Penta Dragon FAQ/Walkthrough

      _____                           ____
     |  __ \          _              |  _ \
     | |__) |__ _ __ | |_  __ _      | | | |_ _____ _  __ _  ___  _ __
     |  ___/ _ \ '_ \|  _|/ _` |     | | | | '__/ _` |/ _` |/ _ \| '_ \
     | |  |  __/ | | | |_| (_| |     | |_| | | | (_| | (_| | (_) | | | |
     |_|   \___|_| |_|\__|\__,_|     |____/|_|  \__,_|\__, |\___/|_| |_|
                                                      |___/

Donations

While I do write all of my guides for free, it does take a lot of time and effort to put them together. If you're feeling generous and want to show your appreciation, I am gladly accepting donations. I don't know exactly what the donations will be used for, but just know that you would definitely be helping me make more quality FAQs! Even the smallest donation amounts are appreciated, and they are a great way to say how much you appreciate the work I do. If you do decide you'd like to donate, please send the donations through PayPal at the e-mail address listed below. Thank you so very much for at least considering this!!

Introduction

Welcome to my latest walkthrough for the GameBoy. This one is continuing what will probably become a bit of an FAQ filler between now and Pokémon X/Y - in this case, I will be FAQing my second GB game in recent days, a quaint little action game known as Penta Dragon. I don't suppose I have much to say about it other than it interested me enough to FAQ it.

It's as good a logic as any. >_>

It's been over twenty years since this game's initial launch back in 1992 by Yanoman and Japan Art Media. And since then, not a single complete FAQ has been written for it. Well, there's always a first time for everything, no? Ever since the start of the GB FAQ Completion Project on GameFAQs several years ago - a project designed to get a guide out for every single GB game out there - many people have now been helped because older, rarer, less popular games have gotten guides.

And so, that is how I came upon this game. Thanks for listening to my ramblin'; hope you enjoy!

Basics of the Game

Game Controls

Power-Ups

Walkthrough

Some Notes

For the most part, I cannot guide you through non-boss battles - not simply due to pure laziness on my part (despite being a lazy person), but more like because the battles are found rather randomly and battled in the field. Most of them are pretty random and, unless you pretty much do exactly what I do, step for step, frame for frame, you'll probably fight different battles. Fair warning.

Story Prologue

This is mostly a translation for those unable to read Japanese.

Stage 01, Part 1

Once you begin the level, grab the nearby medical items and head north for a bit. (The vial with the "1" on it is most notable, as it heals 64 of your 255 units of health.) Continue north and through the enemi hoardes for a bit. You'll eventually reach two arrow-like power-ups. Arrow power-ups will affect your shots, but only one can be active at any given time. For now, the four-arrowed rapid-fire power-up is best.

As you enter the next room - which contains a normal-shot power-up, a front-and-back shot power-up, and a bidirectional power-up in addition to a random power-up - you'll probably begin encountering the boss for this level. This will be pretty easy if you keep the rapid-fire power-up, as you only need to hold down A. You shouldn't lose much more than about 4% of your total health in this battle. Continue north after.

As you go along, you'll soon find some more medical things followed by a few rotating spiked columns. You need to weave carefully through those columns - the space is pretty tight, so watch out. (It'll kill you from full health in about five to seven seconds.) Past there are some more power-ups followed by the exit to the next area. If you've already beaten the boss, you'll more likely than not fight another, this one being more of a spider. You have to be careful around it for it can really hurt you with its multidirectional fireballs and general movement. Continue north into the next area.

Stage 01, Part 2

As you enter the area, go north and grab up the medical power-ups and the random one, then contniue north. There, you'll find a pillar retreating into and from the wall repeatedly. Get on the wall opposite it - and I mean absolutely hug it - and head north, then along the hall and into the next room. You'll find a couple of shot-altering power-ups here; I'd prefer to stick with the rapid-fire (four arrows) as usual. Continue north to find three more medical (non-health) items in the next room. The next room after that has a "P" power-up, which is useful in boosting damage; store 'em for bosses, you hear?

Continue your ever-northward journey to find another health item, then you'll get into a pretty large room now. There's a medical item nearby, plus one of those shot-altering power-ups, with several more to the east. Hug the southern wall as you head eastward through the enemy armies to find a health item past a narrow hall. Go northeast of there to gather a Mega-Flash power-up, then south and east for a "P" power-up. The Mega-Flash is an attack caused with the B Button that deals massive damage to all enemies on-screen. Like any item, you're limited in their quantity, so just be careful about using them too much.

Go south from where the "P" power-up was and you'll walk for a good while around rotating spiky columns and thrusting pillars. Either way, continue hugging the wall opposite them to avoid becoming Swiss cheese. You'll find a high-level health-healer past some of the thrusting pillars, with a medium-level healer further along. From there, it's following a winding, linear, generally-southbound path for a bit.

At the southeast corner, you'll find a shield power-up, a shot power-up, and a random power-up. Go southwest and northwest of there to find ... well, honestly, I don't know what the double-triangle power-up does. >_> Go north of there and along the linear, featureless path to find an orb power-up and a spiky pillar. Dance around the latter and go north into the next area where you'll have to around another. The final room of the area has a "P" power-up in it. Be sure to use it - if needed - against the boss that will appear here. (You've probably already fought it before in the game, so no need to repeat myself I hope.)

Stage 01, Part 3

Grab the medical items nearby. Go east from here if you want a defense power-up; otherwise, go north from medical drugs-'n'-such and along the path for a while. There's not much along it you haven't dealt with; random enemies and thrusting pillars being the primary features. (This game obviously relies more on length than difficulty for difficulty. >_>) As you reach what will be the northwest corner of the map, you will find a bidirectional arrow; use it for shooting two shots at once. There's also an orb nearby, but it doesn't go anywhere (useful).

East of here, you can find a rapid-fire power-up, followed by a Mega-Flash. Go south and east from there to find another medical thingie plus a rapid-fire thingie. Here, you'll find yourself at an east/south th-- fork. Go south and along the linear, featureless path south, west, and north to the next part of the stage. (It's a long walk, by the way. Just saying.)

Stage 01, Part 4

For the most part, this part of the stage is just one ... big ... linear ... walk northward. Grab the medicine as you head northward: you probably actually have a lot stockpiled now (at least I did) so use some of the lower-level items to make room for the big ones. Hug the walls opposite the pillars as you head northward into the next room. Grab the rapid-fire power-up and carefully dance 'round the spiky pillars before grasping the defense power-up further north. Again hug the opposite walls as you go around the thrusting pillars, then grab the double-triangle power-up if desired.

Go north some more and through some clearings to find a bunch of shot power-ups in the diamond-tiled floor again: single forward shot, a back-and-front shot, and a bidirectional shot. For your purposes, the latter is probably best. Dance around the rotating spiky pillars to the north - there's a lot of them, and they're rather crowded, so be VERY careful or you'll die pretty quickly. Once you make it to the other side, heal, grab the rapid-fire power-up (if you can get it from the random thing), and continue onward.

Boss 01: Shalamar

This scorpion-like boss is pretty easy to deal with. As you can quickly tell you battle it, the screen is shifting, as is the boss with it, but you don't - you will need to shift left and right somewhat constantly to be able to hit it. The weak point is the head, right between those big meaty claws, and it's usually pretty wide open. For the most part, the boss will only retaliate with easy-to-dodge bubble-like projectiles - you'll probably dodge most of them incidentally as you swerve around to blast the boss with ... well, whatever the heck Sara is shooting.

So, there's not really much to say. Equip one of those "P" power-ups as you start and start blasting for a quick win.

Stage 02

Oh, you will so love this level. It is an absolutely vast expanse of land divided between mountains and valleys, and the only semblance of progress is going blindly from one warp to another. It took me over 600 screenshots and three days to map just this stage. Luckily, it is followed by the boss and is effectively equal to the previous four partial-stages combined. >_> The bosses themselves are rather simple, mostly devolving to shoot-and-dodge fights. There are a lot of Mega-Flashes here; using them may help you out some.

Ranting aside, upon starting, go east, then northwest, then north for a number of power-ups, including shot modifiers and health-healers. Further north, you'll find a defense power-up and a random one. Go southeast for a Mega-Flash, then northeast for another random power-up. Continue along to the two beakers of medicine, then go northeast along the eastern shore of the water to a random power-up. Defeat any mini-bosses and move on via the orb (your warp).

On the other side of the warp, go south and west and along the linear path for a long while. Eventually, as you turn east and loop to a point south of where you started, you'll see several paths branching off to the south. Ignore them and go east and north, respectively to eventually find another warp. Use it.

On the other side, exit the alcove by heading southwest and west to find three health-healing items and a random power-up. Leave this clearing by heading south to find another, this one yielding a random power-up and a Mega-Flash. Continue along to find a defense power-up in the valley, then past the next clearing for a number of power-ups. Head far to the northwest if you want a Mega-Flash, but it's a bit out of the way. Otherwise, continue south from the clearing with the star power-up to find some health-healing medicine, then southeast some more to find a few more power-ups near the shoreline. Go northeast of here to find another health-healer, then go north for a Mega-Flash and random power-up. Much further north, you'll find some medicine; to the west, a random power-up; to the north and east, another with a warp to go into.

On the other side of the warp, go southeast, then south along the main paing, not using any of the branches from it until you see a second path going southwest. Run along this linear path for a bit to eventually find another warp to use. Once through, you'll be on a ledge with nothing much to speak of: go west and northwest for another warp. Then, from there, go due south to another.

Once on the other side of there, you can go northeast for a varied collection of power-ups. You can also go southeast to find some shot-based ones and a defense one, if you want. Otherwise, go north from the warp to some medicine, then further to some random power-up. Go northeast and along the path to find a random power-up, soon followed by a warp to use.

On this set of ledges, go south and continue south at the fork. At the next, go southwest and along the path there to find another fork. Both paths end up at the same place and are about the same length - the general ideal is to go east and south, or south and east, to find a warp on the southeast corner of the ledges to use.

On the other side, go south along the thin path between the shore and the cliffs to find a rapid-fire power-up, with a medical one further southeast. Continue southward and you'll find a warp. Beyond it is the next area we need to go to, but further along the path we're on now is a door that you takes you to a linear top-down shooter stage for power-ups, which may be useful to you. Either way, on the other side of the aforementioned warp, go northeast and snatch up the wealth of power-ups there, plus perhaps a shot-based one to the north. Enter the ma-- Enter the door to find the stage boss.

Boss 02: Riff

Dude is ugly.

When you start the battle, get in as many shots as possible. Don't use the Mega-Flashes quite yet, though - save them for later. The boss will go back and forth one time, doing almost nothing to damage you unless you run into him, so shooting that fat head will work out well. If you don't kill him - you probably won't - you'll end up dealing with some shiny black balls. They move very slowly across the field, but are very likely to kill you faster than anything see thus far in the game.

Strategically, you pretty much just have to dodge those black balls and shoot Riff when the chance is gotten. You can also use Mega-Flashes to attack from afar, although that's better saved for desperate situations.

Stage 03, Part 1

Ah, back to the simpler "Go north 'till ya drop" levels. -_- Not to mention that the bosses here are familiar enough from the previous stages, from what I saw. Anyways, grab the medical power-ups nearby and go north a room to find a number of shot power-ups. The southern of the three, the bidirectional one, is probably best for this area. As you go through the arch to the north, you'll see a doorway on the other side. Ignore it, rounding the room to the west, then round the next one on its east side.

Continue north for a while, through another doorway and another to find a rapid-fire power-up. Snatch it up and move on to find some more power-ups, including three medical ones. Go east, north, and west to the Mega-Flash, then go north through a door - they lead to the same area, so it won't matter which you choose. On the other side, you'll find the exit to the next part of the stage just on the northern wall - defeat a boss if needed, then scoot through it.

Stage 03, Part 2

Go north and through either of the two doorways - as with part one of this level, it won't matter which of them you pick. Go through the next doorway on the other side and you'll arrive in a room with some pillars around. Other than making moving northward a little more difficult, and therefore making you stick near enemies (Mega-Flashes, people...), there's not much to say. At the end, though, it's a different matter.

^sr3|

Take a look at the screenshot to the right. You see how that one wall tile is a little ... off? That is because it - and the one to its right - will periodically and alternatingly turn around. Touching them will deal some damage as well. It's almost impossible to get through without being hit, so just try to time it and zip on through as the door begins to turn. Once on the other side, go around the room via its west side to find a defensive power-up, then go through the next doorway.

On the other side, you'll see a doorway. For once, do go through it, for on the other side is the path ahead. (Going around just bumps you into a dead end.) Continue north and through the next doorway. Grasp the rapid-fire power-up on the other side and go north. At the "dead-end", you'll find a wall tile turning: it would be the third quarter of it. Bypass it, and repeat with the second quarter of the wall on the other side: yup, two spinning walls. Get the power-ups on the other side, then just head north to the next part of the level.

Stage 03, Part 3

Of all the portions of Stage 3, this will be the lengthiest and the most difficult. Let's begin with the start of the level, pictured nearby. Of note is that skull pick-up. ... Well, you don't actually get to pick it up. Rather, it will drain your health pretty quickly - it's mostly a trap for those morons who decide to hold Up on the D-Pad before the level has even loaded. >_> Anyways, go through the door to the north. Pick up some legitimate power-ups there and continue on.

This will bring you to a lengthy hall with a lot of spears coming from the walls. You need to dodge this quite carefully. Similarly to Stage 01, you can dodge those without a partner by simply hugging the opposite wall. If two spears are meeting, dodge between them as they come apart. At the end of this hall is a wall. Run at it and touch it in the center to open it up. For a while, it's mostly a northward a journey towards the northwest corner of the area, filled mostly with just spears and crap.

As you reach the area with a path veering off to the east, use it. Beware the holes in the floors, though, for obvious reasons - you can avoid the two nearby by simply hugging the wall to the east. As you head east, you'll see two rooms to the north. In both are some power-ups: of note, the second has two Mega-Flashes in it! ^_^ Past that hall is a clearing similar to the northwest corner, but this is the northeast corner. Hug the far east wall and go south and west to avoid the floor holes.

As you reach another clearing, there will be two more holes in the floor. You can bypass them rather simply, although the spears to the south are a familiar (if not frustrating) problem. Past 'em is a helpful room filled with some shot power-ups (use the one on the right for convenience), medical power-ups, and a random one. Continue south into the next room. There, immediately as you enter, hug the east wall or you'll almost certainly fall into a hole. Then go south and dodge the spears as usual. Run into the southern wall to open it up. Dodge the spears in the next clearing, open the door as before, and repeat it another time.

In the next room, hug the southern wall - go due south upon entering) and west through the doorway to avoid falling into a hole. In that next room, go south and enter the alcove whose opening you can now reach for some useful power-ups (of note: rapid-fire) before heading south into the next room. Dodge the dual-spears nearby, then go east and dodge another pair. Run into the northern wall to go on through, then dodge the spears in that area. As usual, run into the wall to open the path ahead, then go north into another room, and another.

Past there is yet another field of spears. Dodge them - it's a small set, only four total - and run into the northern wall to be able to proceed. The next room has spears and holes in the floor. Go due north - do not deviate any to the east or west - and dodge the spears. Just beyond them, immediately hug the east wall, go north into the corner, then west and north through the door. That will stop you from falling into the second set of holes.

The next room simply has a bunch of power-ups for you to pick up before the next part of the level.

Stage 03, Part 4

As you enter this area, simply go north into the next room - yeah, yeah, it's another one of those linear northward hallways for some reason. >_> In the next room, you'll find a defensive power-up in addition to three different shot-altering ones. As usual, I recommend the one on the right, the bidirectional one. Go north into the next room and follow the chain of doorways into the hallway. Enter the room you see the northwest to find two Mega-Flashes, a rapid-fire power-up, and a random power-up. Nice!

Return into the hall and go east and north around the outside of the room. Go through the northern doorway into a similar hall. This one also has a room in it. It's empty, but it has a door going out the other side. It's up to you whether you use the western hall or the room - they're about the same anyways. Pick up the pick-up on the other side, then continue north. As a few sub-stages earlier, the walls here will be spinning, and will hurt if you touch them. You don't have much of a choice, though - just blaze through them when you think it is relatively safe. On the other side, you have to go north and do it again.

Luckily, there are a few medical power-ups on the other side to heal you if needed: of course, try to keep the higher-level ones for the eventual boss. Anyways, go north into the next, featureless room, then continue north and into the next area.

Stage 03, Part 5

As you enter this area, head east and north. At the north/west fork, head west and go through either of the two doors that you see. For the sake of reference, we'll assume the west door. Grab the "!?" power-up on the other side, then go north and into the room there for some shot power-ups. Go back out of the room, then south and east to the medical pick-up. Go north into the room there for some power-ups, then exit and go east and north a bit. As you reach the next power-ups, grab them and head west. Nearby is a door taking you to one of those hard top-down shooters for power-ups and the like.

Next, we're going to delve off of the main path for some extra items. Go west of this door (regardless of whether you used it) and get the "P" power-up, plus the three medical ones to the north. In the next hall, continue north along it and into the room that opens up to the south for some powerful power-ups. Exit the room and go north to another hall - repeat the process there by going into another room for more power-ups. From there, you can go north of the main hall to find some weapon and medical power-ups. At the north end, you'll also find yet another top-down shooter door.

If you didn't go for the extra items (or did and backtracked to the entrance of the first shooter area), go east and north into the linear hallway. Go along it and into another one where you'll see three northbound paths - take the middle of the three to reach some shot-altering power-ups. Continue into the next hall and head north, past the fork, and into the next area.

Stage 03, Part 6

This stage will be another one of your general "go north to the end" levels. -_- Anyhow, go north and through the doorway, then north and through another. In the hallway here, go through the door to the northeast and pick up the dragon power-up. Go through the opposite door, then northwest into another room for a rapid-fire shot power-up. Continue again through the opposite door, then north into another part of the area. Pick up the power-ups on the other side, then look at the wall to the north. Similarly to previous levels, the center two tiles on the wall will rotate - you have to get by them, and you'll probably get hurt.

On the other side, you'll find a high-level medical power-up to help with that, though. Go north and through threemore spinning wall tiles in quick succession. North of the third, you'll find three more health-healers, thankfully placed just ... before another turning wall. Ouch. On the other side, you can find a multitude of power-ups, include those to alter your shots and a Mega Flash, so enjoy and go north to the boss area!

Boss 03: Crystal Dragon

The Crystal Dragon boss is perhaps the simplest insofar. The boss will mostly release projectiles at you on occasion - due to the open nature of the battlefield, they're extremely easy to dodge. This is his primary attack as well: the only other ways to sustain damage are to touch him directly or to touch the blinking holes he enters and exits. The only function of those holes is to allow him to warp elsewhere; the camera will follow him, so simply go along. Nothing special really about it.

Strategically, all I really need to say is to hit his head with some shots - the Dragon moves slowly enough to make that quite possible. It'll take a while, though, unless you spam Mega Flashes on him. But easy nonetheless.

Stage 04

To be honest, Stage 04 is more of a linear, winding path than an actual challenging level. Beyond the actual enemies, you won't have a single problem navigating your way around and up the numerous floors of the tower from its base where you start. There are also myriad power-ups on the way to help you continue along. The only real problem is the fact that you'll generally fight two of the older mini-bosses in succession. The only remaining thing of note occurs several floors up. Rather than going all of the way around to a staircase to go up again, you'll find one very soon after another, like in the picture to the right. In this case, you can continue along ground level to a dead-end which will yield a number of other power-ups, but I'd recommend just going up and continuing onward. At the peak of the tower is a doorway to the boss.

Boss 04: Cameo

This aptly-named boss is a very large... Well, it's a chameleon, but whatever. It has three main offensive strategies to employ. Two of these are enacted when you get close to the beast: it can stuck out its tongue or launch a stream of fire, both of which are of limited range. Because your own attacks, especially the Mega Flash, are also ranged, you shouldn't have to deal with them. There's also the boss's ability to turn invisible - he's still there, though. That means accidentally running into him induces heavy amounts of damage. That is the main danger in this fight, but if you manage to follow the rotation of the camera and stick to the very edges of the screen, you'll be fine.

Your offensive strategy is pretty simple. The rapid-fire shots are preferred if you're using simple projectiles, but it might be easier (or just a heck of a lot shorter) to spam Mega Flashes on him, if you've saved up enough of 'em. Then again, that's around sixty, and I doubt you'll ever get that many throughout the whole game.

Stage 05, Part 1

When you begin, collect the three power-ups nearby and go north into the next room. Collect any of the shot power-ups there you want, then go around to the north side of the central structure of the room to get a medical power-up. Head southeast and along the hallway for some additional power-ups, then head east into the elongated room. Collect the medical, power, and Mega Flash power-ups as you go east. There, you can two curative items to pick up. Go north along either hall - they go to the same place, but the eastern of the two also brings you to a defense power-up.

After reaching the south/north/west fork where the three paths converge, go west for a bit and you'll find a "!?" power-up, soon followed by some more shot-based ones. Head north for a bit into another room; go around its perimeter for four power-ups total, then go into the room to the east. There, you'll find myriad power-ups, including five Mega Flashes! ^_^; Go back into the room, then leave to the west. In this small area, grab the two healing power-ups and go north and along the winding hall for a bit, collecting some more power-ups on the way.

Past a triplet of shot power-ups in another elongated room. Here, go north along the west side for a rapid-fire and defensive power-up, and/or north along the east side for another. Leave this room heading north for some medical power-ups. Now head east and south along the winding hallway, collecting more as you go. The room at the end of the hall contains some more shot power-ups, plus a warp orb to the next area.

Stage 05, Part 2

As you enter this part of the stage, you can pick up the nearby "!?" and defensive power-ups. Go north a room and take the Mega Flash and other power-ups there, then continue north some more. This takes you to a winding hall with several useful power-ups along it, including mainly medicinal ones. After a while, the path divides into north- and westbound forks, right at the spot where the third-level healing item is found. Go west and grab the low-level health-healer there, then north and north at the next fork. Grab the three medicinal power-ups and go east and use the warp to continue to the next area.

Stage 05, Part 3

The third part of Stage 05 has little true detail to it. Within it, you'll find a linear, somewhat-winding path northward studded with numerous power-ups - a lot of medical ones to begin, followed by some shot-modifiers, then a few "!?" ones and a lock, then some more medical ones. When the path widens out into a room, you'll find the warp if you head east. First go west if you want a few more shot power-ups, then go through the warp to the east.

Stage 05, Part 4

When you get off here, go south of the warp and collect the power-ups. From here, you can go west and into the alcove to the north for a general "P" power-up, then continue along the path to find a lock, another power-up, and a warp. Said warp will take you to the southern part of Stage 05, Part 5. It is a completely optional stage mostly used for power-ups; it loops back to to the other side of here, on the east part.

Assuming you go through it - which you should! - collect the nearby power-up and go south. Get the power-up at the corner and continue along the path until you turn west and see an alcove to the north. Enter and grab the power-up, then backtrack to the warp but don't enter it - continue north and along the path to soon reach some shot-modifying power-ups past a Mega Flash. Once you take what you want, go south and get the "!?" power-up and enter the warp to reach Stage 05, Part 6.

Stage 05, Part 5

We will assume you entered from the western portion of Stage 05, Part 4. When you enter, you will be faced with just a long linear path northward for a while - other than the as-usual-rampant enemies, you'll find nothing of feature. Partway along, you will find a room filled with power-ups - grab all of them, then continue northward to the warp to the other side. As I said, it was a linear, brief stage.

Stage 05, Part 6

Finally, a level of some complexity! Go north to the fork in the path - head west and north for some medicine, or east and north for some shot-modifiers. Continue north some more to find more shot-based power-ups and go through the hall to the north. When it widens on the other side, collect the "!?" power-up to the north and go collect the two Mega Flashes and the general power-up further to the north. Once plundered, go east and snatch up the medical power-ups and enter the hall to the south. Collect the two power-ups as you continue south into the next room. There, you'll find myriad power-ups, including five Mega Flashes! Collect them all and continue south and along the path into the next room, which happens to contain...

Boss 05: Ted

Pretty, ain't he?

As far as Ted's offense is concerned, he's pretty weak. I mean, sure, running right into him is going to get you killed in nothing flat, but, short of that, you ought to be okay. The camera rotates clockwise around the fiend, and it's pretty easy to manage to avoid him in the meantime so long as you, too, follow it. Ted will try to trip you up with some vines, but those can be shot at to be removed, and he can shot a few projectiles at a time which are easy to dodge. So, defensively, you should be fine so long as you avoid touching him. Like you'd want to.

As for your offense, it's pretty simple. You can spam Mega Flashes at will - I usually save 'em for desperate situations where a vine's impeding me and the camera's going to shove me into it, though. Ted has a weak point to hit if you want to cause actual damage: as expected as it could be, it's his bulbous head. Shoot that when you can.

Stage 06, Part 1

When you arrive, grab the nearby medical power-ups and go north. In the next room, choose whichever shot-altering power-up you like, then continue north. As you proceed through this small hallway, you'll notice a panel that will sometimes briefly appear, flash, and disappear - if you run into it when it flashes, it'll reverse the directions on the D-Pad temporarily, so watch out! This is especially dangerous when you're fighting a boss enemy and the D-Pad suddenly is realigned on you, which it will happen. So just wait and cross when it's doing nothing.

Grab the power-ups on the other side, then go north into another room with some medical power-ups. From there, exit using the eastern northbound path; the other is a featureless dead-end. Follow the linear path for a bit. As you get past the small trench, you'll see another depression to the northwest with an item in it; go north and down the stairs, then west and south to the item. Grab it, then go due north and upstairs. Go north along either path through the small hole in the path, then continue down the stairs on the other side. Grab the power-ups and head north, upstairs, and downstairs into another lowered area.

Here, grab the nearby power-ups, then go east for a nice sum more. Once you're done plundering, go south and upstairs, then south along either path. The path is linear for a bit, with the linearity only broken by a few power-ups. As you reach the trio of health-healing power-ups, beware the mirror flashing in the next hall to the south. Go up the stairs on the other side, then west, south, and down the stairs into the pit for some power-ups. Go back on the ledge, then southeast and downstairs again. Get the pick-up to the west, then go south and along the path some more.

Go up the stairs at the end, then go south from there and downstairs into another power-up-filled depression. Take all you want, then go east to the southeast corner, then north and upstairs. Go north to the far side of the depression for a power-up within it, if you want. Go north and along the path for a bit (all of the forks are the same) and you'll soon reach another depression. Grab the medical power-ups nearby, then go north for some more power-ups. In the next hall to the north, there are two mirrors, so really be careful when crossing - it is possible to go past both at one time, so you know.

Grab the health-healing items on the other side, then go north for some others. Climb up the nearby stairs, then enter the depression. Grab those in its southeast corner, then go north and upstairs, then north and downstairs. Grab the star-shield power-up in there, then go north and to the next area.

Stage 06, Part 2

When you begin, grab the nearby items and head north along the path for a bit. You'll soon come to some cross-shaped structures jutting out from the wall. Weaver around them, grabbing the pickups as you go. Past the pair of medical pickups, you can go upstairs and downstairs for some Mega Flashes, then go upstairs further to the north. From there, you can go north and into the pit for some more power-ups, then north and outside it again. Then go north, upstairs, and downstairs once more to find a star-shield power-up. Go north and past the overhangs.

Here at the northwest corner, grab the nearby medical power-ups, then go northwest and upstairs. Head east and along the path to the stairs; use them to enter the lower area to the north for those power-ups, then continue east and downstairs. Grab the medical power-ups there and go south and past the overhang to another linear path; the linearity is only broken by a sparse few power-ups. Eventually, you'll head back upstairs; cross to the south side of the pit you'll quickly see, then enter for a power-up. Get out of there and head south along either of the two paths you see. Once you go upstairs again, head southwest or southeast into the next pit for a power-up, then exit and continue south some more. Head downstairs into the next depression.

Pick up the pick-ups nearby, then go south of there and upstairs. Head east along the southern border of the area for a bit until there's a lower area to the north. You can get some power-ups there, and there is also a doorway. DO NOT USE IT! It does lead to a stage filled with power-ups; however, you also fight a boss and have to start Stage 06 all over again; it's up to you as to whether you should use it, but it's pretty risky.

Past this pit, continue east to find a depression with a power-up in it, plus another to the southwest. Grab 'em both, then go north, upstairs, through the pit (and power-up), and through to the other side. There, go north along whatever path you desire, then upstairs. Continue north along this linear featureless path for a while; the lack of usefulness ends near the northeast corner where you'll find a star-shield power-up in a pit. Grab it, then continue to the other side for some medical power-ups.

In this depression, simply go west and south along the lower path - the stairs only lead to platforms with nothing useful on them, so why bother? Go up the stairs and down some more on the other side of the path, then get the Mega Flash near the base. Go south through past some overhangs, then grab the power-up on the other side, if you want to revert to your north shot. Go south along either of the paths - this will continue with the rest of the narrow trenches for a while.

Eventually, you'll end up in a wider depression. Grab the nearby shot-based power-ups (those you want, anyways), then continue east and up the stairs to the north. Then go down the stairs on the other side of the ledge and get the Mega Flash further to the north. Go north under the overhangs for a while as you plunder the power-ups, with a rapid-fire one past the narrow hall you reach soon thereafter. Go up the stairs nearby, then north, rounding the inaccessible pits as you reach some more stairs to climb. (I gotta say, Sara's getting in a lot of aerobic exercise with this stage. =P)

Lame joke aside, grab the power-up on the other side, then go north and through the doorway to the third part of Stage 06. It's the shortest of the three, whereas this was the longest, so no worries.

Stage 06, Part 3

Well, darn, more of those mirrors. (If you're somehow unfamiliar with them, they're described and pictured at the start of Stage 06, Part 1.) Anyways, go north and grab the power-ups, including the lone one past the mirror. Go north along whatever path you feel is best, although there is no "best" path given they're all the same. Eventually, there will be a convergence near a hallway where you can find some power-ups. Grab 'em and go up the stairs to the north. Avoid the pulsing blobs here if you can as you go around the "I" structure. On the other side, go downstairs and grab the power-ups, then go north under the overhangs. Get the Mega Flash on the other side and dodge the mirror so you can grab some more power-ups. Past them is the doorway to the boss!

Boss 06: Troop

Troop is not really a boss that moves around or relies on the movement of the camera for damaging you, a deviation from previous bosses. Rather, he'll use two attacks. One is where he basically shoots four fireballs from his mouth at different trajectories. The second is by far the more lethal one: sperm-like homing missiles. Quite obviously, they home in on you; they do have a weakness in that you can destroy them and that they are slow-moving.

As far as the boss himself goes, Troop is weak in the head - literally. Do you see that little "X"-shaped structure on his forehead? You need to aim for his mouth, which is below that. I recommend doing this with actual shooting; the use of your Mega Flashes is best saved for those homing missiles, which are extremely dangerous if left unattended.

Stage 07, Part 1

Okay, guys, we're almost there - one more stage, and then the story will be complete! >:) Once you begin the stage ... well, actually, this area is mostly just a large linear path in the shape of a horseshoe. For the most part, you can simply run along it and collect the sparsely-placed power-ups as you reach the warp at the end of the path. The only real difficulty with this part of the stage - like the rest of Stage 07 - is how the bosses tend to come in lengthy series. Be prepared to fight them for a while, but it might be optimal to save the fighting until you're near the warp.

Stage 07, Part 2

We'll now begin the most difficult portion of Stage 07. As you exit the warp, go northeast and grab the rapid-fire power-up. From here, you will see two paths, one heading north and another heading east. If you go north, you can grab a defensive power-up and a medical one, which I suggest grabbing. Otherwise, head east and along the linear path for a while. It's studded with several power-ups along the way, but is otherwise featureless for a while. Eventually, you'll reach a point, past one of those power-ups with two triangles, where you can go east or north.

Both paths eventually converge at the same point; however, going south is both longer and less beneficial. Head north and east along the past, grabbing the power-ups. As you veer southward into the wide hall, you'll see a path going off to the east. (For the record, this is the point where both forks from before meet.) Go along it and into another room for four power-ups, then exit off to the northeast. This will take you to another long, linear path, this one with more power-ups than before.

Soon after finding a medical power-up in an eastern alcove, you'll find paths to the south and west. The path to the south is a dead-end, but it's very short and yields several useful power-ups. Otherwise, you can go west, south, west, and north along a path filled with power-ups. You'll eventually find paths head northwest and northeast; if you head northeast, you can get a defensive power-up, a general power booster, and a rapid-fire power-up. (The path extends further beyond there, but it's an itemless dead-end.)

Return to the fork and head northwest, grabbing the medical, "!?", and Mega Flash pick-ups as you go. Not much further to the west is another fork. If you head west and along the path, you can reach the exit. Otherwise, if you head north, you can go along the path to the northwest and another to the east for six power-ups: two medical, two "!?", one Mega Flash, and a rapid-fire power-up.

From the original north/west fork, go west and into the alcove to the north to find a defensive power-up. Continue west and along the path for a rapid-fire power-up, then a "!?" power-up, then a defensive one before the warp to the next and final area.

Stage 07, Part 3

When you arrive here, go southeast and grab the rapid-fire power-up, then head south. Once you get through the narrow opening, head west and along the path, collecting a couple of power-ups on the way. Eventually, you'll have to choose between going west and south; heading west is recommended, since the path is just a short dead-end leading to a star power-up. Once you begin heading south, you'll find yourself on a linear path along which are several shot-modifying power-ups and a medical one. At the end of that path is another going west and another to the northeast. Heading west gets you three more power-ups, but that's it. Heading northeast will bring you several more power-ups. Once you enter the next room, head to the southeast corner for a power-boosting pickup, then go north into the final room. Collect the numerous power-ups around the room, then use the doorway to the north to begin the boss.

Boss 07: Faze

Perhaps the greatest thing aiding Faze is the very terrain of the area and his sheer size, which will take up most of the screen. For the most part, you practically have to stick along the left or right sides of the screen to even avoid touching him (which is a near-instant death for you). He tends to fire off four to eight black projectiles in varying directions, so dodging them can be quite tough, especially given the limited space. Additionally, as the camera moves around, you'll begin to see several skulls lining the battlefield: they do nothing and cannot be destroyed, but running into them is effectively like running into Faze: very bad.

Offensively, at least, you have it somewhat easy. Unlike previous bosses that only had a small weak point to hit, Faze's is basically everything but his arms. I still would somewhat recommend the use of Mega Flashes to speed up this battle, because it is very dangerous and dying here is an omnipresent possibility.

Boss 08: Penta Dragon

A translation of the pre-battle speech, if you don't mind.

Wow. Umm... Not exactly what you'd call a riveting plotline. Anyways, when it comes to offense, the Penta Dragon doesn't actually offer much more than you've seen in the battle with Ted. The larger projectiles ejected from the mouths are slow and homing. Unlike with Ted, this is much more significant in that the size of the boss, combined with the movement of the camera, can often get you stuck in corners. You will often be using your medical power-ups during this fight, so you know. The other, smaller projectiles are simply released in multiple directions; space permitting, they are easy enough to dodge.

Especially note that touching the boss is almost a sure death! For some reason, when you touch the boss, you have a lot of trouble moving around off of him: therefore, death is almost guaranteed. I highly recommend playing it safe here! You can use the star-shaped power-ups to avoid such damage if need be!

Offensively, you'll want to hit that shiny spot on the boss's belly with pretty much anything you can. I recommend emptying your supply of all your Mega Flashes to begin with, then using some of those protection (both shield and star) power-ups while also using a general power-up. If you have some of those that turn Sara into a dragon, those are also recommended. Basically, throw everything you have but the kitchen sink.

Ending

Just a translation for those unable to read Japanese. Obviously, spoiler alert.

Credits

In no particular order...

• GameFAQs, Neoseeker, and Supercheats:
  • For being the most amazing FAQ-hosting sites I know.

• CJayC, SBAllen, and Devin Morgan:
  • General sucking up to the GameFAQs admins. =P

• HTI:
  • An English translation for the game.

• Me (KeyBlade999):
  • For making this FAQ. =P

• You, the reader:
  • For hopefully enjoying this FAQ.

Version History

• v0.05:
  • Done with two parts of Stage 1.
  • Time: 12:45 AM 10/3/2013.

• v0.10:
  • Stage 1 complete.
  • Time: 2:08 AM 10/4/2013.

• v0.20:
  • Stage 2 complete.
  • Time: 2:17 AM 10/9/2013.

• v0.25:
  • Walkthrough through four parts of Stage 3.
  • Time: 2:27 AM 10/10/2013.

• v0.30:
  • Stage 3 complete. (Took a break due to FAQing Pokémon X/Y.)
  • Time: 12:46 AM 10/31/2013.

• v0.45:
  • Done through two parts of Stage 5.
  • Time: 12:35 AM 11/4/2013.

• v0.50:
  • Stage 5 complete.
  • Time: 12:06 AM 11/8/2013.

• v0.60:
  • Stage 6 complete.
  • Time: 11:37 PM 11/11/2013.

• Final:
  • Foreseeably complete in both FAQ and maps. (Man, those things were HUGE.)
  • Time: 2:03 AM 11/15/2013.

Legalities

This FAQ may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.

All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders.

© 2013 Daniel Chaviers (a.k.a. KeyBlade999).

If you would wish to contact me concerning this or my other FAQs, use this e-mail: keyblade999.faqs@gmail.com, or PM (Private Message) me on the GameFAQs message boards.

           ________________
          |  ____________  |
          | |            | |
          | |            | |
          | |____________| |________________________________________
          | |____________| |_________________________               |
          | |            | |                         | |\   /\   /| |
          | |            | |                         | | \ /  \ / | |
          | |____________| |                         | | (_)  (_) | |
          |________________|                         |_|          |_|
                          ___       ___       ___
                         /'__`\    /'__`\    /'__`\
                        /\ \_\ \  /\ \_\ \  /\ \_\ \
                        \ \___, \ \ \___, \ \ \___, \
                         \/__,/\ \ \/__,/\ \ \/__,/\ \
                              \ \_\     \ \_\     \ \_\
                               \/_/      \/_/      \/_/           KeyBlade999