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Venom, the final planet of the Lylat system. The biggest threat here is Andross, and despite being the final boss, he is actually very easy if you know exactly what to do. There are two different ways you can come about him, the first being coming from the easy path. When you face Andross at this difficulty, you simply need to destroy him once, then destroy the second mechanical monkey head.

When taking the easy route, you actually experience the whole level of Venom, with the inclusion of 1 boss before Andross. There is one universal technique that works for both routes when defeating Andross. In his first form, simply shoot at his eye constantly until he goes to rub it. Take this opportunity to shoot at his hands as much as possible, and if he finishes rubbing, simply repeat the process until both hands are destroyed. Then simply shoot at his eye to destroy him.

Before facing Andross when coming from the hard path, you have to face Star Wolf. After you finish off the Star Wolf team, you will descend into the volcano to reach Andross. There are many different paths you can take when entering, but the optimal path is LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, LEFT, RIGHT, RIGHT.

When you take that path, you should obtain 2 laser power ups, a bomb, and 3 gold rings, everything you need to destroy Andross. Now, when you do defeat Andross' first form, on the hard path, you will then have to defeat his brain form in all-range mode. In order to be able to destroy the brain, you first have to destroy the eyes. If you time it right, you can throw a bomb at just the right moment to destroy both eyes, just as they're being released.

After this, you simply have to destroy his brain. Its weak spot should be terribly obvious. Occasionally when you hit him, he will teleport. It's a very predictable pattern. If he teleports, simply do a U-Turn, and he's right there. Once you finish him off, he says, "If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me!" After he says this, Fox will scream and the screen will go white, but then his father tells him never to give up.

Then comes the final part of the level, following James McCloud out of Andross' lair. This is slightly difficult, considering Fox's father is moving slightly faster, but you must follow James at all times, because if you fall behind, you will die. And if you take a wrong turn, you will also die. But once you follow him out, the game is over. Congratulations! Also, in order to obtain a medal from Venom, you must destroy 200 or more enemies, and keep all of your wing-men alive. This is fairly easy to do as long as you kill off the Star Wolf team quickly, which should get you a 50-Hit combo if you are fast enough.