Abadox/Gameplay

Second Lieutenant Nazal
You control Second Lieutenant Nazal in your mission to rescue Princess Maria from within Parasitis. To achieve this, he wears mobile space armor that comes equipped with a primary weapon, and the ability to enhance the suit with additional power ups that he finds along the way. Ordinarily, one hit is enough to eliminate Nazal and cost him one of his chances. However, Nazal can obtain up to two armor power-ups which lets him sustain hits before being destroyed. Nazal can maneuver anywhere on the screen that he likes, but he can't survive contact with the ground or other structures, so it's important to guide him safely through each stage.

Item capsules

 * S capsule: Collect the S capsule to increase the speed at which Nazal can zip around the screen. There is a limit to how fast Nazal can go, so picking up more S capsules beyond that point has no effect.
 * P capsule: The P capsule provides power to Nazal's armor. Collecting one P capsule makes Nazal glow green, indicating that Nazal can survive one deadly attack. Collecting a second P capsule makes Nazal glow orange, indicating that he can sustain two attacks. If he is hit while orange, he goes back to glowing green. Collecting a P capsule while glowing orange has no additional benefit.
 * M capsule: The M capsule provides Nazal with the ability to launch two powerful missiles straight ahead in addition to his normal attack. If you collect a second M capsule after already being outfitted with missiles, the missiles gain the ability to lock on and target enemies.
 * B capsule: The B in B capsule stands for Barrier. Collect one to generate an orb that flies around Nazal in a circle. You can press to control how far or close to Nazal it rotates. Each time you collect another B capsule, another orb is added, up to a maximum number of four. Barriers can only absorb so many hits before all of the barriers around you disintegrate. They will turn blue when they are close to being depleted. Collecting a new B capsule re-energizes all of the currently orbiting barriers.

Weapons

 * Tresbeam: Collect the Tresbeam to upgrade your weapon from a gun that fires one shot straight ahead, to a gun that fires three projectiles outward in a spread pattern. While this increases the chances of you hitting enemies above or below you, you can't fire the gun again until all three projectiles are off the screen, so it can reduce your rate of fire.
 * Star Beam: The Star Beam further upgrades your weapon by allowing you to shoot projectiles in five different directions. The projectiles are smaller than the Tresbeam, but they are a bit faster, making it possible for you to fire again a bit more quickly.
 * Laser Gun: The Laser Gun enables you to fire a small powerful beam straight ahead. It does not spread out at all, but the projectile that's fired will do a lot of damage to whatever it hits.
 * Pandora Gun: The Pandora Gun is one of the most powerful weapons in the game. It fires a ring of energy straight ahead. While it does not spread out, the ring is quite wide, and is likely to hit whatever you aim at. You won't encounter this weapon until much later in the game, but once you obtain it, do your best to keep it.