OutZone/Strategy

See (Template Page)/Strategy (Scoring) for routing and techniques that are primarily focused on achieving high scores. See (Template Page)/Strategy (Survival) for optimized safe routes, speed-kill strategies, and helpful information that prioritizes clearing the game over scoring high.

These two sections above only need to be included if the game in question has vastly different routes between playing for score and playing for survival. If there is not a major difference in routing, then scoring and survival strategies will just be included in the stage/checkpoint that it refers to.

Weapon Tier List
This section is used to list out all strengths and weaknesses with the weapons in the game, and to sort of evaluate their general strength and usefulness.

(X) Tier: Fixed 3 Way Shot 


 * ( ~ ) Shoots a 3 way shot directly in front of your player.
 * ( + ) High damage with autofire, good coverage at full power, good for recovery.
 * ( + ) Great for all boss battles.
 * ( - ) Cannot aim at enemies behind you or hiding behind certain wall angles.
 * ( - ) Poor refire if not using autofire.

(X) Tier: Free Range Weapon 


 * ( ~ ) Shoots pink lasers in the direction of your player.
 * ( + ) Can be aimed in 8 directions
 * ( + ) Generally high damage once it is fully powered up.
 * ( - ) Not the most useful when surrounded by enemies and for boss battles.
 * ( - ) Hard to dodge and aim at the same time

(X) Tier: Super Ball 


 * ( ~ ) A ball that constantly spins around your player appears and will cause contact damage to any enemies it hits. The ball can be released directly in front of you by a button press and will shortly return to spinning around you.
 * ( + ) Extremely high damage.
 * ( + ) Goes through walls.
 * ( - ) The brief pause when releasing a ball in front of you can leave you open to enemy fire.
 * ( - ) Limited range.

(X) Tier: Super Burner 


 * ( ~ ) Shoots out a flamethrower that will extend in front of the player, and can change its trajectory based on the player's change in direction.
 * ( + ) It can be aimed in 8 directions, no dead angle.
 * ( + ) Very high damage.
 * ( - ) Hardest weapon to control, can be easily overwhelmed when surrounded by enemies.
 * ( - ) Very poor range.

Basic Strategy

 * The game gives you a lot of bombs ( you can stock up to 10). Make sure to use them if you feel like you're becoming trapped, and on difficult larger enemies and bosses. Using bombs is also useful for quickly gaining some distance if you notice that your energy meter is running low.
 * Make sure to destroy all pink boxes and pick up energy items. Grabbing the Blue SP (Speed Up) and Green SP (Energy Extend) items will also make a big difference in surviving from stage 3 onwards ( even if they are random item drops).
 * In the maze like sections of stage 3 & 6 use the walls & free range weapon to your advantage to pick off the soldiers hiding by the walls & popping out of the generators. If you get trapped or fail to destroy them before they start firing on your position bomb. These will be explained in more detail in the stage breakdowns below
 * Try not to die before stage 5. If you can make it that far, you'll be able to gain most of your bombs back & additional points even with freely bombing.
 * On the final boss, point-blanking the boss while having 4-5 bombs is usually enough to take him down.
 * For stationary enemies such as turrets, if you're careful and don't push the scrolling too fast there's generally a zone where you can shoot them but they don't fire at you, which you can use to your advantage
 * Most enemies can only fire in 8 directions, which means there are several dead angles you can abuse.
 * For most bosses except for the final one, it is greatly recommended to use the 3-way shot, or the Super Ball if you feel comfortable with it as it can take down bosses in a matter of seconds. Avoid using the free range or Super Burner shots, they will make your life much harder.

Advanced Strategy

 * If you're interested in scoring, then it is imperative to activate the Zero Wing bonus as early as possible. Since it needs 8 C items to be activated, you can achieve this before it appears in stage 2 by any combination of C items in stages 1 & 2=8. If you want to keep your fixed way shot while maintaining the bonus, you can pick up a special weapon and then a C item, since it reverts you back to the normal weapon you had before picking up the special weapon.
 * Similar to other toaplan games of this era, subsequent loops will have enemies fire faster bullets & have less reload time based on survival rank. Bosses will also have slightly higher HP. In this game, the difficulty maxes out in loop 3.

Multilooping strategy

 * The game stops giving you extends after the first loop. As a result, you should try to build a good stock of lives in the first loop and hope it's enough to reach your goal.
 * You get an extend every 300k points in the first loop. A run not focused on scoring will probably get between 1.2M and 1.4M points in the first loop, but with a bit of effort you can easily reach the 1.5M threshold and the following extend. 1.8M is entirely possible with good routing, a no-miss loop, and reduced bomb usage, and you should ideally aim for it. 2.1M is possible, but would require the player to use almost no bombs during the first loop, and to get all the Zero Wing bonuses at max value or close to it, with little room for error, making it very risky.
 * For scoring, most of your points will come from the Zero Wing bonus (see the detailed stage breakdown for the locations), and getting all 9 at max value or close to max value should be enough to reach 1.8M, provided you don't bomb too much and don't die in the loop (as a death would reset your bomb stock to 3). Another source of score comes from reducing your bomb usage, especially in the early stages, as the bonus points are really significant.
 * If you don't get the random extend item in the first loop then it's not really a problem. It's very rare and you shouldn't count on getting it.
 * Stage 5 is a full bomb refill and you can get a decent amount of bombs late in Stage 6 (around 5 but it's random). However, you will be required to spend 4-5 bombs on the final boss every time if you want to be safe. Multilooping is about carefully using your full stock of bombs after Stage 5. You can afford to use a few bombs late in stage 5 and early in Stage 6. Ideally you should reach the final boss with 9 or 10 bombs, which will allow you to enter the following loop with 4-6 bombs, and hope it's enough to reach Stage 5 again. These bombs are really needed in Stage 1 in the loops, the first boss alone may require 3 bombs.

List of secrets

 * The Zero Wing ship gives you a point bonus (up to 50k) if you reach specific areas fulfilling a certain condition (see Advanced Strategy)
 * Stage 1: Pipiru, Toaplan's mascot, appears if you shoot a specific area. Gives 5k points, up to 40k when brought to the boss area.
 * Stage 2: Planes from Hishouzame helping you if you shoot some bushes in Stage 2 in a specific order. Their behavior is reminiscent of Daisenpuu.
 * Stage 4: The ship from Tatsujin will help you if you have exactly 7 bombs upon destroying the door at the beginning of the stage. It follows you, automatically fires its signature 3-way shot at a slow rate and blocks bullets. The ship is destroyed after taking 20 hits and its shot goes through some walls. The ship leaves when reaching the Stage 4 boss if it hasn't been destroyed at this point.

Enemy Overview
Most enemies will aim relative to your position. Some larger enemies and bosses will net x pts per shot + points ( upon enemy destruction).

Stage 1
You can uncover Toaplan's mascot, Pipiru near the middle of the stage. There is a rock hole you need to shoot enough times in order for Pipiru to appear. Pipiru will remain on the screen in front of you until you shoot it a certain number of times. After that, Pipiru will begin to ricochet around the screen and will be destroyed after enough damage is dealt to it. Enemies can't damage Pipiru, only your shot can damage it. Bombs also don't damage it. You gain 5,000 pts for destroying Pipiru, but if you can keep it alive until reaching the 1st boss area, you will receive 40,000 points. It is pretty hard to keep Pipiru alive up to the boss area, and bombing may be required in order to deal with some areas without damaging Pipiru.

Near the end of the stage, you will encounter two turrets and a destructible gate which will bring you to the 1st boss (aptly named 1-Boss on the ground)

In higher loops
This stage plays very differently in loop 2 onwards. The same could be said for every stage, but the difference is more noticeable in this one because the rank was so low in loop 1.

Take your time when crossing the corridor at the very beginning, as enemies will start firing immediately. Memorize where they spawn and start shooting immediately, then move left or right accordingly before moving to spawn the next one. After the corridor there will be a big ambush where it's advisable to bomb.

When you reach the area with the big cannons, slowly lure one ambush after the other, and when you have to go through the narrow corridors, hug one wall to make sure you have enough room to dodge the next ambush. It's probably not worth spawning Pipiru because the bonus is so low and you lack time.

When you reach the area with the turrets, safely take down 2 rows of them by using the pillar as a cover, before slowly moving up and taking down the other two rows one after the other.

1-Boss
The 3-way shot is greatly recommended. This boss is made up of 4 pink blobs that fire semi-aimed large orange bullets at you. Dealing with all 4 of these at once can be a bit difficult for most new players, so it is essential for them to point blank one of the blobs (usually the top left one) to quickly destroy one of them. After that, try to position yourself below the second one from the right (assuming your started by destroying the top left one) so that you hit 3 of them at the same time. Don't try to pointblank them after they've all appeared on screen. If you find yourself getting trapped between bullets, make sure to bomb. 1 bomb will heavily damage most of the blobs, and 2 bombs will destroy around 1-2 blobs and leave you with more room to dodge. Once there is 1 blob left, the firing speed of the remaining blob's bullets increases dramatically. Take out the last blob by firing directly at him when he is closer to the top of the screen, and hang out on the left side of the screen when he moves closer to the bottom of the screen. Destroying him will complete Stage 1. Your total bomb bonus will be tallied, and your energy will be restored to full.

Note: The bullets from the blobs become even faster on subsequent loops, making this a much more difficult fight, and you likely won't be fully powered up even if you don't die on the stage. Don't be afraid to use 2-3 bombs to destroy most of the blobs if you get trapped early on in the fight. The recovery checkpoint on this boss will most likely require all 3 bombs to get past.

Stage 2
Immediately after the tree area, you will reach a door with some turrets in front and behind. Destroying the door will also destroy the enemies that keep respawning on the side, so you may want to focus on that.

Enemies will appear in the open area after the door once you reach it. To deal with those as well as the turrets, you want to either rush inside until enemies spawn then use a bomb, or use the free range shot to safely kill the turrets from behind the wall then step forward and kill the enemies when they appear, as they take a few seconds to start shooting. This may take a few tries to get the right angle. There will be another C item shortly after, if you prefer to have the 3-way for the following part.

You will come across a bridge and then a path that splits into two. Take the right path and proceed upwards on the brownish road. You will fall and die if you move off the road into the pits surrounding the road. Next, you'll come across two destructible gates; destroy them and watch out for the purple robots that fire at you from behind both gates. On the second gate, a large red enemy will appear from the middle of the screen; stay below or far to the left to avoid its fire.

After destroying a few more enemy soldiers, one big red enemy will appear from the top middle of the screen, and two other big enemies will appear from the left and right hatches. This is the first stage that will allow you to recieve the Zero Wing bonus. In order to activate the bonus, you must collect 8 C Items. Once you have done that, the Zero Wing bonus will appear from the left side of predetermined points ( assuming you collected 8 C Items before the checkpoint of that area) in the stage and fly to the right. When you shoot the ship, you will receive a 5,000 pt bonus with a multiplier; which can scale up to 50,000 points if the ship is shot at the very right of the screen. If you collect another C item, you will need to collect 7 more C items to reactivate the Zero Wing bonus. In this stage, the Zero Wing bonus appears right before entering the area with the pits near the end
 * Advanced Strategy

Proceed past the next group of enemies to arrive at another yellow road junction with multiple paths. Take your time and utilize your fixed 3-way shot at this section to destroy the turrets, destroy the soliders that spawn from the left/right sides at 3/4 different points ( 8 max at each spawn point). After the last spawn point, head upwards to arrive at the second boss.

2-Boss
"Look at what we got here, a multi-assault tank! Watch yourself, kid" -Bob, 1995

This boss is a gigantic monoeye tank, and requires a little bit of strategy to take down its arensal of 2 gun turrets, a big eye that can fire a DNA beam at multiple positions, and a hatch that shoots out flaming robots that fire blue 3-way bullets.

Your main course of action is to quickly destroy one of the gun turrets (left or right) by briefly positioning yourself in front of the turret, and moving out of the way while firing at it. Once both are destroyed, focus your fire on the main eye while dodging his beams. You can dodge his middle one by squeezing through the large gaps created by the beam, or by moving to the side with the left/right beams. The fire robots will appear from his middle hatch and can be destroyed by point-blanking them from the side or bombing. With ample amounts of damage from an autofire 3-way shot or the Super Ball Special weapon, this tank should go down fairly quickly before he can release any fire robots.

Note: On loop 2 and above, the gun turrets and the eye have slightly higher HP, which may require you to use a bomb or two if you find yourself trapped. Recovery via checkpoint on this boss is not too difficult, but may require bomb usage on the fire robots.

Stage 3
A gate opens, and in the next section some purple soldiers will pop up as a few rows of green enemies rise from below. Try to position yourself on the left and move to the right while destroying each green formation, and bomb if you get trapped at the edge of the gray platform.

To pass this area without wasting bombs, it is paramount to learn when the green formations will rise, so you can deal with them efficiently by moving left or right without being cornered. Above is an approximative map of the points you have to cross to trigger the green formations. Note that they take a couple of seconds to actually spawn after you cross the line, which can be deceptive.

Move forward as you come across 3-Boss.

3-Boss
The boss will start the fight by unveiling a laser from the left side, that will cut the ground on the right. The ground behind the cutline will sink into the lava, so you will need to move forward after the ground is cut by the laser, while destroying the small enemies that continually emerge from the boss's sides. The boss will repeat this once more, this time cutting the ground from the left diagonally downwards, requiring you to move forward. Afterwards, the boss will open his main eye and fire a few yellow rings at you at irregular intervals. Shoot the eye when it opens while destroying the enemies on the sides, and it will be destroyed after a short amount of time. Try to focus on the small enemies and destroy them as soon as you can. They will always come in the same predictable order (left-right-left-right etc.). If you miss an enemy (which may happen because of the initial laser attack), it can be preferable to bomb because they will move at the bottom of the screen and shoot you.

Stage 4
Not an easy stage, there are a lot of sections that can easily trap players without careful planning and/or bombing.

Move forward and destroy the gate ahead of you.

Tatsujin Ship (Stage 4) At the beginning of stage 4 (right after the boss that uses lasers to cut the floor apart), you will face a door: make sure you have exactly 7 bombs in stock when you destroy that gate and the Tatsujin ship will appear to help you.

In the next section, take your time moving vertically forward, as green soldiers will appear from the top of the screen and from the right side of the screen as you move upwards. There are a few turrets that appear in this section.


 * Advanced Tip* - The turrets can be easily destroyed by inching slightly forward just as they appear on screen. Your shot can damage them and they will be unable to fire normally.

The next section has a number of soldiers and green mobile enemies (from stage 1) appear. Keep moving forward while destroying them until you get close to a couple of crates. Some long brownish enemies will appear and fire orange balls from the sides.

You'll come across a section of the stage with gaps. There are a total of 3 platforms that pass by a regular intervals, with a respawning grey soldier each time they appear. Destroy the soldier when crossing the platform, and bomb if too many other soldiers spawn on the sides of the platforms.

A Zero Wing ship appears after this section if you meet the requirements

Next, you'll come across a long narrow section. It's good to have the 3-way main shot here, as you can destroy the side turrets on the far left and right while dealing damage to the enemies coming directly from above. Take your time when dealing with this section. It is recommended to do a "S" motion but walking straight: start on the right edge, go slightly up, then immediately move left, then slightly up, immediately dash right, and so on.

At the end of the section, there will be a big turret on the right shooting fast bullets: use the trick with the scrolling to be in the zone where it doesn't shoot but you can destroy it. Shortly after there will be two more turrets in both top corners, which you can deal with in the same way. If you mess up and scroll too much, it may be wise to use a bomb there. You're almost on Stage 5 which will replenish your bombs anyway.

A section of crates awaits; take your time to poke out and destroy enemies that appear on the sides of the stage. You'll come across a midboss train, which has one main part that needs to be destroyed (the one firing the fireball at you), and you can proceed onwards. Be mindful of the row of soldiers right after and immediately move to the side after you've passed the rail.

The last section has a lot of crates that restrict your movement. While dealing with the enemies that pop out of the sides, you will move upwards, and want to likely use a bomb or two on the last portion (wall ahead/ two walls on the side with two paths on the left right) and just move swiftly upwards, where you will encounter 4-Boss. If you have a decent amount of energy (you don't need a lot of the boss), you can rush straight to the boss without taking the energy fill and without having to care about the enemies, and save a bomb in the process.

4-Boss
This boss cannot be damaged at first. He will fire 4 missiles that release yellow projectiles when destroyed by your shot, starting with its leftmost one and using the next one on the right until all 4 are fired. Simply stay in front and shoot them, then move in front of the next one. Afterwards, he will move downwards and remove his outer shell, revealing a blue interior with spiny wheels around him. The spiny wheels will move outward, allowing you to move in between the spiny gaps and damage the main blue interior for a short period before the wheels move inwards. He does this once more before putting his outer shell back on, and repeating his attack cycle. 3-way or super ball destroys this boss pretty easily. With the 3-way shot, full power and 30hz autofire, you should be able to quickly destroy the boss by pointblanking it without having to move out. Timing can be pretty tight, so feel free to use a bomb or two at the beginning to damage the boss if you're not confident. If you're recovering and aren't at full power, you will have to move out once.

Stage 5
This stage seems daunting at first, but ends up being easier than the previous stage, as well as the easiest recovery stage, thanks to its generous middle section of powerups dropped by soldiers.

A Zero Wing ship appears immediately after the beginning if you meet the requirements

Start this stage by moving forward and destroying a few squadrons of soldiers above you. As you move forward in this section, mechanized snakes will pop out of the wall sections to the left and right. Newer players can feel free to use bombs when a mechanized snake appears or when enemies come from behind, as they each drop either a special item or a bomb. The snakes will fire only when you're in their line of sight, otherwise they're harmless. While moving upwards, watch out for soldiers that appear from the left/right areas of the screen. When there are 2 snakes spawning at the same time it's preferable to bomb, which means you should save at least 1 bomb for that occasion.

A Zero Wing ship appears after the snake section and just before the moving platforms if you meet the requirements

Next, you'll come to a gap with a couple of moving platforms. Use these to cross the gaps and defeat the 2 groups of soldiers that appear on the right/top of the screen. For the rest of this section, every single soldier spawned is red (which means they will drop a guaranteed special item or bomb). They also take a while to fire any bullets, so it is beneficial to use your regular shot for most soldiers (and bomb when you are cornered on a platform). You may need to use a seperate autofire button if you do pick up the Flamethrower special weapon in this section. Make sure to not fall in between the stationary platform/moving platform gaps. You can afford to take your time there, you have plenty of Energy pick-ups in this stage.

You'll come across 2 energy refills and a weapon change right next to a big platform. Once you step on the main platform, it will start moving forward and a sequence of enemies will appear. These enemies will generally appear from the left right, and you can move from one side of the platform to another while dodging their shots. Use bombs if you get cornered or if two squadrons of these enemies appear at the same time. Afterwards, the platform will stop in front of 5-Boss.

5-Boss
Stay in the middle of the platform as this boss moves down the screen and fires his guns to the left/right of you. He will move to the right or/left, so stay to the center of the boss and damage his main body and side guns with your main shot. Once you do this, his inner core will be exposed, and he will start firing missiles at you while green fly enemies periodically appear to the left/right of you. Bomb if you get trapped by the missiles or enemies and shoot the inner core enough times to destroy the boss.

Stage 6
There will be many enemies at the beginning, take your time when moving up and go from one side of the screen to the other. When you reach the door there will be a C crate and two enemies coming from the middle: move to the side before going up. With the 3-way shot, you should be able to kill the enemies after the moving doors without any issues, as well as the other soldiers from the maze.

Before exiting the maze, go on the left side and use the wall as a cover for the big enemy incoming. There will be a few more enemies like this which you should handle one at a time. Shortly after, there will be an energy item: this is where you have to be careful. Slowly move up, just past the E, while staying on the left side of the screen, until a big tank spawns and you kill it. Then take the E and move up then left quickly without stopping. The reason being that a soldier spawns from behind and is very annoying, and you should be able to have it despawn by moving up quickly.

There will be another maze section and another one with pits which is pretty straightforward. Once you leave that part you will have to be pretty fast because energy refills will be scarce for a while. At the end of the section there will be turrets: take your time and use the trick to reach the sweet spot where they can't shoot but you can kill them. There will be three rows of turrets.

You will reach a section with moving walls: you can kill some of them easily by using the same trick as the turrets. For the rest, either start shooting on the (vertical) wall when the moving walls are hidden, as you should be able to kill them as soon as they appear before they even shoot, or hug the previous horizontal wall and use what seems to be a bug that allows you to shoot through it when you have the 3-way shot. This part isn't too hard, but don't take too much time because of the lack of energy refills. If you're low on energy, this is a good area to bomb to save a lot of time.

A Zero Wing ship appears after this section if you meet the requirements

The next area is straightforward. If these new enemies have enough time to shoot grenades, move on its side and you will dodge the bullets easily.

There will be another maze section. Enemies stop moving after a while, simply find a few safe spots to proceed safely, there are many of them. There is an energy refill item that you can't get if you have the 3-way shot: if you're low on energy, feel free to waste a bomb to destroy the crate, you will get many of them in a moment.

A Zero Wing ship appears after this section if you meet the requirements

Finally, there is an area with moving walls, and tons of breakable walls giving you bombs or power-ups. Break the two walls on the left-hand side at the beginning for some bombs or power-ups, then go through the right-hand door. At the next junction (where an Energy refill is), go on the left, deal with the enemies, and break the walls on the right side if you want some more items. Then go through the left wall (the other one is a trap that closes too fast and will probably get you killed).

6-Boss
3-way shot is greatly recommended for this fight, although Super Ball also works if you feel more comfortable with that weapon. Super Burner and free range shots are absolutely not recommended.

This boss can be difficult for a newbie to this game, due to being invulnerable except for his singular attack and tendency to get somewhat close later on in the fight. His signature attack is for one of his four arms to glow blue and extend downwards (based on your position) towards your direction, and then his eye opens and fires a spread at you. You can only damage the boss when the eye is open. One other thing to keep in mind is that he may pause for a moment before his singular attack, be patient and keep your position until his arm glows, and then move away from him. You may need to use several bombs on this boss, especially if you are not fully powered up. Having a speed-up makes this boss much easier.

To safely dispatch it, go below its second arm from the left until it glows and move to the right edge of the screen. When the punch goes back, quickly dash left while shooting in order to dodge the balls. Its 6th attack will happen when the boss is at the bottom of the screen: this time it is preferable to bait the leftmost punch and proceed the same as usual. Also, it pauses for a moment before using its 6th punch, so take your time and wait until the arm glows. You can also do the same thing starting on the right and dashing left, depending on your preference.

If you're recovering against this boss, aren't at full power and don't have the energy extend, it is more than likely that you will have to use at least one bomb against it to damage it enough before running out of energy. Bomb when the boss is down on the screen, because the energy balls will be harder to dodge in this scenario. To deal slightly more damage, move up one "square" on the ground when the boss is up, while staying at the very bottom otherwise. It is extremely tight in higher loops, but with 3 bombs you may be able to kill the boss just in time. There is not a single second to waste and you have to grab the C item and move up immediately.

Stage 7
The area with the big laser enemies is all about baiting the small soldiers by slowly moving up, then going back and sniping them as they appear. You have to memorize the points where they will start spawning. You occasionally have to use the big crates as a shield to safely deal with the laser enemies. It is extremely important to learn when the soldiers will spawn, as they may come from dirty places from where they can shoot you while you can't retaliate if you have the 3-way. They can also take time to spawn even after you've crossed the line, so you shouldn't rush. Sometimes, triggering their spawn will also display some big robots in the background (who will come to you shortly after), which you can use as a confirmation that you've reached that point. Above is an approximative map of the lines to cross in order to trigger their spawn, with the actual spawn position denoted by a circle. Try to go slightly above the line before going back and sniping them. You may also trigger some soldiers from above, but they're less dangerous and won't be noted.

Finally, the last section will have a lot of small ambushes, so you want to start on one edge of the screen and move up slowly, then move to the other side to deal with the ambush. Remember where the ambushes happen, take your time, you should have plenty of energy and there will be 3 refills right before the boss. Shortly after you destroy two sets of missiles launchers, there will be a pair of strong enemies shooting missiles straight down, and a lot of fast bullets: hug one side of the screen again and slowly move up: assuming you use the 3-way shot, you should be able to destroy the first one safely, and if you're lucky you will have reached the sweet spot when the enemy doesn't fire but you can kill it.

7-Boss
The final boss of the game! It is recommended to bring at least 4 or 5 bombs against it, especially in higher loops.

This boss likes to start off by releasing a little white ball worm that somewhat homes in on your position (and will be relaunched periodically during the fight). Afterwards, the boss will have a sound effect where it launches a few orange balls towards your position from the left hand as a greeen sword appears, and then extends this hand completely downwards. He will then repeat this on the other hand, and switch back and forth (until both arms are destroyed). When you shoot the main body enough times, its armor comes off and its eye will start shooting fast orange balls at your position. While they are manageable in the first loop, it is highly recommended to continuously bomb, especially in higher loops, because of how fast they can be. To take it down safely, use the free range shot, start on top-left of the platform, dodge the initial white ball worm, then go in the middle and shoot. The second worm should go around you if you don't move. When you destroy the helmet of the boss, start bombing immediately and keep bombing without thinking while you keep firing.

It is possible, but very hard, to beat the boss at low power, provided you have 3 bombs and good reaction time. In the first loop you can get away with 0 bombs but will have to do some dodging, but in higher loops it's pretty much mandatory to bomb. Keep the free range weapon, dodge the initial worm ball and be slightly off-center, on the right. Keep shooting while being as close as possible, but when the armor comes off, don't bomb immediately. Instead, don't move, keep shooting, pay attention to the boss and bomb only when you see bullets coming out of it (not the worm ball, as it's slow and not a danger at this point). The boss generally pauses between attacks, so you get some fractions of seconds of free shooting without needing to bomb. It is important to be on the right so you have a couple more frames of leeway when it comes to your reaction time, but not too much as you don't want to hit the arm. It will be close, but it should be enough to kill the boss just in time.

Alternatively, you can try grabbing the 3-way weapon and starting on the left (as this arm will always go down first). The boss' pattern is predictable: it will light up its left (from your point of view) sword, shoot some bullets, the arm will go down then up, then it will fire another stream of bullets from the left as the right arm lights up, fires another stream of bullet from the right arm, the arm goes down, and it fires another stream of bullets from the right. Then the pattern repeats. Start on the left so you can move to the right when it fires bullets, and do you best to dodge the second stream while finding a moment to move to the right (good moment to bomb) in order to repeat the same motion in reverse. If you are cornered, feel free to bomb, as it will cancel the boss' laser sword (and it will stay cancelled even after the bomb wears off). You will probably get some slowdown to help you. The boss keeps firing some aimed energy balls, but because you'll keep moving, they shouldn't be much of an issue.

If you shoot it enough times, the body will disintegrate, and you will be treated with a "Congratulation! You've Completed This Game" alongside the main character (or Pipiru if you got the stage 1 pipiru bonus) egging you to keep playing for 10 million?! in Japanese. Afterwards, you will be brought back to the first stage.

References & Contributors
[1]https://vgmaps.com/Atlas/Arcade/index.htm#O
 * 1) Primary info provided by ggmaximo