first this may not seem like a boss fight at all. In fact, it's not 
really; it's just one tough nut to crack. Your boss is an opponent in 
disguise. It's the door in front of you! The door is forever guarded by an 
ogre and several floating heads. Every time you kill them, they just keep 
coming back. Anyway, the main target is the golden crest in the center. Press 
R2 to confirm your target. Dispose of the extra baggage (the ogre and the 
floating heads) to charge up Akujiki. Then jump up and slash as many times as 
possible. If you hack away without any slowdowns, Hotsuma will stay aloft for 
a little while. If you have a fully charged  sword when you do this, the door 
should burst open within a short time. 


+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
 S T A G E  8 – B  B O S S 
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+

You finally get to square off against this freak with the weird hairdo. This 
fight starts off slow. All Hiruko does is cast various elemental spells. Take 
this chance to check out his attacks. You may notice though that your attacks 
slash right through him. Don't panic! He's just momentarily invincible, so 
keep slashing him to initiate the real battle! Be careful of his devastating 
spells. He can cast up to four different kinds: lightning, fire, ice and 
scattered shot projectiles. The spell he will cast can be predicted by 
looking at the color of the eyes that appear when he utters the incantation 
of the spell.

Red eyes: a huge slow-moving fireball is shot out. This is probably the least 
threatening, as you can simply avoid it from a distance. White eyes: shoots a 
line of projectiles (similar to the ones the Mama Spider from Stage 3-B spat 
out). Blue eyes: sends out four huge balls of ice capable of freezing you. 
This spell probably poses the biggest threat. Green eyes: sends streaks of 
lightning bolts to rain down on you. All of these spells can fortunately be 
avoided. You just need to keep on your toes and be alert. Know beforehand 
which direction the attacks will be coming from and you'll be able to finesse 
around them and go for Hiruko himself.

When the real battle finally starts (indicated by the change in music and the 
sudden appearance of his life bar), it's time to take a more cautious 
approach. The borders around the balcony have disappeared and walls have been 
erected in mid-air for you to cling to if Hiruko teleports near them. Don't 
remain too close to him  for an extended period of time because he can ward 
you off with a sphere of...ribbon stuff.

Hiruko finally gets serious. Occasionally, he fires a moving string of proton 
beams that converge on you. The gaps between each beam is wide enough for you 
to slip through, but they come at you so fast that you will need to SEE him 
cast it if you want to dodge them. Eventually his lackeys will join the fray. 
They just happen to be thin strips of animated talisman papers. They're hard 
targets to hit sometimes. They float around and shoot fireballs. Typical 
stuff. While you're dealing with these underlings, you need to watch out for 
Hiruko's attacks. 

Like the battle with Moritsune, these lackeys will leave bits of Yang around 
when they perish, allowing you to replenish your health during the fight. 
Remember not to take these floating talismans head on. When you approach 
them, dash around to confuse them so that you're not an easy target. Their 
fireballs can be pretty deadly. If you have Shurikens to spare, wait until a 
whole army of them appears and then perform a Shuriken Burst to stun them all 
at once.

From this point on this battle will continue just like all the other battles 
you have fought in up to this point. This means that the basic strategy is to 
power up Akujiki and deteriorate his life little by little (although it won't 
be very little if you attack him with a fully charged Akujiki). Wait until 
there are at least five talismans around, so that you can feed Akujiki 
without any slow-ups. Remember to use the Thunder Kick to break his guard.
After a few more slashes to severely wound him, he will be finished.

And...

On Super mode, the key to beating Hiruko is slicing him with a fully-charged 
Akujiki from the back with Joe. Do a kick in front, then stealth-dash behind 
him and attack. The talismans themselves are a pain in the butt. What you 
should do is get in front of one and leave a shadow of yourself. This gives 
you a very brief moment to bludgeon this fool. Do the same to each one. Good 
luck. Don't give up! 


/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/
[ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES]  Submitted by Fallen

That boss fight for level 8-B is very difficult and painful (not to mention 
it takes a long time).  One thing that I found makes the battle a bit more 
manageable is to memorize the different sounds that Hiruko makes.  He has a 
different incantation for each spell so you can figure out how you need to 
dodge without even looking at him.  It's also a good idea to stay near him 
when he appears on the ground and listen for a funny sounding 'whoop' noise.  
When he makes that noise he begins casting the spell that enables him to 
teleport on top of you and spin around attacking (which is not fun).  If you 
hit him shortly after the 'whoop' noise you will interrupt the spell.

/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/
Submitted by Doaal

- When he casts the fire spell, if at any time during the casting (even just 
one second at the start) you go directly under him and back away, he'll shoot 
the fireball at his feet rendering it harmless.  
 
- You can tell when he's about to do that annoying teleport attack when he 
makes a noise ("Ha!" or something like that).  After he says it, you have 
about four seconds to run up to him and slash him to cancel that attack.  If 
he does do the teleporting thing the best defense I found is to stealth-dash 
in a wide circle.  If you time your stealth-dashes right (leaving as little 
time as possible between them), then he won't hit you.  If he gets lucky 
he'll hit you once or twice.  Also while he's teleporting, when he says "Ha!" 
again that means it's his last teleport attack, and you need to get out of 
there because he'll reappear with a shockwave that knocks you back and hurts 
you.  
 
- Hitting him in the back does twice the damage (I think this is the case 
with all bosses).  An easy way to do this is to give him a lightning kick 
(since he blocks your attacks from the front anyway) then stealth-dash behind 
him and slash.  If you do it properly, the scream will sound a little
different.  With a fully charged Akujiki (8 burning icons) on Super with a 
backstab, it takes off about 50% (25% from the front) of his health but you 
need insanely good timing and luck for this. 

/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/
Submitted by Mike

First of all, make sure that you get all three Makimono scrolls from the 
previous stage and set your ninjutsu to Raijin before you go into the next 
stage. This will save you the trouble of having to switch it every time you 
have to retry...if you have to retry. Anyways, the concept sounds simple, but 
actually pulling it off is a different story. 

So, what you want to do is make sure he summons all those stupid talismans, 
but don't kill them yet. Wait 'til he does that irritating teleporting thing 
(you should hear him shout out before he does it). Once you hear him shout, 
use the Raijin magic. Go around and kill all the talismans while he's trying 
to hit you. After he pounds the floor, he'll just chill there for a little 
bit and wait for you to dash behind him to give him a new crack. Just repeat 
it and you should be able to kill him pretty quickly. If you hit him in the 
front while your sword is fully charged, he won't take that much damage--
maybe a quarter of his life. So make sure you're pretty close to him to make 
it easier to dash behind him. But like I said, it's easier said than done. 

/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/


*****************************************************************************

Version History
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Version 1.4  | March 5, 2003
Thanks to Newtype Ace, I've got some strategies for Hard and Super mode. Yay.

Version 1.3  | February 3, 2003
Corrected some info and added contributions as well as bits of my own info. 

Version 1.2  | January 19, 2003
Finally got around to looking through all the contributions I've gotten over 
the past month and added the ones I thought would be helpful or does not 
already include the information I have. I also did a quick proofread. 90% of 
all errors should have been corrected.

Version 1.0  | December 2, 2002
I apologize for the long wait. It's finally done. The boss strategies for the 
last two are a bit sketchy, because by that point there is no sure-fire way 
to beat them. Well Stage 8-A's boss was a joke, but Stage 8-B's boss is the 
main problem. Anyway, if you have any other strategies, please do tell. I'll 
love you. Maybe.

Version 0.9  | November 18, 2002
Finished the strategies for the Stage 7-A and 7-B bosses. All I have to do is 
one more boss strategy, I believe. Right now, I'm bogged down with a bit of  
homework, so it will take awhile. Thanks for your patience!

Version 0.8  | November 17, 2002
I wanted to release my Boss FAQ before my full strategy guide because people 
would have more trouble with the bosses than the actual stages themselves. 
Waiting for some extra strategies by readers, if any. I have Stage 7-A and 7-
B boss strategies written on notes, but at the moment, I can't find them. 
When I do, I'll have them added in a heartbeat. Currently, I am on Stage 8-A 
trying to get past those friggin' aerial soldiers. Damn them! I predict I'll 
have this done in a couple of days. Stay tuned!


Shameless Self-Promotion
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Please check out my other walkthroughs and guides for various Playstation2 
and Playstation games at this link:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/8212.html


Thanks for reading!!!

=============================================================================
                                MUCHAS GRACIAS!!!
=============================================================================

                             Shinobi Boss FAQ/Guide
                        Copyright 2002-2003 Stephanie Lee
                                 November 2002