CHANGES FROM 1.5>BL
-Background colors were changed (e.g. stage 3 is darker, and stage 5 is at dusk)
-Gem colors were darkened.
-Every stage involves numerous changes in enemy patterns, placement, and bullet spreads. It almost feels like a whole new game.
-Every mode has more bullets, and they are faster than in 1.5.
-The bullet patterns of bosses have been sped up, and most boss fights are harder now, particularly in Maniac mode.
-Shot types are no longer selectable, instead one powerful shot is available for each character (which are more or less combinations of Normal+Abnormal from 1.5)
-God mode was added, Ultra was deleted
-A new TLB "Spiritual Larsa" was added, only available in God mode. You must no-miss God mode (including the ST5 boss fight) to reach her.
-Harsher penalties for bombing including a reduction of 6000 on the stage counter with every bomb in Original mode, and a zero end game bonus if you finish with no bombs in stock (see below).
-Extends are different (100mil, 200mil for Original mode; 150mil, 250mil for Maniac mode; 350mil, 700mil for God Mode). The fixed extend in Stage 5 is the same.
BASICS
Controls and so forth are the same from ver 1.5, so see that guide for details.
END OF GAME CLEAR BONUS
Your clear bonus at the end of the game is calculated by the formula 10mil x XLives x XBombs. For example, if you end the game with 2 lives and 3 bombs, you will get a total clear bonus of 60mil (10x2x3), while if you end with 3 lives and 1 bomb you only get 30mil (10x3x1). Thus, you should suicide at the end of the last boss fight if you have 1 or 0 bombs in stock (and 2 or more remains) in order to get a higher clear bonus. Be aware that if you end the game with no bombs in stock you get zero points for your spare lives (as 0x10mil=0).
If you fight and beat Spiritual Larsa, your end bonus is DOUBLED. So there is a real incentive to fight her, if you want a top score in God mode.
SCORING
ORIGINAL MODE
-Change C to A shot every 3000 on the counter. The game sounds a chime when you need to switch.
-Killing enemies at close range gives you more gems. Larger enemies "shed" small gems before they die.
-When your stage counter maxes at 9999, the overall counter starts flashing. At this point, you get large gems to "shed" off of medium and large sized enemies. The tradeoff is the rank jacks up and the bullets start moving faster. The higher your overall counter gets, the faster the bullets become. Once it is over 100,000 things get very fast indeed. A 200,000+ counter is definitely possible though.
MANIAC MODE
-When your chaining meter is flashing red and you use the C shot, your multiplier counter increases rapidly, much like Mushi 1. The further away you get from the target, the slower the increase becomes. This is very useful on bosses and midbosses, and large enemies. However, it does not work on some bosses (like the stage 3 boss).
-Your multiplier carries over from stage to stage.
-It plays the same as 1.5's Maniac in most other respects.
GOD MODE
-Multiplier maxes at 30,000
-Your multiplier carries over from stage to stage.
-From 9999+ the counter will flash. At this point your counter will increase rapidly if you use the C shot, just like in Maniac mode. Also, when the counter is at this level it is actually more beneficial to kill enemies, except ones that produce a ton of gems, at close range with the C shot instead of pressing A when the chaining meter is flashing red.