Gorgeous Musical Castle

Overview

Gorgeous Musical Castle is the last castle from Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon. It's made of the entire region of Kyushu that was lifted into space by the Peach Mountain Shoguns, and turned into a never ending stage production starring Spring Breeze Dancin' and Kitty Lily. It has two distinct areas separated by a hedge maze with what's left of Sogen Town and its bewildered residents. The beginning of the castle is based on traditional Japanese stage design before shifting to a more modern style.

This castle is also the point of no return for the game, since it is floating in space. Once players decide to travel to Gorgeous Musical Castle, there is no way to get back to the Japan overworld.

Interior Layout

Gorgeous Musical Castle, Part 1

The first section of the castle is built up like a stage with plenty of props and stylized reproductions of scenery like trees and flowing water. Everything is completely fake (except the enemy robots) and some rooms even go behind the backdrop to show scaffolding and wooden panels. This part of the castle requires a lot of trekking back and forth to collect keys and master tricky jumps. It is heavy on platforming with hotplates (standing in for pits of lava) waiting below to punish mistakes. Goemon and the other characters all have to make use of their magic abilities in order to continue.

Enemies in this area are a mix of old and new. Robot Heads and Dolls have been seen before in previous castles along with a flamethrower robot, but a new hammer throwing robot that resembles the main antagonist of Legend of the Mystical Ninja appears in several rooms. New obstacles include platforms that resemble giant fans that open and close to change size. Toward the end of this section is a long hallway of water with fake waves that rush forward in a zig-zag pattern.

Sogen Town

Breaking up the two parts of the castle is a room with a hedge maze. There are four buildings found here that mark what is left of Sogen Town. Besides the confused townspeople, there's an inn to save the game, a shop to buy reserve food, a shop to buy armor, and a restaurant. It's required to visit the food shop in order to meet Omitsu who was in Kyushu when the Peach Mountain Shoguns stole the region. She eventually leads Goemon and friends to the Wise Man (who lets it slip that he armed the Peach Mountain Shoguns with robots for a few Muscle Car magazines) but makes it up by giving them a weapon upgrade to break into the next section of the castle.

Gorgeous Musical Castle, Part 2

The second section of the castle takes on a design of a modern stage hall where Spring Breeze Dancin' and Kitty Lily put on their two shows a day. The cheesy props have been left behind for a big, bright, and gaudy arrangement of bright colors and plenty of gold. It also ditches navigation challenges in favor of a series of rooms with tough platforming challenges to reach a key. Each room has a red switch that must be flipped in order to reach the next door, but these switches are found at the end of conveyor belts, jets of flame, and robot dolls that turn into missiles. Getting the key eventually leads to the last room before the finale, a rotating room dotted with holes.

Despite Gorgeous Musical Castle being the last castle in the game, there is no boss fight in the last room. As Goemon and friends rush in to finish things, Spring Breeze Dancin' and Kitty Lily threaten to unleash their combined powers in a... musical. All four of the Flake Gang weirdos make an appearance singing back up. Once they're done, the curtain falls and they make a run for it. But not before setting the self-destruct on the whole castle.