I'm probably gonna get a few weird looks from a few of you hardcore shmup folks for this, but I'm stuck on the first level of the original Gradius for NES, and I'm hoping to get a little advice.
There's a point that I'm guessing is towards the end of the level where your path stops at two volcanoes, which spew a quick and seemingly unavoidable stream of rocks in all directions. This point kills me (as well as all of my friends who have tried it) EVERY DAMN TIME. Is there some place you can go to be safe from all of these, or is there a good strategy for fighting your way through it?