Bosses

There are 7 key bosses in Sky Force 2014, which you must defeat to finish the stage. There is also a bonus 9th boss. The only stage to not have a "boss" is stage 5.

This page is a "Landing Page" of sorts linking to each bosses’ specific info page with walkthrough, images and trivia.

Stage 1 and 2

Stage 3 and 4

Stage 6

Stage 7

Stage 8

Stage 1 (Battlecruiser)
Prior to your first boss battle, a transmission from General Mantis will appear telling you to "taste the Mantis Cannons, you little rat!" It is thus presumed that this boss is the "Mantis Boat."

This boss consists of a single large boat with a total of 5 defenses on it: 4 cannons (two in front and two in back) and a large chain gun in the middle. Defeating is relatively simple, if a little grind-y given the low levels of your weapons. It is advised to stay at the side while the defenses fire, and then swing in front to shoot at it while the guns are inactive. Also, when the center turret is firing it is recommended to stay as still as possible so the bullets do not spread out.

Stage 2 (Double Battlecruiser)
This boss is not one, but two of the "Mantis Boats". This boss battle is also relatively simple, if more hectic. It is advised to focus on one of the boats first, and then move on to the second one. Follow the tips for the first boss. However, be careful! Don’t fly around happily after destroying both ships; planes will then fly in from the top, and if you are not careful, you could crash into the planes and die.

Stage 3 (Mantis Flying Fortress)
Prior to this battle, A transmission from the unnamed in-game announcer (apparently your commander) will appear, telling you that General Mantis is about to attack with his Flying Fortress, and you must put him in his place. Well, this guide will help you do just that!

The first stage are two cannons that fire continuously but aim poorly — it appears that they can only shoot in a general forward direction It is possible to swing around the back of the cannons and attack the other side, if that is so desired. Bait the cannons into shooting slightly to the side, and then attack them head-on. Once you destroy them, the plane will speed up and the second stage will appear: two Gatling guns on the wings, and one large central turret. If you have unlocked laser, it is recommended to immediately burn your lasers and take out the central turret. Otherwise, the screen will soon become filled with bullets. However, since the central turret shoots bullets in all directions but doesn’t really aim, it is possible to dodge between the bullets. Destroy the central turret first, and then focus on the side weapons. Move to the side while they shoot so the bullets will fly off the screen, and then move in to shoot them. Once you destroy them, the plane will start to smoke and splash into the ocean.

Stage 4 (Refurbished Mantis Flying Fortress)
The stage 4 boss appears to be a refurbished version of the Stage 3 Flying Fortress. How General Mantis extracted the salt-corroded remains of the Flying Fortress from the depths of the ocean is unknown.

The first part of the boss fight is the same: two turrets. Just take them out — you know what to do. The second part is more difficult: one radial turret, one string turret on each side, and then one seeking-air-missile on each side. Curiously, the string turrets do not shoot straight, but shoot in a strange spread.

Just like Stage 3, your priority is destroying the radial turret. If you have lasers, burn them and destroy the center.

Next you should focus on taking out the SAMs, as they are the most difficult defense. Stay at the bottom of the screen and try to stay still for as long as possible to prevent bullet spread. If you still have lasers, burn them to take out the defenses on one wing (SAM + turret).

If you don’t have lasers, systematically take out the missiles and then the turrets. After the weapons are gone, be careful! The bullets are hard to see and you may inadvertently crash into them and even die, due to low health after fighting the boss.

Stay close to the bosses’ burning carcass as it falls; it doesn’t release any bullets upon death and also maximizes your chance of eating stars.

Stage 5 (Submarine):

Stage 5 doesn’t have a boss because it would be too hard to fight a boss with an E.M.P. trailing you, and you would be defenseless anyway if it did hit you. Instead there is a big mass of stars. Some people could consider the Submarine the boss of the level, though.

Stage 6 (Mantis Gunship)
The only Helicopter boss in the game, coming from what seems like a helicopter pad which is obscured by clouds.

The boss starts with a Pulse Laser in the front and a Chain Gun behind that (shooting purple bullets instead of the usual blue). The Pulse Laser pulses (of course it does) and never fires constantly.

After you take out both of those, it starts getting a little hectic. The sides of the Mantis Gunship open up and fire SAMs. In addition to this, the top of the helicopter starts shooting bullet-hell-like style pattern of bullets (in 12 directions at once!). Due to the continuous dodging of the orbs from the helicopter blades, the rockets might kill you unless you have a lot of health. Like every other boss, when you take out these defenses, it starts to blow up. Similar to the Mantis Flying Fortress, stay as close as you can to eat stars (though you might want to wait for the SAMs to go away first).

Stage 7 (Mantis Heavy Tank)
Like the Mantis Gunship, the Mantis Heavy Tank is unique as it's the only Tank boss in the game. It comes from a metal door and rolls out onto the ground. It is invulnerable until the Railgun turns around and starts attacking.

The first phase (of two) starts with the Railgun constantly shooting at you. Meanwhile, the two lasers at the bottom act similarly to the Mantis Gunship laser. In addition to THAT, the two guns in the back fire singular bullets. After all 5 targets have been taken out, the second phase begins, although it will take a while to defeat the first phase.

The second phase has the Orb-Firing Spread Gun (only my personal name for it) from the helicopter, shooting in 12 different directions. Also, non-stop Chain Guns continuously fire in a sway pattern, almost making a curvy tunnel. Take out one of the guns first, then focus on the 12-directional cannon. After those 3 targets are gone, just destroy the tank with a massive explosion (not really required) and finish the level.

Stage 8 (Nasty Owl)(Final Boss)
The most complicated boss in the game, with 4 phases and a ton of different attacks. The whole boss fight (except phase 3.5 and 4) has two laser cannons on either side of the boss.

The first phase has 4 basic cannons shooting single bullets at you. Occasionally, a swaying Chain Gun will pop out and shoot a lot of bullets in a spread. Keep in mind when you destroy the turrets, the gun port isn't completely destroyed.

And the reason why is in the second phase. The gun ports re-open and show 4 Chain Guns that aim directly at you. To make sure General Mantis doesn't let you get too close to his special plane, as he will activate the Tesla Coils, damaging you constantly if you get too close. Again, the Gun Ports are not destroyed and stop flaming after a few seconds of being destroyed.

The gun ports then re-open in Phase 3, making SAMs appear from the guns. Use your lasers and destroy them as fast as possible, though lasers are viable at any point in the fight. The central port with the swaying Chain Gun from Phase 1 returns, but it shoots 6 giant bursts with gaps between them, making dodging difficult.

After those five targets are burned to crisps, the Laser Cannons on either side of the plane will become vulnerable (Phase 3.5).

The final phase, Phase 4, is where General Mantis attempts to high-tail it out of there and turns around. This leads to two of the Giant 6-Burst cannons appearing. The good news is, if you remain calm, this is the easiest (and last) part of the fight. Destroy the two Burst Cannons, and the Nasty Owl goes up in flames, falls to the ground, and General Mantis dies (how sad for his daughter, hint hint). Enjoy the end credits and the game is complete.

Stage 9 (Arachnotron)(Secret Boss)
Or is it? Turns out if you reach the end of Stage 9, you fight the Special Boss, Arachnotron. Throughout the fight, a spread of 6 Plane-Seeking Lasers exclusive to this boss fires and attempts to hit you.

The first phase starts with a simple 4-cannon line that constantly shoots.

The second phase has two flamethrower cannons from either side/front appear, and shoot for roughly 3 seconds, then pause, then fire again (similar to how a chain gun fires, pauses, then fires again).

The third phase has a Gatling-gun shooting at you, tracking your position, and shoots bullets just faster than a Railgun.

This whole time, the mysterious enemy with a robotic voice has been saying "Charging Laser..." Once you defeat the Gatling-gun, it then says "Laser Available." This leads to a massive laser activating. There is a chance it will sway from right to left, and a chance it will be static. Once the laser is eventually gone, you hopefully using your own lasers to speed up the fight, the Arachnotron goes down like every other boss. However, this time the explosion will probably rattle your computer. Um, that's just a joke! It won't actually blow up your computer, but it is a lot bigger explosion than the other bosses, even the Mantis Heavy Tank.

Trivia

 * Some bosses in this game can be considered parallels to Sky Force Reloaded bosses.
 * The Mantis Gunship is similar to Spinning Retaliation. ( But the MLRS's on it are clearly on the Murky Huntress )
 * The Mantis Heavy Tank is similar to The Scarlett Heart and the Canned Dread. ( Scarlet also clearly says that her daddy had a tank, albeit smaller ( Canned Dread )
 * The Nasty Owl is similar to the Frying Falcon.
 * The Arachnotron is similar to Araneae Lebes.
 * Some sources say that the Arachnotron is an early version of Omega from Sky Force Reloaded. This might be speculation (even though the points are all there).
 * The Arachnotron has the largest explosion in the game (except possibly the off-screen explosion of the Nasty Owl)