Karnov/Stage 5


 * When you start the stage, you'll have no choice but to fall or jump down into the water below. As soon as you enter the water, the helmet tile will flash if you possess one.  This is the only stage that the helmet power-up is useful, so don't save it.  The helmet will allow you to swim more effectively through the water.
 * Collect the cache of K marks in the lower left corner (shown right), and then swim to the right. Shoot the fish that approach you.  Ignore the clam in the lower ledge, as they are difficult to destroy, but do destroy the seaweed up above.  The bubbles that these enemies shoot can be destroyed with your shots, but it's better to focus on dodging them completely.
 * Continue on, staying relatively low if you wish to collect more K marks, or high if you wish to avoid danger. Green swimming mermen will enter the screen and make navigation through the paths a bit more difficult, but if you fire consistently, you should be able to remove them before they present a threat.
 * Eventually, you will reach a section where a ladder rises up out of the water (shown left). The the same time, red spear throwing creatures will swim through the water to attack you.  They can throw their spears forward or downward at you.  You have to decide between the upper path or the lower path.  Keep in mind that if you climb out of the water, you will lose the helmet, though it is usually possible to find another one to utilize when you return to the water.

Upper path

 * If you choose to climb out of the water, you will climb up the series of ladders until you reach the top of the island. A flock of six birds will appear above you.  You will see a plethora of tiles to collect.  You'll need the ladder, or preferably the shoes to collect them all.  Wait until it's safe to collect them as they won't disappear.
 * As you advance across the island, not one, but two mermen will appear (shown right). Don't rush ahead too quickly or they will both appear at the same time.  Instead, advance only as far as you need to make the first one appear, defeat it, then advance to make the second one appear.  Defeat it, and then jump back in the water to continue the stage.  If you collected the helmet tile (the last one on the right), you can activate it again in the water.

Lower path

 * The lower path is a little more cramped, but offer you a chance to collect many power-up tiles as well. Red spear throwers will continue to appear, and a clam will impede your progress.  (If you swim up to the ceiling between two stalactites, a random tile will drop ahead.)
 * As you clear them out, a green water dragon may appear and start patrolling the area. It moves similarly to the red dragon that sometimes appears when you use a ladder, but it takes many more hits to defeat.
 * Beyond the clam, there is a ladder that you can climb up and out of the water to a small cave (shown right). You will lose the helmet, but the mask tile will start to blink when to step to the right.  Activate the mask to make more tiles appear, including another helmet.  Collect everything, and then climb back down into the water (activate the helmet again if you collected it,) and proceed to the right.

Stage end

 * As you proceed to the end of the stage, the screen will fill up with enemies. Spear throwers, swimming mermen and fish will all occupy the water.  Shoot continuously to clear a path for Karnov to swim through.
 * You will eventually reach an alcove near the floor occupied by two clams on the bottom, and seaweed above. In the back of the cove are two power-up tiles (shown right), one of which is a boomerang which you will definitely want to collect before you reach the boss.  Just make sure that you travel between the appearance of the many deadly bubbles that the enemies will shoot at you.
 * After collecting the tiles, swim back up and destroy the seaweed so you can advance to the end of the stage. Another water dragon may appear, so be ready to shoot it from a safe location.  When you reach the end, there will be a few K marks for you to collect near the bottom, before you swim to the top and use the water climb out of the ladder and run to the boss.

Boss: Two Tyrannosauruses
As you climb the ladder, a flock of six birds will appear overhead, but you can effectively ignore them. The battle against the pair of Tyrannos will be near impossible if you did not collect the boomerang. The boomerang will shorten the length of time needed to finish this fight from minutes to mere seconds. As you climb up the ladder, activate the boomerang so that it is the next thing that you throw as soon as you press fire. Run to the right as the birds appear and get both of the dinosaurs on the screen at one time. Then jump up and toss the boomerang at close range at the first dino's head. The boomerang should destroy him and the dino behind him almost immediately. Then the next piece of the map will fall and you will advance to the next stage.

NES Differences

 * When you jump in the water, the game will not automatically alert you to the use of the water breathing helmet. Instead, you must manually select it like any other tile.  Additionally, the shield will not be available for selection while you are swimming.
 * This stage is made easier by the reduction in enemies that can appear at one time, and the number of projectiles that are permitted to appear on screen.
 * Surprisingly, although K marks are generally more plentiful on most stages than their arcade counterparts, there are actually fewer K marks to collect in this stage.
 * While the upper path remains faithful to the arcade (containing Mermen and an assortment of power-up tiles, including another helmet), the pocket accessible from the lower route is different. It contains fewer K marks, and while you can make use of a mask inside, you will only find two tiles as a result, and none of them will be a helmet, leaving you without one when you return to the water.
 * The boss is still a Tyrannosaurus (shown right), but there will only be one of them. Once again, you'll have to hit it with a boomerang twice if you intend to use that method of defeating the boss.