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Well, if it exists, I don't know about it either, but in any case, I can at least tell you what I do to try and beat the level.I mean there HAS to be a fairly easy way to beat it that I don't know about
First of all, I think the speedup is key. Frantic dodging is unavoidable, and without the speedup, it will be very difficult. So I think it's important to take the low path and pick that up.
After that, I wait just above the middle platform, while the Bugs -- those yellow creatures -- go streaming down behind you and up in front of you. At this point, there is usually a Cancer following me beneath the platform, and I wait until it turns around and starts going back the way it came from. If this Cancer keeps following you into the next portion of the level, it can make things exceptionally difficult.
By now, the "pit" should be visible, so I fly up, over the outcropping, and into the pit, where I use a succession of quick charge shots to take out those blue missile launchers. This being level 7, you need to watch out for the walls, which may explode at any time near the top or the bottom of the screen. The game does give you a very small advance-warning of this occurrence, but you need to be alert.
This is where it gets really crazy, because you have the last of the Bugs streaming in from the left, and a whole squadron of Pata-Patas -- the red ships -- streaming in from the right, and both of them are raining shots upon you. I find that staying low and dodging all of this is far too difficult to manage with any regularity, so I like to fly up to their level, and start blasting. You can't take them all out, but hopefully you can take out enough that the situation is made at least marginally easier to deal with. There is no real "path" here. You'll just have to react to whatever the Empire decides to throw your way....
There is a POW that flies by in the middle of the mayhem, and it carries a Bit, but I don't usually pay it any mind. If you're here, then it means you died at the checkpoint, and one Bit by itself won't make much of a difference the rest of the way.
Don't forget about the Scant -- the big green guy who shoots charge shots like yours. He's the last enemy in the level, and if you're not paying attention, he'll kill you.
As for Bronco -- the boss -- position yourself in the middle of the screen, between two of the "trash dispensers". The collision detection is very forgiving here, and you need to take advantage of it. Use charge shots, and move up and down to avoid shots from below. Sometimes the dispensers spit out POWs, and if you're very lucky, you may get a Bit to complement the one you (may have) picked up earlier. Two Bits will make a big difference in the last level. As I alluded to before though, I think it's more important to simply get to the last level, and if that means sacrificing the first Bit, then so be it. Getting the "trash" Bit is in any case exceedingly rare....
Good luck!
