Thunder Force IV/Versus

At first, grab all of the items you see, and then back up. The first boss of this level (he's not really a mini-boss) is the thing that ran away in ../Alien Battlecruiser/, and you still can't directly kill it. He will attack in a specific pattern. First he fires four spreads of small bullets at you, followed by a stream of homing missiles. He will then fire eight lasers from his knees, followed by a series of lasers from his head that will go straight, then curve up or down at the exact position where your ship is. These are incredibly hard to avoid, but it can be done by going back while he fires the first eight lasers, then coming towards him when he fires the curving lasers. Occasionally he will release the orbs from his shoulders, and they will spin in the middle of the screen, slowly spreading apart with an energy beam in between them, forcing you circle the screen to avoid being hit. If you see the robot duck to the bottom of the screen, do the same thing. A huge fireball will fly past. Notice the item ships that fly past, and be sure to grab them. They may hold a 1-up or shield or claw, as well as a possible replacement for any weapons you have lost. When you reach the thing that is shooting the fireballs, use any weapon except the Freeway or Hunter to blast the giant gun. You will need these weapons for the last boss. When the gun explodes, it will take the robot with it.



Enter where the gun was and grab the 1-up. Finally, you will encounter Faust, the last boss, attempting to make an escape. Switch to Freeway, and when Faust is on the launch track, direct the full force of your Freeway towards his side. When the left side is blown off, go to the right side and do the same thing. He will fire little missiles at you the whole time, so if necessary, direct your fire up or down to blast the missiles before they kill you. Also be wary when he moves to the far side of the screen. This means he going to try to slam you into the wall. When he has lost both sides, Faust will extend four legs to the walls and begin to assault you with more missiles while moving up and down the screen. Don't try to kill the little things circling him, as they can take tons of punishment and are not really a threat. Every time he reaches the top of the screen he will release a spread of large blue orbs that will bounce around the screen. This is the time to use that hunter you were saving. Losing your Hunter will make your fight longer and harder. One of the orbs (the one whose sprite overlaps all other orbs) takes damage. Use Hunter to damage his core orb until he reacts it. Faust will move down for a few moments and then back up repeating the attack. If you don't have Hunter, you will have to fight this fight the old fashioned way. You will know when you hit the right orb when Faust flickers a shade of white. The correct orb has a predetermined path and follows that path every cycle. Use this to your advantage. When you do enough damage to his core, Faust will explode and fall off the screen.