Toukaidou Gojuusan-Tsugi

Overview

Toukaidou Gojuusan-Tsugi, or "53 Stations of the Tokaido" (Tokaido is the famous road that connects Kyoto to Edo, and originally had 53 post stations), is an action game from SunSoft released exclusively for the Japanese Famicom. The player is a fireworks-maker named Kantaro who leaves Kyoto to see his fiancée back in Edo, taking the titular road. He is beset with enemies at all times, including ninjas, samurai and a persistent and amorous middle-aged woman who wants Kantaro for herself. He is able to dissuade many enemies with firecrackers, but many just have to be avoided.

Gameplay

The game has 21 levels, each one representing a real-life "station" (a town in which to rest) on the road from Kyoto to Edo:

• Level 01: Sanjo Ohashi
• Level 02: Kyoto Kusatsu
• Level 03: Ishibe Tsuchiyama
• Level 04: Sakashita Seki
• Level 05: Kameyama Shono
• Level 06: Ishiyakushi Kuwana
• Level 07: Miya Chiryu
• Level 08: Okazaki Akasaka
• Level 09: Goyu Futagawa
• Level 10: Shirasuka Maisaka
• Level 11: Hamamatsu Fukuroi
• Level 12: Kakegawa Shimada
• Level 13: Fujieda Mariko
• Level 14: Fuchu Yui
• Level 15: Kanbara Hara
• Level 16: Numazu Hakone
• Level 17: Odawara Hiratsuka
• Level 18: Fujisawa Hodogaya
• Level 19: Kanagawa Kawasaki
• Level 20: Shinagawa Nihonbashi
• Level 21: Asakusa

Once a player collects ten coins a secret doorway will appear. If they choose to go through they will be randomly transported to one of two warp zones. Depending on which warp zone is displayed Kantaro will be able to skip three or six levels, the latter of which is much more difficult to complete and contains some of the hardest enemies in the game in rapid succession.