Ghosts 'n Goblins/Stage 5

Walkthrough

 * The first section of this stage presents itself as a jumping challenge. You must successfully ride the floating platforms from the left to the right, and jump from one to the next in order to progress across the stage.  There are some bottomless pits to avoid, but there are occasional breaking points along the way in the form of plateaus.  Unfortunately, getting out of these plateaus and back onto the platforms can be a bit of a pain itself.
 * Jumping horizontally from one platform to the next doesn't pose too much of a challenge. Your momentum continues with the motion of the platform (in the arcade version, not in the NES version), so leaping straight up can actually make you leap in the direction of the platform.  Jumping up from a lower platform to a higher platform can be difficult, however, if the next platform is rather high.  Try jumping straight up and late as the higher platform cross above you in hopes that it snags you just as you are about to fall.


 * You must continue to navigate back and forth along each level to find the ladders that lead you higher into the tower. Along the way, you will encounter a Red Arremer.  Deal with it as you normally would, making sure to destroy it before advancing and provoking any more monsters to attack you.  Unfortunately, there are no chances to reclaim your armor throughout this stage so protect yourself vigorously.


 * Eventually, the floors of the tower break along the center, and floating platforms are the only means available to cross them. To make matters worse, ladders are not available on every side, so you are forced to utilize the platforms in an effort to reach the top.  Ogres are the designated guardians of the platform floors.  Be sure to wait until the Ogres have moved far enough away from the ladder to safely climb up to their floor and destroy them.
 * Use the platforms to cross over to the left, climb up a ladder, and then back to the right. Remember that you will have to deal with Ogres on both sides.  Once you climb up another ladder, the hole in the center of the floor will be small enough to jump over.  This is how you will know that you are close to reaching the end of the stage.


 * The path leading up to the boss is actually fairly inactive. You will not have to worry about any surprise attacks until you reach the very top.  Make sure that you are mentally prepared to go to battle with the toughest enemy that you have ever faced in the game so far: Satan.

Boss
Dealing with Satan can make any player pine for the old days when fighting Red Arremers was the most difficult activity in the game. Satans are far worse. They are stronger, quicker, and take more hits to destroy. When they float in midair, they will sometimes cloak their body with their wings. When this occurs, they are invulnerable to all forms of attack. You must wait for them to open their wings, and when they do, they typically spit fireballs at you and swoop down to attack you. What's worse is that they tend to glide upwards a bit when they finish attacking, which sometimes puts them out of your weapon's reach. To deal with this, you can attempt to use ladders to lure them down to a lower height. Be aware, however, that this technique is not without it's risks since you are slower and locked into one vertical column until you are completely at the top or the bottom. Even if you do use the ladder, you must recover quickly and begin firing as soon as you are able to, or at least as soon as Satan unfurls his wings. In the older versions of this game, you must hit the Satan six times to defeat him, while the newer versions of the game only require four hits. For whatever reason, Satan is invulnerable to the Axe in the NES version.

Arcade
There are no secrets in the arcade version of Stage 5