Gradius III/Stage 1

During space flight, you should move into position to collect youf first power ups. A wave of five enemies will first approach near the top, and split before reconverging. This is followed by a second wave approaching from the bottom, which stops just at the center of the left screen before turning back right. The third and foruth waves appear at the top then bottom, and are easy to intercept if you decided to use two powerups for Speedup.

After the initial four waves, you will encounter a mix of enemies from the initial waves and individual fighters. There should be at least four more powerups before you enter the base.

Enemy base
The enemy base is composed of sand dunes.

Notable elements include:
 * At the first set of floor turrets and hanger, a walker appears on the top of the screen. This is followed by a second one containing a powerup.
 * A sand dragon will fly out of the sand on the first set of dunes. (There are a total of three on this stage.)
 * Past the second set of hangers where the ceiling drops and where you can attack floor targets for a powerup, a walker will arrive from the left.
 * A second sand dragon will come out of the sand. A third will come out a bit further.

Boss
The first boss, reminiscent of an antlion, will approach once you reach the end of the base.

It follows a simple attack pattern:
 * It will open and close it's jaws. These jaws will block shots to the core.
 * After a while, it launches five shots in a spread pattern. The only one likely to hit is the one in line with the core.
 * When the shots hit the side, a few enemies will fly from the walls and home in on your craft.
 * The antlion will also move forward and back.

It is vulnerable to shots in the center. When the antlion is about to die, it turns red. Once defeated, the craft will fly forward to the next stage.