While Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider does allow the players to select the order in which they complete each stage, everyone has to start on the Bioweapon Lab stage. This is, in a lot of ways, a stage designed to teach you how to play the game. To emphasize this, it starts with a brief cutscene that shows off the majority of The Guardian's attacks.

Related: Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider - Beginner Tips

While this introductory stage does provide the player with a little more room to breathe than some of the other stages in the game, it still features alternate areas, multiple boss encounters, and a secret or two. We will take you through all of this and give you everything you need to succeed in order to complete the Bioweapon Lab in style!

Bioweapon Lab Section 1-1

After a brief cutscene plays—showing off a few of the cool moves you are capable of performing in Vengeful Guardian—you will cut through a door (as well as a scientist) and enter into a room with a Flamethrower Turret. You can either perform a flying kick to the dome of the turret, allowing you to get around it, or you can wait out the fire and hit it while it is reloading.

While the turret is resting on a raised platform, don't think you can stand underneath the Flamethrower Turret. During the last part of its animation, the flames will sweep downward and will clip you. However, if you crouch, you will be fine.

After the turret, there will be two squadrons of Assault Rifle Soldiers. Use your Dashing Slash to take out both troops at the same time. Keep heading left and use that same dash attack to break through the door.

The second set of troops will come from the left once you take out the door. Feel free to just ignore them and push forward.

After jumping down, you will be charged by a Red Soldier. Charge forward and take them out with your Dashing Slash. At the other end of the hallway, another one will come from the left. Take him out the same way, or just ignore him and climb up the shaft on your right. When scaling this vertical section, hop from left to right, pressing the jump button a second time the moment you come in contact with the wall. On the left side, there will be a health pickup.

Now, to the right, jump climb the rail (just jump at it, you will automatically grab hold of the rail), and jump kick the turret twice. Once you get to the section leading down, you can time each Flamethrower Turret's fire breath and take them out methodically, but that will severely hurt your grade at the end of the stage. The better option is to just use your Dive Kick and skip them altogether. There will be another one of those Charging Red Soldiers waiting for you below once you land. There is just enough time to take them out with a Dashing Attack.

There is another vertical wall climbing section next. Climb all the way to the top, and you can get a health refilling item as well as an extra life. In the area to your right, there will be another Flamethrower Turret, as well as some electrified floor panels. Jump over the hazards, Dive Kick the turret, and hop over it. Now, continue to the right, and you will encounter your first mid-boss.

Robotic Arm Mid-Boss

This boss encounter consists of a robotic arm that will track you as you move around the room. The object isn't to destroy the arm, but the wall protecting the scientist. You can do this one of two ways; dodge a bullet while in front of said wall, causing it to collide with the wall, or hit the robotic arm five times, at which point the turret will go haywire and fire at the wall. Ideally, you will do both.

Stand in front of the wall, hop up, and slash the arm. Time it so that when it fires at you, the bullet will collide with the wall. When you hear the targeting sound, the arm is about a second away from firing. Use this sound to time your jump. Once the wall has been hit four times, it will give out, and you can progress to the next section.

Bioweapon Lab Section 1-2

You will start this stage ascending a shaft. Jump from lift to lift, scaling the shaft. There will be an Assault Rifle Soldier part-way up. Just perform a Dashing Attack to take them out. Once you get to the top, you will face off against a Shield Soldier. These guys are completely invincible right up until they attack. If you attack them, they will just shield up and waste your time. So, leap directly upward, then when they start to attack, perform your Dive Kick and take them out (one will be enough).

There will now be a fork in the road. If this is your first time through, you will want to take the route on the upper level, as that is where this level's Power-Up is hidden. Otherwise, take the lower route, as it is faster.

Upper Route

Along the upper pathway, you are going to first encounter a pair of Assault Rifle Troops positioned on a decline. This is a bit of an awkward angle, but you can dive kick past them and then hit them with a Dashing Slash. The next section is a series of slow-moving platforms. These platforms are misaligned, so you will need to cling to the wall in the little nook above so that you can drop down onto the second platform.

The faster, more dangerous, method is to hop across the bottom by dive kicking the turrets. However, a mistimed jump will lead to a fair bit of damage,

Once you are on the other side of the room, you will notice that a piece of the wall on the right is damaged. Hit it with your special attack to bust it open. You will now obtain the MP Regen Chip. Now, head down, there will be a Health Recover Chip. This is where the forking path unifies.

Lower Route

This route is far simpler and better for those who are looking to cut down their stage completion time. You will need to take out the hovering Minigun Droid, then hop across a few platforms. You will then find yourself on an elongated platform with a Shield Soldier on the right side. Just hop over them, and you will clear this section. You will then break through a door. The Assault Rife Soldier on the other side is standing in front of a health-recovery power-up. So take them out if you are injured.

Back On The Main Path

Continue to the right, you will fight an Assault Rifle Soldier and a Flying Mini-gun Droid.The platform after them has two Shield Soldiers. You can hop over them, and then jump to the area above.

You can platform to your right and grab another Health Recovery Chip as well as an Extra Life, but this is a perfect example of a time-wasting diversion, as the platforming is a touch finicky. This will most certainly hurt your completion time.

Otherwise, all you need to do is head to the right, jump across the hovering platforms, and you will be at the boss of this stage. One thing to note about the platforming here is that you want to just tap the jump button to get a short hop, otherwise you will hit the electrified ceiling and take damage.

Bioweapon Lab Boss

This boss has four attacks...

When she raises both hands, she is going to fire three bullets from each. These will track to where you were when she fired them. The best way to handle this attack is to stand in the center of the screen, and jump straight up when she fires them.

When one of the two holes on the corner of her head glow, she is about to fire a spread shot at you. The left one will fire to the right, the right will fire to the left. So, if you see the left hole glowing, get to the left of it, and you will be completely safe (and vice versa for the right).

When her one of her hands begins to glow, she is about to try to smack you. Her hand will track to wherever you were when it first started moving. So, wait for it to move, then dash away from it. You will then have enough time to dash back toward the hand and land a Dash Attack.

When she opens her jaw up and fires a giant laser, she is at her most vulnerable. Partway through this attack, she will angle the beam directly at you. So, the smart approach is to just hit her with a series of Dive Kicks. Not only do these do more damage than your standard sword swipe, but they will also keep you off of the ground. You should kill her after landing two to three rounds of Dive Kicks on her.

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