Gradius/Stage 5

• • You get quite an extensive pre-stage period here, with numerous chances for power-ups, and you'll need it. Take advantage of the situation and be sure to deck yourself out with four Options and lasers if you can manage. Shields are also especially helpful. Missiles won't help you much here, so don't worry about them if you don't have them.

• • This stage is, from start to finish, all about fighting the Tentacle enemies. Tentacles are pink blobs with anywhere from zero to four tentacles arranged around them. Each of the tentacles point themselves at the Vic Viper and spray tiny orange bullets into space. The bullets are not especially fast, but the tentacles fire so many of them that it can be very difficult to maneuver around them or through them. Sometimes, having a shield is the only way to survive the hail storm of bullets.

• There is very little else to talk about since you will fight nothing but Tentacles on this stage, even during the sub-boss fight. Devising a good strategy for Tentacles is easy enough to do. The quicker you destroy the tentacles around the blob, the quicker the bullets will stop, so focus on the arms before you focus on the body. With the right placement of laser beams, you can take out several arms at one time.

• • Remember that the weak point on the arms is the one off-color orb in the middle of the arm. Once the arms are removed, the remaining blob is very little of a threat to the Vic Viper, other than collision. If there are no other Tentacles to worry about, you can concentrate your laser fire on the blob until it shrivels up and gets destroyed. There can be up to three Tentacles on the screen together. Make sure you prioritize the biggest threat to your safety.

• As mentioned above, the sub-boss of this stage is the same as the rest of its contents: more Tentacles. The only difference is that space will stop flying by while you battle against the remaining creatures. Continue with the same strategy of removing the bullet firing arms first, and then concentrating fire on the remaining blob. Do this until the Big Core shows up. At that time, any remaining Tentacles will automatically lose their arms, and drift off the left side of the screen. Be careful since collision is still possible.