PrinceWatercress plays Rapid Reload (as Axel) - Part 4 of 6

It took me two nights to get this level all figured out and beat it. I'm surprised this went as well as it did, and I'm also surprised I was so gravely serious as I talked through this video, but to be fair, I had no idea if I could get past this.

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Round 4

The hardest part of this level is keeping your health high. You cannot afford to take a lot of damage here, as there is only one health pick-up in the entire level.

Use H as much as possible to take out the enemies. Duck down and fire F when you see the mechs with the flamethrowers to avoid their missiles.

To defeat the crane, just move back and forth to avoid getting hit by the hook and fire H the whole time.

Despite what I say here, you do not have a limit of six bombs. I find this out later on.

To defeat the first area boss, equip H. This boss has three patterns with its flamethrowers:

• If the flames on the sides curve to the side before heading towards the missile, you'll need to jump over them.
• If the flames on the sides go straight to the side and then go straight up, you'll need to slide when the time is right to avoid them when they go straight for you, as those flames will track.
• If the flames on the sides go straight down then curve upwards, stay far to one side and face the boss while continuing to shoot H.

When the area boss starts moving around and shooting fire downward from right above you, you want to tap the D-Pad left or right to stagger the flames as soon as you see them so you don't get hit.

At less than 1600 HP, the boss will ditch its armor and create a bunch of orbs around it. Whatever you do, do not let go of the fire button as you hire H. Also, you need to be on the right side of the screen and ducking down. This will ensure you can shoot some of the orbs down. When the boss goes down and to the left, immediately slide to the left so the flamethrower doesn't hit you. From here, continue to shoot at the orbs as you duck down. When the boss goes down and to the right, slide to the right so you don't get hit again. From here, the pattern starts over.

Once you beat the first area boss, you'll be on an elevator. Keep H equipped and shoot down not only the missile launchers on the walls, but also the orbs that come down from the top of the screen to shoot a laser. You'll want to keep the screen as clear as possible so you don't get hit a whole bunch.

You'll soon see two big brown missile launchers on the sides. Equip G, duck down on the left side of the elevator and shoot at the one on the right. You'll be able to take down the missiles while shooting this thing. When the launcher on the right goes up, go to the right side of the elevator, face left, duck down and shoot at the launcher on the left. By ducking down, you'll avoid the machine gun fire on the missile launcher that is going up. You'll eventually take one down, then the other.

Equip H again. You're facing the second area boss. Stay to theleft, and when you see the black hole form in the center, stay away from it and stand on the crusher platform on the side. Stay on the platform and continue to fire at the boss so you don't get hit by the rainbow-colored flashes of light when the boss spits stuff out. When those lights are gone, go right of center and move back and forth to avoid the flamethrowers, then be ready for the crushers. They crush at the sides first, then go to the center and come down there. Move to the sides when they come to the center.

The pattern will repeat, but this time, stay on the floor and approach the center as the black hole closes, as the lights will go to the side instead of to the top and bottom. From here, the pattern is the same as last time. All the while, you need to be firing at the boss with H. Thankfully, this is all the second area boss does.

Keep H equipped and trad slowly and cautiously to take out the three-way laser cannons and the enemis as you go. The red mechs will run towards you. Don't forget that you can hold Down and press X to grab the floor below your feet on the upper level. You'll find a bomb and the level's lone health pick-up around here. You'll want to advance to the right a little bit before picking each thing up, as you don't want to get hit by a red running mech.

Stay all the way to the left and fire F to take out the flamethrower tanks.

You'll soon see the level guardian. Switch to F. Stick to the far left and shoot at all the missile and weapon pods at the center of the guardian's body, and jump when you need to in order to avoid the lightning orbs.

Once you shoot everything down on the upper half, you'll switch to the lower half. Stay to the left and hold Down and press X to hang off the platform you're standing on, and shoot at the two missile pods to the sides as well as the lighting orb pods above. Thankfully, I stand in the right position and take out everything at once, so the missiles I need to shoot down don't even show up. From here, the laser  cannon in the bottom center starts moving around. Keep shooting at it with H and jump forward when you see the laser flash so you don't get shot. When it stomps moving, shoot at it with F.

You'll then take on the head. Fire H to fire atat the shoulder pads, and watch the lasers. The first three lasers are always diagonal, vertical and horizontal in that order. Stay to the far side of the screen to avoid the diagonal and vertical lasers, then go all the way to the center and jump as soon as you see the horizontal lasers come at you. From here, the lasers will be random, but you'll know how to avoid as long as you pay attention to how they fire. 

At 2000 HP, stay away from the sides and keep firing. Watch the head, and when you see the head move, move away so the laser doesn't hit you. Thankfully, this is the only attack the guardian has. As long as you don't get shot and you don't touch the fists of this giant mech, you're good, and you'll complete the hardest level in the game.