Musashi no Ken: Tadaima Shugyou Chuu

A side-scrolling platformer with a kendo theme for the NES, developed by Taito. In single player the player fights monsters on the way to kendo tournaments and in multiplayer two players face off in a kendo ring.

Overview

Musashi no Ken: Tadaima Shugyou Chuu ("Sword of Musashi: Currently in Training") is based on the Musashi no Ken manga and anime about a young but prodigious kendo student, Musashi, named for the legendary swordsman Musashi Miyamoto. It is one of Taito's earliest NES titles and the second to be made specifically for the system, rather than being a conversion of one of Taito's many successful Arcade games.

The goal of the game is to reach the kendo tournament before time runs out - this time limit is represented by Musashi's faithful hound To-ichi running across the bottom of the screen. Along the way, Musashi must defeat various enemies roaming around and collect sword icons. There are three such icons, each representing a different type of swing - high, medium and low. Once the end of every third stage has been reached, Musashi fights a regional champion at kendo in a one-on-one fight. He can use the icons he collected on the way to launch special attacks to defeat his opponent faster.

The player can also opt to play against a human or computer opponent in the one-on-one battles only.