GRADIUS GALAXIES BOSS and Power-up FAQ By The President This FAQ is meant to help you prepare for the bosses of Gradius Galaxies for the Gameboy Advance portable system, and to tell you what kind of Power-ups you can get and a summary of them. This will not tell you anything besides that. Remember, this my first FAQ attempt so I shall try to get most of the main points in battling the bosses in normal mode There are loops in this game, but the bosses stay the same, only a few of the enemy patterns. Remember, this is just to help the needy. If you do not want help for the bosses, or be spoiled by some things I say, turn back now. Ready? Good. Copyrighted (c) by The President, and this shall only be posted on www.gamefaqs.com, unless some other place along the way tickles my fancy. If any person wants to contact me on something that I forgot or messed up on in this FAQ, my email is good_and_evil24@hotmail.com. If you would like to contact me on AOL Instant Messenger, it is VanillaFire1000. Beginning version 5/23/02 -------------- I have all of the bosses done or normal difficulty. It also shows what is the best type of upgrade you can get before you face the boss. Version 1.1 1/24/03 -------------- Decided to add one of the harder parts of the game in, right it right before the last boss. Fixed some spelling. Added info about Gradius history. _______________________________________________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2. Controls 3. Types of Power Ups 3.5. Kinds of ships 4. Boss 1 5. Boss 2 6. Boss 3 7. Boss 4 8. Boss 5 9. Boss 6 10. Boss 7 11. Boss 8 12. Boss 9 13. Semi Boss 14. Final Boss 15: Special thanks to... _______________________________________________________________________ PART 1: INTRODUCTION The Game Gradius was made by Konami in 1985, and has spawned sequels, including Gradius 3 and 4, a collection of the later Gradius games on the Playstation 2. Gradius Galaxies came out in 2001, for the Gameboy Advance Portable System. Gradius is a side scrolling space shooter, meaning that you go on the screen from right to left, unlike most space shooters, which you move down to up. Gradius Galaxies, the newest version of Gradius, is exactly like its brethren. The bosses could be challenging, and that is why I am writing this FAQ. Remember, this only has what you need to beat the bosses, and will not tell you what to do during the game. Gradius 5, the newest installment of the Gradius series, has just been announced by Konami to be released on the PS2. It is being made by Treasure, one of the greatest rail shooter makers ever, making such classics as Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga. Hopefully they can do justice for a great series like this. PART 2: CONTROLS D-Pad: Go Left, Right, Up, and Down B Button: Fire Main Weapon R Button: Fire Missiles A button: Sets up power-ups Start: Pause game PART 3: TYPES OF POWER UPS In Gradius, you can have different types of power ups. Each kind of fighter you select has a different kind of power up. THE MAIN TYPES ARE: SPEED UP: This makes your fighter move faster than before. All speed ups are the same no matter what ship you try AMOUNT OF SPEED UPS YOU CAN HAVE: 4 MISSLE: these are just as strong as your main gun, but instead of going forward, they go up or drop down onto enemies. AMOUNT OF MISSLE POWER UPS YOU CAN HAVE: 2 DOUBLE: This increases the amount of ways your main gun can shoot at the same time. AMOUNT OF DOULBE POWER UPS YOU CAN HAVE: 2 LASER: This make you shoot as your main gun a laser-type weapon, ranging from a large laser blast to twin small laser beams. AMOUNT OF LAZER POWER UPS YOU CAN HAVE: 2 OPTION: This gives you a small clone of your ship that shoots whatever you are shooting at the time. Missiles, Lasers, anything. The option is still the same no matter what ships you have. AMOUNT OF OPTIONS YOU CAN HAVE: 3 Those are the general power ups. You have 4 types of ships to choose the variations of them _______________________________________________________________________ PART 3.5 TYPES OF SHIPS BALANCED TYPE: This is an average between the 3 other ships that you can choose from. The Missile: It drops down, hitting whatever robot is below you. When you are in a cavern, it fallows the floor, hitting one thing and exploding. Double: You shoot one main gun forward another at a 45-degree angle upwards. Along with missiles, they form a devastating combo. Laser: You have a green laser that stretches to one end of the screen to the other, killing anything in its way. WIDE AREA TYPE: The ship has weapons that spread over a long area. My personal favorite. The Missile: Two missiles shoot up and down, exploding as soon as they hit something or fall off the screen. Double: You shoot one main gun forward, while the other is shot backwards. Laser: You shoot a ripple laser, getting the most robots out of the front of your way. POWER TYPE: This uses brute force over finesse. Brings most damage in least amount of time. The Missile: falling at a 45-degree angle, and only stop when they hit something. Double: Exactly as Wide Area. Laser: Bring 2 large cones of fire that can go threw anything directly in front of you. AIR-TO-GROUND TYPE: These focus on shooting things that will come at you from the ground and from the air. The Missile: Falls and releases a small area blast; kills anything that moves or is in that blast. Double: Same as Balanced type. Laser: Two twin lasers come shooting out of your main gun, leaving room in the middle. PART 4: BOSS 1 Best Power up you can achieve when starting at the boss: 2 speed ups. Recommended Type: Power This boss comes encased inside a rock shell; to kill it, you must get rid of the shell. Around the boss, you see small fracture points along the shell. You must shoot those parts to get rid of that part of the shell. Once you get rid of the two front pieces of shell, you can see the main gun. That has already started shooting two laser beams from the front of the shell as soon as it gets into the area. You will be able to slide in-between those two laser beam to hit the main reactor. However, you must destroy the back 2 parts of the shell first. Just shoot those and they will come of the robot boss. You see that they have small grates protecting the reactor, you must shoot and destroy those first before you can get to the reactor. The reactor is the green bulb right in the middle of the robot. Once you get enough shots onto the reactor, you will see that it turns red. That means that it is almost dead. Once the reactor is gone, the robot explodes in a spectacular fashion. Be careful, meteors surround the boss and could kill you if you get close enough. When he shakes, he is getting all the meteors to form a band to protect him. However, you have holes to shoot threw. Not a tough boss. PART 5: BOSS 2 Best Power up you can achieve when starting at boss: 1 Speed up Recommended Type: Wide Area This boss begins when you see 6 generators come out of the ground. Stay as far back as you possibly can when these generators come out of the ground. They will release ice squares that move around, but cannot hurt you if you stay all the way to the back and in the middle. When the generators go back into the ground for a short time, now is your chance. You will want to get rid of the shield grates that protect the 5 reactors that move in a line. They move down to up. You will want to get as close as possible and get rid of the middle shield grate. Don't bother with the shield grates at the top or the bottom; you do not need to get rid of them to beat this boss. As soon as you get rid of the middle shield grates, you should be able to get inside the spot where the grates were. Go inside that spot and you will be able to get the most amounts of shots on the reactors as you can in that amount of time. When you see the ice block generators come up again, get out and as far back as possible. Repeat until all the reactors are destroyed. PART 6: BOSS 3 Best Power up you can achieve when starting at boss: 2 Speed Ups, 1 Missile Recommended Type: Wide Area The area for this boss has been expanded, giving you more freedom to move. At the top and bottom of the area, they will become a wall of fire, so do not go to close, or you will die. Out of the top, you will see a lion/serpent come out. He is your boss. Try to hit the lion part of it will falling missiles and your main gun. After it goes back into the flames at the bottom, it shall appear on the opposite side in which it first appeared. That cannot hit it then unless you have the backwards shooting double. Once the lion/serpent gets back to the top, it shall appear once again, except now at an angle, moving around the area. It shall also shoot out purple balls. You will want to shoot these as fast as possible. Otherwise, they shall explode almost right under you, releasing diamond debris. If you shoot them quick, the debris will be more spread out, giving you a better chance to avoid it. That is all the tricks this boss can do. This is the toughest boss as of the 3rd level. PART 7: BOSS 4 Best Power up you can achieve when starting at boss: Nothing! Recommended Type: Balanced This boss is a lot like the first boss in the game, however, it has added on more laser cannons, and has come along with a friend. Along with the small pod, you see a huge behemoth of a robot in back of him, moving freely. The small pod shoots 4 lasers, but you must stay in the middle of him to shoot. You cannot get shot in the middle. First, you will want to get rid of the smaller robot. Get rid of the shielding protecting his reactor. Once you get rid of that (that's the easy part) you will see that the larger pod will move around at strangest angles and fast. You will want to stay as far and back as possible at this time. Stay in the middle and shoot has shielding for his core. Soon enough, you will see faint red lines coming from the large pads next to his shielding. AS SOON AS YOU SEE THEM, GET OUT OF THE INSIDE AREA OF THOSE RED LINES! Soon, you will see a huge red laser beam come roaring out of that spot. As soon as that dissipates, the robot will be calm for a while. That is your time to attack. Get rid of the shielding and shoot the reactor! You will most likely se about 2 more huge laser blasts before you beat him. PART 8: BOSS 5 Best Power up you can achieve when starting at boss: 1 Missile, 3 Speed Ups Recommended Type: Power You will see 3 large tiki heads at the top, middle, and bottom of the crater that you are in. All of a sudden, they come out of the ground. Releasing non-harming glass at you. Then, they all begin to spin. Get as close as you get without getting hit by them, and attack with your main gun and missiles on the highest tiki. If you do it enough, it might turn red and maybe explode. If he doesn't back off when they stop spinning. When they stop spinning, get about in the middle of the screen. The tikis will release from their mouth rings that will kill you. Stay in the middle and shoot everything you have, and all the rings should be destroyed or not in your way. After that barrage, the top (if it is still there) and bottom tikis go into the ground, and come out with legs, walking on the top and bottom of the craters. The middle one stays where he is. You must maneuver between the 2 moving tikis, and shoot the middle one. Then, they go back to spinning. They keep repeating that until you beat the middle tiki. The best time to do that is when only one tiki with feet is there. Then go all out on the middle tiki, and it should explode. Boss done. PART 9: BOSS 6 Best Power up you can achieve when starting at boss: 1 Speed up, 1 Missile Recommended Type: Wide Area You will see a large, rather bulbous looking eye come out of the red intestine tissue. He will sprout 2 odd looking appendages on the wall, and then move around a little. It will then get out 3 more appendages, Enveloping you in one tiny spot, with small projectiles coming around to hit you. Then you will hear voice shouting, "Shoot at his eye!" That is what you want to do to kill him, but it would make it a lot easier if you destroy a few of those appendages first. That is why you want those missiles. You shoot the eye with your main gun and take out some appendages with your missiles. When any appendages get destroyed, the eye shall move towards you, trying to hit you. When you get rid of the 2 appendages that are directly above and below you, that gives you enough room to maneuver to hit the eye for a much longer time then before. Soon enough, that eye will have its pupil handed to him on a silver platter. Possibly the easiest boss if you know what you are doing. PART 10: BOSS 7 Best Power up you can achieve when starting at boss: 1 Speed Up Recommended Type: Wide Area Like the boss on level 4, this boss is a souped up version of the first boss you face. This boss has double the reactor shielding than normal, and it shoots 4 beams: 2 right on his noses, and on by his huge laser guns. The nose cannons can be hard to ignore because they provide the most protection by the shield core. Move in-between those 4 lasers, while taking shots at the shielding. After moving around and taking about 4 or 5 shots, it will move in to the middle to release one of it major attacks. You can see that the 2 side guns move at about 30 degree angles when the ship gets to the middle. They will release yellow lasers, which move and will kill you if you are near them. Also, large black missiles will come out of the ship and begin moving in your area. The lasers are easily avoidable, but the missiles might take some hard maneuvering. They (meaning the missiles) attack from above and below you, so you will just keep moving left to right to avoid them. While this is happening, take as many shots as you can on the shielding. Eventually, the attack will stop and it will go back to firing the little lasers. After about 6 shots, it will go back into the middle, and fire one last shot. This is the time to maneuver into place to that you are between the inner two lasers. After that shot, you will want to get really close to the shields, possibly inside the boss's "mouth." Shoot like crazy, and if you did a good job before this, he should be destroyed by then. If not, he will repeat those 2 main attacks, so just keep hitting him. PART 11: BOSS 8 Best Power up you can achieve when starting at boss: Nothing Recommended Type: Power This is the hardest boos of them all, and this is not even the last boss! This boss has 3 parts, all of them as long as a normal boss fight, and possibly longer. Every boss has some type of machine to help them, which makes the task of beating this robot harder. The 1st boss has two squid looking robots shooting 4 lasers. That main guy shoots two lasers, which are easily avoidable, until they turn into shooting stars and plummet down on you. All during this time, you must dodge all of these while hitting the shielding off and blowing up the reactor. The easiest of the 3 parts. The 2nd part of a little bit harder, just by one thing that the main boss shoots. In the 2nd part, you see that the reactor and the shielding are back, and instead of squid like characters, you have two large, laser cannons putting the hurt on you. First, they shoot continuously straight forward for about 5 seconds. This is when you will want to get rid of about 2 or 3 shields. The, move to the back of the screen as the cannons will move FAST to about as far as two ships' length away from the back of the screen. Then the fun begins. They will move forward and backward, not as far as the back of the screen, so you shall be safe. However, the hardest part of this boss shoots out of the bosses' main gun. It looks like a small maroon ball, easily shot and destroyed. However, when you shoot it (or let is go to the end of the screen, the same thing will happened anyway) it will release large amount of stuff that will kill you dead! If it gets to end of the screen, it will explode anyway, releasing those evil killers at an even better range and virtually no space to get away from them. Make sure that you shoot those maroons balls as soon as you can, so you have more room to get away from the diamond shaped killers. If you are able to do this, this boss part is a breeze. The 3rd, and last part, is the hardest. Now, you have possibly been threw 3 other bosses, and they pull this on you. One of the hardest things you will ever face in this game, I assure you (except the next boss.) This boss has 2-firing stars to help him, though they don't shoot fire, but debris. When you see them appear, move the bottom right of the screen. As you are doing this, those blue robots that track you will appear, and begin to hunt and find you. When you begin to move, move up, and they will not have the time to change course. Then move up to shoot the shields. However, the wheels aren't done yet, as they will throw metal parts at you. They are easy to dodge, and can be shot. They just block you from shooting. Also, the dragon has a fireball come out of his mouth, making you move from shooting. MAKE SURE TO NOT SHOOT THE FIREBALLS! When shot enough, they will explode, making a ring of fire, taking out some of the metal debris, but you most likely with it. This is very hard, because you will find that dodging metal and fireballs does not rock the casaba. It can't even rock the pet shop; it's so hard to do. And time consuming. You will get the job done though. Make sure to stay far away from the main mouth of the ship; it is easier to not get hit, but longer to do. _______________________________________________________________________ PART 12: BOSS 9 Best Power up you can achieve when starting at boss: 2 Speed Up, 1 Missile Type Recommended: Power You can see the boss has 5 reactors and shielding protecting them all. You see a laser protecting the boss, so you cannot get close the boss at the beginning. Once the laser goes away, you move as fast as you can to the Bottom Reactor, get inside the part between the 2 cannons protecting it, just enough so that the main lasers will not target you, but far enough that your missile will hit the ground. Once you get finished with the first core, wait for the patrolling enemy to be hit by your missile (the main reason why power is necessary.) Wait for the least amount of enemies on screen, and move up the next reactor. Now you must watch out for the enemies to move inside the small tube, giving you no way to get out, and that just plain sucks. Move out of the tube after a few seconds to release a missile, taking out the mobile enemies. Once you get inside the middle, wait for all the robots to go back inside to the hiding spots. (The right of your screen.) They move right through the back, and you can shoot them. After doing that, exit out for proceed to the very top of the screen. There, use the missiles to get rid of the reactors, and your primary fire on the sentries. PART 13: SEMI BOSS Best Power up you can achieve when starting at boss: None Type Recommended: Any Oh, this is the last part of the game; you're almost there! But first, you must face the GIANT WHEEL OF DOOMEDNESS, also known as the Last Stand. This is the last thing that is between you and the big bad, and it puts up a good fight. When the wheel first appears, there are 2- robot patroller scuttling around on the top and the bottom. Go the to top and take out one. Then, you see it. A large wheel. The other robots runs back make sure that you kill that sucker. Now, the wheel is slowing turning to the right of the screen. Now, really, this is the easiest part of the semi boss. Just go inside one of the small holes covering it (they look like little notches) and follow the movement until the wheel reaches the other side, then it stops. Make sure the you're in a position so the ships falls in a little notch, other then be crushed. Just ride it out except backwards. Soon as you get threw, just fly to the top right. Prepare to face the pixilated wheel of DOOMEDNESS. It grew to large proportions, and if you go between the little notches too early, you will be crushed. Not go, and you will be crushed. There is only one opening. Stay in the right side until the wheel is just trilli-meters from the ship, and take the next notch down. Move as fast the ship can take you. Hopefully, if the right notch was taken, the wheel will stop before it turns you into road kill. Then, the thing shrinks, and you must proceed into the top right corner of the screen again. However, the thing is still moving, but will shrink, and blow itself up. Phew. _______________________________________________________________________ PART 14: FINAL BOSS Best Power up you can achieve when starting at boss: Nothing Type Recommended: Balanced This is the final boss, you went threw a lot of hardship to get there, and they give you...a brain! What kind of boss is that? And this boss doesn't even up a good fight. All you need to go is go into the water that holds the eyes and shoot and destroy the eyes. You will be treated to a big explosion Death Star style. CONGRADULATIONS, YOU HAVE BEATEN GRADIUS GALAXIES FOR THE GAMEBOY ADVANCE ^_^! No go read those credits. Part 15: Special thanks to... www.gamefaqs.com: for making such a cool site. The survivor board at GameFAQS: for giving me a home on the boards, when I was searching for one. Konami: For making such high quality games. Toe Jam and Earl: Bringing me into the fold of videogames. Pie: Because I like the pie I like the pie yeah. If you find anything wrong with this, tell me about it and I will fix it, and put it in my special thanks. COPYRIGHT (c) BY THE PRESIDENT