Garudius (Gradius) '95 - Boss Run - Recovery Run - Part 2

What... the heck is Garudius 95?:
It's a fan game, and a damn professional one at that, to the point when I first played it I was convinced it was an actual Konami product. It was created for the Japan only NEC PC98.
It can be found at: http://tiny.cc/garudius

What's a Recovery Run?:
Here's the basic idea: Get to the boss, and then die. Then beat the boss (and.. what parts of the stage it forces me to do.) with the few power-ups you get from the pre-boss checkpoint.

The hardest part about the Gradius series is, when you die, especially to one of the bosses, it's extremely difficult to continue. This is what makes the Gradius series amongst the hardest shoot em up's around.

I'm giving this great game hopefully a bit more video coverage. Enjoy!

As a general rule - the checkpoints in this game are fairly kind, which shows this guy showed some restraint where Konami didn't. XD

Boss Notes:
Moai Renegade Mk 2:
Hm, fairly long checkpoint this one. Thankfully this version of the Moai level is fairly easy to begin with.
As you can see - I switched weapon sets for a reason - a bombing raid via spread bombs is a fairly good way to take this guy out when you don't have many options.

Big Moai x 5
Interesting. You don't actually have to kill these, but taking out the bottom ones via Spread Bombs makes your life easier. Line your ship up when the top Moai release their little buddies and take them out before they make your life miserable.

King Hanaw:
Lolwut? Can't say I was expecting this!
This thing is fairly hard to hit, as counter to most Moai bosses - you cannot destroy his shots, but his shots DO absorb yours! The best times to damage him is when he's charging (this is the main reason you want to stay on the left side of the screen!) and when he lengthens his.. erm.. neck.
When you take out the body - you shouldn't really bother trying to attack it - it times itself out very quickly. I'm not even sure if you CAN destroy the head.

Blackhole Nebula:
Hey, it's this "boss" out of Nemesis 3! It's annoying. But thankfully not as bad as the rest of the level which has gravity wells AND tight spaces.
Just get past it. I don't know if one of these is fake or not, like the original game, but I didn't want to test it.

Gusty Core:
Heh, this thing's easy! You're pretty much safe if you stick to the middle, just back off when he launches his second attack, and get right in and personal when he extends himself.

Boss Rush:
Zub Rush:
Good old Zub Rush. This thing is probably more likely to kill you off than some of the bosses...
On average I can get out 1 Speed Up (all you need in this game), 2 Options, Missiles and Lasers via this.

Big Core:
Don't get cocky - this is the Vulcan Venture version of Big Core - meaning you can't just sit in front of it all day. Still easy, but at least you have to pay attention now.

Tetran:
Slow moving, like in most ports. This isn't very difficult this time round - you can take him out very quickly if you're aggressive.

Death MK 2:
Missile spread is easy to dodge, but he has a new surprise in the form of a spread shot with his laser. Just don't do something stupid and sit in front of it...

Misfix (Sic):
Move with the boss. You should be fine. Just be wary that his lasers act like your lasers and move with his ship.

Zub Rush 2:
Er, they fire spread shots now. Lovely. Stay to the back of the screen and your options can deal with them. Fire the odd missile too, pick up power ups AFTER you've cleared them all.
By this point I can manage to fully power myself up AND get a shield. Nice.

Lizard Core:
My lasers kinda blend in with his lasers, making it fairly hard to see where he's shooting.
Don't stay in it's line of fire. You should have options by this point, and keep them in front of it.

Beecon (Sic):
Ok.. he's slightly harder this time.
The spread shots combined with a somewhat randomised attack pattern, mean you should kill this ASAP. Don't stay above or below him if you can help it - his blue orbs have a habit of bouncing straight into you.

Zub Rush 3:
Few more power ups. If you haven't got a shield, this is a good place to get one. :P

Master Core:
Ok... this isn't an easy boss!
His missiles slightly home in to you.
If you can survive that, and providing you've kept shooting, he should be almost dead.
As a general rule, for his second attack, you want to be above him, as he fires less lasers that way.
His THIRD attack.. well.. just don't be in front of him. His first form should die now.
His second form, starts off pretty simple, just a basic core laser fire, followed by an attack that fills the screen.
Stay in front of his ship, doing the occasional dodge. And keep firing, his wave attack does block your shots but a few might get few.
Hopefully he's dead by this point, and that's it for the boss rush. Phew. That was alot of bosses.