Spyke wrote:Hi,
I'll post a score soon, but I'm trying to find a guide for maximising score. Anyone have a link to a strategy guide? Also, does anyone know in Bullet mode, when the tokens bounce back up from the screen bottom, do they count differently? They look different...
Thanks
Well I've been kind of half-assing it up to this point to be honest, but just for you I did a little experimentation this morning to work out the finer details a bit. Might make a System guide in the strategy section later. This is for Burst mode btw, my advice for Normal Mode is simply "Don't play it."
Basically the majority of your score comes from your medal chain. The coins fall down slowly, turn red and then fly up quickly off the screen. Whether going down or up it makes no difference to the score or chain when you collect them. They only turn red to warn you that they will be moving off screen soon. Each coin that flies off screen will remove 1000 from your coin rate, so missing a single group of coins can destroy your multiplier instantly. Basically get all the coins, it's priority one.
The second important part is burst mode which is a bit more complex. The coins dropped in burst mode are red and add a lot more to your multiplier than usual. Once activated the burst meter begins to drain but each coin you pick up refills it a bit. If you burst at a time where there are a lot of enemies and coins to be had for a long stretch of time, and are careful about how you pick up the coins (try not to pick a bunch up when your burst meter is already maxed out) you can keep your Burst going for a very very long time and get huge coin rates. A perfect example would be bursting right after killing that huge golden enemy that appears in stage one. If you do it right, you can keep that burst going all the way through the midboss and almost to the stage boss.
The less obvious thing though is how exactly filling the burst gauge works. Basically each kill fills the gauge a little, but how much it fills depends entirely on how close you are to the top of the screen. If you watch videos of top players you will see them hugging the top edge a lot and point blanking everything. Understand that it's not the point blanking itself that increases burst recharge, it's vertical positioning. If you want to see for yourself start up stage one and try it out. Go down to the very bottom of the screen and just sit there killing the first wave. You'll see that the bust gauge has only filled by a couple pixels, almost nothing at all. Now hug the vertical edge and pointblank them as they come in: middle, right, middle, left. This time your burst gauge is a good 20-25% full.
The other major factor is clearing, because the end game bonus can almost double your score. Remember that every risk you take is weighed against endangering your chances of clearing. No matter how much ass you kick getting there, if you fail to complete your mission your score will not be able to compete with even mediocre 1cc runs. So in conclusion, in order to get the really really high scores you need to be staying towards the vertical edge as much as you can to build you burst quickly while also never missing any medals, and then use the burst at opportune times where you can get a big payout and keep it going for a while. That's basically it but it's easier said than done. My suggestion if you are just starting out is to focus only on clearing without ever breaking the chain and not worry too much about the best times to burst. As you get that down start trying to get a feel for the best times to burst, and then ultimately when you are really comfortable with the game start pushing hard to build the burst quickly and use it more often.