Last Famicom game you played?

[Issun]

Thanks Joe for the scans! And P!

As far as I understand, and after some more digging online, there's 4 different type of eggs (like the manual says). And in order for them to grow in level you need to take them to monster castles and perform the purification ritual on them. However you need to take them to each monster castle in an order depending on what type of egg it is. Like Water>Griffon>Goblin>Gargoyle will work for a certain type of egg. But the game doesn't specifically state what kind of an egg a shogun possesses, so you'd need a chart of some sort to make any sense of it. I could be wrong though.

I guess it doesn't matter though, managed to beat it today!  I didn't even visit any monster castles. I just applied my strategy from scenario 2. Since money was an issue in the final scenario (castle revenue was very low), i did a few resets near the end of the month so I got a good harvest at least once and then slowly monitored my opponents and made my moves as strategically as I could. It wasn't even that challenging, I actually did it on my first try! Took awhile though. Pretty amazing game, especially for 1988.

[UglyJoe]

Pretty amazing game, especially for 1988.

Congrats!  I thought the game was pretty good, yeah.  I'll have to try and get further than the first scenario some time.  Graphics and music are great, for sure.  I was really surprised the first time I saw the game change seasons.

[Issun]

Thanks! Yeah the change of seasons were a nice touch. I beat the last scenario in 6 months (and the earlier even faster I think) so I never got to see winter nor spring.

[nerdynebraskan]

I played a little more Magic Cube this evening. I'm pretty close to clearing a spot in the permanent collection for this one.

@ fcgamer

Clearly, our tastes are a little bit different. I've played Double Strike, Galactic Crusader, and Metal Fighter and I found them all to be pretty mediocre. I think I've now heard several people say that Pyramid II is better than the first. That definitely intrigues me, as Pyramid is one of my favorites from the company.

[smeghead]

I've spent some time playing Battletoads & Double Dragon, very interesting and fun game!

[P]

Thanks Joe for the scans! And P!

As far as I understand, and after some more digging online, there's 4 different type of eggs (like the manual says). And in order for them to grow in level you need to take them to monster castles and perform the purification ritual on them. However you need to take them to each monster castle in an order depending on what type of egg it is. Like Water>Griffon>Goblin>Gargoyle will work for a certain type of egg. But the game doesn't specifically state what kind of an egg a shogun possesses, so you'd need a chart of some sort to make any sense of it. I could be wrong though.

I thought the purification rituals was what you do in battle in order to make the egg hatch.
Anyway I summarised the second scanned page as well:


Introducing the Egg Monsters

Sasorimukade (Scorpion Centipede)
The result of a scorpion and a centipede crossbreeding. The trunk-like nose is used
to suck blood.

Mashinnaito (Machine Knight)
The result of becoming Mazinger Z? With insufficient photon energy it's body is a bit
rundown, but its Rocket Punch is very powerfull. It crushes an enemy in one hit.

Oijuusu
A potato that lived for 400 years and had a spirit lodged at, making it more
intelligent than a human. On a top of that he has reached enlightening under a lime
tree and have become a super potato. If one gets trouble one can seek advice from him. Yeah.



Other Things

As time flows seasons changes!
The scenery and the BGM changes as seasons changes. Please feel peace within your
heart even during fierce battles.


Even if you don't think anybody's looking...
Even after fighting a lot, HP MAX is not increasing. So how is the hero's endeavor
rewarded?... one might think. The answer to that is hiirodo! (hero grade)
(TN: 英雄 is normally read as "eiyuu" but in this game it's read as "hiiro" according
to the ruby letters above the characters.)
The hiirodo isn't displayed in numbers anywhere on the screen, but it increases when
recruiting famous generals and as the number of captured castles increases.
When this Hiirodo exceeds a certain fixed value, 「良い事」 (よいこと, yoikoto, good things)
happens during events. Thus you can't just relax and think that no one is looking.
There could always be someone that's looking you know.

Caution: Your hiirodo decreases when dismissing generals.

[Issun]

I thought the purification rituals was what you do in battle in order to make the egg hatch.

I read on some page that monster castles perform "purification rituals", which makes sense. The monsters themselves also mention "お祓い".  Why the summoning ritual (during battle) would also be referred to as a "purification ritual" beats me. Semantics.

[P]

The manual says お祓い is the ritual when you summon an egg, and is what I translated as "purification ritual" because that is what the word means. So there's another ritual when you capture a castle? I guess that ritual is what I translated to as "intertwine power to an egg". I tried out the game but nothing special seems to happen after capturing a castle (besides earning more tax money etc). Maybe there are special castles where these rituals happens?

Also you mentioned that you don't hire new generals to save money, but the only way I've seen to hire a general is to get the random event of when three generals offers their service (usually two weak ones without eggs and a stronger one with an egg) and then you play a minigame and try to get the good one (but it's still usually crappier than the 3 initial generals). There's no way to decline the offer. I guess you can dismiss crappy generals though, but that will decrease your hero grade.

[Issun]

The manual says お祓い is the ritual when you summon an egg, and is what I translated as "purification ritual" because that is what the word means. So there's another ritual when you capture a castle? I guess that ritual is what I translated to as "intertwine power to an egg". I tried out the game but nothing special seems to happen after capturing a castle (besides earning more tax money etc). Maybe there are special castles where these rituals happens?

There are special castles that you don't need to capture in order to win, these are the monster castles. In scenario 1 they're on the west side, their symbol resembles an downward pointing arrow. If you take your egg there the monsters inside will perform a ritual that'll strengthen the level of your egg. These monsters talk about performing a "purification ritual" so I'm guessing both rituals, monster castle and during battle are simply "purification rituals". Could be wrong though.

Also you mentioned that you don't hire new generals to save money, but the only way I've seen to hire a general is to get the random event of when three generals offers their service (usually two weak ones without eggs and a stronger one with an egg) and then you play a minigame and try to get the good one (but it's still usually crappier than the 3 initial generals). There's no way to decline the offer. I guess you can dismiss crappy generals though, but that will decrease your hero grade.

Yes, that's the only way of hiring generals. If you get a crappy one, you can either dismiss him or use him as cannon fodder. As long as you keep capturing castles, I wouldn't worry about the hero grade as I didn't seem to have any problems getting, at least occasionally, good fortune at the end of the month.

[P]

OK I played some more Hanjuku Hero and you are right. I initially thought those castles to the west in the first scenario belonged to a kingdom whose all castles are fortification level 5 so I avoided them on purpose and fought smaller kingdoms first. After defeating the monsters in a monster castle, the monsters do indeed ask if they may do oharai to your egg.

Since an egg monster levels down every time you use it, I guess there's no penalty for using it when it's already level 0 (besides the risk of getting it killed). That way you can see what kind of eggs you have early on. It also seems you can level up an egg again how many times you want by revisiting the "captured" monster castles.

The only thing I noticed by having a high hero grade is that a hero called Super Ultra Miracle Man shows up and gives you a free item at the end of every month. But it's possible it also increases the chances for other good events to happen and/or decreases the chance for bad events. I've noticed the generals that I can hire are a bit stronger as well but it could simply be related to how long you have played.

[Issun]

It also seems you can level up an egg again how many times you want by revisiting the "captured" monster castles.

Yes but I think you have to visit all monster castles (and in the order pertaining to the egg type) in order to get those really strong monsters.

The only thing I noticed by having a high hero grade is that a hero called Super Ultra Miracle Man shows up and gives you a free item at the end of every month. But it's possible it also increases the chances for other good events to happen and/or decreases the chance for bad events. I've noticed the generals that I can hire are a bit stronger as well but it could simply be related to how long you have played.

Super Ultra Miracle Man made his presence quite a few times in my playthrough, and I wasn't purposely trying to raise my hero grade. I know that the trump cards you can buy gets more powerful the longer you play, not sure about the shoguns though. I think I still got pretty lousy ones near the end of the game, so hero grade could possibly factor in there.

[P]

Rockman 2

It also seems you can level up an egg again how many times you want by revisiting the "captured" monster castles.

Yes but I think you have to visit all monster castles (and in the order pertaining to the egg type) in order to get those really strong monsters.

Yeah I guess. I visited all the monster castles in order from south to north with my main character in the first scenario, and when I tried it in battle it turned out to be a powerful devil that could crush an enemy army in one swoop. I tried it in battle again and now it had leveled down to a cyclops. No idea what monster it was at level 0 though.

The only thing I noticed by having a high hero grade is that a hero called Super Ultra Miracle Man shows up and gives you a free item at the end of every month. But it's possible it also increases the chances for other good events to happen and/or decreases the chance for bad events. I've noticed the generals that I can hire are a bit stronger as well but it could simply be related to how long you have played.

Super Ultra Miracle Man made his presence quite a few times in my playthrough, and I wasn't purposely trying to raise my hero grade. I know that the trump cards you can buy gets more powerful the longer you play, not sure about the shoguns though. I think I still got pretty lousy ones near the end of the game, so hero grade could possibly factor in there.

Super Ultra Miracle Man probably appears every month as long as your hero grade is above a certain fixed number, and since the hero grade raises from fighting and capturing castles, your hero grade is naturally high near the end unless you do a lot of things that lowers it (whatever else that could be apart from dismissing shogun).

Found a website with lists of shogun, egg monsters and trump cards. Check the（FC版）for Famicom version. http://www1.seaple.icc.ne.jp/kobuna/game/half-boiled_top.htm

[UglyJoe]

Yeah I guess. I visited all the monster castles in order from south to north with my main character in the first scenario, and when I tried it in battle it turned out to be a powerful devil that could crush an enemy army in one swoop. I tried it in battle again and now it had leveled down to a cyclops. No idea what monster it was at level 0 though.

The main character's egg in the first scenario starts out as the cyclops.

[P]

Aha so the eggs are fixed to each shogun in each scenario, even though the manual appeared to say the eggs are decided when you start a scenario. So that's what the list I linked to meant by 使用する将軍と卵の回数 (which time and egg is used by what shogun). 主人公･ゼウス1回目 (Main Character, Zeus, first time) means that the main character and Zeus has this monster in the first scenario.

I guess the egg monsters doesn't evolve for each level they reach in monster castle rituals then.

[Issun]

Here's a list of generals and the order their eggs need to be upgraded: http://the26th.web.fc2.com/Generals.html
And here's a list from the same site with all the monsters as well as the upgrade order: http://the26th.web.fc2.com/hanjuku_monster.html

Since the Hero's egg is already at level 3 at the start of each scenario you only need to visit a Gargoyle castle and perform the ritual there to upgrade his egg to the strongest monster "Hades". Same goes for Zeus.