Contra (NES)/Stage 5

Snow field
The next two stages are what I like to call the “make or break” point in the game. These are the toughest two stages in the game in my opinion and getting through them relatively unscathed is key to finishing the game. In addition to that there are several new enemies that make an appearance and are almost as annoying as the Soldier. Almost. Tanks are probably the biggest pain in this stage if you don’t know what to do. Read the walkthrough carefully at those points to get through safely (ie: it didn’t result in a death). Head right but proceed carefully once you see the trees. Inch forward then duck when you see the Gunner to the right. You may be forced to move because of the Tree Grenadiers but don’t panic since the Gunners only fire once every three seconds so there’s time to shuffle over to avoid getting hit. Continue right after the Gunner is destroyed.

There’ll be an item container with a Machine Run further ahead but otherwise keep going. Not long afterwards an item capsule with a rapid fire will fly by. Again it’s up to you if you want it. Further ahead, there’ll be another cluster of trees so move along slowly and make sure you don’t get blown up. Several more Tree Grenadiers will greet you then. Just continue as you’ve been doing so far until you reach the item container. It’ll have a fireball in it but I don’t recommend getting it. A little ahead, three item capsules will fly by from the left. The bottom one has a spread gun, the middle on has a rapid fire, and the top one is a Falcon. Once you’ve collected whatever you shot, start jumping to the right and kill the Sniper waiting at the end. There’s a Scuba Guy in the water that occasionally gets me with it’s right-most bullet if you don’t move away from the edge where the Sniper is waiting.

Just a warning. Keep going until you reach the pipes. Once you go far enough the first tank will appear. When the screen stops scrolling, move to the far left side of the screen then a step forward. Once the tank stops moving, it’ll fire several rounds of bullets at you, which shouldn’t hit you. While it’s firing you should be pumping as much ammo into it as you can before it starts moving again. You should be able to destroy it before it makes road kill out of you. After it’s gone, you’ll reach good old terra firma again soon with a Gunner to meet you. Take care of it and soon you’ll run into another tank. Do the same thing as before and you’ll be okay. Right after that, there’ll be another Gunner and more groups of Tree Grenadiers. Tread carefully past them and you’ll meet one final Gunner before your showdown with the boss.

Boss: Flying saucer
This boss is very easy, probably one of the easiest so far. When the boss appears, stand a little to the left or right of it’s center and fire away. If you have the spread gun, you should be able to destroy it before it disappears. If you don’t have it, the boss will let out these little ships from it’s sides then disappear. Wait for the little ships to get close and then jump over them two at a time, meaning that one on either side should be close to you before you jump. It’ll probably let out more than two unless you shot them so just keep jumping over them until they’re gone. When the boss appears again, stand at the edge of it again and start blasting it. This time you should be able to destroy it before it disappears and those little ships get near you again.