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Boss help in Gradius V

dark_chris

Member
Ok, so i got Gradius 5 for Christmas, now i need help, massively.

How do u defeat the boss in the astroid level? Its totally insane! >.<
 
What I try to do:

Use astroids as shields to block debris

Keep doing this until you get to the part where it shoots out those beams. Then have at it to the core as best you can while avoiding the astroads without moving out of the "safe zone"


Note: I suck at this game so this strategy probably isn't the best
 
Picking Type 2 is probably the safest bet, but I used Type 3, and pulled it off all right, multiple times without dying.

Type 2 allows you to basically fire in any direction, you may be aware, so if you're using that, just find the pattern the boss moves in before he sets himself up against the right side of the screen, and just clear yourself a path with lasers to stay out of his way. Of course you're dodging those exploding droids, the best you can do there is stay as far away as possible, so when its shots approach you they're spread out more. I basically did the same with Type 3, it's just a little harder, you have to stay really close to the asteroids so your multiples clear you a path through them. I use two speedups, BTW.

Once he sets himself up on the right side, don't fire your weapons, just dodge asteroids coming at you from behind while dodging his bullets (takes a little practice). You may have realized by now that the hit detection zone on your ship is pretty small (like Ikaruga, if you've played that) so you can "brush up" against things like asteroids without dying, although having a shield activated seems to me to expand your zone some. I've been able to ride along certain walls without a shield and have been fine, but if I have a shield activated it'll take it down a notch or two. It's a trade-off I guess.

Anyway, try to position yourself to the left of the big asteroids, they can take quite a few of the bullets from the boss before exploding. The main trick here is to keep moving, wherever you move, the bullets follow. Don't get too close to the left side of the screen, an asteroid can appear from there and smack you without giving you time to move out of the way. Remember, you can move through some pretty tight spots with your ship, and you'll have to here to survive. When the boss' shots end, move to the middle of the screen (vertically) and unload on the core. If you have a setup that allows you to fire backwards, it'll help take care of asteroids that approach you from behind still, that don't get hit by those fire beams. The boss moves up and down a little here also, so try to say in line with the core. It usually took me two full turns to take him out, but Type 3 allows you to move all your multiples in line, so that plus lasers made things go a little quicker. If you don't defeat him, he'll go back to the same stuff as before, just use the same strategy.

Remember, the game has a stage select mode, you can pick any level you've made it up to in the main game, and play with unlimited credits. You can use that to experiment with various weapon types if you like.

Also, you haven't seen anything yet as far as difficulty goes. ;) What difficulty are you on? I only played through it on normal.

Also, are you aware of the Konami code? It helps with practice mode, since you start at the boss.
 
For this, Would Type 2 Double work better than a laser? I would believe so since i have yet to try it out. And yes i have tried the Konami code "up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, L1, R1 or L2, R2."

I am trying on Easy as well. The code is useless if u keep dying with those astroids hitting you and killing your shield :P
 
I must also ask, how long is this game? :P I believe perhaps that there are harder bosses than this astroid boss that goes nuts on you :lol
 
The boss level in which the whole area is surrounded by astroids and when the boss comes, all the astroids come to him and he shoots crazy lasers at you
 
It's probably negotiable, but I prefer lasers. If your shield goes down, don't sweat it; as I mentioned before, your hit detection zone is actually pretty small. I don't know if I'm 100% correct on that shield theory, but I'm pretty sure, that was my experience anyway.

That boss definitely takes some practice; even if you die quickly, keep playing in practice mode and get the hang of asteroid dodging, with or without all your weapons. Try Type 3 if you want, that's the one I used, but it makes things quite a bit more difficult once you get to Stage 6. I think Type 2 is quite a bit more suitable for beginners. Not implying you're new to Gradius (although you may be) just new to Gradius V.
 
You're about half way IIRC. I use type 1 and make a multiple wall in front of the ship, but I always lose a couple of lives on this boss.
 
:lol hehe, don't worry, i been playing Gradius since part 3 came out for the SNES, though i do miss the customization :( Its gotta be unlocked
 
dark_chris said:
I must also ask, how long is this game? :P I believe perhaps that there are harder bosses than this astroid boss that goes nuts on you :lol

There are 8 stages, but stage 8 doesn't have a whole lot to it. I don't want to spoil anything for you though.

I'm telling you, you have no idea what's coming in 6 and 7. :lol It's really awesome though, and of course doable with practice, but there are some crazy bosses. I love the game. I just finished it last month for the first time, so all this is fresh in my head.
 
lmao, i must also ask.

Why are the Gradius games rare or hard to get? O.o
My gamestop, Circuit City and Best Buy didn't have it
 
dark_chris said:
lmao, i must also ask.

Why are the Gradius games rare or hard to get? O.o
My gamestop, Circuit City and Best Buy didn't have it

It's been out for over a year now (last September?) and had a relatively low print run, I think.

It debuted at $29.99. What did you pay for it?
 
Btw dont bother with R-Type Final unless you are diehard fan of R-Type series. It is by far the worst in the series.... Not exactly a worthy successor to the magnificant R-Type Delta.
 
My mother got it for 15 bucks at a gamestop only three days ago because the guy at gamestop was selling hsi own games and my mother got it for Christmas for me.

Santa doesn't exist! He woulda gone to Konami or make his elves make it but noooo.....
 
Ah, first time playing G5. :lol You're going to go fucking nuts when you reach Level 6. The only tips I can give you is to use the big boulders as shields, and that being in the exact center of the screen is the best way to avoid his uberlaser attack. About the prelude to the battle though...I still haven't found a failsafe way to go through that. :P I like Type 3 the best, gives me a good deal of control without being too cumbersome(like Type 2).
 
I played this astroid boss with my 7 year old cousin and we beat it together :lol
Now i gotta do this on my own.

We did the stage select and took us like 3 credits :P
 
Barry Lightning said:
do people know they can control the laser with the analogue stick? i never seem to get that impression from gradius v players

Oh thats just sick. I feel like a noob all over again. :(
 
dark_chris said:
I must also ask, how long is this game? :P I believe perhaps that there are harder bosses than this astroid boss that goes nuts on you :lol

The game takes roughly an hour or so per loop.

The hardest boss in the entire game is
that damn wall boss!. there's so much shit flying around and you have to do a lot of maneuvering.

Check here for a few videos (and obvious spoilerage)
http://www.justinpereira.com/gradius-5/3/
 
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