Contra (NES)/Stage 3

Waterfall
Here’s the only stage in the game that goes upwards instead of to the right and it’s a pretty easy stage to boot. It’s roughly as the same as the previous stage, only that this one is a lot more fun in my opinion. Also, did anyone notice that we don’t really go near a waterfall besides the one in the background so technically we could call this stage Mountain or something along those lines. Anyway. Head up but avoid the sides because rocks will occasionally fall out of the small holes in the rock. Avoid the item container if you have the spread gun or even the machine gun. There’ll be another item container ahead with a laser; I’d recommend that you avoid this as well as it sucks. Further up, there’ll be a Sniper waiting on the far right. Kill him.

Ignore the Scuba Guy in the waterfall, you don’t really have to kill him... unless you want to of course. When the screen scrolls up again there’ll be a turret in the top right corner. Quickly jump to the upper right ledge and destroy the turret from either the bottom or the left if you have the Spread Gun. If you accidentally activated the turret before you were able to get into position, you’ll have to destroy it from the bottom where they’re surely be Soldiers coming in from the right. Watch out for them. Once you destroy that turret, there’ll be a long bridge connecting the two ledges on the left and the right side. Two small flames will also be moving back and forth across the bridge so be careful.

Two item capsule will fly up from the bottom of the screen when you reach the bridge. One of them is a rapid fire, the other one is a barrier. Unfortunately, the turret above you will activate so now you’ll have to destroy it. If you have the spread gun, you can destroy it easily. If you don’t you have to get up there, stand up and fire at it in turns until it’s destroyed. Its best to stand under the ledge above you so the Soldiers don’t jump down on you. After its destroyed, continue up until you see the moving rock. Jump up to activate the turret nearby and destroy it. Now jump onto the moving rock and then to the right ledge. Kill the Scuba Guy to the left and then continue up. If you don’t kill him, watch out for it’s bullets when they land.

Ignore the Scuba Guy to the left and continue up, but you can kill him the same way you did the other one. There’s another spread gun in the item container ahead. Get it if you need it. Now destroy the turret above you and then jump up to make the screen scroll upwards. Destroy the turret on the long ledge quickly because Soldiers will start coming in from the right to pester you. Jump again to activate the two turrets above you and then destroy them with your Spread Gun from below. If you don’t have the spread gun anymore, it will be difficult. This stage is easy and you just got a spread gun a little earlier. You can probably get the turret on the left by staying below it and hitting its blind spot.

The one on the right can be destroyed by firing diagonally at it or from right under it. Just watch out for the Soldiers here. After they’re gone carefully make your way up to the ledge where the left turret was and jump onto the moving rock there. Ignore the item container if you have the spread gun. If you don’t, the machine gun inside it will do you well. You're near the end of the stage now so enjoy the change in scenery while it lasts. Continue up and kill the Sniper waiting on the left ledge above, then keep going and you'll be at the boss.

Boss: Mechanical alien
Run to a corner right away and start firing at the arm closest to you. By now both arms should moving around and they’ll occasionally shoot fireballs out of the ends roughly every eight seconds or so. The head will also shoot out fireballs to the left, center, and right but at longer intervals than the arms. If you concentrate all your shooting on one arm you’ll be able to destroy it quickly. After that, start firing at the second arm and you’ll make short work of it. Now stand a little to either side of the head and start plugging it with bullets. If you’re in the right spot it shouldn’t be able to hit you with it’s fireballs. It’s head and chest will blow up to reveal the next stage, ugh, another base stage.