You can destroy those big ships in level 1 shooting them in the big red circles, but is much more fun to just pass below them.

The first boss is rather easy, his arm has a very limited range, and you can destroy his missiles. Just shoot his red eye like hell!

That's just the beginning of level 2, and things already are crowded here. Those cannons look a lot like the cannons from gradius, doesn't?

Those big cannons shoot triple shots at a scary rate. It's a good opportunity to test your dodging skills.

See the generator with a red laser below it? It creates a red laser wall that goes up and down. Destroy the generator to get rid of the wall.

That's the hardest section of level 2. You're in a shaft, going down, and there are lots of those elevators coming down faster than you.

You need to use the small holes to avoid the elevators, but as you can see, they are crammed of enemies. Good use of the options are needed here.

This is a variation of the laser wall you saw 2 screenshots ago. Here the generator is sticked to the laser, and it keeps moving up and down while shooting at you. Destroy the generator, and the wall is gone.

Level 2 boss is a kind of a git. As you can see in the screenshot, you have to stay in the middle of him. While he shoots at you, he also uses those laser walls to get you.

There's a small blue bright to tell you where and when those lasers appears, so get out of the way of those blue brights !

Level 3 is set in those space caves. The gradius' cannons are present here too.

See the cannons in the ground and the roof, parallel to each other ? Each one shoots at the same time pairs of generators, that move into the middle of screen. Then they shoot a laser to each other, making a quadrangle. Those lasers soon become those small grey balls. Needless to say, hit one of those balls, and you're history. And they take 4 shots to completely disapear, and as you also need to avoid other enemies here, you can see that's not very easy.

To learn where and when those quadrangles appear is essential to get past of this section.

Those organic rocks shoot 4 bubbles at the same time at you. And the bubbles have the irritating obsession of hunt you, Avoid or shoot them at all costs.

I don't know exaclty what is level 3 boss, but I like him. He as those 3 eyes, and when he opens them, one shows his brain, while the other two cannons.

Obviously, those cannons shoot at you, and then he closes the eyes again. Each time he opens his eyes, the brain is in a different position.

Level 4 music sounds very gradius-ish . This level is marked by those walking robots (again, they look like the robots from gradius), and those ships I like to call "coward ships".

They keep hiding behind the walls, so you can't shoot them, and when you aren't looking, they go down, shoot at you, and hide again.

In level 4 there also lots of those big mechanical stations. They shoot what I call "red fans" at you, and they keep moving vertically.

When you destroy them (by shooting the central yellow circle), instead of blowing, they just stop moving and shoot, so take care of where you destroy them, as you may have your way blocked.

It looks like R-Type ring, doesn't? But if you get in the middle of this one, you are instant dead, as they shoot like hell. Shoot them before getting to close.

The robots suffer of suicidal syndrome here, as they jump in this big hole to hit your ship. Again, good use of options are needed here. (I.E : You are screwed if you have no options)

In this section, the screen is scrolling vertically, and the big stations move horizontally. You have no idea of how much I HATE this section of the game, it's damn hard, you need to avoid the robots, the station's shots, the station themselves, and be careful to not block your way out.

Look, lots of coward ships !. Like most Konami's shmups, Space Manbow has lots of enemies coming from behind with no warning.

At least in Space Manbow, if you have options, you can shoot backwards to get them.

As you can see, I'm dead at this screenshot. Here you need to be very carefull, as there's only one way out, and it's not a very wide way, so you can easily block your way if you destroy the stations in the wrong time.

Level 4 boss is a giant mechanical crab. He shoots lots of small blue balls in your direction from his claws, while his cannons are used to fire his lasers.

The lasers come with NO warning, so stay away of the direction of the cannons all the time. He also moves into all directions, trying to hit you and reduce your manouvering space. And yes, I died the moment after I got that first shot.

This is the only restart point of this level. It's excatly into the middle of stage, and then we are into...

the 2nd section of the stage. The plataforms here divide the screen in 3 "lanes". There are 2 kinds of enemies here, those circular shaped enemies, that move vertically.

The other one is this ship, there are lots of them, and they appear in all lanes. They move all the way to the left, and when the get to the end of the screen, they change direction, and go into the direction of your ship.

This is the hardest boss in the whole game. He always moves in the direction of your ship, so the best way to deal with it is moving in a circular way. Problem is he shoots those fire balls in the 8 main directions at a wickedly rate. Set your concentration level all the way up.

Level 6 is huge, and it starts exactly here. Those walls will appear in the whole level, blocking your way. Shoot them to move them away, or if you shoot them enough, to blow up.

This shot pretty much speaks by itself. There is an "S" icon. And a few blocking walls. And mechanical bees.

Look, there is a mess of power-ups to get here. Those mechanical bees are pretty stupid, and won't be much of trouble.

I like the graphical style of this level. Actually, I like the graphical style of the whole game.

What are those things? One-eyed monsters with a big mouth and some scary teeth? Whateve it is, they appear from the ground and the roof, they shoot a lot, and need a lot of shots to die too.

Timing is critical to get past of this section. Weirdly enough, here the game scrolls diagonally, backwards and down.

Level 6 boss isn't too hard. He keeps spinning his arms, and from time to time, he will open his mouth put his "tongue" out, and shoot a blue ball at you.

The blue ball is easily avoidable, as it goes in a straight line, and his weak point is that red circle in his tongue. If you have 2 options or a missile, you'll be able to destroy it pretty quickly

Level 7 is very short, it starts with this narrow and difficult section, and it goes to...

... this section, where those insects come from holes in and into the ground and the roof. They move in set patterns, and they don't die very easily. Learn their moving patterns, and you'll get out of here soon

This is maybe the lamest boss I ever saw. His weak point is that blue thing in his head. He shoots blue balls that bounce in the roof and the ground.

But those balls are easily destroyed by a single shot, he shoots them at every 5 seconds or so, and they come from his weak point, exactly the point where you'll be shooting most of the time. Pretty stupid.

Like most Konami's shmups, level 8 is the last level. There are no restart points in this one, die and you're sent back to the start of the level. There are only 3 kinds of enemis in this stage, those small ships, those indestructible big rocks, and....

...WHOOSH! This giant laser. The laser will destroy all ships in its way, and it comes with just a small and quick warning, making nearly impossible to avoid it, if you're into his direction. This seems very unfair, until...

...you notice the laser only destroys ships, and not the rocks. All you have to do is stay behind the rocks, and you're fine. Not that easy when the rocks keep moving, and you have ships shooting at you. Learn when and where the lasers are shot also helps a lot.

Space Manbow's last boss isn't too hard. He keeps moving up and down, and from time to time, he will shoot his big laser (a small blue bright will appear before this), and all you have to do is dodge the small rocks, get away from the path of the laser, and shoot his red circle 'til he's finished. Seemed very easy, but..

...After beating that ship, you'll be sucked to its inside, for a final battle againt the alien controlling it. This one is hard, there are lasers coming from the scenary, blue bobbles that goes back and forth hunting you (They can be shot), and when the alien opens his eye, showing his weak point, he shoots red bubble that moves pretty fast in a straight line.

There are no winning strategy here, just shoot, dodge, shoot, dodge and SHOOT.

The ending is nice, in spite of being too short. You've saved the galaxy once more, you see the alien ship blowing, and you fly through its wreckage while seeing the credits.

Then it's back to level 1 again!!