I recently got back into DX after several months off. I'm wondering why I ever stopped playing.
Engrossing DX lore, vol. 3
If you collect three full-value medals and then kill yourself off, you'll uncover a Miclus at the start of a new game. This only works on the pcb.
You don't have to uncover a gold pyramid at one fell swoop. For example, you can hover over the spot for a second, fly away to dodge some shots, and then finish the job when it's safe. The pyramid's internal timer stops when you move away from its hiding place; it doesn't reset.
Vulcan is a little stronger than it was in Raiden II. Homing missiles got a noticeable boost.
Some info from NMT8.2i's site (
http://nmt.cside.com/raiden/index.htm). This applies to the pcb; not sure if it holds for the port.
Destruction rate score breakdown
under 90%: 10,000 for every 10%. If less than 10%, 0
90-96.9%: 100,000 + 10,000 for every 1%
97-97.9%: 200,000 + 10,000 for every 0.1%
98-98.9%: 300,000 + 20,000 for every 0.1%
99-99.9%: 500,000 + 40,000 for every 0.1%
100%: 1,000,000
If you miss one enemy in training, you'll get a destruction rate of 99.8%. That's 180,000 lost points.
Medal hiding spots are included in the destruction rate; bosses and pyramids aren't. Everything that's included in the rate has the same value (Image Fight differs in this respect).