Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts/Stage 3

Stage 3-1
You started in a graveyard, ended up on the ocean, and now you’re in a foundry full of lava and flames. Welcome to the crucible of flame. This stage is about as difficult as the last stage but there are some new enemies that have come to bother you. The Flame Fairies will pop out of the lava, hover for a bit and then dash toward you if you don’t kill them RIGHT AWAY. The Werewolves are easier to defeat but watch out for their flame breath ability.

Head down the slight slope and stand at the edge of the lava pit. Hit the Werewolf on the other side and just duck or run away if it starts breathing fire at you. Once it’s gone jump over the lava and climb down the ladder a bit to reveal a chest. There will be two ladders down there. Go down the ladder on the right to reveal another chest beside the other ladder. Head down the left ladder and jump off of the side of lava pit on the right to find yet another chest.

However two Flame Fairies will appear out of the lava pits on either side of you. There’s also a Werewolf below that might breathe some flame up towards you. Be careful and destroy the Flame Fairies and then jump across the lava pits on the left. Head down the ladder on the other side and kill the Werewolf bothering you earlier. Continue on to the right until you reach the ladder further ahead. Watch out for the holes in the ceiling. Lava will sometimes drop down from them.

Once you touch down on ground again, watch out for the Werewolf below you. Head on the left over the lone lava pit to find another ladder downwards. The aforementioned Werewolf will likely follow you to the ladder but you can hide in the left corner while hitting it. Once it’s gone keep going right to reach a huge lava pit on the other end. Several small pillars of stone will pop up out of the lava that you’ll have to jump onto the get across.

Jump over the lava and then jump back to make the first pillar appear. The rest of the pillars will appear if you wait for a second or so. You won’t be able to make it to the next pillar with a single leap therefore jump up to the ceiling and jump again. The next one is closer and only requires a single jump. Jump onto the blood-spattered platform ahead and then the longer one below. Stay in the middle of this platform and then leap to the left onto the platform below.

This platform will fall into the lava at the bottom so quickly jump onto the smaller platform that you’ll see below. You might not see the second platform at first but it’s there. Jump onto it from the middle of the first platform and stay on it until you’re near the lava. At that point, another pillar should pop out of the lava. Jump onto it and the next two that appear. They are all spaced fairly far apart so double jumping to each of them is more prudent.

The fourth one is much closer to the third one so you can easily get onto it. After that you’ll be on solid ground again. Once you climb uphill for a bit you’ll see the bane of players during Ghosts ‘N Goblins, the Red Gargoyle. If you have the Crossbow you can jump/double jump into the air and hit it. It’s much harder to hit Red Gargoyles with the other weapons. You have to wait until it flies downward or it will just go up and down to avoid your attacks.

Of course trying to make it swoop down toward you is difficult without putting yourself in a precarious position but you can get in some cheap hits while it’s sitting on the ground. Take your time and you will eventually kill it. Or you can just run past it and take your chances. Be careful because if you die here you will have to start at the beginning of the stage again. After it’s gone, run back up the hill and jump onto the tower on the right.

Stage 3-2
This part of the stage is populated by Bats, Gargoyle Statues, and Goblins which appear later on. Run up the tower and destroy the Bats and Gargoyle Statues you see along the way until you reach the end. Jump onto the platform and let it take you to the next tower. If you want the Money Bag that’s in the air you have to stand at the front of the platform and then jump for it. Don’t jump from the middle or the back or you’ll fall off the platform.

Jump onto the next tower when it appears and run across it. Destroy the Gargoyle Statues until you reach the far end. There will be another platform waiting as well as two more Money Bags in the air. The next tower goes upwards again but it’s more of the same thing. Run up the slope until you reach the platform and then jump onto it to get taken across the chasm. The next tower is different, only because the Goblins will make their first and only appearance.

When you’re running across the tower you’ll see them drop down from above at some point. Back up and hit it when it’s on the ground and then continue on. If you do a single jump around here a chest should pop up. Don’t double jump or a Goblin might drop down onto you. Jump onto the platform when you reach it and jump off at the other side. This tower does downhill and has more Goblins than you can shake a stick at. If you proceed carefully and you’ll be alright.

A chest should automatically appear like the one you saw earlier. Further on the Goblins will start dropping from the top of the screen. That’s not really a problem but just before you reach the end of this tower, a Goblin will likely drop down at the edge. Watch out for it because it would suck to lose your armor or even die when you’re this close to the boss. Once it’s gone, jump to the right via the platforms provided and you will see the boss at the far end.

Stage 3 Boss - Giant Worm
You have to be careful how you jump onto the platform at the end, if you jump there at all, because the boss will immediately circle around you and you will likely hit you if you double jump there. Do a single jump there or just stand at the edge of the platform. Now that that’s out of the way, the boss is actually very simple to defeat. It will circle around you for awhile, shoot a bunch of brown globules into the air and then disappear. The brown globules will fall back down and the whole thing will start again. Usually the globules are all spaced far enough apart so you can get in between them but you should try to find a safety spot where you can get hit and not fall off the platform. Most of the weapons are good against this boss since it has a very predictable pattern - just stand in place and hit the boss in the head or switch directions as the boss turns and continue hitting it.