Holy Diver/Stage 3 Dokugake Tairiku

The third stage of the game is forest themed, but still contains elements of the previous levels. It also contains a jump power-up in the third section that will permanently increase the height of the character's jumps.

Into the forest
From the start there won't be any enemies. As you make your way to the right, you'll eventually be surprised by some underground enemies that pop up. Start shooting them immediately. These lizard-like creatures will bounce up and down before they start shooting fireballs at you and hopping horizontally. The second group of these will be joined by a wheel. Run back if you need a way to avoid taking damage.

When you get to the pits of lava, equip Blizzard. Hop onto one of the platforms and wait for a flying beetle to appear. Use Blizzard when it gets close, but will allow you to maneuver past it. Continue running to the right, ignoring the frozen enemies, and head through the doorway.

Scaling the tree
The second part of stage 3 is very short, but there are a lot of things that can get you killed. Right when you appear there will be two beetles flying around, dodge them until they fly off screen. Before they come back, climb up the branches, avoiding the water drops from the eye, until you reach the top (sixth or so branch).

Inside the tree
You'll see a beetle in the top right area. Again, you'll want to move fast but make dodging them your priority. Fall to the bottom left (in the middle right you may have noticed an opening). Grab the boots here, then hop back up to the right and enter through the gap halfway up.

A fishy cavern
Lava, flying fish, and more bats. You'll meet a new enemy right away, the flying fish. It keeps its distance from you at first, spawning little fish that swim across the ground until they hit a wall. Wait until it dives towards you before trying to attack it. Take your time in this area, and kill everything that might harm you. With your new jumping ability the bats shouldn't be much of a problem.

Make your way to the right and climb the stairs.

Even more fishy
After climbing the stairs, take out the two flying fish that are visible right away. Try to avoid moving to the left or you might cause a third flying fish to come after you at the same time. The best way to fight these two is to be standing on the ground when they dive at you. If you're at the right height, the fish won't move far enough to hit you, but they'll be at the perfect height to be shot at.

After the third fish, you'll pick up an MP upgrade here that will give you a bonus 8 MP. Move to the left onto the platforms in the lava, and face the fourth and fifth flying fish. After taking them out, use Blizzard to cross the lava pit and get on top of the high platform. Move forward here, towards a new enemy shooting fireballs high and low. The projectiles don't vary in height, so find a safe location where you can duck and continue to shoot the enemy until it is gone. Move to the left and use the same strategy on the next green enemy. Climb the stairs once more.

More platforms
Climb up the platforms to the top right. Take your time and take out the wheel enemies if they get close to you. Let them bounce around before moving up the platforms.

Infinite wheel passage
From the start, drop down into the hole and move to the right. This will protect you from the first wheels that appear. There are an infinite number of them here, so keep moving and taking them out. Eventually you'll get another wing power-up (16 MP). Drop down into the hole afterwards.

Lava galore
Climb down the stairs and take out the bat. If you want the power-up, you'll have to take 1.5 bars of damage to wade through the water and sink down far enough to grab it. Hop back up to the left, and through the platform to avoid taking more lava damage.

Move to the right until you reach the waterfall of lava. Use Blizzard and destroy a 2 block passage straight ahead. When you get through, hop up onto the green blocks and duck to defeat the green monster. Destroy the bat, then grab the health bar upgrade before moving on.

Beetle-mania
Right when you enter you're going to be facing three beetles. You can enter and exit here freely to plan out where you're going to go, so don't feel rushed at first. Run to the right until they start moving, wait for them to rotate around you and rush off the screen. Avoid the fourth one that appears.

Move up to the left, avoiding the ones that appear from the top, then rush to the top right.

Boss
You'll enter into a grassy room, and the door will close behind you.

The fight will appear right away. There are two large pink plant-like enemies that move vertically across the screen. You can see the top of the one on the right, so don't move over there. Stand in the middle, and wait for the one on the left to fly from the top to the bottom of the screen. It will fire out a worm enemy that can be destroyed, so turn and kill it. The two large enemies are your target, and can be damaged at any time, but focus your attacks on the ones that appear at the bottom.

Remember to always kill the worms right away, otherwise you'll be overrun by them (they don't die unless you kill them). Stand close to the bosses when they appear on the ground, because they fire projectiles left and right but not near to them.

Once you kill both of them, the walls and background will disintegrate and your new spell, overdrive, will appear. Grab it to move on to the fourth level.