Gradius/Stage 2

• • Once the pre-stage portion is over, and this stage starts in ernest, you will be free to pilot the Vic Viper or down continuously. The screen will begin to scroll in the opposite direction to keep the ship roughly in the center of the screen. The bottom of the stage wraps around to the top of the stage and vice versa.

• • The first thing that you may notice about the stage is that it composed of two types of rocks, an indestructible white stone, and smaller destructible pink rocks. While the white stones construct the alleys and tunnels through which you must pilot the Vic Viper, the pink rocks server as removable barriers through which you must create your own pathways. It becomes important to pick a path early on and commit to it.

• There are two major enemies throughout this stage; the Dee-01 cannons and Gaomu hatches. The first hatches you encounter will be fairly easy to destroy, but the hatch depicted in the image to the right is particularly troublesome because you can't take a direct shot at it since it is protected by the rocks. You can either position yourself to attack the enemies it released as quickly as possible, or avoid it and the enemies by flying directly above it.

• By this time, you should be able to achieve and activate the Shields power-up. It will come in handy on this level, but you must be certain to steer the Vic Viper cleanly through the tunnels. The Shield will wear down prematurely if it rubs up against the walls, and it will provide you with less protection in the long run. If possible, wait to activate shields when you are clear of the tunnels.

• • Large numbers of Dee-01 cannons populate the rocks throughout this stage. In the middle of the stage, you must choose from among a selection of tunnels, all lined with cannons. Commit to one tunnel, and use missiles and lasers to take them out quickly, but watch out for the bullets they fire. Due to the limited space of the tunnels, it can be difficult to avoid their attacks, so shift your position carefully, and take the cannons out as quickly as possible.

• • Towards the very end of the stage is a huge cluster of rocks and Dee-01 cannons. A large proportion of them are red, and as a result, it's not too uncommon to end up revealing a blue Crash capsule among the power-up capsules. When you see it, wait until a good number of cannons are on the screen, and collect it to destroy as many enemies as possible. Approach the capsule carefully so that you don't collide with the rocks in the process of picking it up.

• When you get near the end of the stage, you will find yourself behind to thin regions of white rocks surrounded by a large barrier of pink rocks. You can choose to move through either pink section, but one is a little more easy to pilot through than the other. Immediately begin shooting a path through the pink rocks. As you do, the first batch of Zabus will begin to appear. Hold your position near the left side of the screen, and they will all pretty much fly right into your line of fire.

• More Zabus will appear once you break through to the other side of the barrier. Again, you can hold your position and destroy most of them until you come to a stop in open space. At this time, a multitude of Zabus will begin to appear all around you in random locations. You can either move around to avoid each appearance or, if you have many Options and lasers, you can park somewhere on the left side of the screen with the Options all around you, and pretty much destroy every one. Be ready to move out of the way just in case one Zabu appears inside your defenses. Eventually, the Zabus will stop appearing and the Big Core will arrive.