BULLET HOARDING

One very effective technique in this game is the Bullet Hoarding technique. Many enemies aim their attacks directly at you. You basically lead as many bullets as you can to one area of the screen. This will open up some very valuable breathing room nearby for you to maneuver to safety. Very slowly lead the swarm of bullets as you move. You can kill most enemies with few problems by tackling them in this manner.

MEDAL CHAINING

The chaining system works by collecting the medals when they are worth 2000 points. Medals are worth 2000 points when they flash white for a split second. The easiest way to chain is to find targets that release multiple medals simultaneously when you destroy them (i.e. the medium tank in the Russia stage, left). The medals spin at a constant rate and complete one rotation even one second. The first medal you pick up to start a chain is worth 2000 points. Chained medals will be worth 2,200 points, and a counter with yellow numerals will appear under your score, indicating how many medals you have chained thus far (not including the first 2000-point medal you collected to start this chain). Chaining requires precise timing while at the same time avoiding enemy attacks. Whatever chain you have accumulated will be broken if you collect a medal valued at less than 2000 points or if you die. You will have to start chaining all over again if any of these things happen.

POWERING DOWN

To power-down, simply collide with an air-based enemy. You do not die when you do this, and enemies don't take damage. Each mid-air collision will drop your power level by one. You can still collide with enemies even if you are not powered up at all and not die.

The rare instances which players choose to power-down is to decrease the game rank (make it less difficult by making the enemy bullets travel more slowly) and to avoid enemy fire.

SMALL HIT CENTER

Every fighter has a very small "hit center." This is the area of collision on your fighter that, if an enemy bullet touches it, will result in the destruction of your fighter. Use the small hit center to your advantage. You can squeeze in between narrow gaps between bullets that may seem too small at first glance. 

TECHNICAL BONUSES

The easiest way to get Technical Bonuses is to use your Bombs just before the bosses reveal their blue orb. The bombs will cancel out all enemy bullets, leaving you clear to approach the Boss' blue orb and collect the Technical Bonus. Expert players can learn the Boss' attack patterns and can collect the Technical Bonuses without the use of a Bomb.

All bosses except for the last one, Chaos Queen, will reveal a blue orb.

Visit the Strikers 1945 III Walkthrough for complete strategies on how to grab the Technical Bonuses. On this site, the term "TB" will be used as a verb to mean getting a Technical Bonus from a boss (i.e. "Man, I had so much trouble TB'ing Thanatos in 1-4!").

NOTE: The first four bosses will still reveal their blue orbs after you beat Chaos Queen the first time (Missions 2-1 and up), but they will perform extra attack patterns before doing so.