You have returned to the forest of mushrooms, and it still seems like nothing is your friend! Those pesky spiders still leap out at you, sometimes two or more at a time! Bees, dragonflies and mosquitos buzz at you from above. Beetles crawl underfoot. Nasty earwigs poison every mushroom they touch. And now there is a millipede, marching back and forth just like the millipede of old. Once again, though, you have come prepared, and this time you have brought reinforcements. Your trusty bow and arrow will help you pick off those pests, and now you have DDT bombs as well, ready to instantly wipe out any and all critters unfortunate enough to be near its deadly blast. You know those insects won't just roll over and surrender, though. They might even have a few new tricks of their own! Who will win?
At the start of the game, a single millipede attacks, with a head followed by eleven segments. Shooting the head turns the segment behind it into a new head. Shooting a segment in the middle causes the millipede to split into two smaller millipedes. If you can shoot all twelve parts, either as heads or segments, a new millipede will appear. Gradually, new millipedes will attack with fewer segments, but at the same time more indepedent millipede heads will join in. Finally, all you will see are twelve independent heads, all attacking at the same time. Blast them all to see a new, whole millipede again, after which the cycle repeats itself.
Early in the game, most waves of segments vs. independent heads will appear twice. The first time, the segmented millipede will march more slowly than the independent heads. The second time, they're all the same speed, and moving quickly. Eventually, when your score is high enough, each wave will appear only once, with the millipede always moving at the higher speed.
Joining the millipede in its attack are six other enemies, each with their own skill at being a nuisance. Spiders leap across the lower part of the field, devouring any mushrooms and players they can. Beetles crawl through the same area as the spider, turning mushrooms into indestructable flowers. Starting with the second millipede, bees zoom down the playfield, planting mushrooms along the way. Dragonflies appear now and then, meandering downward while also planting mushrooms. Mosquitos move in quick zig-zags, kamikaze-style. Earwigs wander through the playfield, poisoning any mushroom they touch. If a millipede hits a poisoned mushroom, it will march straight down toward you!
Every so often, the insects will launch a swarm, in an effort to defeat you with sheer numbers. The first swarm is bees, followed by dragonflies, then mosquitos. The fourth swarm is all three: bees, dragonflies and mosquitos! The swarms then repeat the cycle, starting with bees again.
There is an eighth critter in the forest, but this one isn't so bad. Once in a while you will see an inchworm squirming its away across the playfield. If you shoot it, all other enemies will slow down for a few seconds. This can help you get out of some tight jams!
Shooting a bug, or a millipede body segment, turns it into a mushroom and awards you points. Millipede heads are worth more than segments. Spiders are worth more then closer they are when you hit them. Bees must be shot twice, and move more than twice as fast after the first hit! Mushrooms can also be shot, and while they aren't worth a lot of points, clearing a path is often necessary to get to the bugs.
The most powerful weapon in your arsenal are the DDT bombs placed throughout the forest. Blasting one of these gives you an instant reward in points, but they're best when they explode with a lot of enemies nearby. Every enemy in the blast radius gets you three times the points!
As you battle the insect and arachnid hordes, the forest around you gradually changes. Every time you wipe out all millipede heads and segments, you advance one row of mushrooms deeper into the forest. You also advance one row every time you shoot a beetle. Shooting mosquitos has the opposite effect, making you retreat one row of mushrooms. Also, periodically old mushrooms will die out and new mushrooms will sprout, changing the look of the forest, not to mention the paths your enemies will follow. Each time you advance into the forest, a new DDT bomb will appear, unless there are already four DDT bombs visible. Be aware that retreating may cause an unexploded DDT bomb to disappear.
If any part of a bug touches you, you lose that life. The game then awards bonus points for all flowers and all wounded or poisoned mushrooms still on the playfield. Sometimes these points are just enough to get you to the next extra life, but don't count on that too often!