Dragon Spirit/Stage 8

If the game has not been difficult enough already, this stage puts you at an almost comical disadvantage by limiting your field of view as you fly through a dark cavern. You can only see a short distance ahead of you, although this distance can be increased by locating one of the yellow eggs that are unique to this stage, bombing it and collecting the yellow orb which appears. Doing so will extend your field of vision considerably, but you are still pretty limited. The only bit of good news is that the stage is shorter than most.

It that weren't bad enough, the stage starts off by sending a giant crystal known as a Splinter Rock at you. It not indestructible, but it takes so many concentrated hits to destroy (for a measly 100 points), that you're best off ignoring it completely unless you're incredibly powered-up. The first yellow egg will appear slightly right of center. Bomb it to collect the vision enhancer it contains. Then you should be able to see further ahead, but only for a limited time.

Around the time that you collect the orb, a squad of red floating enemies known as Brain Eyes will arrive. They hover near the top of the screen until you get close to them, and then rush at you to attack. Even in the dark, you can see their blue eyes. Blast your way past them, and then prepare to bomb the small plant animals known as Anmos that appear on the ground. If you can't see their location, look for the source of the projectiles they shoot.

More Brain Eyes will appear, and a red egg will appear on the right. The second Anmo on the ground will be flashing. A blue egg will be on the ground shortly behind the Anmo. While Brain Eyes continue to appear, four Splinter Rocks will come down the screen. Avoid them, but do be on the lookout for a second yellow egg slightly left of center, which will come in handy since the vision enhancement you got from the first yellow egg is about to end.

Brain Eyes will continue, and a blue egg will appear behind another Anmo on the right. Shortly after that, a blue Jellyfish will waft down the screen, bobbing up and down as it goes. A flashing Anmo will appear on the right, and a red egg will appear in the middle shortly after. As the next major threat approaches, you begin to encounter one-eyed winged creatures known as Hand Eyes, who behave similarly to Brain Eyes.

You'll soon encounter a large purple creature who occupies the majority of the ground with a single eye in the middle. This creature is only known as Big Eye and it is the only one in the game. You'll have to bomb it 16 times in order to destroy it, and it doesn't even award any points. It shoots a steady stream of bullets at you which makes it nearly impossible to hold still and bomb it, so you're better off ignoring it.

On the other side of the Big Eye, large groups of Hand Eyes will be gathered around. A blue egg will appear directly above the Big Eye. Right when a red egg appears on the right, you will be presented with the last new enemy of the stage: Fire Eyes. Fire Eyes are ground based insects who can make their abdominal glow, making them slightly easier to find in the dark. Also around this time, your most recent vision enhancement will end.

You'll have to travel a few seconds with the limited view before you can locate another yellow egg among the Fire Eyes. At the same time, however, more Splinter Rocks will drop down the screen. So many will begin to fall, that they create their own mini-labyrinth that you must navigate around in order to avoid taking damage. Getting the orb from the next yellow egg will help considerably, but even if you fail to obtain it, you should pay attention to your shots getting stopped by an object. This object will be a Splinter Egg, and you'll need to fly to a different location to avoid getting hit.

A red egg appear on the right just above the yellow egg. More Fire Eyes will appear on the ground for you to bomb, and after a short distance, another yellow egg will appear on the left (followed by another red egg above it.) Anmos and Jellyfish will appear near the end of the stage, followed by a final few Splinter Rocks. Eventually, the enemies will stop, and your field of vision will go dark completely for a moment, just before you reach the boss.

Boss: Turn Way Guard
The lights will return in full fashion for this boss fight. The boss of the stage is a portal to the next stage. However, in order to pass through the portal, you'll have to extinguish the light emanating from the two eyes on top of the portal. To do so, you simply shoot at the eyes until they darken. Naturally, it won't be that easy. The eyes themselves shoot some kind of beam at you. And the portal will constantly spawn Hand Eyes which fly into the room and attack you. You'll need to find opportunities between the beams to shoot at the eyes, and then fly around to lure the beams and Hand Eyes away from your current location until it's safe to fire again. You'll need to move just far enough away to avoid getting hit, but not too far that it's too difficult to get into position to shoot at the eyes. If you successfully extinguish the light from both eyes, you will be permitted to fly through the portal to the final stage.