is an

action-adventure game An action-adventure game is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Definition An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements from an action ...

developed and published by

Sunsoft , is a Japanese electronics manufacturer, video game developer and publisher. They are known for their video games under the brand name Sunsoft. History In April 1971, Sun Electronics Corporation (alternatively called Sun Denshi) was founded i ...

for the

Famicom The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

. The game was released in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

on July 3, 1986 and has been re-released for several other platforms in video game compilations. The first re-release was made on June 29, 2001 for the

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

operating system as part of the ''Ultra 2000 Sunsoft Classic Games 2'' compilation. The game was also coupled with ''

Ikki Ikki may refer to: *''Ikki'', revolts against samurai rule in 15th and 16th century Japan **''Ikkō-ikki'', ''ikki'' revolts organized by Jōdo Shinshū Buddhists *** Kaga ''ikki'', an ''Ikkō-ikki'' break-away warrior and peasant confederacy base ...

'', and its value version release, ''YuYu Sunsoft Kessaku-shu 2'' (released on July 2, 2004), and ''Memorial Series Sunsoft Vol. 3'' for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

(released on December 27, 2001) which also included '' The Wing of Madoola'', another

game. It was released for the

Virtual Console The Virtual Console was a line of downloadable retro video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of handheld systems. The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on pa ...

only in Japan on October 14, 2008 for the

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...

and on September 18, 2013 for the

Nintendo 3DS The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...

. The game was released outside of Japan for the first time through ''SUNSOFT is Back! Retro Game Selection'', under its translated name and including a new English localization.

Synopsis

, who has completed his training in the city of

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

and seeks to return to his fiancée, , who lives in

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

, but the evil merchant seeks to steal the secrets of fireworks manufacturing from Kantaro, and summons his cronies to harass him as he makes his way through the Tōkaidō route.

Gameplay

The player controls Kantaro, who must pass through various

side-scrolling A side-scrolling video game (alternatively side-scroller) is a video game viewed from a side-view camera angle where the screen follows the player as they move left or right. The jump from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling grap ...

levels while fending off enemies throwing

firework Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...

grenades A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade g ...

. Some enemies are unaffected by grenades, and can only be killed off by explosions from grenades planted on the ground; some are impervious to all of Kantaro's weapons and must be avoided. Various non-player characters attempt to hinder Kantaro's progress, including a

prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

and a

ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

who decrease Kantaro's speed, a

thief Theft (, cognate to ) is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal short ...

who steals all items held by Kantaro and a border patrol officer, but various items, including a

kanzashi are hair ornaments used in traditional Japanese hairstyles. The term refers to a wide variety of accessories, including long, rigid hairpins, barrettes, fabric flowers and fabric hair ties. In the English-speaking world, the term is typical ...

, an

ofuda In Shinto and Buddhism in Japan, an or is a talisman made out of various materials such as paper, wood, cloth or metal. are commonly found in both Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples and are considered to be imbued with the power of the deit ...

and a

katana A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the ''tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge fa ...

can allow the player to avoid conflict with these characters. Koban are collected throughout the levels and is generally used for creating bridges over rivers. A set amount must be paid to the border patrol officer if the passport item is not present, with secret passages to other levels costing more. An

onigiri , also known as or , is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese rice ball made from white rice. It is usually formed into triangular or cylindrical shapes, and wrapped in ''nori'' (seaweed). Onigiri traditionally have sour or salty fillings such as ''um ...

grants the player temporary invincibility and transforms Kantaro into a ball, allowing him to roll over enemies. A

geta Geta may refer to: Places *Geta (woreda), a woreda in Ethiopia's Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region *Geta, Åland, a municipality in Finland *Geta, Nepal, a town in Attariya Municipality, Kailali District, Seti Zone, Nepal *Get� ...

allows Kantaro to traverse on clouds.

Levels

Each level of the game is named and modeled after the

53 Stations of the Tōkaidō The are the rest areas along the Tōkaidō (road), Tōkaidō, which was a coastal route that ran from Nihonbashi in Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to Sanjō Ōhashi in Kyoto.. There were originally 53 government shukuba, post stations along the T� ...

; one of the Five Routes of Edo during the

Tokugawa era The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

. The following is a list of the levels and their corresponding location on the map (all names are written in

hiragana is a Japanese language, Japanese syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''. It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' means "common" or "plain" kana (originally also "easy", ...

in the game itself). * Level 1:

Sanjō Ōhashi is a bridge in Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It spans the Kamo River as part of Sanjō-dōri (三条通り ''Third Avenue''). It is well known because it served as the ending location for journeying on both the Nakasendō and the Tōkaidō; the ...

(the location name does not appear game itself, but is the last station on the Tōkaidō road) * Level 2:

― Kusatsu * Level 3: Ishibe― Tsuchiyama * Level 4: Sakashita― Seki * Level 5: Kameyama― Shōno * Level 6: Ishiyakushi― Kuwana * Level 7: Miya― Chiryū * Level 8:

Okazaki Okazaki may refer to: *Okazaki (surname) *Okazaki, Aichi, a city in Japan *Okazaki Castle, a castle in Japan *Okazaki fragments Okazaki fragments are short sequences of DNA nucleotides (approximately 150 to 200 base pairs long in eukaryotes) w ...

― Akasaka * Level 9: Goyu― Futagawa * Level 10: Shirasuka― Maisaka * Level 11:

Hamamatsu is a Cities of Japan, city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. In September 2023, the city had an estimated population of 780,128 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, with a population density of over the t ...

―

Fukuroi 270px, Shizuoka Stadium is a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 88,395 in 34,842 households, and a population density of 820 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Fukuroi is a member ...

* Level 12:

Kakegawa is a city in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 117,925 in 45,519 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Kakegawa is in the coastal plains of southwest Shizuoka Prefecture. It is border ...

― Shimada * Level 13: Fujieda― Mariko * Level 14:

Fuchū Fuchū may refer to: Current settlements *Fuchū, Tokyo, a city in Tokyo *Fuchū, Hiroshima, a city in Hiroshima Prefecture *Fuchū, Hiroshima (town), a town in Hiroshima Prefecture * , a former town (1889–2005) in Toyama Prefecture, Japan, which ...

― Yui * Level 15: Kanbara― Hara * Level 16:

Numazu is a city located in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 189,486 in 91,986 households, and a population density of 1,014 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Numazu is at the n ...

―

Hakone is a List of towns in Japan, town in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had a population of 10,965, and total area of . Hakone is a notable spa town and a popular tourist destination due to its many onsen, hot springs being within view of ...

* Level 17:

Odawara is a Cities of Japan, city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 188,482 and a population density of 1,700 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Odawara lies in the Ashigara Plains, in ...

―

Hiratsuka file:Hiratsuka City Office 20150222.JPG, 260px, Hiratsuka City Hall is a Cities of Japan, city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 257,316 and a population density of 3800 persons per km². The total area of t ...

* Level 18: Fujisawa― Hodogaya * Level 19:

Kanagawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

― Kawasaki * Level 20:

Shinagawa is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The Ward refers to itself as Shinagawa City in English. The Ward is home to ten embassies. , the Ward had an estimated population of 380,293 and a population density of 16,510 persons per ...

―

Nihonbashi is a business district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan, which sprung up around the bridge of the same name that has linked two sides of the Nihonbashi River at this site since the 17th century. The first wooden bridge was completed in 1603. The curre ...

* Level 21:

Asakusa is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It is known for Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals, such as . History The development of Asaku ...

(unrelated to the Tōkaidō route itself, but is the final destination of the game) Each level is designed in accordance with the actual characteristics of the locations. For instance, checkpoints are placed relative to their actual historical locations, and the prostitute character only appears in areas where such business was actually available, such as Akasaka, Goyu, Fujisawa, and Shinagawa. Kuwana Castle and Yoshida Castle also appear in the game, while

Atsuta Shrine is a Shinto shrine, home to the sacred sword '' Kusanagi no Tsurugi'', one of the three Imperial Regalia of Japan—traditionally believed to have been established during the reign of Emperor Keikō (reigned 71–130 CE). It is located in Atsu ...

and

Mishima Taisha The is a Shinto shrine located in the city of Mishima in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is the ''ichinomiya'' of former Izu Province as well as its Sōja shrine. The main festival of the shrine is held annually on August 16, and features '' yab ...

are each represented by a

Torii A is a traditional culture of Japan, Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred, and a spot where kami are welcomed and thought to ...

shrine. Locations of rivers, hills, rest stops and types of trees are also set according to each area's geographical characteristics.

Reception

References

External links

''Memorial Series: SunSoft Vol. 3'' webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tokaido Gojusan-tsugi 1986 video games Action-adventure games Multiplayer and single-player video games Nintendo Entertainment System games Sunsoft games Video games developed in Japan Virtual Console games for Wii U Virtual Console games