Venom 1 is composed of one main corridor, then a maze-like series of other canyons. After much effort, I have managed to map out, and link all of the canyons together. I will start by describing the initial corridor, and then provided an imagemap linking every canyon together. Have fun :)
Initial Corridor: You;ll start off and see tons of scouties. They will fly to the right, and will shoot at you a lot A well-placed bomb can take them all out, and barrel-rolling will deflect their shots. Just past them, you'll see the entrance to a canyon. Many scouties fly over the walls on the left and right. In the straight corridor are found a large array of ground tanks, and scouties that fly down in the distance to attack. Past this, you will encounter A large path filled with roots that have grown through it. When you see the gold ring and laser upgrade, head low to the ground. as soon as you touch the gold ring, pull a loop and you'll snatch the laser upgrade unharmed. as son as you exit this canyon, you'll see a lot of attack scouts up ahead. Peppy will help you destroy them. After they fly away, more will come from behind on the left, with Slippy chasing them. You'll pass through a narrower path, and exit it soon to find an attack scout-deploying bay. About 7 or so attack scouts will fly out of it in single-file. Up ahead, you'll see the path split. The left fork leads to Canyon A, and the right split leads you to Canyon B.
Canyon A: This canyon is pretty short. Lotsa butterfly ship type 3's. If you destroy all of them before they fly up to the sky, you'll get a laser upgrade. The left fork leads to Canyon C, and the right fork leads you to Canyon D.
Canyon B: This is another of the short canyons. The first part is rather narrow, and you'll be chased by four butter fly type 3 ships. There is a deployment bay up ahead will will spew attack scouts at you, more b3 ships will come in to help them. The left fork leads to Canyon D, and the right fork leads you to Canyon J.
Canyon C: This is the longest canyon there is. You see some wedge-shaped cutouts in the walls, and there are a few ground tanks too. A short distance past these, Slippy will warn you to look out; 5 or so butterfly type 3 ships will drop down in your face. Use a charged blast to kill all of them. A little ways beyond, many ground tanks litter the ground. Point O: A bay will spew a bunch of attack scouts at you before you come to a corridor. This corridor looks home free, with a gold ring in it; ROB64 will hail you here. Watch out; 4 sets of 3 ground tanks will come from behind, and a few saucers will pop in front of your nose. Its not a bad idea to somersault as soon as the tanks come, so that you'll actually face them, and then you can prepare easier. When you go for the ring, a bay will spew more attack scouts at you, right before the fork. Feel free to launch a bomb if things get hectic. The left fork leads to Canyon E, and the righ fork leads to Canyon F.
Canyon D: This is a really short canyon. There are two bays in it that spew attack scouts at you. What is hard about it, is that they do it at almost the same time, and it is hard to concentrate on either. You tend to get hit by the attack scouts. Other than that, this canyon is a breeze, and it goes by just as fast. The left fork leads to Canyon G, and the right fork leads to Canyon H.
Canyon E: This canyon isn't a canyon. It is a wide open space. First, many poles will come from behind to form a pillar maze ahead of you. They are angled either towards you or away from you. Just titl and fly through them. Get the gold ring in there if you can. After this little maze, pillars will fly towards you. Just stay level and move to avoid them. It isn't very hard. After this, you'll come to the meeting point.
Canyon F: This canyon is sorta long, but not overly difficult. Huge rocks jut out of the ground as you fly down the canyon. The first set of 4 fans out from the right, and the second fans out from the left. The rest of the rocks jut straight up out of the ground. Three will appear, one center and the others on the side. Then there will be three on the right, and one of the left. head just left of the three. Two will pop up in front of you; head to the right, There will be a single one on the left, and one on the right; behind the one on the right is a gold ring, which is in front of two rocks. To get the ring, head to the right of the pillar it is behind, and titl to the left. Then quickly turn left to get the ring and avoid smashing into the rock. Just beyond, a bay will spew attack scouts at you, and then you will arive at the meeting point.
Canyon G: This is a simple canyon. Its a bit long, but not too long. Many groups of three scouties are here, and they will fly apart after awhile, and shower you with lasers. Refer to the map for the positions they are in. Blast them with a charged blast before they fly apart if you want a bonus for them. At the end of the scoutie rush, you will join up with Canyon C at Point O.
Canyon H: This is a good canyon to go down if you want bombs. Venom's avian population can be found here, and every one you kill gives you a bomb. They fly straight on the right side of the corridor, while a bay on the left launches attack scouts at you. Another bay will launch attack scouts at you. It is in fron of the right fork. The left fork leads to Canyon K, and the right fork will lead you toCanyon L.
Canyon I: This is a a rather short canyon, but it joins up with another at the end. A bunch of ground tanks scatter the ground--most of them are on the right--and a bay on the left will spew attack scouts at you. Just past this, the canyon merges into the beginning of Canyon L.
Canyon J: This canyon is scattered with tons of ground tanks. Not only that, but saucers will drop down from the sky at a few points. This is a good route to take if you are after points. At the fork, three rocks will jut up, but they are very easy to avoid. The left fork leads to Canyon H, and the right fork leads to Canyon I.
Canyon K: Relatively simpel canyon. Electric bars are placed horizontally across the chamber, at varying heights. Each one has a butterfly type 3 ship behind it. Afetr the bars end, is Point M. Here, a bay on the right wall launches attack scouts at you. On the left, a bay in the cround does the same. Just beyond, you will merge into the beginning of Canyon F.
Canyon L: Just a canyon with rocks that jut up out of nowhere. There is a gold ring in here. To get it. Head between just left of the rocks it is behind, the do a sharp turn left once you pass the rock. Refer to the map for the locations of the rocks. The right fork leads to Canyon N, and the left fork merges into Point M of Canyon K
.Canyon N: THis canyon is really unmappable. Greenish blocks appear out of thin ait and groups of 3 ground tanks are hiding under them at various points. It helps to somersault as soon as you start to see the blocks apepar. Then you'll be able to see them for awhile; when more start to appear, pull another somersault. At the end, you'll join up at the meeting point.
Meeting Point: All of the paths eventually lead to the meeting point. You'll see a few rows of spinning beams up ahead. Your wingmen will destroy the second-to-the-bottom row. Just past this is the checkpoint. Afterwards, a temple will come into view. Your wingmen will say a few things and you will enter into a stone corridor. Up ahead you'll notice a stone monkey. This is the initial boss, but he attacks only indirectly.
Stone Monkey Robot: As you travel down the corridor, powerups like wing repairs, laser upgrades, and silver rings will appear; get these. The monkey has several weak points. Aim at its shoulders first, these are the hardest to hit. After his shoulders are toast, aim for its arms. Then stay low and destroy its feet, then blast away at its back and rear to destroy them. Upon destroying all of these, his head will become his weak point; destroy them, and then aim at its back to comepletely short-circuit this freak.
That makes it sound too easy. While doing this, you'll be faced with other obstacles. It will causes stone pillars to shoot out horizontally from the walls, creating quite a difficult maze to pilot through. At other times, he'll force pillars up from the ground. Tilt and fly through these. You'll come to sections with short and long pillars on the wall, and stone monkey idols with flaying arms. Stay left or right to avoid the arms. If he jumps, some of the pillars will fall inwards; head high or low to avoid these. I found that it is best to stay as close as possible to the monkey. Hold down that boost if you can, but don't fly so close that you'll crash into it. At close range, it is easy to hit hard-to-blast areas such as the shoulders. He'll also throw less horizontal pillars at you if you are right on top of him.
Onward to... Andross!
Canyon Raiding for Medals
| Required Hits: | 200 |
| Checkpoint Goal: | 189 |
| Hits Before Boss: | 189 |
| Point Getters: | Anything and Everything. |
Getting a medal on Venom 1 is only for elitists, since it accomplishes the same thing as gettign a medal on Venom 2. But if you really want to get one here, I shall tell you how. The whole thing resides on knowing when, where, and how to bomb, and also what canyons to take. Believe me, this is difficult.
First, when you see the first large group of scouties, lock onto the rightmost one, and bomb. This will kill every one of them, since they will all fly into the blast; if some do survive, use charged blasts to take them down. Next, when you see the two groups of scouties come from the sides, lock and bomb to leader of the right group. Finish off any stray ships on the left group with a charged blast. Next, fire a bomb down the canyon. Let it detonate. Lock onto the tanks in the front, as they won't be hit. Then, charge and blast, charge and blast, etc. down the canyon to kill any stragglers. Don't even wait for a lock. By the time you reach the root maze, you should have at least 70 hits. Try for 90+ if at all possible. As you come out of the branch maze, be holding your fire button down, to lock onto the next large group; blast away and you can get a +7 bonus or more. Blast the stragglers with a lock for extra. Lock onto the leader of the next group that will come from the left. Blast any extras with a charge. When you get to the bay before the fork, lock onto the first attack scout, and blast; use rapid-fire lasers to kill the stragglers. This is the big choice. Take the right fork to head to Canyon B.
Somersault as soon as you are chased. Then launch a bomb down the corridor to kill everything. You could use several charged blasts, too. Do one of them, but make sure everything is dead. At the fork, which is soon, take the right fork again to head to Canyon J. This place is a real smorgasborg of enemies. Ground tanks litter the ground and saucers drop from above. Use lotsa bombs in the area to destroy tons of tanks. If a group of saucers comes down, don't bomb. Lock and blast them for bonus, then resume bombing. If you don't have bombs, stay low and blast everythign with your lasers. Use charged blasts on the saucers, and on large groups of tanks that are close together. You'll want to clear out this canyon. At the fork, head to the left and go to Canyon H.
This is where you replenish all the bombs you've just used. Launch a bomb at the head Venom bird, and destroy almost all of them. Each one will net you a bomb. Blast the attack scouts with a charged blast; make sure you destroy the remaining few. Waste a bomb on the attack scouts if you want; you have just got a lot of 'em. At the next bay, blast the scouts with a bomb if you want. Head left at this fork to go to Canyon K. Blast each butterfly ship type 3 with lasers. Once past the bars, bomb the attack scouts that come from the bays. You'll head on to Canyon F in a moment. Get the gold ring in Canyon F if you can, and bomb the bay at the end. By now, you should have enough hits to get the medal. If you only have 189, you must get a hit+10 from the stone monkey.
Gazillians of Pain - Expert Mode Additions
This stage has LOTS of additions. Ground tanks cover more of the ground, and enemies are where they should not be. So many lasers are fired at you every second that its not even funny. This course is the hardest in the game on expert mode, but it is easier to get a medal on...if you can stay alive. In the root maze, butterfly type 3 ships and ground tanks are all over the place, and in hard-to-hit positions. In the places where rocks jut up, butterfly ships and ground tanks are common, and there are ground tanks in areas were they weren't before; at the meeting point, there are ground tanks before the bars! This place is a nightmare if you aren't prepared with 9 or so bombs... Enter at your own risk.