Karnov/Stage 3


 * At the start of the stage, you will be greeted by a fire breathing demon who is guarding a Red Orb just behind him. As you approach and begin to attack it, a flock of six birds will appear overhead.  Don't worry too much about the birds and take out the demon.
 * When you are done, a tree trunk will block your progress over the gap. You have two choices.  You can climb up the trunk (shown right), or you can create a bridge by placing a bomb at the base of the trunk.  If you climb, you must remember to jump off the top and over to the right.  You will see some power-up tiles that you can collect if you use shoes or a ladder, including a water-breathing helmet which you will need in Stage 5.
 * On the other side of the gap, small winged demons will fly around, and you will be attacked by a unique enemy. The enemy appears as a series of small circles, which will move about the screen in straight lines, stopping to change direction and chase after you.  Focus your attack so that you destroy the lead circle until all of them are gone.
 * As you approach the next gap, if you jump in front of the tree, a random tile will appear. Jump from ledge to ledge and another flock of birds will appear.  You will eventually reach a level platform that contains a series of rocks (shown left).  Some rocks are merely obstacles, where the bottoms can be shot out so that you can jump over them.  The other rocks are actually live enemies that transform and attack you when you attack them.
 * Once you jump over the last rock, you will be standing in front of a chasm. You have two choices; you can drop down the chasm, or ignore it by jumping over it.

Dropping down the chasm

 * Dropping down the chasm is definitely the easier of the two options, although it's not without its own danger. As you proceed right, you will begin to see a series of K marks.  But before you can begin collecting them, a golden robot will appear (shown right).  As always, attack it as rapidly as possible to destroy it before it disassembles.
 * Collect the K marks as you walk right. If you jump near the middle of the tunnel, a flame and shoes tile will appear.  Midway through, four soldiers will appear, two on either side of you, and close in.  Attack them before proceeding to the right.  Before you reach the ladder to climb back out, you will encounter yet another golden robot.  (Watch out for projectiles being shot at you from the left as you climb out of the chasm.)

Ignoring the chasm

 * As soon as you jump over the chasm, you may regret the decision—a merman will appear (shown right). This is the same type of merman that you fought against as a boss in the first stage.  Use the same strategy to defeat him, and them continue on.
 * You will see a brown stone thrower appear, but don't be in such a rush to start attacking him. The best strategy is to stand on the step just in front of him (see the picture below) and attack him from there.  The rocks he throws will go right over your head.  Just behind him will be another enemy disguised as a rock.
 * Past the rock enemy, you will encounter the same duo again; a brown stone thrower and a rock enemy. Watch out for the rock enemy's projectiles as you climb the steps.  After you defeat the rock enemy, you will see the ladder that leads up from the chasm.  If you use a ladder tile where the last rock enemy stood, you can find a few K marks and power-up tiles in the sky.

Stage end

 * The next section is a repeat of the enemy duo from the portion above the chasm; a brown stone thrower and a rock enemy. Use the strategy of shooting the brown stone thrower from the step below (shown right) and then take out the rock enemy.
 * If you jump up in the air on the final ledge that the rock thrower waited upon, a boomerang tile will appear. In addition, when you drop down to the floor below, you can jump up to make two Red Orbs appear and power Karnov up to maximum fire power if he's not already.  A flock of six birds will appear at that time, just before the boss.

Boss: Tyrannosaurus and Two-headed Dragon

 * When you first reach the boss, you may only see the tyrannosaurus (shown right). If you plan on defeating the bosses one at a time, you should not move further to the right until you have defeated the dinosaur first.  If you have the boomerang, you can utilize a technique that will remove both bosses in one single hit.
 * Provided you have the boomerang, activate it, but do not attack right away. Run toward the tyrannosaurus and wait until the last moment to jump up in the air and throw the boomerang at it's head.  If you wait long enough, not only will the two headed dragon appear behind the tyrannosaurus, but your boomerang throw should go far enough to hit both bosses in the head and eliminate them with one shot.  Then you will collect the map piece and proceed to the next level.
 * If you don't have the boomerang, you have a much tougher fight ahead of you, and must take on the bosses one at a time. While facing the tyrannosaurus, keep a safe distance away, jump straight up, and do not attack until Karnov is at the peak of his jump and falling down.  Then fire at the head.  Every time he is hit, the dino will spit fire at you.  Run away when you land, and at the last minute, jump over the flames to the right.  Repeat the sequence of attacking on your way down from your jump, running away, and leaping over the flames until the boss is defeated.
 * When it's safe, proceed forward and you will encounter the dragon (shown left). The strategy against the dragon is similar in that you must hit it in the head, but it pays to be a bit more aggressive against the dragon.  The dragon fires two different projectiles.  Both are small, but one will hit the ground and split apart into five separate projectiles. Jump over the first one, attack the head, and hopefully the second projectile will sail over your head as a result.  Fire non-stop, but time your jumps carefully.  Continue hitting the dragon until it is destroyed.

NES differences

 * You cannot use a bomb on the tree at the beginning of the stage to make a bridge, so you must climb it. It doesn't prevent you from trying to run past it either, but you won't be able to make the jump across the gap, even with jump shoes since they don't speed you up in this version like they do in the arcade.
 * You must use both a ladder and the shoes in order to collect the water breathing helmet found on the other side of the gap beyond the tree. You don't have to shoot out the bottom of the rocks, and the enemies disguised as rock are much easier to pick out since they are an entirely different color.
 * In the chasm, only one golden robot will appear in the beginning, and no other enemies. You can still make two item tiles appear by jumping in the empty space between K marks (shown left).  If you skip the chasm, the Merman will only be able to appear if the two birds that appear before hand are completely off the screen.  You can use a mask at that location to find two K marks and a Clapper.
 * Use a ladder at the end of the last cliff before the boss to find a shield tile. You cannot make a boomerang tile appear by jumping on that ledge, but you can make one appear on the floor below by jumping over the large rock in the background.  There is only one boss here, the Tyrannosaurus (shown right).
 * You can use two different strategies against him. You can use a boomerang, but note that it takes two hits to destroy him.  If you choose this method, throw the boomerang on the floor, and it will fly up and hit the head on the return.  Make sure you jump up to catch the boomerang so that you can throw it a second time.  Alternatively, you may opt to use the shield so that you can fire at the head continuously.  Remember that the shield will only block five shots.