Corneria - The Base
Briefing: Star Fox team, our last resort is to counter attack Venom!! Good luck!!
Enemies/Obstacles: Towers, small fighters, ground-based ion-launchers, smaller walker vehicles, large construction robots.

Stage:

Rise up a bit to get the first two bogeys, then look for the next one in the upper right of the flight corridor. Continue on and save a wingman. As in the course one Corneria stage, if you fly through all of the arches (blasting walker robots that get in your way) you'll make a twin blaster powerup appear. Use the brake to pick up the twin blaster without getting hit. Watch out for small ion-launching mines and other fighters before the large "UFO" that appears high in the sky. It'll take several hits and you may still have to contend with a few parachuting drones, but if you take it out early you shouldn't have much trouble.

An enemy will fly into your line of fire just before you encounter a five-fighter formation. They shouldn't take too much work to take out. Once you're done with them, stay low to the ground so you'll be in a good position to save a wingman as he flies through an arch.

Target another ion-mine and fly over a pair of close buildings, being careful to avoid walker robots in the area. You'll next encounter two more ion launchers. The one on the left reveals a nova bomb when it's been destroyed.

The collapsing blue towers shouldn't give you any problems if you stay close to the ground and fly between them.

Midway Ring

Target one more ion mine on the ground, then hold a 90 degree roll (press and hold L or R) to pick up another nova bomb unscathed (amazingly, as you do this, a bogey up ahead in the distance likes to spontaneously explode on its own!). You'll face one more cluster of fighters before the Attack Carrier.

BOSS: Attack Carrier

The Attack Carrier is once again your foe on Corneria. It follows the same attack patterns as on Course 1, so you can use the same strategies against it.

Sector X
Briefing: Andross' forces intend to build a base in this area!! Destroy their Rock Crusher!!
Enemies/Obstacles: Fighters, giant girders, small robots.

Stage:

You'll encounter three fighters (one from the top and two from the right) before being called to save a wingman. After that, two more enemies will appear, followed by sets of girders. Take out the jumping robot first, then fly between the girders and take out the insect-like robot there. You'll face another jumping robot while your wingman chases two fighters.

You'll find a one-up--boost through to collect it and avoid the spinning T-shaped girders. When you encounter a "tunnel" surrounded by spinning girders, be careful to fly between them so as not to get hit and collect a nova bomb if you need it.

Enemies will appear to the left and right sides, then top and bottom sides of the corridor, and afterwards you'll be able to pick up a twin blaster powerup just in time to target more bogeys!

Next you'll face more girders with insect-like robots guarding them, but you can also pick up a nova bomb and extra shields.

Midway Ring

Move to one side to avoid the X-shaped girders, then save a wingman. Four strange crafts will appear in a vertical formation. They're only vulnerable when they turn around, but the order you hit them in is also important. You'll have a few chances to take them out.

More spinning girders will threaten your progess now. You can avoid them if you fly right, then left, then down. With the next wave of girders fly right, left, right, and then down.

A wave of independent girders will appear next, but you can avoid most of them by veering somewhat to the lower right of the corridor (if you go too far to the side a pod will plummet from top to bottom launching ion blasts at you, though).

Save a wingman and take out a triangle-formation fighter, followed by four more of the crafts which are only vulnerable when they turn around (they'll be in a quadrilateral formation).

BOSS: Rock Crusher

There are Rock Crushers in Course One's Asteroid Belt and in Sector X. The attack pattern is similar for both, but this one is a bit trickier. The first set of gun ports flashes on for only a brief moment (just enough time to send out a laser beam or two your way) and it tends to fire out more missiles at you. Otherwise, however, the patterns are similar, so you can use the same strategies you used on the first Rock Crusher. Go for Titania!

Stage:

The ground you cover as you fly over Titania is a cold, desolate desert. There are giant crystals growing out of the ground and giant slab objects that spin around when you shoot them. The only thing that makes Titania inhabitable (and its rich resources readily available to Lylat) is the weather control unit. Your first goal is to reactivate it, and if you don't go through the correct door to do so the stage will repeat until you do.

You begin in front of a rocky canyon amidst the snowy, foggy landscape. Fly under slabs and avoid crystals in the ground before targetting a tall ion-launcher. Shoot a walker robot as you fly in the canyon, fly around a boulder, then shoot another walker robot and an ion launcher. Hold a 90 degree roll to avoid scraping against the narrow exit of the canyon.

Avoid the spinning slabs and small crystals that may bounce your way while targetting two walkers and remote launchers on the ground. Save a wingman and blast two more missile launchers before facing the first crab walker.

The crab-like walker robots aren't too hard to destroy. They may shoot at you, but their shots are easy to avoid. Aim for their legs. You only need to destroy one of them to cripple the robot (though it's fun to go for all four!).

Next you'll face two ion launchers before a set of three doors. There are items behind the left door, so powerup if you need to, but then part of the stage will repeat. The weather control unit is behind the rightmost door (shoot the doors as you approach them to open them). Be sure to stay low and fly through the unit to switch it on or else you might miss it and have to repeat part of the stage again. Once you've reactivated it, the weather on Titania immediately clears up to reveal a dry, desert-like landscape (much like that of the Titania stage in Star Fox 64, not surprisingly).

Target the two tanks in the distance before going after two bogeys that fly to the right. Two helicopters will try to attack as well, but they're easy to take out. Save a wingman and if you need another nova bomb you'll find one behind one of the spinning slabs. If you shoot the bottom of the slab slowly and regularly and head towards the bomb, you may pick it up with little or no damage!

Most of the enemies after this point are crab walkers and ion launchers. After the next crab walker you'll face two missile launchers and three tanks. Save a wingman and take out two ion launchers, two lone crab walkers, and then two more crab walkers with nearby ion launchers. A couple of bogeys will fly to the extreme left and right sides of the flight corridor, but after them there are only two more ion launchers to take out before you head for the base up ahead.

BOSS: Professor Hanger

When you enter the giant facility at the end of the Titania stage, a strange robot, Professor Hanger, will rush up to "greet" you in the hallway. It approaches and the message "BYE BYE!!" scrolls across its screen. Although the robot flashes when you hit it at this point, it doesn't take damage. Professor Hanger then speeds off into the distance and waits for you to follow it over a large body of water.

When you fly over this body of water there will initially be a large cluster of small laser-firing drones. You can take these out easily by staying close to the water's surface and spreading your laser fire over them. When they're gone Professor Hanger will reappear in the distance with a large shield bar! Although its most impressive attack is the so-called "Shadow Thruster," it's possible to beat Professor Hanger before it uses this attack, especially if your lasers are fully powered-up. Keep firing while it's off in the distance and don't let up until its hatches let out two drones. Dodge the drones as they launch at you and then return to fire at the robot again. Repeat the process and eventually Hanger will be worn down. Good job! On to Sector Y!

Stage:

Sector Y is home to a variety of lifeforms that can live in space. They have aquatic shapes. You don't need to worry about the schools of small space "fish" that fly back and forth in this stage--they're benign. You do, however, need to worry about other lifeforms, which Andross has taken control of. Although they're a bit hard to spot in the distance, the three orange stingrays need to be calmed down--shoot them and you'll hear a sound as they change color to reflect their now-peaceful temperament.

Shoot the squid several times to calm them down--you'll face two of them as well as three bogeys to the left before being called to save a wingman. There are two more squids to the lower left and two fighters will fly to the bottom of the corridor, then move to the left.

There's a one-up among the amoebas. Three more enemies will appear to the left and a twin blaster-revealing ship will also appear.

Move to the right and you'll avoid the big blue stingray that flies into the corridor. Don't shoot it! Let a wingman take out two enemies for you while you concentrate on the three fighters that appear in the distance. Save a wingman and hit another bogey.

Midway Ring

Take out three ring laser fighters and another squid. At about this point you'll start to see about seven orange stingrays in the distance. Try to hit them when they're still far away, but try not to hit the large blue stingrays in the area. You'll face another squid and a few fighters before a large whale appears. Get behind the whale to receive several powerups--shields, twin blasters, energy supply rings, and nova bombs.

BOSS: Plasma Hydra

As the whale turns around to leave, the Plasma Hydra will appear. It attacks with a plasma spewer--ion blasts travel from the main body through the arms and out the claws. Additionally, the Plasma Hydra likes to spin around and flail its long arms at you as well as fire missiles. It's sometimes hard to avoid its limbs as it spins, but using the brake helps. Shoot the missiles that threaten you, but in order to attack the Hydra itself you need to hit its claws and get your laser energy to flow back up its arms. However, if your laser fire hits the plasma charges that alternately flow down the arms, the resulting explosion will take out the arm itself! The arm will regenerate after spewing more plasma uncontrollably, but you have to watch out for the exploded arm's parts that fly toward you. When your shots make it successfully to the body (shoot the claw of the arm that is NOT spewing plasma) you'll begin to damage it.

Once the Hydra has been weakened both of its arms will explode and a giant mace will slowly grow as it spins around. Try not to get hit by it or the barrages of missiles it'll send out! At this point you can just hit the main body to damage the Plasma Hydra.

Warning! When the Hydra has been critically damaged it will try to take your arwing down with it! It'll try to roll right into you, so veer off to the side when it's at the very end of its shield bar to be ready for it. On to Venom!

Stage:

Just as with the course one stage in orbit above Venom, this stage is fairly straightforward, but you'll face bogeys one after another. Additionally, there are quite a few oddly-shaped pods which explode into damaging shards as you near them. Shoot them in the distance to avoid being hit by them. You'll find a nova bomb amidst a group of pods, too.

Midway Ring

Save a wingman after the midway ring and target a barrage of fighters that appear. You'll have to save another wingman before facing a group of four bogeys. A fifth one will appear in the middle of this group. Destroy it while it's still in the flight corridor to collect an extra shield if you wish. After this point you'll face more ring laser fighters and pods. You may find it useful to sweep your laser fire continuously left and right to hit them all while avoiding the exploding pods. Another nova bomb is also available.

BOSS: Metal Smasher

The Metal Smasher, which houses the Galactic Rider, has a few weapons. First and foremost it'll try to smash YOU! However, it also launches metal pods and concentrations of ring lasers. (Was this the inspiration for the ring laser attack the boss of Meteo, the Meteo Crusher, has in Star Fox 64?) When the Metal Smasher approaches you, pick one half of it and aim for the center of its inside section. It's safe to keep firing until one of your wingmen warns you to watch out for its smashing attack, at which point you should use the brake. The Metal Smasher will fall back after its attempt to crush you and it'll spawn several metal pods. It can be hard to hit them all when they're far away, but doing so is useful--that way you can focus your shots more on the half of the Metal Smasher you already started with. It'll try to crush you again, so follow the same pattern. By the time it starts concentrating a volley of ring lasers, you might be able to destroy the one half of the Metal Smasher you concentrated on (if not, try to avoid the ring lasers and continue the process).

What's interesting about this boss is that even though it still has about half of its shield energy remaining, without its partner to crush you, the remaining half of the Metal Smasher is pretty useless. It trembles slightly, turns to let out the Galactic Rider, then spontaneously explodes without any more effort on your part!

Midway Ring

Rise up a bit and you'll be in a good position to hit vehicles that veer in from the left. If you aim to the far left side you should be able to take out most, if not all, of these fighters as they fly in.

Watch out for the series of four pillars. Although it's possible to just fly between them, you're less likely to hit them if you hold a 90 degree roll. After this point some air bikers will try to attack. You don't want them harassing you, so take them out as soon as you can. Move to the right side when you hear the Galactic Rider approach to avoid it as it pulls ahead on the highway.

BOSS: Galactic Rider

It's been said in the Nintendo Power comic series that Falco was once a gang member with dreams of flying. The comics portrayed him on what appeared to be an air bike. The main weapon of the Galactic Rider is also a gang of air bikers. (I wonder what Falco's thinking at this point!) Stay to the side as the Galactic Rider drives down the highway. When the Rider tries to sideswipe you, try braking, flying upward, and moving to the opposite side. Doing this will give you a close encounter, but it's possible to make it to the other side unscathed. When the Rider opens up its back to let out a few air bikers, aim inside it to take out its shield bar, but try to take out the bikers, too, to keep them from harassing you (using a nova bomb will take out the bikers and give you time to concentrate on the Rider itself). With the Galactic Rider out of the way you can safely approach Andross' chamber. Don't give up now!