________                   ___ __               ____   ____
/  _____/___________     __| _/|__|__ __  ______ \   \ /   /
/   \  __\_  __ \__  \   / __ | |  |  |  \/  ___/  \   |   /
\    \_\  \  | \// __ \_/ /_/ | |  |  |  /\___ \    \     /
\______  /__|  (____  /\____ | |__|____//____  >    \___/
\/           \/      \/               \/
____________________________________________________________________________
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
|                   Author: A I e x & SClemmons                              |
|                   Began: February 15th, 2005                               |
|                   Completed: May 8th, 2005                                 |
|                   Email: ScottClemmons(at)gmail(dot)com [Scott]            |
|____________________________________________________________________________|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
O============================================================================O
|                              Table of Contents                             |
O============================================================================O
** In order to navigate this guide we have implemented a Ctrl+f system, which
means you press ctrl+f in your browser or word processer to bring up the
search menu, then enter the letters in brackets on the right of the section
that you're looking for.
1. Introduction........................................................(00001)
2. Basics..............................................................(00002)
3. Full Walkthrough....................................................(00003)
I - Stage 1.......................................................(00004)
II - Stage 2......................................................(00005)
III - Stage 3.....................................................(00006)
IV - Stage 4......................................................(00007)
V - Stage 5.......................................................(00008)
VI - Stage 6......................................................(00009)
VII - Stage 7.....................................................(00010)
VIII - Stage 8....................................................(00011)
4. Miscellaneous.......................................................(00012)
5. Version History.....................................................(00013)
6. Legal...............................................................(00014)
7. Disclaimer..........................................................(00015)
________                                                              ________
\___  __|============================================================|_ _____/
/ | _                                                              /|___
| || |                        Introduction                         |__  |
| || |                                                              __| |
|____|==========================(00001)============================|____|
Gradius, one of the staples in the shooter genre with its unique level-up
system, has been around for quite some time. Gradius 1 debuted back on the
MSX and NES in the 80's, so it's taken a long while for them to pump out
another four games. Sure, there were some Gradius compilation packs here
and there, and for the obscure shooter importer, one for the Sega Saturn.
However, Gradius V vies to be a throwback to better times when flashy
graphics and pretentious menu-driven game play didn't rule the market. Did
it succeed? Well, that's in the eyes of the beholder, but we can't deny that
Gradius V has made some substantial graphical improvements compared to its
bland predecessors.
So here we are years later, playing a game that's practically the same as
when it started, but still holds a quaint charm that's just enough to
hold the shooter aficionado's attention. Maybe things might have been better
if they were to implement a system that'd be over-the-top in every sense, but
it wouldn't hold the same power that nostalgia does for us gamers. Gradius
V surely the last an hardly extant breed of games that hasn't fundamentally
changed for over almost twenty years. It's probably worth your attention.
~ Scott
Man, Gradius V is awesome, you have this little space ship thing and
everything else wants to destroy you, BUT YOU WILL DESTROY THEM INSTEAD!
~ Alex
________                                                              ________
\___  __|============================================================|_ _____/
/ | _                                                              /|___
| || |                           BASICS                            |__  |
| || |                                                              __| |
|____|==========================(00002)============================|____|
When playing Gradius V, you might notice that there are a lot of concepts
that you, the player, will have to grasp. Probably the most important of
these is to fully understand how the weapon system works. You have to beat
the game once to get the rest of the weapons unlocked. There are different
'Types' that you're able to utilize while playing through the game. There
are also different way to set up your 'Multiples' so you're able to
effectively use the yellow balls to destroy enemies, or just protect
yourself.
Let's get a rundown of all the weapons and abilites you're able to upgrade
via collecting small, encapsulated orbs.
0______
0 GV   /-------------------------\
0----\/ 1. Speed Up               \
/-----------------------------\
Speed up allows for our ship to fly and maneuver faster than before.  There
is a final stopping point to how many of these you can collect, and that
number is somewhere in the ballpark of five or six. To be safe, I'd say keep
it around three or four. If you go too slow, you'll have problems dodging when
the going gets tough; if you are going too fast, it'll be hard to get through
those hard, narrow points in some levels.
0______
0 GV   /-------------------------\
0----\/ 2. Eagle Wind Missile     \
/-----------------------------\
The Eagle Wind Missile is my least favorite missile in the entire game, since
I think it's pretty worthless. If your ship is located in the upper-half of
the screen, a missile will be fired and levitate upwards, sticking to the
ceiling and damaging anything that gets in its way. If your ship is at the
bottom portion of the screen, the same applies.
---->
|
(Viper)
|
---->
0______
0 GV   /-------------------------\
0----\/ 3. Two-Way Missile        \
/-----------------------------\
Two-Way Missles deal a double dose of pain to enemies if they happen to get
hit by them. Right after you you press the fire button, two missiles will come
from the top and bottom of the ship. Unlike the Eagle Wind Missile, these do
not stick and 'crawl' across the floor or ceiling. They are great for getting
enemies that may happen to be stationary and stick to just the bottom of top
of the stage.
/\
|
(Viper)
|
\/
0______
0 GV   /-------------------------\
0----\/ 4. Two-Way Missile (Back) \
/-----------------------------\
Two-Way Missile Back is pretty much the exact same thing, except that instead
of the missile coming out of the front, they come out of the rear of the ship.
This is good for clearing enemies that might've escaped your fire when they
were located in front of you. I really don't use this at all to tell you
the truth. The only time it comes in handy is when there's a level that
requires you to move backwards.
/\
|
(Viper)
|
\/
0______
0 GV   /-------------------------\
0----\/ 5. Photon Torpedo         \
/-----------------------------\
The Photon Torpedo is able to land on the ground and go through multiple
ground-based enemies before exploding. You won't find this weapon much help on
any level that happens not to have a floor at the bottom, but for some
stages, it really is a huge booster. Having more multiples means having more
bombs, which can lay waste to almost anything that resides on the floor of
a stage. It can't go uphill, however, which really sucks. If it could, it'd
probably be the best missle in the game. X denotes that when something is
hit, the bomb keeps going.
(Viper)
|
\--X---
0______
0 GV   /-------------------------\
0----\/ 6. Spread Bomb            \
/-----------------------------\
Spread Bomb is great for taking out enemies in large groups that can't really
be handled by any other means. If you have, say, a lot of guns on the floor
that Photon Missiles are taking to long to destroy, Spread Bomb will destroy
all of them in one quick, powerful blast. However, it is hard to hit enemies
on their own since this is sort of like a horde-control weapon. I'd recommend
it for any mission where you're going to have to fight tons of monsters in a
tight, confined space.
(Viper)
\
\__
(   )
0______
0 GV   /-------------------------\
0----\/ 7. Flying Torpedo         \
/-----------------------------\
It doesn't get any more straight-forward than this weapon (mind the mild pun).
Flying Torpedo is great for taking on larger enemies head-on since other
missiles have a hard time reaching high-up places, like bosses heads or
what not. It gives your frontal fire power a little more behind it than the
other missiles, too. I'd say if you want to just bull-charge through a
level, I'd use this.
---------->
(Viper)
---------->
0______
0 GV   /-------------------------\
0----\/ 8. Missile                \
/-----------------------------\
The standard missile; there isn't really a lot to this thing other than it
just falls straight down into the ground at and angle. Once you get a lot more
Multipliers, you can really bombard enemies with these things. I, personally,
don't like using this at all, since I think it's pretty worthless when
compared to others.
(Viper)
\
\
0______
0 GV   /-------------------------\
0----\/  9. Double                \
/-----------------------------\
Double allows you to fire straight up diagonally upwards at the same time.
Double has its uses when if you just want to hug the floor and fire away at
the enemies. I personally never use thing thing at all, since I think that
tail gun is a lot more effective at taking out enemeis (espcially if you've
happened to miss them the first time they get by.
_ -
_ -
(Viper)-----------
0______
0 GV   /-------------------------\
0----\/ 10. Tail Gun              \
/-----------------------------\
Useful for if an enemy happens to skip by you at first. In some levels, you
cannot live without out (for instance, the level where you go backwards).
The weakness when compared to the Double is that you lose a litle bit of
fire power in the front of the ship. I'd pick it over the Double any day of
the
week, though.
--------- (Viper) ----------
0______
0 GV   /-------------------------\
0----\/  11. Freeway              \
/-----------------------------\
Free way allows you to have one gun currently shooting while having another
firing the same direction that you're currently moving. Say, if you're
moving forward at the time, this second one will be firing forward as well.
If you're moving backwards, the same applies. I personally don't care for
this thing one bit, as I find it a total waste and confusing since it
takes so long to master.
X  X  X
X (Viper) X
X  X  X
0______
0 GV   /-------------------------\
0----\/  12. Vertical             \
/-----------------------------\
Vertical is probably a tad bit better than Double in my book. The only thing
that Double does have on vertical is that you're able to fire at the enemy
before he or she gets to you. Vertical's shot is a ton easier to get inside
little fissures or whatnot.
|
|
|
(Viper) ----------
0______
0 GV   /-------------------------\
0----\/  13. Spread               \
/-----------------------------\
Spread is pretty good for really taking out a ton of regular enemies but
is pretty hard to use when it comes time to fight monsters that require
you to take them head-on. Most bosses fall into this category along with
some other regular monsters. If you combine this with Rotate, you'll have
some real monster-clearing power at your disposal; however, I'd really keep
enough capsules in back up to select a different weapon come time to
fight a boss.
_
_ -
(Viper)_
-
¯
0______
0 GV   /-------------------------\
0----\/  14. Laser                \
/-----------------------------\
The laser is the standard weapon in the game. You'll be forced to use the
silly thing until you're able to beat the game through one time and unlock
all the other weapons. Laser doesn't do anything too great, but it does
do enough well to where you're able to beat the game with it. It becomes
almost a relic after you beat the game, though. Laser does meduim damage
at meduim speed and has a pretty good range.
(Viper) ---------------
0______
0 GV   /-------------------------\
0----\/  15. FlameThrower         \
/-----------------------------\
Worthless. Garbage. I never use this thing except with rotate multiple to
get a force field effect. It's very powerful, but its range is so horrible
that you won't even want to use it. You have to get right up in the enemy's
face to even begin to do any damage. I personally would stay away from this
thing unless you're an advanced player that's able to dodge very well
and can hold your own against anything that comes your way. I don't like
this weapon one bit.
(Viper) ()()()
0______
0 GV   /-------------------------\
0----\/  16. E-Laser              \
/-----------------------------\
Slow but so powerful it won't matter. E-laser ends any clown that happens
to get in front of you; charge this badboy up for some real disaster.
It takes a while to charge up, but once it's charged, watch out. Bosses fall
to you wish ease, and most bigger, regular enemies won't even know what
hit them. The only real downfall is that since it's so slow, you'll sometimes
be stuck in a bad position of not being able to fire out another bullet
quick enough, which can sometimes lead to unneeded deaths.
(Viper) ()
Charged:
___
(Viper) (   )
¯¯¯
0______
0 GV   /-------------------------\
0----\/  17. Ripple               \
/-----------------------------\
Ambivalence is the only word to describe this weapon. On one hand, it has
a ton of potential, but it just falls flat due to the fact it just is
so weak. If you're up close, it has some power behind its hit, but once
you start getting far away from the enemy, you won't notice anything. It
can clear weaker enemies in a breeze, but struggles with everything else.
Boss battles will take a lot longer than they should when you have this
weapon equipped.
ooooooo
(Viper) ooo00000|||||||||
ooooooo
0______
0 GV   /-------------------------\
0----\/  18. Mega Crush (?)       \
/-----------------------------\
Once you save up enough to get the elusive "?" icon, you get to use
this bad boy on the enemies. It'll clear house of every regular enemy
on the entire screen. I'd save it for some really tight situations
instead of just using it once you manage to get it. It has the same effect
as a blue capsule.
0______
0 GV   /-------------------------\
0----\/  19. Force Field          \
/-----------------------------\
Standard Force Field that's able to take some damage before breaking down
and diminishing. You'll get about three hits before the thing disappears,
which is pretty sad.
0______
0 GV   /-------------------------\
0----\/  20. Shield               \
/-----------------------------\
Shield is my personal favorite, since it can take a lot of damage before
it diminshses, unlike Force Field. Shield is only able to take stuff
head-on, however. That makes it to where you'll still have to watch you
rear most of the game. Since Shield takes forever to be destroyed, you'll
have plenty of time to build up for a new one once the old one wears
away.
Type 1:
0==========0====================0==========0=======0=========0===0
| Speed Up | Eagle Wind Missile | Tailgun  | Laser | Spacing | ? |
0==========0====================0==========0=======0=========0===0
Type 2:
0==========0=================0=========0=======0=============0===0
| Speed Up | Two-Way Missile | Tailgun | Laser | Directional | ? |
o==========0=================0=================0=============0===0
Type 3:
0==========0====================0=========0=======0=========0===0
| Speed Up | Eagle Wind Missile | Tailgun | Laser | Spacing | ? |
0==========0====================0=========0=======0=========0===0
Type 4:
0==========0======================0========0=======0==========0===0
| Speed Up | Two-Way Back Missile | Double | Laser | Rotating | ? |
0==========0======================0========0=======0==========0===0
________                                                              ________
\___  __|============================================================|_ _____/
/ | _                                                              /|___
| || |                      Full Walkthrough                       |__  |
| || |                                                              __| |
|____|==========================(00003)============================|____|
o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o
|  /---o---\                        Stage 1                       /---o---\  |
o-/ (00004) \----------------------------------------------------/ (00004) \-o
At the beginning of the level is in most Gradius games you are started off
against a number of simple enemies which are designed to drop power ups and
prepare you for the coming level.  The basic idea for most levels, this one
included is to start off with two speed ups and then move on to weapons from
there, after you are reasonably equipped you can increase your speed then.
Destroy the first two sets of enemies and use the drops to increase the speed
of your ship.  The next thing you should be aiming for is your first multiple.
The next set of enemies that appear will come at the top and then the bottom.
Now the first space ship types appear, you'll notice there are some gray ones
and some red ones, aim for the red ones as they will drop power up icons every
single time.  Now you will only need one more for a multiple.  Position
yourself at either the top or bottom of the screen and shoot the next set of
round pods that appear, use that to spawn a multiple.  You will need it
because a barrage of enemies shows up.  With your multiple and level two speed
you should be able to take on each one of them, keep in mind they curve toward
the centre before flying off the screen.  Use the rest of the power up items
you get to upgrade your weapon to the laser (or double) whatever you like.
When the level begins you should be be equipped with one multiple and one
laser, that will suffice just fine.  There's a few normal ships that pop up
along with some red ones, be sure to target them and grab the power ups.  Here
is where the first strong enemy appears, in order to destroy it you need to
first destroy the small shield in front of the core and then destroy the core
itself.  Watch out though becuase it will fire laser beams at you.  If you're
exactly parallel with the core you can squeeze between the laser beams, and
fire straight on while they are coming at you.  Using the freeze type what you
should do is move so that the multiple is either in front or behind you, just
make it so that it's firing at exactly the same height so you lasers overlap.
Now hold R1 to freeze it there and now since you're firing two overlapping
lasers they are stronger and you can defeat the enemy more easily.  If you're
using any other type besides freeze (except spacing) then you can still use
this technique but what you need to do instead is just keep moving left and
right in place so that the multiples come down and start doing the same thing,
then they will be on the same level as you.  For space it will just take a bit
longer to defeat this enemy as it will for most, but at least you're more
protected.  This basic tactic of getting your multiples down on the same level
as you to focus everything you have at one spot is important to learn.
When that enemy is defeated some new large crafts that take up half the screen
will appear, they have a basic attack which is to shoot small projectiles but
they can't angle them very well so you aren't in a lot of danger.  What you
want to make sure you do is destroy all the smaller ships that appear on the
screen above and below this large craft, destroying all of them yields two
power up icons.  Next comes the same thing except there's two of the large
crafts.  Make sure to destroy both of them before risking going in between.
The next section of the level is indeed an interesting one.  You've got the
ability to scroll the screen vertically and it will loop pretty quickly.
Large red spheres surround the entire area.  The way these spheres work is
that the more you damage them the more they shrink and eventually explode when
they get too small.  The less you damage them the more they grow and increase
the likelihood of destroying you in the process.  Focus on blasting all the
ones in your way but be sure to watch out for other enemies here too.  The
main one is a special round pod station that shoots out smaller enemies.
Among these smaller enemies is often a red one so you may actually want to
hold out on destroying these if you're trying to get more power ups.  You'll
be attacked from all sides, so spacing will give you an advantage here since
it automatically protects you, as will the spinning multiples.  For freeze
just get some multiples above and below you and hold them there.  For
direction you can simply spin the lasers around the destroy the enemies long
before they reach you.  After progressing far enough in this area some normal
ships appear including many red ones which gives you a chance to power up as
much as possible before facing the boss, which appears right here.
Here the basic pattern, the first boss is a large space station thing designed
with the sole purpose of murdering you, or so it seems.  It work like this,
when the boss appears you have to position yourself in the centre of the
screen so that the outer edges don't destroy you when it spins into place.
Now the boss is temporarily invulnerable at the beginning while is sets itself
up.  Even after it starts to attack you it will still be invulnerable.  The
first attack is a barrage of rings coming from all sides of the top and
bottom.  If you're at the far left side you're about as far out of the danger
zone as you can possibly be.  Soon this will lead to the boss' second attack
and indication that you can now fire.  When the boss begins to shoot spread
shots of blue energy balls from the right side that's your cue to start
attacking.  The basic premise is the same as the enemy at the beginning of the
level. destroy the three shield blocks protecting the core and then destroy
the core itself.  Using freeze, rotate or direction you can move left and
right to position the multiples on the same level as you and focus your damage
as much as possible.  With spacing you can't do this but you'll have much
better protection from the incoming rings (which can be destroyed of course,
the blue energy balls cannot.)  Blast the small shields and then focus
everything you have on the core.  Using four multiples, laser and the tactic
to focus your attack on one spot the boss should be dead quickly after the
shields are gone.  Under any other circumstances you'll see his next attack.
For the next attack two large yellow beams fire out of the right side of the
screen, you absolutely need to get yourself in between these beams otherwise
you're going to have some serious problems soon.  Now the boss begins to start
spinning, unless you are using the direction multiples (and even if you are
really) it's going to be difficult to damage the boss during this time so just
focus on staying alive and destroying the pods on the side that fire the
rings.  When the boss slows down and stops it will be on the left side rather
than the right side.  Direction is the only multiple type that can effectively
damage the boss at this time.  If you freeze all your options behind you and
move backward you can hit it as well but this is very dangerous.  The easiest
thing to do is wait until it does one more rotation and stops on the right
aide again, at this time you can blast the hell out of the core and defeat it.
o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o
|  /---o---\                        Stage 2                       /---o---\  |
o-/ (00005) \----------------------------------------------------/ (00005) \-o
Begin the stage and upgrade yourself as much as possible.  Depending on how
much weaponry you carried over from the previous stage it will either be easy
or difficult to kill the longer strings of ships that come in after the
initial round pods.  Each of this will turn around on the left side and move
back toward the right side of the screen giving you the opportunity to destroy
them again.  After this a bunch of other single ships appear including a few
red ones, be sure to destroy the red ones quickly before the cutscene starts.
Following the scene (which cannot be skipped unfortunately) there is a brief
period where some square shaped enemies are spawning and moving toward you,
just stick to the left side here and fire normally to be safe.  COming up is a
large door which must be destroyed before you scroll far enough to go through
it so make sure you keep shooting at this point, you'll know you are hitting
the door if it's flashing.  Once you get inside you'll have to face off
against a bunch of gun pods on the bottom and top of the screen, along with
enemies coming from the side as well.  Each of the four types are perfectly
equipped to deal with the ground and ceiling threats, just extend your
multiples and manoeuvre so that they can be destroyed as you progress.
Upgrading to missles which move vertically can be a great help as well.
Eventually you'll come to a point where the screen starts scrolling upward,
what you want to do here is position your multiples above you as best you can
so they can destroy those pods in the walls as you go up.  Now there's
arather tricky part at the top.  The area is thin and heavily populated with
enemies so much so that even if you get yourself in there, there's no room to
dodge a projectile.  What you want to do is get yourself in the small area
quickly, then leave again so that you're out in a safer place but your
multiples stay in there.  This works with the exception of spacing of course
but you can just stretch them up to go in the small crevases without you
anyway.  Have your multiples take out the enemies with you as far from the
action as possible.  As you approach the right side be sure to move in the
quickly and get as far right as you can, when the screen starts to scroll down
you will be screwed unless you are able to position yourself correctly.
The same tactic applies here as before, use whatever means you have at your
disposal to fire downward at the oncoming threats.  When the screen begins to
scroll to the right again you'll need to be prepared for a new danger.  From
behind comes a large round alien monster moving hand over hand (or tentacle
over tentacle) across the ceiling.  Note that you cannot damage this monster
simply by firing at it, the weak point is the eye on the left side.  What you
want to do however is ignore this monster for now because another is about to
appear right in front of you.  The second the eye opens a dangerous energy
ball attack bursts out from the eye, what you need to do is align yourself
with the multiples to deal as much concentrated damage as you can to the eye
while simultaneously dodging the green energy balls.  It's dangerous to say
the least.  Once the monster is dead you've got a couple of options.  You need
to destroy the ones behind you but the weak point is on the left side.  Here
are your two options, each with their own unique danger.  You can pass
underneath the creature, the danger of this is that when it swings it descends
a little so you risk being destroyed if you try and get past it while it's
moving.  The other option is to position yourself between the grabbing
tentacles on the ceiling so it kind of moves around you and you're safely in
between.  Regardless of how you get there, you need to get on the left side
and destroy the alien monster.  Same deal with the third one that appears.
There's one more of these but it's quite stationary on the right side of the
screen.  You'll begin to scroll up once again, nothing dangerous here but that
all changes at the top.  There's a door that wants to close you out, if it
closes before you pass through then there's no way to avoid being killed, all
you can do is delay it for awhile.  The problem is that another of those round
aliens is here at the top, fortunately the weak point is on the lower side
which your are approaching from so if you've got directional multiples just
aim up.  For the other ones you'll have to position yourself so that the
multiples above you are right on top of the weak point damaging the monster.
The instant it is destroyed make a mad dash to the right and get through that
door which will try to close on you.  Destroy the eyeball when it opens up (or
just sit there twiddling your thumbs until it explodes on its own) then
navigate underneath the large brain and up again to safety.  Despite there
being no enemies around here you have to keep firing forward so that you blast
open the door ahead of you, otherwise an unfortunate crash is all you get.
Right at the start here you're ambushed by countless enemies each which drop
power ups with the sole intent of upgrading your weapons, so boost your speed,
get some missiles, four multiples, a laser and a forcefield and get ready for
the boss(es).  The first boss has one primary attack, it opens up and fires a
number of missles forward in a straight ahead pattern.  The entire front of
the boss is the weak point so fire like mad.  If you take too long to blast
the front off the boss will begin firing different types of missiles like heat
seeking missiles and missiles that explode into small projectiles.  Destroying
the front of the boss leads to the second stage, the boss' new primary weapon
is a large laser beam.  This basically means that the instant your hear a
charging noise and see a build up of blue energy on the front you need to move
out of the way.  As the boss moves it will also fire some rather easy to dodge
laser projectiles but you don't need to worry too much about those.  The
entire front of the enemy remains the weak point here too so precision aiming
is not required, simply move and fire with it, then get out of the way when
you see the charge begin.  If you take too long on this form then the boss
moves to the left side of the screen where it fires small projectiles at you
and some heat seeking red lasers.  While not too hard to dodge it's probably
the boss' most dangerous attack, so be sure to kill him before it happens.
You're given the chance to upgrade a bit between the fight, then the next boss
is a central core with four large robotic tentacle arms protruding out from
the sides that spin around in a dangerous fashion.  You will notice that these
arms glow red at the tips, when this occurs it means they are about to fire a
small projectile which can be deceptively hard to dodge since you are given
very little room to manoeuvre.  The weak point of this boss are the three
small shields on the left side protecting the core, which means that you must
fire in between the moving protective arms to hit those three panels.  They'll
be destroyed one by one before finally uncovering the core.  After some time
has passed you'll hear a noise and the mechanical arms will curve to a steeper
parabolic shape.  Now rather than small projectiles they fire lasers and give
no warning to when they will be fired besides being on a regular timed
interval.  In this case all it really means is that you never want to find
yourself in the straight path of one of the arms tips.  Focus on the arms
while firing at the core and only move past one after a laser has been fired
recently.  Now for the final attack and by far the most dangerous.  The boss
moves to the right side of the screen and begins spinning his arms at an
alarming rate.  Suddenly they start firing lasers quickly and then more and
more frequently.  All the while you should be on the left side shooting at the
core with all your multiples aligned as best you can for maximum damage.  With
the arms moving that quickly you won't have many chances to hit the core so a
continuous stream weapon like the laser works well.  Position yourself so that
you are aiming directly at the core and avoid trying to dodge wildly.  Only
move if you know one of the lasers is going to hit you and even then only move
enough so that you will avoid it, and get back into position.  With any luck
and enough firepower you should be able to defeat it right as the attack ends.
Time for the next boss.  This boss is a bit more difficult as you would
probably expect successive bosses to be.  It fires a symmetric burst of lasers
forward so that you really have two options, either try to squeeze in between
them or dodge out of the way entirely.  There are two places you have to hit
this boss in order to destroy it, the shields blocking the two cores.  When
one of the cores is destroyed only half the amount of lasers are fired so it's
a good idea to focus on one at a time.  Now note how small the hit box on your
ship actually is, here's al interesting tip.  If you can line yourself up
completely straight with the core then you can fire directly on them and you
cannot be hit.  Two lasers will come DANGEROUSLY close right above and below
you but they will NOT hit you if you're perfectly aligned, remember that they
actually have to hit that little dot in the middle of your ship to destroy
you, so keep that in mind.  There are two other attacks this boss has, for one
of them it will tilt on an angle and fire at you.  It's too difficult to try
and squeeze between the smaller gaps when they're coming diagonally so just
move to dodge entirely.  The second attack is one where the boss moves up and
down the screen quickly firing lasers constantly.  In this case you just need
to use your best judgment and look for gaps, all the while firing and trying
to destroy the cores.  Take them both out to defeat the boss.
Now for the final boss of the level, and the most difficult of course.  The
boss has a total of four cores you need to destroy, the order you destroy them
really doesn't matter so aim at whichever one seems most convenient at the
moment.  I find that it's easier to destroy the top and bottom ones at the
beginning of the battle and becomes more difficult later so you may want to
focus on those two.  The boss' first attack is one that fires green wavy
energy beams from the top and bottom so to avoid this attack you're going to
want to be in the middle of the screen.  Now what you can do if you're aiming
for either the top or bottom ones is position yourself in the curved area of
one of these beams and fire at the boss.  Along them green balls appear that
grow in size but are reduced as you hit them.  Since you'll be moving around a
lot here it'll be difficult to focus your multiples on one core, but the
benefit of that is they'll be hitting those balls and giving you more room to
move, unless you're using freeze of course but that's a risk you can make if
you want.  Now those green balls will start shooting lasers vertically, at
first I found this attack somewhat overwhelming but really it's the easiest
thing in the world to dodge.  The premise is simple, do not focus on the
attack as a whole, rather focus only on the one right in front of you so when
you see the lasers pass, move right to get through them, do this one by one
over and over until the whole thing has passed by.  Now the arms branch off
and fire the green beams diagonally so in order to avoid this attack you need
to get in the middle and close to the boss.  It becomes difficult to hit the
lower cores at this point so unless you're using directional just focus on the
main section.  Also get ready to face the most dangerous attack you've faced
in the game so far, admittedly 90% of the time this is where I have my first
death in the game, maybe that's an indication that my dodging strategy sucks,
but listen up anyway.  Basically what's about to happen is two red heat
seeking lasers will fire at you from the central piece at a high velocity with
almost no warning.  This means you need to keep moving up and down so you're
ready and then the instant you see red, choose a direction (either up or down,
not left or right) and move yourself that way to avoid it.  With any luck you
should be able to.  I find that moving either right above or right below the
central core after the attack begins is a pretty safe bet.  From here the
pattern pretty much repeats, destroy the four cores to defeat the boss.
o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o
|  /---o---\                        Stage 3                       /---o---\  |
o-/ (00006) \----------------------------------------------------/ (00006) \-o
The introduction to this level starts like any other, basically you just cycle
between the top and bottom of the screen defeating the strings of enemies that
appear to pick up as many powerups as you possibly can.  Next you'll want to
focus on a single red ship that appears in the middle and then a huge upward
and downward swooping attack from quite a few ships comes.  The only way
you'll have much hope of defeating all of them is to use your weapons leftover
from the previous level, however you can probably manage it if you move back
and aim your weapons straight ahead to get as many as possible, then take out
the remainders as they converge on the centre.  For these next enemies you
need to get behind them in order to destroy them, otherwise use your
directional multiples to fire backward.  Before they finish another attack
from the top and bottom will come in.  Take out these enemies but give focus
to the red ships that follow, this should power you up pretty well regardless
of what you started with.  With this last wave of enemies it should lead you
nicely into the main part of the level with a multiple and a decent weapon.
The first enemies you face is a large ship which fires both small projectiles
and lasers at you, don't worry about either of them simply centre yourself on
the left side and the lasers will miss you by a mile while the diagonal paths
of the projectiles will converge long before they reach you.  It should take
too much firepower to knock this thing out.  Enter the little area and start
taking out the gun pods on both the top and bottom of the screen, make sure
not to let yourself get too far forward as you will be moving back soon to
destroy the enemies that appear behind you.  There are some little rolling
ball things that fire projectiles in all directions, you'll want to focus your
attacks on these things mostly.  First your way until you reach a wall.
Each of the two walls above and below you has a red dot in the centre, you
need to fire on this dot in order to destroy the walls and get through,
whether you choose to take the upper or lower path doesn't matter; what does
matter is that you stick with whatever decision you make and get ready to move
up, dodging all the projectiles as you pass the second wall.  Follow the path
as it leads you down but wait for the enemy pods to stop spawning ships before
you go down, using freeze or direction you can easily destroy the pods behind
you to make things a little safer, but be sure you're still firing forward at
the wall.  The same idea applies at the next part except going up instead of
down.  Now you'll need to face a new type of enemy, the flamethrower pods.
These will fire vertically trying to destroy you as you pass through.  Using
either direction or freeze you can position your multiples ahead of you and
destroy the flamethrowers before you reach them, but with spacing and rotate
you'll probably need to time your movement and pass through between bursts of
flame.  Enemies will be coming down on top of you when you get past them but
simply firing forward should keep you safe.  No matter what type you're using
you'll have a chance to destroy the next set of flamethrowers easily simply by
moving down and firing forward.  Move into the open area ahead of you.
For these things you'll want to centre yourself between their lasers and fire
forward in order to defeat them.  You will also probably want to focus some
attention on those walking red gun pods that periodically appear so you can
keep powering up your weapons.  Try to find a balance so you can pick up some
of the power ups without risking your life too much.  Soon after the first two
are gone a horde of moderately large ships appear and just start flying around
the screen.  Since they really don't fire on you much you're basically just
shooting them down to get out of the way, but there's also one other thing to
focus on.  Notice the ground below you has kind of a little spherical pod
thingy on it, regardless of what that thingy is, it's an indicator that you
can blast through this ground and you're going to have to as the screen will
start scrolling down once it's done.  You'll be able to hit it no problem with
any type just by moving close so do that.  Now the hard part begins.
You need to find a delicate balance here as well because while it's tempting
to position yourself at the bottom of the screen so that you can quickly
destroy any new enemies that appear, it's also rather suicidal.  Give yourself
a second or so to see exactly what it is you're up against before moving down
to destroy it.  It's pretty basic stuff to start and many of the enemies drop
power ups so if you didn't have four multiples before, you'll probably have
them after this.  Navigate around the block structures as you go down and be
careful of horizontal flamethrowers.  When you come across the first ones this
is an indication that things are about to get ugly.  Here's what do do.
You've got two choices to make, and it's a big decision so choose carefully.
What you're about to face is kind of fight-or-flight situation, you can choose
to destroy the oncoming death machines or you can focus your energy on trying
to stay alive.  Personally after doing this many times I've come to prefer the
latter.  The idea is that each of these large ships has a few shields
protecting the core but even with four multiples and a laser it's going to
take some serious damage to blow these things away and there's a lot of them.
The energy you are focusing on destroying them will draw your attention away
from the gun pods and flamethrowers which provide a significant amount of
potential danger when left alive.  You can try and destroy each one of these
things, you'll probably find yourself overwhelmed near the end but it remains
up to you.  Personally here's how I like to do it.  As always keep in mind the
hit box for your ship is ridiculously small.  You can squeeze fairly easily
between the top of these ships and the ceiling without being destroyed, you
also have the added bonus of being above them and away from the danger of
their lasers.  While either above or below them focus on destroying the gun
pods and upcoming flamethrowers so you can maintain safe travel between upper
and lower levels.  Wait until the large ship passes you by and then move down
in between them.  It works wonders.  You really should only have to dodge
between one or two of them before it's over.  Beyond that are a few
flamethrowers on the ground and ceiling but nothing you haven't faced yet.
In the next area you'll have a sort of combination of what you faced before
scrolling down, and the area with the walls being destroyed.  Fortunately
these medium sized ships have no particular weak spot, you can aim pretty much
anywhere and destroy them just as easily so focus on staying in between the
walls while letting you guns do the talking ahead of you.  The final non-boss
challenge of the level are a few shielded ships which are spinning around and
around.  In order to destroy these ships you need to aim everything you have
at the core in the centre.  Destroying each of these as they come is easy as
pie with a laser and four multiples however it's actually those little walking
gunners that screw things up.  If you find the large ships coming faster than
you can destroy them then you'll need to revert to a more evasive strategy.
Despite being a 2D plane while the enemies spin in 3D space that's you chance
to slide underneath them or overtop of them.  Position yourself between and
wait for them to spin so they're as horizontal as possible before moving
forward.  Dodge your way to the open area on the right.  You're given one
final chance to power up as a wave of small enemies appears.  Focus your
attention on the red orb that trails each line and get the power up.  After
these four it's time to square off against the only boss of this level.
There's a lot of different ways to fight off this boss and it can be pretty
dependent on what kind of multiples you are using.  Personally I find
directional to be by far the easiest for this battle, but obviously the boss
is designed so that it can be defeated with any type.  Here's how it works.
There's a large spider like enemy crawling between the walls in this area.
The first thing you need to do is get below him and since he takes up the
entire screen it won't be easy.  You need to wait until he lifts one of his
legs up and move underneath.  This will position you directly beside the main
body and give you a perfect chance to fire (always move through the left side
since you'll be firing to the right.)  At this point it doesn't really matter
since you can't actually harm the boss at the start, but keep it in mind for
later.  Once you get below the boss he'll start firing rings that bounce
downward, fortunately these rings can be destroyed so you don't need to worry
too much about dodging like crazy.  What you do need to worry about however is
the stuff appearing below you, don't move down so far that you'll be destroyed
by a simple block that appears on the screen.  After a few blocks have