Gradius II/Guides

This page aims to offer general gameplay tips and individual stage descriptions with a survival focus, for a description of scoring tricks visit the scoring sections page.

Weapon configurations
The most important part for anyone who wants to clear Gradius II is figuring out what weapon setup feels the most comfortable and provides consistent results. A popular choice is Type 4 thanks to its 2-Way Missile that makes it easy to learn stages, but generally speaking all the weapon configurations excel at different things and will work out with enough effort, such as Type 1's piercing Laser during the moai stage, Type 2's Spread Bomb, or maybe you just really like the blue Ripple Laser and decide to stick with Type 3. A general ranking from easiest to hardest is probably like this:


 * 1) Type 4
 * 2) Type 3
 * 3) Type 1
 * 4) Type 2

Along with this, it is heavily recommended you pick Force Field as your shield. The regular Shield being able to take more damage isn't useful when it's easily taken out by terrain, large size makes it hard to avoid hits and it only protects the front of your ship. It's much easier to maintain the Force Field for long periods of time and protection from all sides is more important.

Get used to higher speed levels
Just like most of the Gradius series there are multiple speed levels to choose from by equipping the Speed Up slot, in this case 5 Speed Ups is the max. While playing with a single Speed Up can be easy it is extremely important to get used to 2 or even 3 Speed Ups early on, as the High Speed stage pretty much demands it, otherwise you will take at least a single death there. Moreover, there's extra benefits besides just moving faster, as higher speed levels make your Options more spread out giving greater coverage, especially if playing with Type 3 or Type 4 that have the Ripple Laser. Anything higher than 3 Speed Ups is not needed at all unless you really like it.

Avoid the Option Hunter
A new addition to Gradius II is the Option Hunter. This enemy is indestructible and can steal any Options you have if it comes in contact with one of them. How many Options are lost depends on which one was taken: if it touches the one that is furthest away from your ship you will only lose your 4th Option and keep the rest, while if it touches the closest one to your ship you will lose all of them. The Option Hunter has a unique alarm sound when it first appears and always aims at your ship with a horizontal trajectory. This means by fully moving up or down to get your Options out of your way it's possible to easily bait the Option Hunter.



However, this won't always work. Especially in more hectic situations like the Boss Rush and the Base stage where the Option Hunter can absolutely kill runs if it appears at the wrong time. Therefore a good solution to never have to deal with the Option Hunter is playing with 3 Options. This slight firepower decrease isn't that important and 2-3 Speed Ups will still give you plenty of coverage.

Goal
Loop 1=

Stage 1
The intro section has 8 Power Capsules which is enough to get Missile, one Option and 2 or 3 Speed Ups. The fire dragons' fireballs drop Power Capsule so leave them alive for a bit to equip everything you need.

Stage 1 BOSS: Phoenix
Phoenix's attacks are blue lasers and spitting fireballs. Because the blue lasers are static you can line up with the boss' chest and they will always miss. You can place your Options below the "HI" text and this is usually enough to speedkill the boss.

Stage 2
It's important to choose a path during the vines section, try to stay at the middle-bottom and avoid going too close to the top of the screen, because this will leave you with very little room to maneuver and the game's scrolling is reset back to a single screen later on. For the tentacle arms the solution is to just keep shooting and they won't be a threat.

Stage 2 BOSS: Big Eye
Big Eye fires destructible orbs with both of its arms that stick to the scenery, slightly reducing the arena, while the eye itself periodically throws a large indestructible rock. With Type 3 and Type 4 placing yourself at the top or bottom with your Options in a vertical line then the Ripple Laser will take care of all the orbs, go the opposite way when Big Eye fires the rock. Type 1 and Type 2 need more movement because the regular Laser doesn't have as much coverage. If Big Eye happens to timeout it will move to the left before crashing and dying, when this happens you can either destroy it or go to the left and let the boss suicide. Be careful because Big Eye fires it rock one last time as it's coming towards you.

KEY CHECKPOINT RECOVERY
If you died in this last checkpoint and didn't just reset to recover here you need to destroy the two red turrets at the top to get a Speed Up and Missile then quickly speedkill the enemy spawners. For Big Eye try to stay at either the lower half of the screen or the upper one, but don't move wildly trying to actually kill Big Eye because it's not gonna work. If the screen looks too flooded with orbs to go left when Big Eye times out you can fly below it.



Stage 3
The section in the second half with the indestructible crystals rarely ever plays out the exact same way and you will need to react quickly in order to maneuver around them, this is also not helped by the crystals' rather large hitbox. For the crystal rush immediately afterwards if you are using Type 3 or Type 4 you can place your Options in a vertical line and they will destroy most crystals with ease, but eventually you need to move out of the way. Ultimately all the weapon configurations need a very proactive approach. Type 2 definitely excels during this section thanks to the Spread Bomb, just be wary of visibility issues.

Stage 3 BOSS: Crystal Core
A pretty fixed boss, Crystal Core's arms fire small bullets while the center fires a twin laser. After 4 twin lasers Crystal Core will fire a barrage of them, repeating it after the 8th twin laser. This boss is notorious for having an intentional safespot by the developers. To get into it consistently it's necessary to align yourself horizontally with the core barriers as the boss first appears, otherwise you will die as Crystal Core's AI frequently moves towards the center of the screen. Ultimately though, using this safespot is far from mandatory.



Stage 4
This stage is a considerable step-up in difficulty compared to the previous ones due to several hard to kill turrets and enemies coming from behind. If a beginner player didn't die in the previous stage they certainly will here. While not mandatory, you may consider using Double if you're playing with Type 1, but both the regular Laser and Ripple Laser can handle this stage.

For the hatch that spawns enemies near the start if you see a blue Power Capsule you can try to use as late as possible, at worst this will still kill the two enemies hanging around near the hatch and make it a little easier. Type 4 has the easiest time with this section since you can stay right below the hatch and your 2-Way Missile will take of it. However, for the other weapon configurations the ideal way with to handle this is by placing your Options preemptively in a horizontal line where the hatch will appear, move down slightly (otherwise a Ducker enemy will hit you) and keep shooting until the hatch dies.



Another tricky section is right at the end with the jumping enemies. These enemies fire a nasty bullet spread if left alive for long enough. You should place your Options in a vertical line to kill the single one of these guys that appears from above (note that Type 4 can just stay in the middle of the screen and camp with 2-Way Missile) and quickly take down the rest.

Stage 4 BOSS: Death MK. II
Making a return from Salamander in an upgraded form. Death MK. II has two phases. The first phase can only be damaged by attacking the hatch while it's open, which fires missiles directly forward as this is happening, do not ever try to micrododge these missiles, as they have massive hitboxes. The second phase has a predictable large laser as its only attack, and can be damaged even when it's not firing.

Stage 5
This stage can be divided in two halfs, the first one with the regular Moais who shoot and the second one with the red Moais who do not. Type 1 and Type 2 shine during the second half thanks to the piercing properties of the Laser destroying the red Moais easily. Type 3 has an easy time with the red Moais hanging on the ground because the Photon Torpedo can go through all their rings without problem, while ironically Type 4 struggles the most in this section due to lack of piercing, but not a huge difference overall. Another priority during the second half alongside the red Moais are the hatches since they spawn a fast group of enemies who will quickly start shooting at you, making it important to memorize where they are and kill them before this happens.

Stage 5 MIDBOSS: Jumping Moai
A group of four midsize Moais who jump around and fire a ginormous amount of rings. The easiest way for this section is to bait them by going all the way to the right and move left when you see them turning around, this gives you plenty of time and space to shoot down all of them.

Stage 5 BOSS: Big Moai
Three giant moais who spit floating mini moais that fire the rings you have become used to seeing in this stage. The main priority is the Moai on the right since him dying ends the fight instantly. With Type 1 and Type 2 this fight is exceedingly simple, just align yourself with the right moai's mouth, hang back with your Options above the bottom moai's mouth and keep shooting, the Laser will instantly pierce through the mini moais and quickly end the boss. Type 3 and Type 4 can use a similar approach but it will take longer because the Ripple Laser doesn't have piercing. In the case of Type 3 it's likely the Photon Torpedo kills the bottom Moai along the way.

KEY CHECKPOINT RECOVERY
Destroy the two orange enemies that appear and equip either 1 or 2 Speed Ups depending on whether or not the Power Meter was highlighted when you died. Go all the way to the left, then all the way up until you can't go any higher and keep shooting. This is a safespot that can be used for almost the entire fight and makes this recovery one of the simpler ones in the game. Big Moai timeouts shortly after its 5th wave of mini moai, when this wave approaches wait for a bit, move straight down and navigate through the mini moais.



[Insert gif showing how to dodge the 5th wave]

Be aware that, unless you can mash incredibly fast you'll need autofire for the safespot in case you weren't using it until now, otherwise the rings will consistently kill you when they reach the lower part of your ship.

Stage 6
TBD

Stage 6 BOSS: Big Core MK. II
TBD

Stage 7
TBD

Stage 7 MIDBOSS: Big Core
TBD

Stage 7 MIDBOSS: Brain Golem
TBD

Stage 7 MIDBOSS: Tetran
TBD

Stage 7 MIDBOSS: Gaw
TBD

Stage 7 MIDBOSS: Intruder
TBD

Stage 7 BOSS: Covered Core
TBD

Stage 8 MIDBOSS: Demos
TBD

Stage 8 MIDBOSS: Crab
TBD

Stage 8 BOSS: Gofer
In classic Gradius tradition, Gofer doesn't do anything. You can destroy the tissue over his head to end the fight quickly or just wait.



Loop 2=

Stage 1
TBD

Stage 1 BOSS: Phoenix
TBD

Stage 2
TBD

Stage 2 BOSS: Big Eye
TBD

Stage 3
TBD

Stage 3 BOSS: Crystal Core
TBD

Stage 4
TBD

Stage 4 BOSS: Death MK. II
TBD

Stage 5
TBD

Stage 5 MIDBOSS: Jumping Moai
TBD

Stage 5 BOSS: Big Moai
TBD

Stage 6
TBD

Stage 6 BOSS: Big Core MK. II
TBD

Stage 7
TBD

Stage 7 MIDBOSS: Big Core
TBD

Stage 7 MIDBOSS: Brain Golem
TBD

Stage 7 MIDBOSS: Tetran
TBD

Stage 7 MIDBOSS: Gaw
TBD

Stage 7 MIDBOSS: Intruder
TBD

Stage 7 BOSS: Covered Core
TBD

Stage 8 MIDBOSS: Demos
TBD

Stage 8 MIDBOSS: Crab
TBD

Stage 8 BOSS: Gofer
In classic Gradius tradition, Gofer doesn't do anything. You can destroy the tissue over his head to end the fight quickly or just wait.