Zub

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Background

The Zub Rush consist of a series of respawning enemies (Zubs) which launch themselves towards the player with reckless abandon. They are one of the most recurring Sub-Bosses in the series, originally appearing as the Stage 2 Sub-Boss in Gradius. They usually appear at the start of the Boss Rush stages, as a means of powering up, almost universally accompanied by the theme music: Aircraft Carrier. (Few exceptions include Interstellar Assault, in which they got a new theme music, and games where they are more recurring, such as in Gradius V.)

Attack Pattern

Depending on the game, either one or two Zubs will spawn at a time. In certain games they automatically target the player, in others they go into a random direction. They will also quite happily spawn on top of the player, requiring very quick reflexes to get out of the way in time. Starting with Gradius II they initially appear as red capsule dropping enemies, before changing halfway through.

Zub Rush in Gradius III Arcade

In Gradius and Gradius ReBirth, they form a long vertical line two or three times in the entrance to the boss area. Gradius 3 Arcade increases the danger level even more by allowing them to fire bullet spreads and also appear in fewer numbers, meaning less chances for powering up. On higher loops, in most games they fire suicide bullets.

Occasionally they will appear mid-way through a boss rush in smaller groups to give the player more power ups, most notably in Gradius V. The primary means of failure in these battles is for a player to get too greedy for power ups, thus losing concentration, allowing a Zub to spawn on top of them.

Strategy

If you are fully, or nearly fully powered up, the easiest way to survive this is to stay to the back of the screen and move up and down almost constantly, paying attention if any respawn directly above or below you. If you are trying to recover and are in a boss rush, it's usually a good idea to try and get either a laser or option after you get your first speed up, helping you to destroy as many as possible.

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