Blaster Master/Area 5

Section A
Welcome to the watery world of Area 5. After you arrive, you'll have to jump into the water where you'll have no choice but to sink like a stone. Not even your Hover engine will help you ascend. This section serves as the entrance to a number of locations throughout the area. But in order to explore most of them, you'll need to reach the bottom and swim through the lower portion of the stage to reach the area boss, one of the toughest in the game. Once you defeat the boss, you'll obtain the Dive Engine which allows SOPHIA to swim through the water like a fish.

This section is broken up into three part. You can stop yourself in the upper region before shooting out the blocks that allow you to access the middle region. Once you drop down to the middle region, you'll have no choice but to continue dropping all the way down to lowest portion. From there, you'll have to hop out of SOPHIA and swim the rest of the way in order to find the boss and the Dive Engine. Pay special attention to the three locations specified below.


 * Noted locations:
 * A: Before you continue dropping to the the bottom of this section, you will land on top of this small bridge. The blocks that make up the bridge can be shot and destroyed, but don't be in such a hurry.  The boss of this area is quite difficult to defeat without a fully powered gun, and there happens to be an interior nearby that you can explore to increase your gun meter.  Hop out of SOPHIA and swim over to section B to find that interior before destroying the bridge and dropping down.
 * B: Once you drop below the bridge, it has a bad habit of rebuilding itself when you return. And you won't be able to stand on any land and fire SOPHIA's gun up at the blocks.  Your only hope and returning to the top where you can advance to, or return to , is to pass through this tunnel to section I.  However, you'll have no chance of doing that unless you obtain the Dive Engine first.
 * C: This is the end of the line as far as SOPHIA goes. Once she sinks to the floor down here, no amount of jumping will get you anywhere.  From this point on, you'll have to exit SOPHIA and swim along the tunnel to reach the passage to section C.  Be very careful as there is an unfortunate bug that can get you stuck inside the wall when you swim through this tunnel.  The main instigator of this bug tends to be taking damage while touching the edges of the tunnel.  To avoid having this problem, stand still while shooting enemies, even if it means taking damage.

Section B
After swimming up to the tunnel that leads to this section, drop down, and swim passed the snails that scuttle your way whenever Jason lines up with them. Enter the door to the interior at the bottom of the section. You begin in the lower left corner of the room. There are a cluster of blocks near the upper right corner. There are many pathways to reach the cluster, but a number of them are trapped with spikes that will damage Jason if he walks over them. There is, however, one very easy and safe way to cut across the interior: walk along the bottom. Jason can squeeze between the bottom wall and the squares, creating an enemy free path for him to take. You'll still need to worry about the few robots that approach you as you walk up the right side.

Once you reach the cluster of blocks, you may notice that they are guarded by four motion sensing robots. If you shoot out the blocks that they are locked in from the wrong direction, they will dash out and hit you. However, you can avoid that problem altogether by using grenades to take them out before you destroy the blocks. Once all four robots are destroyed, start shooting the blocks to collect all of the power up capsules they contain, including two gun capsules, one gray and one flashing for a total of five gun meters. Leave and return to this interior as much as necessary until you can exit with a fully powered gun. Then swim back up to the top of the section, return to section A, and hop back in SOPHIA to proceed.

Section C
You must now begin your swim to the boss without the safety of SOPHIA. Those less powerful, Jason is far more maneuverable in the water than SOPHIA, for the time being. The two threats that Jason must face in this section represent most of the threats that Jason will encounter throughout his time separated from SOPHIA. The small swimming enemies try to swim close to Jason and shoot at him. The best strategy is to shoot at them and remove them before they shoot at you. The larger snail-like enemies race toward Jason whenever he lines up with them. The snails are easier to avoid if you swim near the ceilings. Swim all the way to the right to reach section D.

Section D
This section is a vertical drop that you must swim down. Small swimming enemies will try to intercept you along the way. There are two passages, one at the top, and one at the bottom. The one at the bottom is the one that continues on the path to the area boss. The one at the top leads to a dead-end with an interior that is generally not worth exploring. Swim down to the bottom of this short section and move on to section F.

Section E
This small section, and the interior it contains, is generally more trouble than it's worth. You'll have to swim through a low tunnel that forces you to swim by a group of snails that will rush toward you as you do. Once you reach the interior, you'll find a long winding tunnel that ultimately leads to a cluster of blocks at the very end, none of which contain gun capsules. The place is riddled with motion-sensing lasers that patrol small hallways. Even if they do drop gun capsules (which isn't all of the time), you're more likely to lose gun power than to gain any. The portion leading up to the blocks is riddled with spikes. You're far better off avoiding this interior and the section altogether.

Section F
This is a rather large area that you will have to swim through. When you arrive, you are greeted by two swimming enemies. Take them out before advancing. Don't bother dropping down from the entrance, as that only leads to a dead-end. Instead, start off by swimming to the left. As you do, you may notice a large aquatic robot swimming back and forth. These are best left ignored; they won't veer from their path, and they take too many shots to destroy. Stay beneath them as you make your way to the left. After a short distance, a wall will force you to drop to the floor. As you do, you will trigger several snails to dart off in your direction. Do you best to avoid them, but continue to the bottom. As soon as you are able to, begin swimming up the other side of the wall. From this side, there are two passages for you to take. The lower passage to section G is very much like section E; it leads to a dead-end with an interior that is not worth investigating. Instead, you should swim up to the top to reach section H, which instead contains an entrance to a much more important interior.

Section G
This section contains a new type of enemy. They appear to be gray boulders, but they reveal their true nature when Jason gets close. A hatch opens up, and explosives are propelled from the boulders. They are immobile except when they detach from the ceiling. This section is divided into two parts down the middle of the screen. If you swim along the top part, you'll reach a dead-end. If you swim along the bottom part, you'll find an entrance to another interior. This interior, like the one found in section E, is quite long and quite dangerous. They payoff at the end is much better, as the cluster of blocks contains a large amount of ammunition for SOPHIA's special weapons, and it even has a flashing gun capsule. But once again, you are more likely to lose gun power than gain it, and that's too heavy a cost before you take on this area's boss. If you feel compelled to explore this interior at all, it is best to do so after you have defeated the boss, and are on your way back to SOPHIA with the Dive Engine.