Gradius III/Stage 5


 * SNES stage: 4.

Easter Stone (Moai Field)

 * This stage takes place in a Moai field, and starts off with large, rotating Moai that are indestructible and must be dodged. They spit out Moai heads that will then proceed to fire rings at you.


 * It is interesting to note that before this stage, you will see something behind you. It is called the Option Hunter. After a few seconds, it flies forward and tries to take your Options away. You will see it later in the game, and avoid it if you see it. The Option Hunter is indestructible, so be aware. There are three types: Normal, Destuctable, and Bouncing. If either one grabs your Options and you can't destroy it, use a Mega Crush and get your Options back.


 * Back to the level. Now, you proceed to fight nothing but cannons and regular Moais. Try using the same strategy with the Moais as you did in Gradius. The Moais do fire a lot of rings, and if your shield is gone, they fire less, so lose the shield, please, if you want to survive. If you think you're okay, I think you might be fine.


 * Near the end of the level, you will start encountering four Moai heads on a rotating monaliath. There are a lot of these, and when all four Moai heads on a monaliath are destroyed, the monaliath disappears.

Sub-Boss: Dogas
Dogas is a floating Moai head that can create a barrier of smaller Moai. The small Moai can't take much damage back, but Dogas uses a lot of Moai. Just like regular Moai, the weak spot is the mouth. Sometimes it faces backwards, which requires a Tail Gun. You may have to go around Dogas.

Boss: Vaif
Vaif is a group of six big Moai heads. The Moai heads spit out small Moai that inflate when shot at, making it hard to focus on the big Moais. Their mouth is their weak point, but you can only damage them when it's open. Double types are needed to destroy all six of them. Be extremely careful when getting close to the small Moai, as their hitbox is much bigger than the sprite.

Try to destroy them as they first open up in order to not be overwhelmed. The pattern, assuming each has been destroyed immediately, is as follows: bottom-left, top-right, top-left, bottom-right, top-middle, bottom-middle. Depending on the weapon selection of the player, it's likely that one of the Moai heads will be difficult to shoot at. For example, with type A, the top-left one will be very hard to destroy, whereas Type B will struggle with the top-middle one. Provided you destroyed every other Moai head but that one, it's not too hard to simply destroy the small Moai from the one remaining big head and wait for it to timeout, which will happen after only a few waves.

In order to easily destroy the bottom-left one, you can position your options ahead of time after destroying the previous boss. Position your ship above where the "Missile" upgrade slot is located, aligning yourself vertically with the Moai head, then move up. This way, your options will be inside the mouth and will destroy the head quickly.

This boss is pretty much impossible to do if you died during the stage, as the ship would be too underpowered to do anything.

SNES Differences

 * There are no big rotating Moai; they are replaced by red Moai, which can stand up and turn around.
 * The bosses(Dogas and Vaif) have been replaced by Twin Vaif, two big Moai heads that shoot small Moai and can cause earthquakes.
 * A bonus stage can be accessed by looking for a red Moai head lying on the ground between two Moai heads. After a few seconds, it will stand up and face right. If nothing on the power meter is highlighted, fly in behind it.