Contra (NES)/Stage 7

Hangar
It goes without saying that you're near the end of the game. Why do I say that? Because the game is starting to recycle music - the classic sign that an NES game is near the end. Seriously though, you've cleared the previous two stages, relatively easily I hope, and it all gets easier from here on in. The two stages that are left, are pretty easy. Err... this stage can be a tad tougher than I've been letting on if you're the impatient type, but much like the previous stage can be cleared easily with caution. You start just outside a huge complex so head on inside. Jump to the upper ledge. I should tell you this right now: it's almost never a good idea to follow the lower route through this stage. It's usually tougher and rife with Soldiers who will appear on both sides of the screen. Stop at the four mechanical arms ahead and study the pattern for a moment. It's easy, just make your way through them. There'll be much more mechanical arms all throughout this stage, but they all have easy patterns, I don't think I need to explain them to you.

Once you make it to the edge of the upper ledge an item capsule will fly by that contains a fireball - I wouldn't get it if you have a spread gun. At the next ledge, there are some more mechanical arms, but again, the pattern is easy to figure out. Make your way past them and wait a second at the edge of the ledge. If you have the spread gun, just waste the Gunner on the higher ledge at will and continue on. If you don't, just fall to the bottom and move past the mechanical arms there. You can't as far as I know, with the possible exception of the fireball, destroy the Gunner from the lower ledge, and if you try to get up there, the Gunner will... well, gun you down easily, so don't bother. When you get through the mechanical arms, take a short jump to the edge of the next, raised ledge, and destroy the spike wall that pops up from the ground. Destroy the next one too, then the series of long ones ahead.

Once you've done that, jump to the edge of the upper ledge and destroy the spike wall there. A bunch of Soldiers will probably start pouring in from the left and some of them will try to jump to the ledge you're on. If they do, turn around, duck and fire at them. You should kill them before they're able to get on the ledge. Continue to the right and move past the mechanical arms ahead, then destroy the spike wall at the other end. Now, fall off the ledge and use the mine cart to get onto the ledge above you. You'll get another little gift in the way of a barrier. Now you're playing with power. Now that you got the barrier, just run through the mechanical arms ahead and jump onto the mine cart heading to the right. If you don't have the barrier, DON'T run past the mine cart or you'll get run over by it thus losing a life. Once you pass two of the walls, jump onto the ledge above you, kill the Sniper, and then jump across the large gap to the ledge of the right.

It can be done, just jump at the edge of the left ledge and you'll make it. The worst you could do is fall to the lower right edge of the screen, onto the mine cart below, in which case you should get off of it, then continue to the right past the mechanical arms. Good luck! If you made to the top right ledge, destroy the series of spike walls ahead, fall off the ledge, then destroy the set of spike walls in front of you. Again, fall to the lower ledge and continue to the right. There’s more mechanical arms ahead but it’s a simple pattern again. Near the far side, a spike wall will pop up so you'll have to continually move left and right as the mechanical arms go up and down to stay alive, while firing at the wall. Soon, you’ll be back on the outside. Here you'll encounter two Gunners and more Soldiers that will come from the left. Once you reach the slightly higher platform, there'll be another Gunner and more Soldiers waiting for you. Kill them and you'll be in the clear, with the boss just ahead.

Boss: Base defense 2
This boss is similar to very first boss but considerably tougher. There are only two enemies here: Soldiers, the regular, cannon fodder type you’ve been killing all through the game. They’ll appear either from the door or the far left. And then, Turrets, which are a special kind that fire a bullet into the air and split into three before they hit the ground. Fortunately, there’s anyways a space that you can stand where you’ll be safe from the blasts. They alternate however, so you’ll have to watch where they land. If you don’t feel like dealing with this, just destroy them, or at least the one on the right. When the siren goes off, head to the far right and fire at the flashing panel above the door, while avoiding the turrets. With the spread gun, you can destroy this boss in about 10 seconds. It takes longer without the spread gun, but it’s still easy.