=================The Samurai Lord Musashi================
==================Gimmicks on the Run!!!=================
=========================V 1.00==========================
Genre: Action-RPG

Source language: Japanese

Platform: Famicom

Patch language: English

Author: aishsha/Pennywise

E-mail: yojimbogarrett@gmail.com
http://yojimbo.eludevisibility.org/
 
======================================================
About The Samurai Lord Musashi
======================================================
Background: 

This is a licensed game from the anime series of the same
name by Studio Pierrot, the same folks who created Yu Yu
Hakusho. This game along with another GB game were released
during the time the series was being aired in Japan.
The series never really left Japan and even on the internet
there doesn't seem to be much of a following in English.
To our knowledge there isn't even any fansubs or
episode rips floating around the internet. The entire
series was released on DVD, but it's incredibly expensive.
This is most likely the first time anything substantial
relating to the series is available in English, which
is not suprising given that the series is incredibly
Japanese. Most of the mythology/backstory etc is rooted
in Japanese history and pop culture.

The story is essentially a retelling of the popular novel,
Musashi Miyamoto, which was a fictional retelling of said
historical figures life. It's basically Japan's Le Morte
D'Arthur, but more recent. Although in reality, the series
was more likely inspired by the movie trilogy adaption of the
book from the 50's. Often referred to as the Samurai
Trilogy starring the iconic Toshiro Mifune. The series
also borrows various elements and plotlines from other
classic Japanese films including Yojimbo and its sequel
Sanjuro, starring, you guessed it, Toshiro Mifune.
The only thing missing is a blind samurai like Zatochi.
If for some reason whoever is reading this doesn't
know what I'm talking about, you owe it to yourself
to look up them up and watch the films and even
buy them, they're worth adding to your collection.

http://www.criterion.com/

As for how this translation got started, it was mostly
done on a whim looking for another game to hack. aishsha
did most of the hacking with some assistance from myself
and DvD and when I took over I did a bunch of additional
hacks to improve the quality of the translation with the
highlight being redoing the menu interface system.

The game itself reminds me of a Zelda/Ys clone split up
into four scenarios with various playable characters.
It's an action-RPG with basic RPG elements, standard fare,
but some of the graphics and magic system are pretty cool.
The game does feel kinda rushed/unfinished as the last few
scenarios have a nice chunk of unused text that should have
been in the game, but was not for whatever reason. Some of it
has been added back by yours truly.
======================================================
Game Tips
======================================================
* There is a fifth scenario that is unlocked once you
clear the first four scenarios

* Despite looking useless, the search function does work
despite the fact that your searches usually don't find
anything. The problem is that it appears to be very specific
and it is difficult to find anything even in the obvious
areas. I have only been able to find one thing, but it
works...

======================================================
Patching Instructions
======================================================
The patch is in the BPS format and needs to be applied
with byuu's patcher, beat.

These are some of the links where you can download it.
The patching process is the same as IPS.

http://byuu.org/programming/beat/
http://www.romhacking.net/utilities/893/
http://www.smwcentral.net/?p=section&a=details&id=5917

Apparently beat has issues working on XP, but I've been
told the third link works on XP.

Apply the patch to the Japanese version of the game:

Karakuri Kengou Den - Musashi Road - Karakuri Nin Hashiru!(J).nes

We would be highly grateful, if you find some time to 
contact us with proposals or corrections. Information
on found bugs or corrections would be highly 
appreciated. I would like to point out that some of the
text relating to searching and finding stuff might not
work properly. I would love for someone to help confirm
this for me.

P.S.

Support the game industry by buying used games!

Even if the money doesn't go to the developers
directly, as the games become rare and harder
to find, the price goes up, and people become
more inclined to buy new releases "while they can!"

======================================================

Credits go to:

aishsha - translation, hacking, title screen design

Pennywise - hacking, editing

DvD - expansion help

FlashPV - title screen refinements

All those who contributed into this process.

======================================================


Compiled by Pennywise. November 2013.