Blaster Master/Secrets

Strafing
You can strafe by holding any of the attack buttons and then pressing the other one. This is a helpful technique that isn't mentioned in the instruction manual.

Easy boss defeat
Against certain bosses, there is a cheat that you can use to win the fight with minimal effort. Drop one grenade on the boss so that it flashes, indicating damage. Then pause the game. While the game is paused, the boss will accumulate damage. Wait at least 30 seconds to be sure that the boss has taken enough damage before unpausing the game, and the boss will be defeated. Be careful, this same pause trick works on Jason as well, leading to a quick death. Make sure you're not being injured when you pause the game!

This technique only works against the bosses of ../Area 2/, ../Area 4/, ../Area 6/, and ../Area 7/.