Gradius II: Gofer no Yabou/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:
- Type 4
- Type 3
- Type 1
- 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.
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Smart and simple way to make the Option Hunter miss
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 isn't that important and 2-3 Speed Ups will still give you plenty of coverage.
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.
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.
TBD