The game has three boss characters that are unlockable by beating the game with different groups of characters from the starting roster.

• Zhuge Liang by beating the game as all Shu characters.
• Cao Cao by beating the game as all Wei characters.
• Lu Bu by beating the game as Diao Chan and all Wu characters.

The characters are hidden on the character select screen, even after being unlocked.

All of the regular 'Wu' characters (Zhou Yu, Taishi Ci, and Lu Xun) are fought at the Red Wall (Chi Bi) stage. In reality, only Zhou Yu participated in the actual battle.
• Zhou Yu led the Wu forces during the battle and conceived the plan to burn Cao Cao's fleet.
• In the 14th century novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Taishi Ci acted as Zhou Yu's second-in-command during part of the battle, but died shortly after while fighting Zhang Liao at He Fei. In reality, he died of illness two years before the battle.
• Lu Xun was a only minor official serving on the other side of the Wu nation at the time of the battle.

While playing as Guan Yu, the player must defeat all three 'Wei' characters at the Guan Du stage. Guan Yu is the only non-Wei character in the game who was at the actual battle of Guan Du, where he fought alongside Cao Cao's forces.

All of the regular 'Wei' characters (Xiahou Dun, Dian Wei, and Xu Zhu) are fought at the Guan Du stage. In reality, only two of the three were at the actual battle.
• Xiahou Dun led the defense of a vital pass to protect against a counterattack by Yuan Shao.
• Xu Zhu was acting as Cao Cao's bodyguard at that time and stopped an assassination attempt.
• Dian Wei had died 6 years before the battle took place, while protecting Cao Cao.

All of the regular 'Shu' characters (Zhao Yun, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei) are fought at the Chang Ban stage. This is fitting, as each of them performed an act of valor at the actual historic battle which took place there:
• Zhao Yun rode behind enemy lines to rescue Liu Bei's family.
• Zhang Fei halted Cao Cao's army at the Changban bridge with a ferocious display.
• Guan Yu led an ambush of Cao Cao's forces to slow down their pursuit.

The stage in which the player would fight the boss character Cao Cao is called the "Great Hall - Shang Yong". It was supposed to represent Cao Cao's capital. In reality, Cao Cao's capital was in Xu Chang, considerably further north than Shang Yong.

By entering specific codes on the game's character select screen, it's possible to unlock two special characters, Nobunaga and Toukichi. These two aren't from Three Kingdoms-Era China, but actually 16th century Japan.