The Basics:
Controls:
A: Rotate turret 45 degrees to the left
B: Fire
C: Rotate turret 45 degrees to the right
A+C: Bomb*
*Bomb effects are different for each weapon you’re using
Extends:
Every 2,000,000 points.
Item List:
Medals
These are important for scoring. More on the Scoring section.
Pink Crystals
These will upgrade your current weapon. Each crystal you pick will fill the bar on the lower left a little bit. Once it fills up entirely, your weapon will level up, up to level 10.
M, H and S Items
M will give you missiles, while H will give you a weaker, homing version of M. S will give you an extra bomb.
Power-ups
These will change the attack of the main turret and bomb.
Scoring:
Scoring in this game is a mix of medal chaining, black power-up bonuses, destroying mid-bosses quickly, destroying specific boss parts and using the right weapon. We’ll discuss each one in detail.
Medal Chaining
Medal chaining in Guardian Force is similar to Raizing games: when you pick a medal, the next one will be of higher value, and after you pick that, the next one will be of even higher value, and so on. Unlike Raizing games, however, if you lose a medal, even if there are others around, you’ll break the chain and have to start over.
When a medal is generated, it’ll bounce for a while, then stay on the ground for about 10 seconds, then disappear. While it’s bouncing it cannot go off-screen – the edge of the screen will ‘push’ it, so to speak. After it stops bouncing the screen will not push it anymore and it can go off-screen, breaking your chain.
It’s important to max your chain as early as possible, and for that, avoid generating another medal before you pick up the previous one. So, pick a medal, generate the next one, pick it up, then generate the next one, and so on.
The black power-up
The black power-up will give you a nice boost to your score. It’s worth 10,000 points, and on a specific occasion, 50,000 points.
When a power-up appears, it’ll fly in circles around the screen while switching colors every 3 seconds or so. It’ll switch colors in a set pattern and it is as follows:
RED – YELLOW – GREEN – PURPLE – BLUE
The power-up will cycle through all colors and then go back to the one it originally was. After that, it’ll go black.
So, let’s say, a red powerup appears. It’ll switch to yellow, green, purple, blue, red, then black. If a green powerup appears, it’ll switch to purple, blue, red, yellow, green, then black…and so on.
It’s important to memorize that pattern. As soon as it appears, make a mental note of which color it is. When it loops back to its original color, get ready – it’ll turn black next.
Okay, so now there’s a black powerup on the screen. From now on it’ll fly on a straight line and can go off-screen. Picking it up at this point will give you 10,000 points. But, if you wait some more, it’ll slow down and then disappear. Picking it up while it’s disappearing will give you 50,000 points instead.
Here’s a good way to know when it’s about to disappear: If you look closely, the power-up is actually flying – you can clearly see its shadow and notice that it’s above the ground.
When it goes black, it’ll slowly descend, and will disappear as soon as it touches the ground. Keep an eye on its shadow and keep track of how close it is from hitting the ground. As soon as it does, pick it up for 50,000 points.
Destroying mid-bosses quickly
A big timer will appear on the screen when a mid-boss shows up. When you destroy it, the number shown on the timer will be multiplied by 100 and added to your score. It should be obvious that the faster you destroy the mid-boss, the bigger your bonus.
If you can afford it, bombing a mid-boss is a sure way to destroy it quickly and get a big bonus.
Boss parts
Every boss will have a specific part that will be worth 50,000 points if you destroy it. The parts mentioned are as follows:
PRACTICE-STAGE
The cannon in the middle of the ship.
STAGE-A
On the last car, the two cannons that fire horizontal pink lasers. Each one is worth 25,000 points.
For some reason, if you keep firing at the hole where one of the cannons was, it’ll give you an additional 25,000 bonus. So from this battle you can actually score 75,000 points (you could shoot the other hole too, but by now the boss is about to die. Otherwise you could get 100,000 points).
STAGE-B
Destroy the big axe mounted on the right side of the boss.
STAGE-C AND ONWARDS
(Need input on those)
Using the right weapon
Every time you shoot an enemy, you will gain points. But each weapon will give you points at a different rate. Some will give you more points per-shot, while others will give you less points per-shot. So you’ll have to use the weapon that gives you the most points per-shot, if you’re serious about scoring. But which weapon is that?
After some testing, I came to the conclusion that, by far, the best weapon for scoring is the PURPLE one. Just test it yourself; equip the purple weapon and point-blank the first boss, and you’ll see how quickly your score will go up. No other weapon is as effective for milking points from enemies as the purple weapon. So it’s important to use it as much as possible.
