Star Fox Boss FAQ v. 1.00 By primary weapon I mean the weapon the enemy will use most. The difficulty rating ranges from 1 (easiest) to 5 (hardest). Course 1, Stage 1: Corneria Enemy Name: Attack Carrier Shield Meter: Medium Primary Weapon: Missile Other Weapons: Enemy Fighters, Plasma Blast Difficulty: 1 Strategy: This boss, the first of the game, should be a snap even for the novice. When the enemy shield meter appears, fly low to the ground and allow the carrier, which will come from behind, to fly overhead. The boss will turn and open the right hatch, letting out two slow enemy fighters. Destroy the fighters and begin shooting at the open hatch. Eventually the hatch will close and the two left hatches will open, letting out one missile apiece. Destroy the missiles and attack the hatches. Repeat this process until all three hatches have been destroyed. At this point, the main carrier body will slowly charge you, firing a few plasma blasts. Keep shooting the main body until the enemy is defeated. This boss is so easy that I sometimes wonder how it led such a fearful attack on Corneria. Course 1, Stage 2: Asteroid Belt Enemy Name: Rock Crusher Shield Meter: Large Primary Weapon: Laser Other Weapons: Missile, Plasma Blast Difficulty: 2 Strategy: This boss doesn't really get that hard until the latter stages of the fight. The boss will appear from the bottom of the screen and turn 90 degrees. Once this revolution is complete, four diamond-shaped laser batteries will open. Fire at these batteries while avoiding the lasers. The batteries will eventually shut and the enemy will rotate again, revealing four more batteries. Fire at the batteries in the same fashion. Repeat this process until all eight batteries are destroyed. At this point, the Rock Crusher's main body piece will fly off, so get to the side to avoid it (it HURTS!). This will leave only the figure-8 shaped piece on which the batteries sat. Fire at the flashing diamond in the middle while avoiding the missiles and the plasma blasts it fires until it is defeated. Course 1, Stage 3: Space Armada Enemy Name: Atomic Base Shield Meter: Small Primary Weapon: Plasma Blast Other Weapons: Laser Difficulty: 2 Strategy: After flying through the corridor, you will be up against a large spinning core. After a few seconds, three batteries on the wall will extend wireframe beams to the core. Attack the three batteries (one shot will destroy them, but aim must be precise) while avoiding the beams. It may take some patience, but eventually, once all three are destroyed, the base will open and reveal its core. Fire at this core while avoiding the plasma blasts it fires until it is destroyed. The only thing that makes this battle at all hard is the bad hit detection of your lasers on the batteries. Course 1, Stage 4: Meteor Enemy Name: Dancing Insector Shield Meter: Large Primary Weapon: Plasma Blast Other Weapons: Flame Spewer Difficulty: 3 Strategy: This is probably the most difficult boss on course 1. Once the boss appears, fire at its legs. When a leg has been put out of commission, it will extend out slightly. Once a few legs have been put out of commission, the enemy will fall to the ground and begin spinning with its legs extended out. Stay low to avoid its legs while also avoiding the plasma blasts, and it will soon stand back up. Fire at the legs in the same way until it falls again. At this point, the legs will turn orange. Take a few shots, then avoid its spin attack again. Then fire at the legs some more. The legs will begin to fly off, meaning they are destroyed. At this point, the enemy will hover and shoot down a fire pillar. This pillar will spew out flames at your ship. Avoid this while shooting at the legs. Once all the legs are gone, fire at the main body until the enemy is defeated. This boss is also one of the more fun bosses to fight. Course 1, Stage 5: Venom Orbit Enemy Name: Phantron Shield Meter: Small/Small Primary Weapon: Laser Other Weapons: Missile Difficulty: 2 Strategy: Once the enemy appears, simply fire at it. It will move once it has been shot once, so follow it around, avoiding the lasers it fires and missiles it lets out every time it is shot. Continue this process until the shield meter is almost out, at which point the enemy will spin around, refill its shield, and replicate into three enemies. These enemies fire nothing but lasers, but lots of them. Two of these enemies are only phantoms, but will disappear when they are shot at several times. The real Phantron makes a noise when you shoot it. Continue to shoot at the Phantron. The enemy will eventually move and swap places with the phantoms. Find the real Phantron and shoot at it until it is destroyed. Course 1, Stage 6: Venom Base Enemy Name: Phantron Shield Meter: Small/Medium Primary Weapon: Laser Other Weapons: Missile, Plasma Blast Difficulty: 3 Strategy: When you approach the enemy, it will replicate again in the same way as before. Find the real Phantron and reduce its shield to its bottom. At this point, the enemy will swoop around then grow legs, and its shield will become larger. Fire at the main head-piece. The enemy will fire several lasers and occasionally a missile and plasma blast. The enemy will jump around, and will eventually jump forward and try to land on you. Continue to fire at the enemy. Late in the battle, it will replicate again. Eventually, very late, the boss will try to kick you from a distance. Avoid all these attacks and continue to shoot until the boss is destroyed. Course 1, Final Stage: Andross' Base Enemy Name: Andross Shield Meter: N/A Primary Weapon: Telekinesis Other Weapons: None Difficulty: 3 Strategy: Andross appears as a virtual head. Fire at the flashing eyes while avoiding the telekinesis (block) attack. Shooting a block will cause it to split into two blocks and the course of it will be altered. Focus your attacks on one eye because the fight is much easier when only one eye is shooting out blocks. An eye will turn brown when it is destroyed. Eventually, Andross will suck in blocks (he can't suck you in), then spit them out in a frightening attack. Avoid the blocks and begin to attack the remaining eyes. When both eyes are destroyed, the head will break apart and reveal Andross' core brain. Fire at the brain until Andross is defeated. If you don't destroy the brain fast enough, the head will come together again and you will have to repeat the process. For being a final boss, Andross is not really that difficult. Course 2, Stage 1: Corneria Enemy Name: Attack Carrier Shield Meter: Medium Primary Weapon: Missile Other Weapons: Enemy Fighters, Plasma Blast Difficulty: 1 Strategy: Same as the first attack carrier, only now the enemy fighters will shoot out missiles instead of lasers if you wait too long. Still easy. Course 2, Stage 2: Sector X Enemy Name: Rock Crusher Shield Meter: Medium Primary Weapon: Laser Other Weapons: Missile, Plasma Blast Difficulty: 2 Strategy: Same as before, only now sometimes the batteries will not open, and once a few batteries are destroyed, the enemy will fire missiles from its sides. Course 2, Stage 3: Titania Enemy Name: Professor Hangar Shield Meter: Large Primary Weapon: Shadow Thruster Other Weapons: None Difficulty: 3 Strategy: This boss, more than any other boss, requires a quick trigger finger. The enemy will appear once you enter the mountain base, but even though you shoot at it, it will not be damaged. It will run and you will have to fight a slew of aquatic enemies. Once all these enemies are destroyed, Professor Hangar will show himself and begin releasing shadow thrusters. Avoid these shadow thrusters while continually shooting at the enemy's main body. After a little while, the enemy will create a wall in front of itself, which looks like a triple image of Professor Hangar. You can still shoot at the enemy, which is behind this wall, but make sure you avoid the wall when it comes at you. After this, if the enemy is not destroyed, Professor Hangar will retreat and you will have to fight the aquatic enemies again. The boss will then reappear with its shield completely refilled. The boss shouldn't be too much trouble if you have a double plasma blast for a weapon, but a single laser may make it hard to destroy the boss before it retreats. This boss is one of my personal favorites. The fight with the aquatic enemies is very fun, and the boss has some of the most kick-ass music in the game. This fight makes Titania my third-favorite level behind only Fortuna and Sector Y. Course 2, Stage 4: Sector Y Enemy Name: Plasma Hydra Shield Meter: Large Primary Weapon: Plasma Blast Other Weapons: Missile Difficulty: 5 Strategy: In my opinion, the second toughest boss in the game. This guy is extremely tough, let me tell you. The boss will appear from the background, flipping end over end, then grow long arms. When the boss comes near, it will fire a missile out of the flashing spot in its body. After this, the boss will begin spinning, its arms flailing about. There is no real pattern to how its arms move here, unlike the Dancing Insector, so you will have to mostly rely on luck. After about three full revolutions or so, the boss will stop and begin shooting occassional plasma blasts out of its arms. Fire at the claws. Your laser blasts will travel in bulges down the arms, damaging the enemy. Try not to fire at claws that are shooting out plasma blasts (you know there are blasts in the arms by bulges coming out), because if you do, the arm will break apart and you will have to wait until it regrows. The enemy will eventually flail around again. After about 1/3 of the shield meter is depleted, the arms will split apart and only half of one will remain. Fire at the main body. The enemy will spin around again and try to hit you with its arm. Continue to shoot the main body while avoiding the arm and missiles it fires. Once the entire shield meter is depleted, GET TO THE SIDE to avoid the enemy's final charge, where it will try to run into you, an attack that hurts a heck of a lot. Survive, and the enemy is destroyed. Not only is this enemy tough, it is also extremely huge, and very frightening, but a fun and unique battle. Course 2, Stage 5: Venom Orbit Enemy Name: Metal Smasher Shield Meter: Large Primary Weapon: Crush Attack Other Weapons: Capsules, Ring Shot Difficulty: 3 Strategy: When the Metal Smasher opens, focus all your fire on the inside of one of the halves. When the enemy opens, it will release some capsules. Destroy or avoid these capsules. When the boss gets very close to you (both I and Nintendo Power suggest you be in approach view to correctly gauge how close you are), fire retro rockets to avoid its crush attack. The Metal Smasher will rotate 90 degrees and open again. If its shield meter is near half, it may begin firing ring shots, then close again. If not, it will fire capsules and try to crush you again. Focus all fire on one half. When that half is destroyed, the other half will self-destruct. Course 2, Stage 6: Venom Base Enemy Name: Galactic Rider Shield Meter: Medium Primary Weapon: Air Bikers Other Weapons: Ring Shot Difficulty: 3 Strategy: When the enemy appears, it will open and release two air bikers. While the hatch is open, fire at its inside. This is the only way to damage the enemy. Destroy the air bikers. When they are destroyed, the boss will charge to the right twice, then move to the left and charge there. Avoid these charges. After this, the boss will move back and open up again, releasing air bikers (if the shield is still fairly high) or a ring shot capsule (if shield is low). Continue to repeat this process, firing at the inside when possible, until the enemy is destroyed. Personally, I find this to be one of the more anti-climactic boss battles in course 2, and is by no means one of my favorites despite having one of the best levels preceding it. Course 2, Final Stage: Andross' Base Enemy Name: Andross Shield Meter: N/A Primary Weapon: Telekinesis Other Weapons: None Difficulty: 3 Strategy: Same as the last Andross, only now the brain has more shield and you will probably have to fight the face twice. Course 3, Stage 1: Corneria Enemy Name: Destructor Shield Meter: Large Primary Weapon: Plasma Blast Other Weapons: Missile Difficulty: 3 Strategy: The boss will roll in from the side and three blades will rise up. Fire at each blade that turns its face towards you, while avoiding the plasma blasts that the plasma batteries under the blades fire. Don't shoot at the batteries until the blade above each is destroyed, because when the blades go back down, they will regenerate all batteries under them. When two blades are destroyed, the third will try to charge you. Destroy that blade, then begin firing on the batteries. You can only damage the batteries when they are flashing yellow. The enemy will explode when the batteries are destroyed. Course 3, Stage 2: Asteroid Belt Enemy Name: Blade Barrier Shield Meter: Large Primary Weapon: Web Attack Other Weapons: Missile Difficulty: 2 Strategy: Not a tough boss at all. The boss will spin its blade, then stop and reveal three appendages. These appendages will each fire a missile. Shoot the appendages. Don't shoot at the enemy while the blade is spinning. The blade reflects all lasers back at you. The blade will stop in a different position the second time, revealing three new appendages. At this time, a web will fly out. If you are hit by the web, you will slowly be pulled in towards the blade. Do a barrel roll if you are hit with it, or else you will feel some major pain. Repeat the above process until all six appendages are destroyed, at which time the blade will fly off. Avoid this blade and the enemy will explode. Yet another rather boring battle, and is in my opinion a waste of a really cool and threatening enemy design. Course 3, Stage 3: Fortuna Enemy Name: Monarch Dodora Shield Meter: Medium Primary Weapon: Fire Breath Other Weapons: Gull Eggs Difficulty: 5 Strategy: Easily the toughest boss in the game. When you see the boss in the distance, move to one side, staying in the middle of the y-axis. The boss will spin around, and if you are not positioned correctly, the boss' necks will crash into you and you will suffer major damage. Once the boss has walked away a safe distance, begin to shoot at the flashing end of the tail. The tail will occasionally release eggs that hatch into gulls (I call them gulls, but I don't know what they are called), which fly straight at you with deadly accuracy. Once you have shot the tail enough, the body will begin flashing. Shoot the body until the tail extends out again. The boss will eventually turn around, revealing its heads. At this point, the heads will do nothing, but the boss will begin walking towards you again. Try shooting the heads down until the body flashes again. Shoot the body until the boss has gotten somewhat close, then move to the side again in the middle of the y-axis. The boss will spin around again, trying to hit you with its necks. Fire at the tail again to shorten it once the boss has moved away, then shoot the body once it starts flashing. The enemy's shield should be about half empty by now. The boss will now spin around and face you, and begin to shoot flames out of its heads. These flames are much harder to avoid than those of the Dancing Insector, and are just as damaging. Fire at the heads until the body flashes, then fire at the body. The boss will continue to shoot fire at you until it is defeated. This enemy, like the Plasma Hydra, is as difficult as visually imposing. Basically, it's a big, two-headed, fire-breathing brontosaurus with wings. It looks even more frightening in the comic in Nintendo Power (if you subscribed back in 1993). The music is pretty cool, too. Course 3, Stage 4: Sector Z Enemy Name: Atomic Base II Shield Meter: Medium Primary Weapon: Plasma Blast Other Weapons: Laser Difficulty: 3 Strategy: This boss is exactly like the original Atomic Base from Space Armada, only instead of the batteries being destroyed when they are shot, they merely turn off. Once one is turned off, don't shoot it again or it will turn back on. When all three are turned off, fire at the core just as before. Since the shield meter is higher, you may have to repeat the process when it closes. Bad hit detection once again makes this battle difficult. Course 3, Stage 5: Macbeth Enemy Name: Spinning Core Shield Meter: Medium Primary Weapon: Laser Other Weapons: Plasma Blast, Missile Difficulty: 4 Strategy: By no means is this boss easy. When you first see it, it will be spinning slowly. Shoot at the four plasma batteries that are flashing and sticking out. These batteries will occasionally shoot out plasma blasts, but not fast enough to pose a serious threat. Once two are destroyed, the core top will open, the enemy will spin faster, and it will begin to shoot missiles. Once all four have been destroyed, the boss will fly into the air, then land close by. Blue bubbles will be be guarding the flashing yellow core. Eventually, these bubbles will move out slightly, and the core will begin firing an unbelievable amount of lasers. It is hard to shoot the core at this point because the bubbles are so close, but it is possible. The best time to shoot at the core is when the bubbles separate and try to crash into you. These bubbles are fairly tough to avoid, especially when you are trying to avoid the lasers and shoot the core at the same time. Keep shooting the core until the boss' shield meter is fairly low, at which point the bubbles and spikes on the top of the boss will fly off, leaving the core unguarded, but it is shooting more lasers now than ever. Keep shooting the core until the boss is defeated. The boss looks really cool when it opens up, and the music is... well, weird. Course 3, Stage 6: Venom Orbit Enemy Name: Great Commander Shield Meter: Small Primary Weapon: Laser Other Weapons: Plasma Blast Difficulty: 4 Strategy: This boss will appear at first in several pieces: its head, its body, and its outer liner. These pieces will circle around several times. The head will fire lasers at you, the outer liner will fire diamond-shaped stones, and the body will not fire anything. Wait until the boss finishes this ordeal, at which time it will assemble itself. The boss will then come slowly at you and open a couple laser batteries on the body. The objective of the battle is to destroy all six laser batteries. Once the boss has passed under you, you are automatically turned around, at which time the boss will charge you again and open some batteries, firing a few lasers. The biggest challenge comes from timing and patience, because batteries only open at certain times, and some open either too late or too early for accurate firing. This is where nova bombs come into the battle. I suggest having at least two nova bombs saved for this battle. Fire the bombs only when the batteries that are hard to fire lasers at open. If your timing is good, all open batteries will be destroyed. Once three batteries are destroyed, the boss will begin to smoke and shoot plasma blasts. Have patience and once all six batteries are destroyed, the battle will be over. The battle is somewhat fun, but it may drag on for a while, so you may get bored eventually. The boss looks cool, though. Course 3, Stage 7: Venom Base Enemy Name: Great Commander Shield Meter: Large/Medium Primary Weapon: Iron Balls Other Weapons: Polygon Fighter Difficulty: 4 Strategy: When the three pieces of the boss appear, they will not fire at you this time. They will simply assemble and rearrange to create a robot-shaped enemy (that incidentally looks a lot like the ROB robot for the NES). The boss will begin shooting iron balls slowly out of its arms, which do about as much damage as a ring shot. Avoid these balls while shooting at the spot on its base that opens and closes. Eventually, the boss will begin spinning and shooting a lot of iron balls. They are somewhat difficult to avoid, but not so hard that it will interfere with your firing at the target too much. If you don't destroy the boss by the time it is finished spinning, it will begin slowly firing balls like it did at first. Eventually, if you let the battle drag on, it will begin spewing out a spray of balls from one arm. However, if you are focusing on firing, he shouldn't even get to that. Once the large energy shield is depleted, the robot will disassemble, it will refill a medium shield meter, and the head will begin flying around the hovering liner, which will occasionally drop a block that will turn into a polygon fighter (I have no clue what they're really called), which will charge at your ship. Fire at the orbiting head until it is defeated. The boss looked pretty frightening when I was eight years old, but now it looks pretty humorous. Used to be tough back then, but it's significantly easier now. Course 3, Final Stage: Andross' Base Enemy Name: Andross Shield Meter: N/A Primary Weapon: Telekinesis Other Weapons: Plasma Blast Difficulty: 4 Strategy: This battle will begin just as any other Andross battle. The brain in this battle has a lot of shield, so you will certainly be having to fight the face at least twice, if not three or more times. Unlike previous battles, however, once the brain has been fought once, the face comes together and becomes the face of a dog (or a bull, I'm not sure). You must still shoot the eyes to split it again, but now the mouth is continually firing blocks and the eyes are firing plasma blasts. The battle is over once the brain is destroyed. Course 3, Secret Stage: Out of This Dimension Enemy Name: Slot Machine Shield Meter: N/A Primary Weapon: Missile Other Weapons: Laser Difficulty: 2 Strategy: Many people don't know how to even reach this secret stage, but if you do, you will be quite annoyed by the boss at the end. This boss takes FOREVER to defeat, and last time I reached him I spent ten minutes fighting him and reset the game because I was so sick of fighting him. The idea is to shoot the slot machine arm to start the reels. Shoot the reels to slow them to a stop, then you might get something depending on the combination. Certain fruits or a combination of a seven and some fruits will cause the enemy to flip over and release coins, which refill your shield meter. However, if your combination contains any Androsses, the machine will flip over and release a combination of missiles and lasers. The number of each that the boss releases depends on how many Androsses are in the combination. Personally, I've never gotten more than two, and the attacks are pathetic, so this battle is very boring. The only way to really lose is by getting a lot of Andross combos in a row without getting coins. The way to win is by getting three 7s in a combo, but that is very hard. You do have occasional hold buttons that hold a reel or two for the next spin, but those come up randomly and seemingly never when you want them to, so this battle seems to really drag on unless you get really lucky. Your only reward for winning this battle is shooting at the "THE END" letters until you are bored stiff. Play the level before the boss, though. It is bizarre but fun.