CONTRA HARD CORPS
From the start continue right blasting everything in sight. When you come to
the giant spider simply jump and shoot him in the head. You will make quick 
work of him. Right after the spider you will come to a rotating robot. Don't 
get to close or you will be torched. Shoot the main part of his body and jump 
over him when he charges at you. Continue this procedure until he is 
destroyed.

Next, get ready for the biggest bad guy you've ever seen. Don't worry he's 
not as tough as  he looks. When he first comes on the screen get directly 
underneath his mouth, and continue to shoot straight up. This way you will 
avoid the fires which he starts.

The final boss has two forms. The first one is pretty easy to defeat. Just  
make sure to duck when he fires at you. Then when he changes forms make 
sure to slide under him when he charges at you.  Browny works the best 
here because he is so small that he doesn't have to duck to avoid the 
flying robot. It is not a bad idea to use Ray here as long as you have 
the homing missile. Stage one is now clear and you must make a decision 
as to how you wish to continue.

OPTION #1   Following dead eye Joe
The key to this first part is to try and get right underneath the enemies 
just as they appear. If you don't destroy them right away they will surely 
destroy you with their lasers. The next enemy is a bit tricky. You need 
to jump four times to avoid his ground lasers. Then you must move back 
and forth in order to dodge the bouncing fireballs. After defeating this 
enemy you will face a similar enemy who you need to destroy. To defeat 
this enemy you need to jump over the fireballs which he shoots at you.

The next boss which you come to is the giant running Robot.  You'll have to 
be quick on your feet to beat him. First, avoid his charge by simply side 
stepping him. He will now be in the forefront of the screen along with 
you. This is a good time to do some damage on him, shoot him in the 
chest. When he retreats be ready to avoid his giant extending arm. 
Continue this process until he is defeated. 


OPTION #2  Save the Research Institute
When this stage begins you will be hanging from a plane. Face left and be 
prepared to jump over six missiles and then shoot the enemy which pops 
out of each missile. Continue on defeating enemies until you come to the 
main plane. Watch out for the three fireballs which are shot at you and 
avoid falling off

You will now have arrived at the Research Institute. After saving the 
scientist you have to try and get the Alien Cell. Go right without 
stopping and then up the wall and you will arrive at the Alien Cell. It 
is a good idea to use Fang or Ray for this level. 

This Boss is difficult but there is a pattern which makes it a bit easier. 
First use Fang's weapon A, the Vulcan cannon, or Ray's spread gun or homing 
missile. When the scene begins climb the left wall half way up. Position 
yourself so your hand is at the break in the wall. Begin firing at the 
enemy. Once the Boss stacks up the blocks and they turn red you will have 
to turn your attention to them, they must be destroyed. After you have 
destroyed them quickly run to the right wall and climb that half way and 
repeat the process. You need to keep moving back and forth about five or 
six times until the enemy is defeated. Beating this boss will clear the 
stage.

THE HACKER'S SECRET BASE - THE GARBAGE DUMP
As the level starts get the two power-up weapons and go to the right of the 
screen. Turn left and shoot all the motorcycle enemies as they enter the 
screen. Then proceed right watching out for the bouncing enemies. Blow up 
two abandoned cars to reach the mid-boss. 

When the boss appears on screen you want to be on the right hand side of the 
screen. Shoot at the head of the boss to do some damage. Watch out for 
the boss's extending arm which extends twice in a row. When the boss jumps 
toward you quickly slide underneath him to the left side. Then you need to 
avoid his spinning arm by jumping over it three times in a row. Finally, 
jump back right when the boss changes sides again. Repeat this process 
until he is destroyed.

Continue right and destroy the guns as you enter the hideout. There is a 
secret stage. The hidden stage is located right after the guns before you 
blast through the guard door. Climb the wall right before the door and go 
and talk to the character on the ledge. He will ask you if you want to 
make some money in the arena. If you say yes, you will go to the hidden 
stage and fight in the arena and then the game will be over. However, if 
you say no, you will continue on your current path in the game.

HIDDEN STAGE - THE ARENA
If you say yes to the character you will head to the arena for three 
fights. The first opponent is rather easy. Make sure to watch out for the 
fish which he throws at you. Otherwise, simply jump over him when he comes 
at you and fire at his head.

The second opponent is much more difficult. You must shoot the gun on the 
carriage first or you are sure to die. After you destroy the gun go to the 
ceiling and concentrate you fire on the alien baby and then the big boss.

The third and final opponent has two modes of fire. The first one is a set 
of spikes which he throws at you. They are homing spikes and will follow 
you around. The second you see the spikes being shot at you better jump to 
the wall and climb to the ceiling to avoid being killed by the spikes. The 
second mode of attack is the black ball which expands and destroys anything 
in its line. If you see this ball being shot at you quickly jump to the wall 
to avoid being hit. Repeat this process to you have defeated this opponent. 
(Ending # 6)

VIRTUAL ARENA   

When you arrive at the virtual arena you will have to defeat six enemies in
 order to advance. Browny is your best fighter for this stage. The first 
enemy is Taurus. Fire at his head until you see him begin shooting out 
stars. This is his indication that he will momentarily come down at you. 
Once he begins to come at you quickly slide to the side. Continue to slide 
from side to side as he attacks you. Avoid him long enough and he will be 
defeated. The next virtual fighter Sagittarius, is rather easy. Simply shoot 
his arrows right at the moment he fires them. The third virtual fighter 
Gemini, is tricky because he shoots a fire which rains down on you. You'll 
have to be quick in order to dodge the falling fire. Use Browny's 
electromagnetic yo-yo to destroy Gemini quickly. The next virtual fighter 
is the Giant Cube which throws pieces of itself at you. Simply dodge these 
pieces while firing at the center of the cube. The fifth virtual fighter 
is probably the most difficult. It is a tank which shoots and goes back and 
forth. The trick is to stay close to the tank so that you are under the 
bullets coming from the tank. However, be careful that you don't get crushed 
as the tank goes from left to right. Browny's Yo-Yo is the best weapon to 
use. The sixth and final fighter is the helicopter. It's rather easy to beat 
just make sure you go to the opposite side that the helicopter is on. Then 
make sure to jump over the blade which attacks you, while shooting the 
helicopter's center. The Virtual Arena has been conquered!

THE JUNGLE
Your best bet here is to use Browny and get the victory laser right away. 
Proceed forward blasting through the bouncing enemies. Next take on the 
flying insects. Be careful to dodge them when they swoop down on you. 

Next you'll come to the bridge across the waterfall. When the monster appears 
from the waterfall make sure that your in the middle of the bridge in 
between the monsters arms. Fire directly up at the monster's nose. When 
the monster grabs the bridge and starts to shake it you'll have to jump 
up and over his arm to the opposite side of the screen. As soon as you 
land quickly run back to the middle of the screen to avoid the creatures 
fire. Repeat this process of jumping over his arms until he is defeated.

When you land on the dinosaur's neck proceed up cautiously and avoid 
falling enemies. Next, you'll have the fight the mid-boss. It is a robot 
which changes shapes. At first you have to avoid him bouncing on you and 
then throwing his arms at you. When the robot changes into a cannon watch 
out for the falling fire which he shoots into the air. Eventually you'll 
blow him up at which time he will join with another robot and become one 
large robot. When the robot starts towards you jump over him then fire at 
him. Once he starts to fly around shoot up at him until he is destroyed.

Continue right past the flowers and into the compound. Once the creature 
starts coming at you get al the way to the right of the screen and proceed 
right. Once the creature stops following you begin blasting away at him 
until he is destroyed. Then he will start crawling after you. Continue up 
and to the right. He then turns into a helicopter and begins going upward. 
This part is tricky because you have to stay on the screen with him while at 
the same time avoiding his rotating blade. The best strategy is to stay just 
below him and continue up the wall. When the path breaks to the left make 
sure your on the top path. Stay behind the creature and shoot him in the 
back. After the creature begins his roll be prepared to dodge his bouncing 
laser. Shoot him until he blows up. Continue left following the creature. 
When he starts shooting homing missiles at you stay right next to the
creature and the missiles will not be able to hit you. Once the monster 
comes to a stop get close to him and fire at him. Watch out for his rotating 
laser attack, simply slide through it to avoid it. Keep shooting him until 
he is destroyed for good.  


You will now be faced with a choice; either fight to the end or to surrender
and fight later. 

OPTION #1 Fight to the end
If you choose to fight now you will enter the genetic lab. Here you will 
have to fight mutating creatures which the scientist creates. The first 
one is rather easy, simply shoot him as he flutters about. Watch out for 
his tail. The next mutation is a flying ghoul. He has two attacks. He 
jumps down on you and he shoots out fire balls. If you see him about to 
shoot the fire balls be ready to jump over them. The third mutation is the
flying flower. He is a bit tougher because he drops fire pollen all over 
the screen. Avoid the fire balls while shooting the flying flower. The 
next mutation is a friendly creature, don't shoot him because he drops 
weapon power-ups before he goes off screen. The next mutation attacks you 
by whipping his lower body at you. When he traps you in the corner, quickly 
slide under him to avoid damage. The next mutation is another flower 
mutation which throws more fire balls at you. When he charges at you, 
you need to slide under him while avoiding his fire. After this creature 
is destroyed the machine will go nuts and blow up. There is only one more 
mutation to defeat. This last enemy is extremely difficult unless you have 
Browny. If you have Browny you need to get underneath the boss and shoot 
at the glowing red ball. Watch out for the fire which he shoots out from 
the red ball. Shoot him until he is defeated.


From here it depends on what you did at the first choice: (If you chose to
save the research center)

WATER STAGE
The first part of the water stage has you fighting a plane. Watch out for 
the blue and red balls which it drops on you, because they explode. Make 
sure your in between them. After the plane is defeated you will have to 
fight the underwater creature. Watch out for his metal arm which cuts like 
a blade. Once this creature is defeated you will jump onto the water bike. 
Here you will take on the jumping fish. This jumping fish isn't to 
difficult once you get his pattern down. When he is jumping from left to 
right he takes small jumps so simply jump over him. However, when he jumps 
from right to left he makes big jumps so make sure you stay underneath 
him when he jumps. 

Once the fish is defeated you will reach land. Here you will have to fight 
three variations of a robot. This will be your toughest test so far. The 
first one is a giant running robot. He likes to bounce on you and shoot 
homing missiles as well. You can shoot the missiles to destroy them. The 
second transformation is a robot which flies around and hits you with his 
beak. He will soar through the sky then dive and hit you with his beak. 
You will need to be quick in order to avoid this attack. Try sliding 
underneath it to avoid it. When he drops fire balls at you, simply jump 
over them. This creature's final attack mode is lightning which comes from 
his beak. To avoid the lightning attack slide through it. The final 
transformation of this robot is a robot tank, which has a rotating blade.
His first attack is to shoot a cloud of fire in the air. The only way to 
avoid it is to position yourself right on the target which comes on the 
screen. This target shows the only safe spot on the screen. Once the robot 
grabs the spear be prepared because he is going to charge at you and then 
throw the spear. It will land on the far right corner so you must be between 
the robot and the spear as it lands. The robot then drags the spear across 
the floor trapping you between himself and the spear. Make sure your firing 
at his main body as shots to his base will do no good. His next attack is to 
send his rotating base flying from side to side. You will need to jump over 
it to avoid damage. Keep firing at the robot until he is destroyed.
	
COMPOUND
This stage takes place inside the compound. Go right taking care of the 
foot soldiers. The first major confrontation you will encounter is the 
foot soldier formations. The foot soldiers come together into one formation 
and attack from this formation. The first formation is a wheel which then 
begins to roll toward you. Quickly fire at the wheel until it is destroyed. 
The next formation is a bending arc which flops back and forth. Simply stay 
underneath the arc as it bends back and forth or stay in the corners as the 
arc cannot touch the very corners. You can shoot the arc anywhere to destroy 
it. The final formation is a pyramid with the boss at the very top of it. 
In order to defeat this formation you need to shoot the boss at the top. 
After you defeat this last formation you will come face to face with Colonel 
Bahamut. You will then have one final choice: either refuse to join forces 
with him or agree to join forces with him.

REFUSE
If you refuse to join with the Colonel you will have to fight him. At the 
beginning of the fight scene he will charge at you and then bounce around 
the screen. You will need to be quick to avoid him. Watch out for his spin 
attack. When he raises his claw to the ceiling be prepared to slide because 
he is about to throw a piece of rock at you. Slide to avoid it. Continue 
this process of sliding to avoid being hit until the Colonel is defeated. 

LAUNCHED MISSILE
There is one last challenge. You need to destroy the launched missile. First 
get on the left capsule and fire at Dead Eye Joe until he is defeated. Make 
sure you jump to avoid his fire. Jump from the capsule to the rocket. As you 
climb up shoot the weapon power-ups when they are directly over head. 
Continue all the way up and defeat the creature which pops out of the 
rocket. Once you reach the top you will have one more battle. Once the 
final alien creature pops out of the top you must avoid his fire ray by 
going to the far edge of the rocket. You must shoot the alien in the mouth 
to do any damage. Once this creature is destroyed the final alien heart will 
appear. Shoot the bony arms which appear and then fire at the main part of 
the heart. Once the alien mouth comes out you will have to shoot the larvae 
which come out of it while at the same time shooting the mouth. You must 
slide back and forth to avoid the alien mouth. Keep firing until the mouth 
is destroyed. Once the mouth is destroyed you WIN! Ending #2 (best ending)

AGREE
	GAME OVER You Lose Traitor!  (ending #3 bad ending)

If you chose to fight the scientist and took the route of following Dead 
Eye Joe

COMPOUND
Proceed to the right blasting through the ostrich creatures. The first 
sub-boss you get to is easy. You need to get right next to his body and 
shoot up at his head. Keep moving along with the body and shooting at the 
head until he is destroyed. The second sub-boss shoots alien larvae at you. 
Destroy these larvae and then fire at the creature. Don't stand underneath 
the creature or he will smash you. After you destroy this creature proceed 
forward quickly and run past the eyes which spit out fire balls at you. The 
next sub-boss you come to is the giant bug. He will charge at you so either 
jump over him or climb the ceiling to avoid him. Watch out for the fire balls 
which he shoots at you. When the second bug joins him they will bounce off 
each other. You will have to time your jump perfectly to get in between the 
two of them. Once the two bugs join together into a ball they will start to
roll around the screen. They will continue to do this until you defeat 
them. When they come around either jump over them or slide under them. 
Shoot any part of their body  until they are destroyed. 

Proceed upwards and take on the insects as you proceed. There are two main 
enemies in the middle of the screen as you go up make sure to defeat them 
before you proceed up. The best strategy is to climb up one of the side 
walls and shoot all the enemies. When you reach the top you will come to 
the main boss. 

The first thing you need to do to beat this boss is to destroy his arms.
Shoot his hands so that he cannot throw as many eyes at you. Once his hands 
are destroyed shoot his body. If you have Browny's yo-yo here it will be 
really easy. 

The final enemy you need to defeat is the alien heart. There are three 
obstacles in your way. First there are two eyes which rotate around the 
heart. Jump to avoid them each time they come around. In the mean time 
keep firing at the heart. The second obstacle is two eyes which are 
attached in the middle. They will bounce around the screen. Learn the 
pattern so that you can avoid being hit by the eyes. The third obstacle 
is two eyes which climb the walls and ceiling and rotate around the room.
When they come to the floor duck under the first one and then the second one 
will go over your head. Keep firing until the heart is defeated. You WIN!  
(ending #4)

OPTION #2  Surrender and fight later

If you chose to save the research center

MILITARY TRAIN
You will be in a train. Proceed to the right blasting the enemy foot soldiers 
away. On the second car you will have to fight the sub-boss. Jump onto the 
platform and fire away. Make sure you jump to avoid their laser fire. Once 
the robots stop moving they are preparing to come together and smash you as 
soon as they start to swing start jumping. You need to jump four times in a 
row. Once you defeat them proceed right to the next enemy. Simply keep moving 
to avoid his spike, while continually shooting at him. After this enemy you 
will go to the front of the train and have to fight the main boss robot. 

This boss has many forms of attack. First he will shoot homing missiles at 
you. You can shoot these missiles. He will also shoot fireballs at you. 
Learn the pattern of these and dodge them. Once he gets on top of the train
he will start to come at you. When he jumps slide under him to avoid his 
jump. Don't get pinned in the corner or he will kick you. When he bends down 
he starts a fire, quickly jump over the fire as it approaches you. Keep 
dodging the robot and firing at him until he is destroyed. 

ALIEN COMPOUND
Once inside go to the right blasting the alien troops until you get to the 
Boss. This enemy will shoot out his arms at you and then rotate around the 
room. You must either slide through the arms or climb around the room at the 
same speed as the robot. The robot will then transform. At this point jump to 
the right wall and fire away at the arms of the robot. In the third 
transformation two robot balls will come together as one and then move 
quickly across the screen. Make sure that your not in their way. Once you 
defeat this robot Dead Eye Joe will be defeated and you will now have to 
fight the Colonel.

Once you come to the next room you will have to fight a mutated enemy. He 
shoots a laser around the room and then crawls along the path of the laser. 
Fire at the enemy, while at the same time making sure not to be in his path. 
Watch out for the blue ray which the creature fires at you as well. You can 
jump through the laser and it won't hurt you, just don't get hit by the 
creature or his blue ray. Once he is defeated you will then fight the 
Colonel.

The Colonel turns into a beast with an energy force around him. At the 
beginning of the fight scene numbers will begin to count down above his 
head. This is the count down to when he charges at you. When the time gets
to 1 you better be jumping. Then when he jumps in the air he fires energy 
balls a you. Stay close to him here to stay below the energy balls. When he 
lands he will shoot out another energy ray jump over this one. Keep firing 
until he changes forms.

Once the alien comes on the screen stay away from his neck, because it 
expands and then shakes up and down. After the neck shakes watch out for 
the fire balls which drop from the ceiling. When the alien starts hopping 
slide under him and get to the other side. When he starts to extend his 
neck for the second time watch the pattern. There is a safe spot under his 
neck. Once this creature is defeated the alien heart will appear.

Once the alien heart appears it will begin moving around the screen. It is 
surrounded by a force field which kills you if you touch it. Slide under 
the force field and keep firing at the heart until it's destroyed. You WIN! 
Ending #4  


If you choose to chase Dead Eye Joe

THE COLONEL'S HEADQUARTERS
As the stage begins the headquarters is being blown up and you are being 
pursued by a wall of fire not to mention mutated creatures. Continue right 
blasting the creatures and avoiding the fire wall. Enter the elevator and 
prepare to do battle. Once the robot appears it will start flipping around 
the room, move quickly to avoid it. Stay on the floor for now. The robot 
will release little bugs that turn into propeller blades, stay in between 
them. Watch out for the lasers which pop out of his mouth. Once the robot 
starts walking around the room in a circle keep blasting away at him and 
slide under him when he gets to you. Keep shooting his body until he dies.

Next, you will have reached the final boss Big Magnum. He has several attack 
methods. Concentrate your fire on the capsule at the end of the flexible arm.
When the capsule flashes be ready because a ray of energy is coming your way. 
Move quickly to avoid it. When it shoots four balls out horizontally across 
the screen stay in between the line of fire balls because those balls will 
be falling. Keep sliding to avoid the fire balls. After a while a homing 
fireball will appear. It isn't difficult to avoid this weapon, but just keep 
moving and shoot the fireball to get a power-up. The next obstacle is a three 
part wheel which rotates. You either have to slide under the spokes or keep 
going around the room at the same speed as the spokes. The best strategy is 
to stay on the floor and then slide through the spokes as they come by, while 
at the same time shooting the capsule. Keep firing until it is destroyed. You 
WIN! (Ending #5)