Gradius II- FAQ/Walkthrough Version 1.11 By. Kelvin Moreaux a.k.a. KirbyWithMuffins, Golduck342 Date Created- May 28, 2003 Lastest Update- July 14, 2006 Table of Contents- 1. Introduction 2. Gameplay Basics 3. Power-up/Weapon Info 4. Walkthrough 5. FAQ 6. Credits ------------------------------------------- 1. Introduction I'm writing this guide, because this game has no guides here at GameFAQs. This game is incredibly hard by today's standards and I had nothing to guide me through it. Basically, I just want to pass on my acquired knowledge of the game in hopes that someone will find it useful. If you want to contact me about the game, then you can e-mail me at Golduck342@yahoo.com. (I'll repost it in relevant sections, so you don't have to worry about remembering it now.) ------------------------------------------- 2. Gameplay Basics After you choose the number of players, you get to choose a power-up sequence. Personally, I would go with the first or third one, I'll get into why in the Power-up section. Now that you've chosen a weapon sequence, you are ready to start the game. This game plays just like any other space shooter, you shoot down some enemies and get power-ups along the way. Also like in other space shooters, you are limited to two normal shots on the screen at once (+2 for each option). missiles are limited to one unless if you have two-way. There is one key difference however. In other games, you get power-ups for specific weapons, like a machine gun, or laser. If it's a power up for a weapon that you don't want, you either have to switch your weapon, or just fly past it as if it wasn't there. In gradius, you get energy pods that increase your power meter, allowing you to choose the power-up that you want. You can build up your ship and have a bunch of different weapons at once. NOTE- You cannot have a "double" type weapon at the same time as a "laser" type weapon. The Power Meter works in a fairly easy way. Whenever you get an energy pod, the meter will move to the right by one. The box flashes for the power-up that is currently available. (If speed is available, the word speed will flash). If you want to choose that power-up, press the 'A' button. When you press the 'A' button, your ship will be upgraded with that power-up, and the Power Meter will go back to zero. If you don't want the power-up, just don't press the 'A' button, simple as that. When you get another energy pod, the next weapon in line will be available. The Power Meter reads as follows: Speed - Missile - Double - Laser - Option - ? If you get an energy pod while the "?" is flashing, the meter will go back to speed, and you will get some points. So if it's on "?" you might as well just use it. The controls for this game are- D-Pad: Moves the ship in the corresponding direction. B button: Fires the gun/laser/missile for the ship and for any options you may have. A button: Chooses the currently flashing power-up. Start: Pause the game. Select: Pressing Select at the title screen or the power-up sequence select screen, moves the cursor down to the next choice. Getting energy pods is a key part of the game. It may seem like they appear at random, but there is a method to the madness. You may have noticed that enemies come in lines. If you can kill an entire line of enemies, you will get an energy pod. At some points you will get blue energy pods, which kill every enemy on the screen. Another way to get the orange energy pods is too kill the orange colored enemies. The orange guys will drop one each time. Finally, there are specialty enemies, such as the dragons in the first level, that will drop one each time. ------------------------------------------- 3. Power-up/Weapon Info There are four different power-up sequences, and the one you choose will affect how you do for the entire game. Here I will give you information about what each power-up does, as well as the pros and cons. Speed Category- Speed Up: Speed Up does the same thing no matter which sequence you choose, so you don't have to factor this into your decision. Whenever you get a speed boost, the speed of your ship increases. Each additional boost gives you even more speed. You can get up to 7 speed boosts on a single life, after that, it becomes blank. Missile Category- Missile: Good for getting rid of those pesky ground enemies found in almost every level after the first one. These missiles will crawl along the ground until they hit something. Better than having to aim your shots at times when it's very difficult to even stay alive. Missile can be found in the first power-up sequence. You can only get one missile upgrade, after that, the box becomes blank. Spread Bomb: My least favorite of the missiles. I don't like it because it is a bit difficult to aim. It can clear out a cluster of enemies, but you rarely see them and clearing them out in lines is just better. Spread Bomb is the most powerful of all the missiles, especially since the explosion lasts for a second, meaning that it can deliver multiple hits on the stronger enemies and kill them with one shot. Most enemies only take one hit anyway, so it's not extremely useful. Spread Bomb can be found in the second power-up sequence. Like missile you can only get one upgrade, then the box goes blank. Photon Torpedo: My favorite of all the missiles. Like Missile, it can crawl along the ground until it hits something. The advantage here is that it will go right through normal enemies after killing them. Meaning that you can get rid of an entire line of grounded enemies with one shot. This is the one I used for the entire game. Photon Torpedo can be found in the third power-up sequence. You can only upgrade this one time, then you get the ol' blank box. 2-Way: Shoots one missile upwards, and the other one goes downwards. Can be very useful in level 3 and 5, since you're being attacked from every direction. You can combo this with the tailgun, and shoot in pretty much every direction. You can find 2-way in the fourth power-up sequence. Again, you can only upgrade this once, then you get that blank box. Double Category- Double: Shoots one of your shots upward, and one forward. Remember, you can only have two shots on the screen at once, meaning that they'll come out less frequently. Most of the time, I'd choose laser over this, but at some points (level 3 and 5), this can really help you. Double can be found in the first and third power-up sequences. You can get a second upgrade for this which will make your shots go faster. Tailgun: This one is nifty. It shoots one shot forward and one backwards. Not too useful, but it's good for those pesky dragons in the first level and just about everything in the last level. I never really used this but it does look like it could combo well with 2-way. You can get this with the second or fourth power-up sequences. Like Double the second upgrade makes the shots go faster. Laser Category- Laser: This weapon is one of the best. It has the power to penetrate through most things, meaning it can kill an entire line of enemies with one shot. The laser itself is long, meaning that one shot can cause multiple hits on stronger enemies. In addition, the laser stays in alignment with your ship, meaning that if you move vertically, it will follow your movements. Laser can be found on the first and second power-up sequences. Laser can be upgraded for the second time resulting in a speed increase for the shots. Ripple: Also one of the better weapons. As Ripple goes across the screen, it widens, meaning that it can potentially hit two things at once, which is great against the coral-like material in level 2. Ripple is stronger and faster than the normal shot. Combine this with a couple of Options, and you can hit nearly everything on screen with the press of a button. Ripple is found in the third and fourth power-up sequences. It can be upgraded a second time, giving you a faster shot. Option Category- Option: Options are little invincible copies of yourself. These are ALWAYS good to get, since each one gives you 100% more firepower. That includes everything you have, missiles, lasers, and doubles. They follow your movement exactly. The beauty of this is that you can get up to four of them at once, which equals major OWNAGE. After you get the fourth one, you may notice that the box isn't blank. That is because if you choose it again, you'll can get your options to revolve around you instead of following you. It's pretty cool, except that it only lasts for a while. It doesn't matter which power-up sequence you pick, they are all the same. ? Category- Force Field: I don't know what all the mystery is about, it says Force Field right there on the power-up select screen. Anyway, the force field offers you protection against enemy fire, or the enemies themselves (the weaker ones). Even with a Force Field on, you should continue to do your best to avoid getting hit. The Force Field will only protect you five times, after that, it's gone. You can only equip one Force Field at a time, the effect is not cumulative. The Force Field is the same for every power-up sequence you pick. ------------------------------------------- 4. Walkthrough Level 1- Meteor Field Since this is the first level, you don't really need to get any specific power- ups. You can start off by getting a laser, and possibly a speed up or two. After that you'll want to focus on getting options, the more the merrier. When you start off the level, it's basically a bunch of easy to kill ships so that you can power yourself up. You should be able to get yourself a laser with no problem. The next part gets a little tricky, especially if it's your first time. Those big red flaming meteors are annoying, since they narrow your flight path dramatically. On top of that, they are home to big red dragons that take a bunch of shots to kill. This is why you might need a laser, to reduce the number of hits these guys can take. You'll want to take advantage of them, because every time you kill one you will get an energy pod. You can really rack up some firepower here. If one of them comes out from behind you, I suggest that you don't try to fight it unless you have something that shoots backwards. Instead, you can try flying up or down continuously until it is off of the screen, that way you don't have to deal with it. The third part of the level is downright annoying. You can kill the fire birds and try to power up a bit. I would try to focus my concentration at trying not to get killed. This time there are big red meteors at the top and bottom of the screen. These meteors will make an arc of fire tat will instantly kill you if you touch it. The fact that there are enemies coming out of everywhere makes this difficult. My suggestion is to get yourself within the arcs so that you don't accidentally fly into one. You can also stay completely away from them, but I find that to be a little harder. Speed is good to have in this part. You should be able to get through this without any special weapons if you die. When you get past the red meteors, you'll be given another chance to power up with a bunch of orange ships. At this point, you'll probably want to get yourself a laser if you don't already have one, and some options. ** Level 1 Boss- Phoenix. Weakpoint- Head** When you get to this boss, you'll probably be happy. This boss is laughably easy compared to the rest of the level. Basically, it has two attacks. First it shoots a barrage of fire balls that can be destroyed if you shoot them. Second, it shoots out blue lasers that spread out vertically and cover up most of the screen. To defeat this guy, keep shooting its face as much as you can. The fireballs shouldn't be a problem if you just shoot them. When it is about to shoot the blue lasers, you should back up a bit so you have a better chance of avoiding them (The collision detection for these isn't too good so they might end up going right through you). If you have lasers you can stay as close to its face as possible, if your stuck with normal shots, you should stay back for the entire fight. After not much of a struggle, you should be able to defeat this thing, and then laugh at it. Level 2- Cave Like Level 1, and all other levels, this level starts off with a bunch of easy kills. This is your chance to power yourself up a bit, and chances are you'll be dying a lot in this level. The two most important things you should try to get are an option, and a missile. The missile is for later in the level, and you'll see why you want an option in the next part. Whenever I died in this level, I just started over from the beginning. It's really hare to power yourself back up when you start in the second or third parts. The second part of this level is downright annoying. There is a bunch of red coral-like stuff blocking your flight path. You have to shoot it to make a path through it. The problem is that even with laser, each shot only removes one chunk of the "coral." This is why you'll want an option. When you get up to the "coral" you'll notice that you have choice. You can either go up or down, and sometimes in the middle. For me, the easiest way to go is down. This way, you'll be able to get the most energy pods. Also, there's one of those ship generating machines which you'll be able to destroy before it can start making too many ships. You'll want to keep choosing down until you get up to the round orange enemy that go around and around their platform (they look like coiled up shrimp). These "shrimp" can each fetch you an energy pod, but they take a couple of shots to kill. when you pass this section, you should choose up. Up has less enemies, and will align you nicely with the next part of the level. If you can afford to, get a force field, because there's a lot of random fire here. Those blue shell enemies take a lot of damage, so if one gets in your way shoot like crazy until it's gone. When you start the next part of the level, you'll see why you need a missile. There's a bunch of ground enemies that you need to kill, plus you'll benefit from the energy pods. It'll be a tight squeeze if you don't have a missile. The big blue arms are too tough to bother with. So just keep shooting it until it hides back into it's "shoulder," you should be able to pass by it. The best part is that you can now laugh at them, because only two can be on the screen at a time. Other "shoulders" will remain lifeless until the previous ones disappear from the screen, so you should be safe if you stick to the front of the screen. After you get past the really narrow stretch, this is where your missiles will come into play. Fly up near the top of the screen and start shooting everything at the top, and let your missile take care of the bottom. You might not want to risk getting the energy pods at the bottom, because of the next bunch of enemies. Keep shooting at the top and be sure to kill the purple flower creatures as soon as possible. If you don't kill them, they'll release four quick moving spiders. These spiders move sporadically across the screen, and will give you a lot of grief if you don't at least have a laser. When you get to the split, it's probably easiest to choose down, since there's a purple flower blocking the top. If you go down, you can watch as the spiders can't get through the wall and laugh at them. You shouldn't have a problem, until you reach the boss that is. ** Level 2 Boss- Eye with Arms. Weakpoint- Eye** I'd assume the arms from before belong to this guy. This guy ain't too tough if you have some good firepower (either a laser or an option). If you don't, you'll have to rely on your speed. He's got two attacks, three if you count smacking you with his arms. First his arms shoot little blue dots which can be destroyed if you shoot it. Second he'll shoot a big blue brain like thing which cannot be destroyed. To kill this guy, shoot his eye when it opens. Otherwise, just keep avoiding or shooting the blue things. This guy isn't hard, he just takes a while. The only problem is that the blue stuff might overwhelm you if he shoots it right. Just keep shooting and avoiding and eventually you'll be done. ** Level 2 Boss #2- Skull Head. Weakpoint- Mouth** Just when you think it's safe to assume that you made it to level 3, here comes another boss to try to stop you. First you'll want to avoid his "bounce" attack by moving to the top left of the screen. After that, he'll move back to the right and try to ram into you. If you have options, position them so that they are on the same level as his mouth, and shoot away. After he tries to ram you, he'll go to the right, try to align you with his mouth and shoot a big laser at you. When you notice him trying to align with you, just move up or down away from his mouth. When he's not shooting or ramming you, shoot his mouth. This guy is fairly easy, you should be done with him in no time. The only problem I had with him is that he surprised me with the laser the first time I fought him. Level 3- Rock Attack This game just gets harder and harder. Welcome to level 3, where you're skills and endurance will be tested to their limits. Start off by getting a missile and a speed. Then, save up to get a force field, it's very difficult to get by the second part without one. If you want to try without a force field, you'll need the missile and probably at least two options. For this level, I might even consider getting a double. The next part of the level is daunting. Before getting too far into it, you be greeted by a whole bunch of gunfire. You'll want to stay low to get rid of the ground enemies, and also because you'll have fly under a rock formation. Next you have to maneuver yourself up and over another rock formation. Then under and over again, avoiding and shooting down enemies until you reach a boulder spewing volcano. When you reach it, get yourself up there as fast as possible, so you can start shooting the boulders. Keep shooting until you notice a break. At that point, quickly fly past it and stick to the front of the screen. Those walking cannons at the top could get annoying, so kill them if you can. Next comes two upside-down volcanoes. Try to get as close to the tip as you can when you're shooting and you'll get by easily. Next, kill those bouncing enemies or prepare to avoid their shots, which go in every direction. You'll now have to squeeze between two volcanoes. Same tactic as before, shoot like crazy, and fly through them. For the third part of this level, try to get yourself the second laser upgrade, and as many options as possible. Basically, shoot the purple rocks until you can get through. Not much more that I could help you with. If you shoot enough you can cause a lot of slowdown, which is good since your ship isn't affected by it. When I played this, I was literally sweating from pressing B so much. Eventually, you'll get up to some big blue rectangular rocks, which just bounce up and down. When you get past them, you're almost at the end. You get a chance to power yourself up now, so laser if you don't have it, and more options. ** Level 3 Boss- Mechanical Rock. Weakpoint- Purple Orb** Move to the front of the screen, because this guy comes from behind you (I'd like to know how it got past all those rocks). It'll start by moving to the right of the screen, meaning that you need to get to the left. Fly down and wait for it to raise its arms, or vice-versa for the top, and make your way to the left. The arms are going to constantly shoot you, so be careful. It will also shoot a double laser from it's core. The main thing is to avoid getting shot here. When you get in front of it, shoot at the middle. You have to get through some barriers before you can damage it. If you still have your force field it will block the shots, but remember, it depletes after every shot. Just keep shooting, it takes a lot of shots to destroy this guy. When you're done with him, you'll move on to the next stage. Level 4- Easter Island Heads Like always, you'll get a chance to power up, this time the enemies will move up and down a lot more, so it might be a little harder to do so. I suggest getting a missile, and your choice of an option or laser. Speed is good is you don't have a lot of firepower. If you die and have trouble getting anything good, go for a missile and a couple of speeds The main part of this level is Easter Island heads. I would suggest going up or down so you don't get shot at from both sides. This level isn't that bad, when you see a horizontal head, just hover right in front of the face and shoot. For vertical heads, stay right above it, or below if you're at the bottom, and it won't be able to shoot you. Stay there until the screen moves enough, then go to the next one. You can basically leap frog from head to head until the end of the level. Another method is to be rave stick to the front of the screen. If you want to kill the heads, shoot their mouths, though it will take a bunch of shots to do it. After not too long, you'll find yourself powering up to face the boss. Get a missile and options, maybe double if you feel as if you can handle it. ** Level 4 Boss- Jumping Easter Island Head. Weakpoint- Anywhere** It will try to jump into you and it will shoot a bunch of rings. Unlike the other heads, this one can shoot through its own head, meaning you're not safe anywhere. It'll keep jumping back and forth, and it will jump higher depending on how high you are. My advice is to lure him and all his shots up to the top, and when he jumps, just go under him. Keep shooting him, you may not hear the damage sound, but you are damaging him. If you die, you're in trouble, because you may not be fast enough to avoid everything on your next life. If that's the case, keep following the same strategy, but it will take you a long time to kill him. Level 4- Inter-Boss Power Up You'll get a chance to power up a little more. Missile is the most important thing if you don't already have it, double is probably the only other thing you'll be able to get. If by some chance you can, get an option. ** Level 4 Boss #2- Three Easter Island Heads. Weakpoint- Mouths** All three shoot little destroyable groups of Easter Island heads. Concentrate on killing those and let your missile kill the guy on the bottom. I wouldn't even bother trying to kill the guy on top, because he's so difficult to reach. Instead kill his minions, and wait for the one on the right to open up. When it does get close and shoot like crazy, backing up when he closes his mouth. Keep doing this and eventually, you'll kill him, and the top one just dies too. Level 5- Boss Attack This level is not much of a level. In fact, after the power up phase, you'll be facing the first boss. If you want a chance to survive, you better at least get one speed, a missile, your choice of double or laser (double might actually be better later on), and an option. The option isn't absolutely necessary, but it helps. I wouldn't bother with a force field, because you'll need the fire power (unless if you still have all you stuff from the previous level). The enemies in this part are quite annoying. You'll have to keep moving and dodging them, while shooting and picking up the energy pods. If you die in this level, you'll have to start from the beginning, no matter how far you make it. ** Level 5 Boss #1- Big Space Ship. Weakpoint- Blue Orb** The gauntlet of bosses starts off with a certain ship which you may remember from Gradius 1, especially since he was the boss in every level. Besides being improved graphically, this boss is prettymuch the same as in Gradius 1. It'll move up and down shooting lasers four at a time. At times, it charges forward in an attempt to ram into you. What you have to do is shoot it in the center. You'll notice that it has barriers that will protect it from taking damage for a while. Shoot through these barriers to expose its blue core. Each time you destroy one of the barriers, it will shoot a spread shot, which you'll want to avoid. After getting through the barriers, just keep shooting, and it will eventually be destroyed. ** Level 5 Boss #2- Brain with Arms. Weakpoint- Eye** Well, let's just say this boss doesn't get paid as well as the others. This boss is so easy you won't need my advice. First of all, this guy has no attacks! It'll try to swat you with its arms or fly into you with its body... err brain. That's all it can do. Basically, just lure it to the right side of the screen, then fly around to the front and shoot it in the eye. Keep repeating this and after not too long, you'll destroy it. ** Level 5 Boss #3- Ship with Tentacle Arms. Weakpoint- Blue Orb** Just like the first boss in this level, this one has a blue orb protected by some barriers. It has four tentacle arms that revolve around its body. They can and will be a nuisance. This guy can take up most of the screen, and since it keeps moving, you'll have to keep moving too. This will definitely be a problem if you don't have enough speed. Basically, you'll have to keep going around the screen clockwise and shoot whenever you can get in front of it. There's not much more you can do to speed this up, so patience is key. ** Level 5 Boss #4- Giant Embryo. Weakpoint- Eye** This guy gets on my nerves. Basically, he has two main attacks. The first one is to blind you (the human you) with a flash of seizure inducing light. After he's done with that, he'll follow it up with some bubbles in the shape of a circle. The bubbles will rotate clockwise and home in on you. It is important that you focus on destroying the bubbles. You can fly above them and let your missiles do the work if you got them like I told you to. If you didn't get missiles you'll have to concentrate your firepower on popping those bubbles, and pray that some of your stray shots hit the boss's eye. Lastly, if you have two or more options with a laser, position yourself on the middle (vertically) of the screen with your options under you. Keep shooting like crazy, and you don't have to move at all. ** Level 5 Boss #5- Armored Ship. Weakpoint- Blue Orb** Prepare for a long fight. This is the last boss on this level, so be grateful. Just like the previous "ships" in this level, you'll have to break through barriers before you get to the blue orb. The difference now is that this one has an armor that revolves around it. You'll have to wait until it's open if you want to damage it. In addition, it'll shoot indestructible missiles at you, which you have to be quite nimble to avoid. To beat this boss, position yourself in the middle of the screen (vertically) and keep shooting. Now, forget completely about the boss and concentrate on avoiding the missiles. Keep on shooting while doing this and you'll win in no time. This boss doesn't take too much damage. Level 6- Enemy Base I hope you're ready for the hardest level of all time. Firstly, get yourself a missile (It will pay for itself anyway) you'll need it... end of story. Secondly, you ABSOLUTELY need a force field if you want a chance to maybe get through this level. After that, get as many speeds as you find necessary, or a double if you think you can handle it. As you enter the 2nd part of the level, you'll noticed that your space is already being limited. You should kill everything as soon as possible. If you didn't get the double, fly to the top and let the missiles take care of the bottom. Remember to keep saving up for a force field if you don't already have it. After a bit, your path will narrow by some. You'll see two orange turrets at the bottom which you can destroy with your missiles. Then it get narrow and full of random fire. At this point you'll have to summon all you video game skills in order to dodge all the shots fired at you. If you have double, stick to the left of the screen, if not, stick to the right. This is the hardest section and if you can get past it, the level gets somewhat easier. When your space widens completely that's when it almost over. Just a few measly gun turrets to worry about. The next section of the level is super speedy, so pay real good attention. You can try killing the orange gun turrets and getting their energy pods, but it's not completely necessary. If you do choose to, get options and speed ups if you need them. After the first long tunnel go down so you can kill more orange turrets, then pull back up into the second tunnel. Stay up and shoot whatever big balls get in your way. After that, it's pretty straight-forward until you get out of the green colored part and into the machine colored part. Here, the floor and ceiling will crumble and then aim themselves at you. So destroy them before they destroy you. It get narrow again, making it a difficult task. You'll have a small chance to power up here. ** Level 6 Boss- Wall of Death. Weakpoint- Red Orb** This boss is laughably easy. It'll shoot a bunch of different things at you. First, take out the mounted guns. Shoot the top ones first and let your missiles (which you should have) take care of the enemies at the bottom. After your done with the guns, destroy the valves that keep releasing the enemies, top one first. Now the boss is helpless, laugh at it if you want. When you want to kill it, fly to the center and shoot the barriers. Remember that when you destroy one it will send some shots flying, which you'll effortlessly avoid. After a short while it'll go kaboom! Level 6- Inter-Boss Power Up The floor and ceiling will rise and fall respectively, so stay in the middle. Double helps you out in this area. As far as power ups, get whatever you feel that you need, I would get options. After the floor and ceiling stop collapsing, do your best to kill every enemy, you don't want them to mess you up during the boss. ** Level 6 Boss #2- Mechanical Spider. Weakpoint- Middle Section** Hey, want to beat this guy in 10 seconds? OK let's do that! As this guy approaches from the left, fly downwards because you have to let it walk over you. Be patient and do one leg at a time. When you get to the front, fly up to the middle, and start shooting him, don't stop. It dies after about 5 seconds of being shot, literally. The only thing you have to worry about is a random enemy that may pop out at the top. On to the next stage. Level 7- Inside Some Kind of Living Being Well, to start, you won't be given much to power up with. If you don't have anything, get at least one speed and a double. If you die in this level, it's all the way back to the beginning. It's short, but there are a lot of parts that you don't want to keep playing over. The first part of the level is full of bubble enemies. I usually kill as many as I can, then immediately go to the right of the screen. Next you will see this brain thing which you should try hard to kill (Hit it with both of the double shots, or with missiles if you have that). If you don't kill it, it will shoot a ring of smaller brains. One will go straight to the right horizontally at the same speed that the screen moves. It will get in your way if you don't have a tailgun. Like in level 2, you'll have to shoot through veins in order to proceed. On top of that, little amoeba things will chase you, this part can get tough. I recommend being near the top of the screen when you first get into the vein area. Then there's a bit of a break, where you should go as far down as you can. This way the little amoeba things won't be able to catch up to you. After the veins, you'll see three finger-like things poke out of the ceiling. Stay back for a second until you see three more poke out of the floor. Wait for the right moment and fly between them quickly. Move down immediately, because a giant red spike will emerge from the ceiling. Be careful because another one comes out of the floor right after that. Quickly make your way around it. A small hill comes out of the ground, followed by a double-tipped spike from the top. Fly between them, and shoot through the enemy ships and get to the right of the screen as soon as possible, if you don't you will die. Stay on the right until you pass two of these walls. ** Final Boss- Head with Brain. Weakpoint- Mouth/Brain** This boss takes about a minute to start doing anything. He'll start by shooting bubbles out of his mouth. These bubbles take a lot of shots to destroy, so you'll probably do more avoiding than anything. If you somehow have four options, just shoot like crazy. But you probably won't so stay on the left of the screen and try to make the bubbles fly off to the left. Hopefully, you got the speed before when I told you, so you should be fast enough to squeeze between them. Don't stop shooting and you should eventually take him down. Congratulations, you just beat the game!! ------------------------------------------- 5. FAQ I'll post whatever I get when I get it. Send emails to golduck342@yahoo.com or if you prefer AIM my sn is "Golduck342". If you post a question at the GameFAQs Gradius 2 message board and I answer it there, I will also post it in here for future reference. My GameFAQs accounts are KirbyWithMuffins and Psyduck342. Q:Hey! any idea where to get this game? I played it like twice in my life but that was a years ago and the I had the Hong Kong bootleg of GradiusII. Thanx A:There is no American version of this game. You can try looking for the Japanese version (all the text/speech is in english) for the famicom, or you can try the PSX remake of Gradius I and II, which also wasn't released in the US. I've seen it on Ebay, or you can possibly try www.japanvideogames.com. It is a very rare game. **UPDATE** The game is now available in the US on the PSP. It's been remade and packaged under the name "Gradius Collection" along with a handful of other Gradius games. ------------------------------------------- 6. Credits Gradius 2 belongs to Konami. You should know what's illegal by now, please don't do it. This is an awesome game, and Konami deserves recognition for it. This FAQ belongs to me. I took my time to write this on my own, and give my permission to CJayC and GameFAQs to use it on the site. I also give CJayC permission to edit this if he deems it necessary. No one else has permission to use this guide on their site without express written consent from me.(I've always wanted to say that). This guide is only for private use. Copyright 2003 Kelvin Moreaux.