Hi there. I plan to do a run of this game. The game is very obscure and there is not much useful information out there.
GameFAQ's
walkthrough is bare bones and mostly consists of "keep going right"; the power-ups are never explained. Garbage.
A speedrun exists on
youtube. It is helpful to watch someone else play the game and see what tricks they use (honestly, it looks tool-assisted to me but that doesn't matter).
General info about this game:
B button - sword attack. does not stop character from moving.
A button - jump. slow. should be avoided.
down B - beanstalk. sometimes mandatory to reach across gaps and up platforms. can attack when climbing. jumping produces a spin jump that harms enemies.
down A - slide. fastest movement. if you hit a wall a lengthy animation plays, so that will be avoided.
seven worlds each with three levels and a boss
collect rings and use them for currency
when you complete a level you get a choice to buy a weapon upgrade or play a dice game for more rings
there are doors scattered across the level for the weapon shop, dice game, board game/quiz show, healing, and warp.
weapon upgrade. upgrades will shoot a projectile as you swing the sword. the projectile will be single, double vertical, or double horizontal. in later levels the upgrade will increase the size and distance of the projectile. i still have a lot to learn about the weapons.
board game/quiz show. i don't understand the point of it yet.
warps. there is a warp in 1-2 that skips 1-3 and the boss. some of the secret/harder to get to doors will warp you to later in the level. i will be searching for these.
the items/powerups i understand: old man(dragon master) he hovers above you and collects rings that he touches and occasionally fly around you killing enemies. flower increases the height of your beanstalk. angel gives you invulnerability.
when taking damage you go upwards and get some invicibility.