Karnov/Stage 6


 * The difficulty of the game ramps up significantly from this point forward. You will encounter several previous stage bosses as regular enemies, including the mermen and the lion tamers.  This level also challenges the notion that you are safer traveling above the ground.
 * At the start of the stage, a red flame riding demon will occupy the sky over the building and shoot down at you. He will stick around and you can't attack him from the ground.  However, if you activate a ladder and begin to climb up to his level, there is a good chance he will flee.  From there, you may decide to climb to the top and walk along the roof of the building, or climb back down to reclaim the ladder and stick to the ground.
 * Along the roof, you will only encounter a brown stone thrower, along with another red flame riding demon. When you reach the end, jump off the roof to make a wings tile appear.
 * Along the floor, you will encounter several knights (shown right), as well as pairs of swordsmen that appear on either side of you. A red flame riding demon will also appear, so be prepared to leap over the projectile it shoots at you.  You can also jump off the end of the ledge to make a wing tile appear.
 * After you pass the first building, you will reach a tall tower. The tower has a column going through the center which Karnov can not pass through.  You will be forced to climb all the way to the top of the tower before being able to progress to the other side.
 * As soon as you arrive at the tower, two mermen will appear simultaneously in front of you (shown left). It's also quite possible that a red flame riding demon will hover above you.  While you can't cross the center column, your fire breath can.  Begin rapidly shooting the first merman, and prepare to jump over both projectiles that the merman shoot.  It's safer to lure them more to the left while you fight them, but you can survive if you stay close to the tower.
 * What happens next can vary. If you took a while to defeat the mermen, it's possible that the poisonous plants which fall from the sky when you take too long will appear.  If this happens, it's doubtful that you will see more merman.  If you were quick enough, you may only encounter one or two more mermen toward the top of the tower.  If you try to run away from the two mermen, however, you will almost assuredly encounter more mermen on each level.  To make matters worse, the original mermen won't disappear, creating a terrible situation for you on the ground below.  Don't ignore the mermen; destroy each one that appears before you progress.
 * As you climb the tower, if you jump toward to center column on the early floors, a column of K marks will appear to your left. At the top of the tower, you will have an option.  Your wings tile will blink and you can fly off the top of the tower.  However, this strategy is not advised.  Even if you fly the maximum distance that you are allowed to fly, you will land in the middle of a patch of difficult enemies with no safe means of escape.  The few tiles available in the sky aren't worth the danger either.
 * Instead, climb, fall, or jump down to the bottom of the tower. A lion tamer will be waiting for you at the bottom (shown right).  (It's possible that another flame rider will be present if you didn't clear the earlier one away, so be careful.)  Use the strategy of shooting at the lions while you squat down, and be careful in case the lion tamer himself throws a knife at you.
 * After beating the lion tamer, shoot continuously as you run along the ground to the right. Fire spitting demons will appear on the roof of the building above you, but they will be unable to harm you.  Another lion tamer will appear in front of you that you must deal with.
 * After the second lion tamer, you will approach a group of odd-shaped enemies that remain stationary along the floor and rooftops (shown left). These enemies are particularly dangerous and must be dealt with carefully.  When they are destroyed, they erupt in a shower of projectiles that spread out in every direction.  The safest way to deal with them is to get just close enough to them to shoot them, and instantly turn around and run away.  Shoes can help you escape the projectiles, but they aren't necessary.
 * Once you get past the exploding enemies, you will see a large face sculpture on a wall facing right. When you run beyond it, it will fire two shots at you, first high then low.  Duck the first shot and jump over the second.  If you jump at certain places in the air, Red Orbs may appear.  Collect them to prepare for the boss fight ahead.

Boss: Two Spider Women
Just like at the end of, you must face the spider woman. Unlike the fourth stage, you must now fight two of them, and you can only encounter them on the floor. Like every multiple-boss fight, it is important to engage them only one at a time unless you wish to use a boomerang attack. However, it's easier to avoid the spider woman's projectiles so you may wish to hang on to the boomerang for a later fight. Jump up in the air, and start firing at the first spider woman on your way down from the jump, then run away from the shots she fires when you land. Return when it's safe and continue this strategy until the first spider woman is defeated. Then use the same strategy against the second spider woman.

NES Differences

 * At the start of the stage, there won't a be a red flame riding demon up in the air firing down upon you. They will, however, begin to appear in this stage, so be ready to jump over the projectiles they fire.
 * There is very little of interest on top of the building, but there is a large cache of tiles (mostly K marks) in front of the entrance of the first building before the tower for you to collect.
 * Mermen will still appear around the tower, but due to limitations in the game, only one may appear at a time (shown left). Therefore, you can decided to make one appear and ignore it to keep others away.  However, as soon as one disappears off the screen, another may appear.  You can still make stacks of K marks appear by jumping toward the center column, but far fewer of them appear.
 * You can still activate wings at the top of the tower. It's a little safer to do this in this version since the most difficult enemy to deal with, the exploding creatures, have been made extraordinarily easier, but the ground route poses less risk of you landing somewhere dangerous.
 * There are no lion tamers on the ground like there are in the arcade version. Red flame riding demons and knights will appear as you walk right from the tower.  Some of the fire breathing demons are not limited to the wall above and drop down to the ground.
 * As mentioned before, the most difficult enemy of the arcade version has been vastly weakened. The exploding creatures are unable to explode in the NES version when they are defeated.  This allows you to blast your way through them without worry.  They do continue to shoot projectiles at you when they are alive, so don't relax too much.
 * The large face statue at the end of the stage is still present, but it won't always fire at you, depending on what else is on screen. It's worth activating a shield if you have one, and collecting the shield tile that sits above the face statue.
 * Like the previous stage, the boss is a single instance of the arcade version's double boss. You will only face one Spider Woman at the end of the stage.