Nice scores Mero and welcome to the league.
My love for the game has passed and now means it just entices rage. It's a good game but like I previously said, the rank system, ruins it. I'm taking a break and playing Mushihimesama and Mars Matrix. I'll put in a few credits here and there I can't afford to smash my AES up and that's where this game is sending me at this moment in time.

Edit: Played a few credits for the road. Seems when i stopped trying so hard I did better.
I did wonder if playing for survival and getting that 1st loop clear for the 3 point league bonus was the best way to approach this game. i've reached staged 8 before playing this way and only been on about 500k, so i opted to snag all the bonuses and not let any enemies (near impossibility) pass me by. Hi-en is key to this.
It's essential imo for a good score to get Brazil as stage 2 so you can take full adavantage of the Cz icons for 10k bonuses. 3rd place run was with Spanky. 2nd place with Rob heaton and the 1st place score with Hi-en, who just cleans up anything you miss.
Stage 3 and 7 are pretty important for scoring too. On my best run I had Brazil as stage 2 and finished Stage 3 with 395k score.. used no bombs until Stage 6 boss because i still get caught out by the last phase.. but went into Stage 8 with 3 lives and 2 bombs and on 800k. Stage 8 is not too bad if you have 3 lives because although the rank is high, as soon as you lose one life, those large helicopters take it easier on you. I can do the boss now and clean up all the tank bonuses they drop. Important for score as there are 12 in this stage, though 8 of them is nearer reality. 80-120k makes a big difference.
Overall all out offensive and with Hi-en is the best way for scoring high, though I like Spanky because his power up attack seems like you have a shield somtimes and lets you take bullets without dying if they're released at the right time. You can also hide behind them. Interesting.
I'm hanging up my coat for now, as i've lost the use of my select button on my AES arcade stick where i punched it, so I can't actually add credits anymore.
AmidstStorm - AMS - 948,200 - Stage 1-9 - Hi-en - US MVS
Rankings Updated