Cosmo Police Galivan (Famicom)/Area 1

Get the Hyper Ray
Your first goal is to travel from the starting location (the yellow S) to the first captured Cosmo Police waiting at M1. Along the way, you will encounter three purple skeletons who wield blades of their own. Beyond the passage to the next area, you will encounter a plant just before the elevator. The plant spits four bits of pollen into the air, but you can safely attack the plant without fear of taking damage if you strike the stalk with the very tip of your blade. It is recommended that you wander back and forth between this plant and the starting location until you a) earn 10 experience points and reach level 2, and b) collect 8 P chips and enable your Cosmo armor.

Once you've done that, take the elevator up one floor and head left. You'll find the first captured Cosmo Police. He will tell you that items and weapons require CP to use, and that they are dropped by defeated enemies. Then he will give you the Hyper Ray, which can destroy red gates with three shots. If you exit the room and return to speak with him, he will tell you that Cosmo Power lets you block projectiles with your blade.

Destroy the computer
Your next goal is to reach B1. Ride the elevator down to the bottom. Along the way, you will see a two headed rock, and another plant. Either of these enemies are likely to provide you with a CP capsule. Beyond the plant is a captured police at M2. He will tell you about raising your blade's level by attacking enemies, and he will advise you to raise your blades to level A as soon as possible.

Continue riding the elevator down. When you reach the bottom, shoot the gate on the right with three Hyper Ray shots. As you cross the cavern on the bottom of the map to the right, you will encounter another new enemy, a giant caterpillar the rises straight up out of the ground, and fires a shot at you. The shot is slow and easy to dodge, but you have to be close to the caterpillar to destroy it, so it's likely to hit you. At level C, it takes 11 hits from the Beam Blade to defeat them.

When you reach the opposite side, you will be at the bottom of another elevator shaft. Beyond the red gate to the right is the computer. It's advised that you try to increase your Beam Blade level to B before you take on the computer in order to cut down on how many hits you need to make. In the process, you are also likely to reach Level 2, which will increase the amount of hit points you have, and decrease the likelihood of getting killed.

When you're ready, shoot the gate open with three Hyper Ray shots, and head inside. The computer remains motionless on the right side of the room, but it occasionally shoots three bolts at you, so be prepared to dodge them. Strike the computer with your blade until it blows up. With the computer gone, several locked gates (signified by the pink doors) that will open and allow you access.

Get the Star Crystal
With the computer gone, you can now head back out to the elevator shaft, ride up one level, and explore the passage to the left. This corridor is occupied by very tough enemies, including one new one, a bug that walks around with its head near the floor and its tail in the air. It spits bullets from its mouth at regular intervals, so you can anticipate them and jump over them. This is another enemy that takes a large number of hits to defeat, even more than the caterpillars, so be patient. They back away from you, but there's a limit to how far back they may retreat, so you can eventually corner them if you follow them long enough.

After you defeat the second such bug, you'll reach another reg gate. Shoot thee Hyper Ray shots to open it and step inside. This is M4. The capture police inside tells you about warp gates, and he gives you the Star Crystal, which is capable of providing you with access to the warp gate in Area 1.

Travel to another dimension
Now that you have the Star Crystal, you should find the warp gate. Head back out to the right, and return to the elevator shaft. Ride the elevator up to the top. Along the way, you'll pass the entrance to B2. If you step inside, you'll find a strange bubble monster. This monster can spit bubbles at you capable of robbing you of 40 hit points if you're not wearing armor. If you're confident, you can try to take this monster on and earn the helpful Cosmo Power before continuing to the top of the elevator shaft.

At the top, head to the right to talk with the captured police in M3. He will tell you that you need the Metal Blade to defeat the boss. Then exit to the left and jump across the elevator shaft to the corridor at the top of the area. This corridor will be very similar to the one along the bottom, presenting no new enemies. Try to fill your GP meter and get your armor back if you've lost it.

Back in the original elevator shaft, ride the elevator down one floor, and shoot the gate to the right with three Hyper Ray shots. Inside, you'll encounter a few purple skeletons and two-faced rocks. The skeletons in this corridor don't have blades, they throw projectiles at you instead. Other than that, they are no different. After defeating a caterpillar, you'll reach a dead-end, with a two-faced rock on the opposite side of a wall. This should be an indication to you that the wall can be removed. If you use your Star Crystal here, the wall will in fact crumble away and reveal an elevator shaft.

Ride the new elevator down to the bottom. After clearing away one skeleton, you'll encounter three head-standing bugs, one on the top path and two on the bottom. You aren't required to clear all of them away, but you can for the experience points. Shoot the gate on the left with three Hyper Ray shots, and step inside. You'll find the first warp gate. Jump up and press together to activate the warp.



Claim the Metal Blade
Now you will be in a different dimension. As a result, the enemies will be different, but hardly more difficult. From your starting position, head to the right. You will begin to see mushrooms that slowly fall from the ceiling. They fire one puff of particles at you. If you already obtained Cosmo Power, you can easily remove the particles with your blade. Stand beneath the mushrooms and hold up while you swing your blade above you. The mushrooms appear continuously, so this is an excellent location to upgrade the level of the Beam Blade to A, which you reach at 300 blade experience points. You should also be close to reaching Level 4 if you haven't already.

When you're ready, cross the corridor to the right. You can enter B1 if you like, but you will only encounter three bats inside, which you must defeat in order to escape from the room. Ride the elevator down to the lower floor. The exit from this dimension is found to the right, so run to the left instead. You will reach the entrance to room B2.

When you step inside, you'll see a fairy who asks you if you'd like to learn something for 50 CP. If you say yes to this, she'll take your CP and insult you. However, if you say no (or if you say yes, but don't have 50 CP), she will attack you. She stays in the air and drops particles on you. You can easily defeat her by remaining on the ground, running beneath her, and stabbing upward. When you defeat her, you will earn the Metal Blade.

Preparing for the boss
Be aware that the Metal Blade will start at Rank C, and using it will be like returning to Rank B of the Beam Blade. The Metal Blade is required to defeat the boss, so it's best to improve it to at least Rank B before trying to take the boss on. The Metal Blade requires 120 blade experience points to rank up, so if you're patient, head out and destroy 120 mushrooms until the blade improves before returning to your home dimension. In the process, you should also be able to reach Level 5. This is by no means required, but it will decrease the level of difficulty throughout the rest of the area.

Locate the boss
When you're ready, run back across the lower corridor of the other dimension to find the warp gate that will return you home. Run back to the right, up the elevator, and back to the left. You will be in the original elevator shaft. You can either go to the top or the bottom, but the top path will be quicker. Head to the right and reach the second elevator shaft. Take it to the second floor from the top, right outside of B2.

If you've already defeated the bubble monster, you can sail right through the room and go straight to the boss. If you haven't, you'll have to take it down now and receive the Cosmo Power ability. Then the door to the right will open and allow you to face the area boss. It's a very good idea to have your armor active, and to be as close to full hit points as possible before you enter. Remember to set the Metal Blade as your weapon.

Boss battle
The boss (which looks suspiciously like Ridley from the series) will appear when you're halfway through the corridor. Head all the way to the right, and the boss will follow you. The boss has a simple behavior. It bounces up and down several times before firing off three balls that erupt into jets of flame when they hit the ground. When he shoots off these balls, he will leap over you, and then return to your vicinity. If you stay near the right wall, he will always bounce up and down alongside it. When he's doing this, you can get rather close to him without touching him, push and jump up to strike him in the head with your blade. You should be able to hit him on the way down as well as on the way up. Then be prepared to back away and dodge the balls as they descend. When the flame jets clear up, return to your former position and stab upwards again. The boss has 200 hit points, and a Rank B Metal Blade takes ten points off with every hit. Once defeated, the boss will explode, and the path to will be opened.