Since the game for this month’s high score contest is rather difficult (and also since Davideo7 suggested it), I made a thread for us to share tips. Feel free to contribute! Don't be a meanie and keep them to yourself D:



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Tip # 1: Power-ups and powering them up 101 (thanks to rcarter2 and jerryaberry for some of this)



There are three different shot type power-ups (besides the crummy starting shot). I will call them the "laser", "diagonal beam", and "green balls."



The laser comes in the item box with the greyish circle in the middle. It shoots a laser beam straight forward. When it powers up, the laser beam gets longer and a little wider, making it easier to scrape enemies with it. It seems to be pretty powerful, but it requires precise aiming.



The diagonal beam comes in the item box with a blue circle in the middle. It shoots two beams diagonally ahead of you. As it powers up, the beams can bounce off of walls and ceilings (like a Slinky). It can be tricky to use, because they leave you open in the front.



The green balls power up comes in the item box with the green circle in the middle. They shoot a spread of green balls ahead. When it is powered up, the green balls become bigger. They are nice to have, because you don't really need to aim with them and can just focus on dodging, however, they seem to lack some power.



The shots can be powered up five times. Along with the effects described above, powering up a shot makes it stronger. There are two ways to get your shots powered up. If you pick up an item box with a red squiggle in the center, it powers you up. You can also power up by collecting the same shot type that you are currently using. So if you have the diagonal beam, for example, then pick up another diagonal beam to power up. This means in some cases, it may be best to not pick up a power up. . .



The other power up items are the S speed and the Helper Pods. The S speed item speeds you up, which means you should always try to get them. The Helper Pods look like little satelites, and when you pick them up, they come to your aid. The Helper Pods have three different formations that can be changed by pressing or holding Button 1 (the default is Z). The default formation, "scatter formation", has the Helper Pods flying around and shooting at enemies on their own. This formation is like the only way to hit enemies approaching from the rear. The second formation (press Button 1) is the "attack formation." This bring the Helper Pods close to the ship and makes them fire similar shots to whatever your current shot type is. This is a good way to devastate the enemies in front of you. The third formation (hold down Button 1) is the "circle formation." This has the Helper Pods circling around your ship creating a perforated shield. This can be 'kinda useful' with 3 pods or more.



Oh, and enemies which have power-ups will always be flashing, so go for those flashing enemies!



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Tip # 2: Autofire



While I was playing, it made my finger start to get a little uncomfortable pressing the shoot button repeatedly, so I reccomend using autofire. Autofire can also shoot faster than I can push the button down.



To set autofire, double click the screen, and set a key for Button 2 (auto). Try not to mess up your controls in the process!

(Edited again since it made my post get all wonky)

There is one thing you are incorrect on, but it makes sense since you mentioned you had never gotten more. You can actually get up to 4 helper pods. However, when you have them set to close formation, only the front 2 fire anything. The other 2 just follow you without firing a shot, which is kind of lame. However, in scatter formation, all of them move around firing at enemies. 

If you are going for a high score, remember that you get no points when they helper pods destroy enemies while in scatter formation. You only get points when they are in close formation. So when going for a high score, only use scatter formation when destroying a pesky enemy would mean putting yourself in danger.

My last hint for now is that if you lose a life after the first level, you might as well reset the game. After level one, it is almost impossible to recover because you are slow and back to your weakest gun. You will not be able to survive the onslaught of enemies after level one. The only exception I have found is level 3. If you play everything perfectly, it is possible to get through the level including the boss with only one helper pod, the weakest weapon, and one speed boost. But level 4 is too difficult to get powered up quick enough to reach the end, so you are still screwed. Even though I haven't posted it, my current highest score is 201,400. I'm not posting that because I will do better once I perfect level 4 and at least figure out level 5. If you die before level 5, you might as well restart if you are going for the high score. 

I will not be revealing my most essential strategies until about 10pm on the last night of the competition. No point in revealing that to everyone so early while I am ahead

rcarter2 :  Yeah, I edited out the part about the only two helper pods, since jerryaberry mentioned having more.  Thanks for the extra information on them though.  But you know, I'm pretty sure you still get points from the helper pods in scatter mode.  Well maybe. . .

And yesss, I've noticed the thing about dying.  It's so annoying, and it makes me feel bad when I lose the rest of my lives like *one-two-gameover*

I've never actually seen past the second level yet, but I have a pretty good strategy for the boss on that one.  I guess I will post it up later, when I get around to taking some pictures of it.

You should totally reveal your essential strategies.

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Tip 3-ish: Practice in the non-highscore mode

It can be helpful to practice outside of the highscore mode with the power of "state 0 saved" and "state 0 loaded."  It really helps to get strategies down and it allows you to get a first glimpse of the stages, so they don't surprise you later.

I was wrong. They do give you points. There is a part on the first level when the boss is throwing missiles at you (before he transforms), and I used my pods to destroy the missiles. I didn't realize that those missiles weren't worth points, so I assumed that I wasn't getting points because they were being destroyed by the helper pods. My bad. 

This is a good idea. Great game, there are just a few things about it that irritate me.

Honestly this game is a lot like Life Force or R-Type where as if you die once, your pretty much screwed. Especially on the second level when you have a ton of enemies flying at you from behind in small areas.

Honestly most of the Gun "Upgrades" are useless in this game. Especially the diagonal shot. Even when it's fully upgraded it sucks.

If you're going to a stage with very tight spaces, use diagonal laser's full power up, because that's the only time it's any good. I'd probably recommend trying to get the green power up. Where it lacks in firepower it makes up for in range. You can also compensate by getting more pods and sending them in forward-focus formation to up the fire power.

also, remember, when the pods are in free-flying formation, they do not shoot your shot type, but when you are in forward-focus, they shoot your shot type, so keep this in mind.

In level 5, a new weapon is introduced. The color dot in the middle of the item is Red. This item fires a yellow wave in front of you AND behind you. The more you have it upgraded, the wider the range of the wave. There are 2 drawbacks to this weapon. First being it isn't particularly strong. Second is that it has a very short range. Instead of going across the screen, it only spans out about 2 ship lengths. However, if you have at least 2 pods in tight formation, you have pretty much a barrier that completely surrounds you, which is useful for weak enemies. However, for stronger enemies, they might get to you before being destroyed by your weapon. This weapon is practically useless against boss fights. 

I've never played this game. Personally, I've actually never even heard of the game until I saw this thread. I'll be sure to remember this thread, though, when I play this game. It looks like it's got some really helpful tips.