Karnov/Stage 8


 * This is a short, straight-forward stage with no path decisions to make. That's a good thing because you'll be too busy defending yourself to make decisions.  From the start, walk right and some knights will appear, and smalled winged demons will fly overhead.
 * As you continue right, you will reach a tree where a spirit (the collection of circles that you first encountered in ) will rise up and then fly down to attack you (shown right). Stand still in a safe place where neither the demons or the spirit can hit you and fire continuously until they are all defeated.  Then collect the Red Orb behind the tree, and use a ladder to collect four K marks up in the tree branches if you like.
 * As you walk forward, you will see a large statue with a blue eye that spits a trio of needles at you. You can stop the statue from spitting needles by shooting the eyes until they go gray.  If you use a ladder between the first and second statues, you will find a mask and wings in the air (shown left).  The wings can no longer help you, but there's an opportunity to use the mask at the end of the stage.
 * After shooting the third statue, be sure to grab the free boomerang tile. Beyond that statue, you will find another impostor woman lying on the ground by a shoe and ladder tile.  When you get close, it will leap back and transform into a fire-spitting lizard.  Shoot it and continue right.
 * Next, a trio of brown tree demons will fall from the branches above, hit the ground, and run toward you. They can take a few shots to destroy, so be sure to fire at them rapidly in an attempt to remove them before they reach you.
 * After this trio of tree demons, another spirit will be waiting for you, followed very closely by a red flame riding demon. Be prepared to dodge the projectile that the flame riding demon shoots at you as you battle the spirit.  Two more red demons follow, and they fire almost immediately upon entering the screen, so be prepared to jump.
 * The flame riding demons are followed by four more tree demons dropping to the ground in quick succession (shown right). Don't press forward unless you are sure that you can destroy each tree as they fall down.  This is followed by a group of small winged demons flying in from the right.

Boss: Tyrannosaur
In a small act of mercy, the boss for this stage is a single Tyrannosaur. Since you have plenty of experience with these, you will know which strategy to employ; either take it out with a single throw of a boomerang, or carefully attack it with fire on your way down from jumps. It just so happens that right before the boss appears, your mask tile will blink if you have one. This will create a small group of tiles for you to collect, but the wisdom of collecting them is debatable. Because of the dinosaur's presence, they may be more dangerous to collect than they are worth. However, if you don't already have a boomerang, this is your chance to get one and make quick work of the boss. Make this decision carefully.