Battle Garegga/Stages

A significant part of scoring in Battle Garegga is knowing the many secrets and tricks throughout the stages and how to maximize their point yield. This page is intended to provide an overview of the seven stages in Battle Garegga and the many obstacles and secrets that a player will encounter while playing the game. It is segmented according to points of interest within the stages and includes some general advice on the scoring opportunities available.

With that said, there are a couple of things this page is not. This is not a walkthrough, and will not be providing specific routes for survival or scoring runs. For survival or character-specific scoring routes, see the Battle Garegga/Strategy page. It is also not a boss guide, since the bosses have lots of intricacies and character-specific considerations (See Battle Garegga/Bosses).

Despite all these restrictions, we hope this guide is still useful and provides a glimpse into what is possible in the game. Many of the things documented here can be safely ignored when playing for survival or a first clear. However, we still feel it is important for players of all skill levels to be aware of the many little optimizations that can be made since rank encourages even beginners to make at least a modest attempt to score in order to mitigate the game’s difficulty.

Stage 1 is a low-scoring stage. It is generally not very dangerous and serves mostly as an opportunity to power up and gather resources for key tricks in stage 2. However, fully optimizing stage 1 to maximize the resources gained can be quite tricky, although it is rarely necessary.

Opening bomb fragments

The first encounter in the game are three sets of idle tanks, a set of 12 on the right followed by a set of 10 on the left and a set of 8 on the right (30 total). Each tank drops a small weapon fragment when destroyed. Harvesting all 30 fragments requires efficient movement and an autofire rate of at least 10 Hz. If this is too hard, it is easiest to focus on the set of 12 tanks and 8 tanks on the right, ignoring as many left hand columns as necessary in order to ensure you have enough time to harvest fragments from the right hand tanks.

Minecarts

The minecarts encountered in the stage will stop moving if the cart in front of them is destroyed. A minecart will drop an option power up or a small weapon fragment depending upon whether or not the cart ahead of it has already been destroyed. If the cart ahead of it has been destroyed it will drop an option power up. Otherwise it drops a weapon fragment. The lead minecart always drops a weapon fragment.

• Destroying the carts in reverse order (rear to lead) will always result in them dropping three weapon fragments.
• In addition, the minecart rails can be destroyed with a special weapon and will drop medals when destroyed.

Biplane

The biplane encountered after the first minecarts will contribute to the normal item drop order if defeated normally. However, if instead you keep it alive and destroy it as it flees the top of the screen (about when the second crane turret is encountered) then the biplane is guaranteed to drop a secret large shot power up.

Stage 2 introduces the first major scoring tricks of the game. In addition, there are many minor yet tricky sections throughout the stage. Keeping a live medal chain throughout the stage can be a decent challenge, but is very lucrative for later sections of the game.

Gunblimp

The gunblimp enemy consists of a main body and two side blimps. Each side has four destructible turrets that are guaranteed to drop medals (8 total). A strategy for harvesting medals from the gunblimp is to commit suicide and point-blank the turrets on one side of the blimp while invincible after respawning. If done correctly, each medal will be instantly collected and thus one value higher than the previous medal. Fast characters such as Miyamoto can repeat this for the other side of the gunblimp and collect all eight medals. If attempting this, the following should be taken into account:

• Where and when you suicide is important. A consistent method is to suicide on the first spread wave from the gunblimp once it reaches the bottom of the screen (or slightly to the right of center).
• The popcorn enemies surrounding the gunblimp are liable to drop a medal when killed by the death shrapnel. This is a very common place for dropping a medal chain.
• Do not attempt this trick if you are on your last life, as this will lead to a game over.

Flamingos

Immediately after the gunblimp is a castle keep nestled in a forest on the left side of the screen. When hit by a special weapon, the keep will release a flock of pink flamingos that fly out in a cone above the keep. The flamingos award points on every frame they take damage, but the exact number that spawn and their flight paths are random. Damaging the flamingos can be very lucrative when done optimally. In general each ship wants to use all of their available special weapons on them, but the exact method differs per ship. However, all ships want to quickly destroy any turrets that spawn so they don’t interfere.

• Silver Sword wants to destroy the castle keep from close proximity when it is midscreen or slightly below, aiming the napalm up to overlap with the cone the birds fly in. Subsequent weapons should be deployed from slightly above where the road leaves the forest to maximize overlap between the napalm and the birds’ cone.
• Grasshopper wants to destroys the castle keep from below once it passes midscreen, then move up so spent shell casings still hit the keep while aiming to hit clusters of birds with the main gatling fire. Subsequent weapons can be deployed from above the keep, but the exact position should be adjusted to aim for the most birds.
• Flying Baron wants to destroy the castle keep from close proximity above and to the left when it is midscreen so that bombs from both sides home in on the birds released. Subsequent bombs should ideally be released ahead of groups of birds.
• Wild Snail wants to destroy the castle keep immediately as it comes on screen from point blank range and try to manipulate the flamethrowers so that they are hitting groups of birds from point blank range. Due to the randomness of the birds and the flamethrowers, there is huge variance in the amount of score gained.
• Gain wants to destroy the castle keep when it is midscreen, aiming his weapon such that the center of the magic circle is between the upper right corner of the keep and the upper right corner of the forest. Subsequent weapons should be deployed so that the center of the magic circle is roughly above the road exiting the forest. Note that Gain can rapidly deploy weapons.
• Chitta wants to destroy the castle keep as it reaches midscreen, aiming for the keep itself, and then immediately bomb the birds as fast as possible aiming for the point where the road leaves the forest. Note that Chitta can rapidly deploy weapons.
• Miyamoto wants to destroy the castle keep immediately as it comes on screen and point-blank as many birds as possible with four options in the forward formation (this works better at higher autofire rates). Once the keep is midscreen, additional special weapon stocks can be used from above and slightly to the left of the keep (about where the road leaves the forest) for ~200k each.
• Bornnam wants to destroy the castle keep as it reaches midscreen, aiming such that the lower left corner of the weapon hits the keep. Subsequent weapons should be deployed above the forest to maximise the overlap between the weapon’s area of effect and the cone the birds fly in.

House-crushing tanks

Immediately following the section with the birds are a series of tanks that will travel across the screen. Each tank will run into and crush a house in the background scenery. If the tanks are destroyed while crushing a house, they will drop a medal. Otherwise, they will drop a small weapon fragment.

• If a house is destroyed by the player’s special weapon before a tank reaches it, it will uncover an option power-up.

Red Popcorn

The red popcorn enemies that fly towards the player ship in the section immediately following the houses and tanks are worth 200 points when destroyed normally, but 2,000 points when destroyed by a special weapon.

Large tank

The large tank that ambushes the player is most easily dealt with by point-blanking from on top of its sprite. Both of its treads can be destroyed for extra points. The large tank drops four small weapon fragments when destroyed.

• An easy set-up for acquiring homing options exists here; simply collect two of the weapon fragments from the large tank, leaving behind the other two as well as the three dropped by the last three small tanks afterwards.
• Be wary of the popcorn enemies on both sides; this is another common place to drop a medal chain.

Black popcorn

The black popcorn here will travel down the screen in a straight line and fly away after dropping a bomb when the player crosses their line of sight. The bomb explodes into a circular spread of bullets when shot. The popcorn itself is worth 200 points while the bomb is worth 2,000 points.

• A pacifist strategy exists here; simply hug one edge of the screen and these popcorn will harmlessly fly by.

Chaingun planes

The planes with the chaingun turrets have five destructible parts each, the center body, both wings, and both chainguns. If a wing is destroyed after its gun it will drop a medal, and if the main body is destroyed after both wings it will also drop a medal. Note the main body will self-destruct a short amount of time after one of the wings is destroyed. There are six medals total between the two planes. Be careful not to get walled off by a bullet stream when harvesting medals. This is another common medal chain drop.

Stage 3 is less chaotic and lower scoring than stage 2. It’s defining features are the introduction of highly lucrative destructible scenery and the secret extend obtained from the midboss, the only extra life in the game not obtained from scoring.

Medal track

The first thing in this stage is a rail track in the center of the screen. This track can be destroyed by the player's special weapon, and each segment destroyed will reveal four medals. The track is quite long, so harvesting all of the available medals will award a large amount of score if the player is maintaining a maximum-value medal chain.

• The track begins at the bottom of the screen at stage start, so the player must use their special weapon immediately upon stage start to snag the bottom-most medals (the screen fading to black after Stage 2 ends is a good visual cue for when to use the special weapon).
• Medals revealed before the rail reaches the platform will fall off the screen normally, but medals revealed afterwards will rest in place.
• You will inevitably run out of weapon fragments at this section if destroying the rail, but the turrets on the side drop weapon fragments. Use single fragments to destroy later rail segments.

Water tanks

Each of the six water silos will reveal a medal when destroyed by a special weapon. In addition, each of the idle planes to the left of the silos are worth more points when destroyed by a special weapon.

Midboss

The Stage 3 midboss is fairly simple. It consists of five parts: a central turret, two front side turrets, and two rear side missile launchers. The turrets shoot aimed twin bullets while the missile launchers shoot missiles that travel straight down. All of the boss components will hide (becoming invincible) if the player is within point-blank range, although the missile launchers will stay out for the duration of a volley if the player enters point-blank range while they are exposed. Destroying the side turrets reveals turret hatches do not attack but may also be destroyed. Destroying the central turret reveals the midboss' core. If you destroy both side turret hatches and then kill the midboss after it reaches its final destination (marked by a square in the center of the screen after the large "Slayer" planes), it will drop an extra life!

• The core fires a spinning spread fire that is tricky to dodge while splitting attention between the midboss and the enemy turrets on the Slayer planes. For this reason it is recommended that the player tries their best to not destroy the center turret. The midboss may still be damaged if the wreckage left by the destroyed side turret hatches is attacked.
• The midboss is easier when the missile launchers are destroyed as soon as possible.
  • They can be destroyed almost immediately if the player attacks with 2+ options in spread formation from in front of the center turret close within the point-blank range of the turrets (so that they hide) but just outside the point-blank range of the missile launchers. If the player moves down slightly, they can get the side turrets to pop out as well while keeping the center turret hidden.

Docked “Slayer” planes

While the player is fighting the midboss, it will follow a path that snakes underneath multiple "slayer" planes under construction. The frames surrounding these planes and their propellers can be shot normally, but award extra points when destroyed using a special weapon.

• !!!Do not seal the bullets from the spinning turrets!!! They shoot so many bullets so rapidly that they can cause rank to increase at a frighteningly quick pace.

Idle Planes

The idle green planes on the right half of the screen are worth extra points when destroyed by a special weapon. The planes on the left half of the screen are worth the same amount of points regardless of how they are destroyed.

Trapdoor turrets

The trapdoor turrets normally drop weapon fragments, but if they are destroyed while they are flipping in or out they will not drop anything but instead award more points.

Stage 4 is all about destructible scenery and harvesting the weapon ammunition to destroy it.

Opening scenery

• The large pipe on the right side of the screen immediately as the stage starts can be destroyed with a special weapon. It is worth 10,000 points and always drops an option power-up.
• The four silos on the left side of the screen are worth 10,000 points each when destroyed by a special weapon. The small pipes to their right can be destroyed by a special weapon, but are not worth many points and will reveal many tanks when destroyed.
• The set of five pipes on the right half of the screen beside the trees may be destroyed by a special weapon. Each one is worth 10,000 points and reveals two medals.
• There is another large pipe to the left of the six pipes that reveal medals, similar to the large pipe at stage start.
• The popcorn enemies from Stage 2 that are worth more points when destroyed by a special weapon make their return here.

First orange tank

The orange tanks first encountered in this stage deserve special mention. It is possible to disable their v-shaped spread shots by destroying the grey circular turret that shoots the spread. In addition, the orange tanks will be rendered stationary when their wheels are destroyed and the timing of this influences what they drop when destroyed. If the wheels are destroyed while the tank is not moving, it will drop an option power up. If the wheels are destroyed while the tank is moving, it will drop four weapon fragments.

Tank Shacks

To the right of the first orange tank is a square shack that spawns tanks. It may be destroyed with a special weapon, and will reveal four medals and stop spawning tanks when destroyed. These shacks continue to appear throughout the rest of the stage, and retain the same properties.

First large tank

Shortly after the first orange tank, a large green tank will ambush the player from below. If the player destroys all four of this tanks treads before destroying the tank itself, it will drop a large weapon fragment. This is the only enemy type in the game that drops large weapon fragments.

Three orange tanks

The section with the three orange tanks can be tricky, especially when juggling safety and collecting medals from the tanks shacks in the same section. It is slightly easier if hugging the right side of the screen as the two right tanks enter, since it is possible to disable their spread turrets as they enter. In addition, this partially scrolls the left tank off-screen, limiting the bullets it fires.

Stealth bombers

The two stealth bombers have four destructible turrets at their front that are worth extra points, but destroying them without some form of piercing shot or area-of-effect weapon is very unlikely.

• The dry-docked submarines in the background beneath the stealth bombers may be destroyed with a special weapon.

Four large tanks

After the submarines are four of the large green tanks similar to the one encountered earlier in the level. This means that if you destroy all of their treads it is possible to harvest four (!!!) large weapon stocks from them. There are two methods of doing this:

• Use the forward option formation to hit their treads from afar while streaming their bullets. This is pretty difficult.
• Plan a suicide here. Ideally, you suicide in the bottom center of the screen right as the left-most tank enters. The shrapnel from your ships explosion will destroy most of the tanks' turrets and treads, letting you easily pick off the rest.
  • If doing the suicide method, be very careful of the popcorn enemies here since they can drop a medal that breaks your chain when destroyed by shrapnel. To counter this, you need to keep track of the item drop order and avoid killing them when a medal is due to spawn.

The medal rails

At the very end of the stage, the player reaches a dock above which are four horizontal rails. These rails may be destroyed with a special weapon and each release 7-8 medals. Harvesting these medals can be quite difficult (particularly with slower ships) since they fall off the screen and have to be caught to avoid a broken medal chain. In addition, there are three ways the rail medals can randomly spawn (left-to-right, right-to-left, and center-out) that you need to react to. To make things worse, you have to do this while being harassed by the first form of the Stage 4 boss, Satanic Surfer.

• When destroying the rails, you can tell how the medals will spawn by how the rail explodes (the medals follow the explosions). This gives you a little more time to react.
• There are tank shacks to the left and right of the second and third rails. Medals revealed by the shacks stay in place, so you can use these as insurance in case you accidentally drop one of the rail medals.
• Sometimes the boss spawns a little late, which gives you more time and space to set up destroying the first medal rail. This may be linked to leaving some turrets/tanks alive near the tank shack before the first rail.
• The fourth medal rail has no safety net, so if you decide to destroy it, good luck!
• There are two methods for setting up homing options for Stage 5 at the medal rails:
  • If you are not destroying the rails, the tank shacks will spawn four tanks on the left and right after the third rail. Destroy these tanks and the two small turrets on the tip of the right dock, and pick up one of the six small weapon fragments these enemies drop before they start to scroll offscreen.
  • If you are destroying the rails, the tanks won't spawn from the destroyed shacks. Instead, destroy the two small turrets on the tip of the right dock and pick up one of the fragments they drop. Then, drop the four weapon fragments at the rear of the first flying platform at the start of Stage 5.

Stage 5 is long and is primarily composed of waves of flying platform enemies. The stage starts slowly and has a lot of repetition, but accelerates as it progresses, ending with a boss rush.

Flying platforms

The majority of Stage 5 is spent fighting one enemy type, the flying platform. Each flying platform has four rear turrets (two on each side), six front turrets (three on each side), five idle popcorn planes, a main cockpit, and a core that is revealed upon destroying the main cockpit. The main cockpit shoots an aimed 3-way spread shot and the core shoots an aimed 5-way spread shot. The turrets drop weapon fragments and each idle plane will drop an item based on the item drop order. The flying platforms come in three waves: a wave of three slow platforms from the top of the screen, a wave of six faster platforms from the top of the screen, and a wave where two platforms simultaneously enter the screen from the sides.

• The rear and front propellers that the turrets rest on may be destroyed using a special weapon for 5,000 points each. Destroying a propeller also destroys any live turrets on it and causes any weapon fragments on it to fall. In addition, all items on the platform will fall when the core is destroyed.
• The main cockpit and core are worth more points when destroyed by a non-penetrating shot.
• There is a setup for homing options that can be executed at any flying platform (but is easiest during the first three). First, destroy the four rear turrets and pick up the weapon fragments they drop. Next, destroy the six front turrets. After this, pick up one of the six revealed fragments when they drop after destroying the platform.

Slayer

After the Mad Ball 2 fight is an encounter with on of the large "Slayer" planes from Stage 3. Slayer has many turrets that shoot aimed bullets, three spinning turrets, and four hatches that periodically reveal themselves to shoot straight down. In addition, destroying the central spinning turret reveals the core of the plane, which shoots an aimed 180° spread pattern.

• Every turret except for the spinning turrets will drop a weapon fragment, and the hatches each drop an option when destroyed.
• Nearly every inch of Slayer may be destroyed using a special weapon for bonus points.
• The guns revealed by the hatches may be destroyed and will respawn every time the hatch pops out, letting them be milked for bonus points.
• It is worth noting how the screen scrolls during this encounter. Slayer will enter the screen from the bottom-right and fly up. After this, the screen will scroll to the right as Slayer flies back onscreen from the top. Once the edge of the right wing is reached, the screen will scroll back to the center of the plane and then scroll vertically up and down until time out. Due to this, you only have one chance to destroy targets on either wing, including destructible scenery and the outer hatches.
• When the core is destroyed, a ring of shrapnel is released. This shrapnel may be destroyed and gives lots of points (on the order of a few hundred thousand) when destroyed by a special weapon.
• There is a setup for homing options here. During the fight with Slayer, do not pick up any of the 10 weapon fragments dropped on either side of the core (there should be two columns of five fragments). When the core is destroyed, pick up five of the fragments and let the other five drop. It is worth noting that these are the last weapon fragments dropped until after the turret wall in Stage 6, so if you want homing options at any point in the beginning of that stage you must set them up here.

Mini Black Hearts

Immediately after Slayer is destroyed is a wave of miniature Black Heart planes. Between four and six miniature Black Hearts spawn depending on rank. As a result, this is a welcome opportunity to assess how well you have controlled rank up to this point and how difficult the rest of the game will be. In general, four planes is good and means that rank is low, five planes is alright and means that rank is slightly high but not unmanageable, and six means that rank is very high and something has gone wrong.

Stage 6 is the wall, both figuratively and literally. It is a huge difficulty spike compared to the earlier stages. The first half of the stage is a retread of the various large plane enemies from previous stages, while the second half is a chaotic frenzy through myriad small tanks and popcorn enemies. Especially the second half of the stage requires knowledge of enemy spawn points and where dangerous threats are at any given point to reasonably navigate.

Chaingun planes

The returning chaingun planes are noteworthy for being a remarkably difficult section to keep a medal chain through, due to the third plane walling you off. This section is even more difficult to medal with homing options since you can't control which targets the options destroy.

Gunblimps

The returning gunblimps carry a lucrative 24 (!!!) medals between the three of them, although harvesting all of the medals takes some work. A consistent method involves the following:

• As the gunblimps enter the screen destroy the right turrets on the right gunblimp, either from below or from the side using trace options. Catch the medals they release.
• Stop firing and weave your way from the right edge of the screen to the left edge.
• Move up to the left of the left gunblimp and let yourself be snipped by the aimed bullets.
• If done correctly, the death shrapnel will destroy the remaining turrets on the three gunblimps and release their medals in staggered waves. You have to catch the medals as they fall off screen.
• Focus on catching the medals rather than powering back up. As you destroy the gunblimps they will drop option power-ups, so you can regain some firepower.

The Wall

The Stage 6 midboss is a wall of turrets. There is a central turret that serves as the core of the midboss and three turrets on each side of the screen, one front turret and two rear turrets. The turrets have the following attacks:

• The two front turrets fire an aimed 10-bullet spread. Since the bullets are paired this attack is functionally similar to a 5-way spread shot.
• The four rear turrets initially fire missiles aimed at the player. However, the missile launchers on these turrets may be destroyed, after which they will fire the same aimed spread shot as the front turrets.
• The central turret fires a line of destructible bullets straight down, dividing the screen. The guns that fire the destructible bullets may be destroyed themselves, after which the central turret will fire a fixed attack that sweeps bullets from the sides of the screen to the center and back to the sides. The central turret will also begin firing this fixed attack if enough time has passed since the start of the fight.

This boss is particularly difficult at high rank, so it is recommended that the player make an effort to control rank throughout the game leading up to this point. All of the turrets are destructible and will stop attacking after they have been destroyed so the fight tends to become easier as it progresses, but there are two complicating factors. First is that you will need to cut across the screen at some point to destroy the three far turrets. Second is the bullet sweep fired by the central turret. General survival tips:

• Think of the spread shots as defining "lanes" that you can safely (if briefly) fly in. It is possible to stay alive during the beginning of the fight by switching lanes in time with the frequency of the turret attacks. However, this strategy breaks down once you have to start dodging the central turret bullet sweep as well.
• If you have homing options active during this fight, they can efficiently destroy the turrets without you having to worry about anything other than dodging.
• Be prepared to sight read the bullet patterns and react accordingly.
• Don't be afraid to bomb.

There is a strategy to milk this boss for tick points that takes advantage of the fact that the main core of the central turret is invincible until the guns that fire the destructible bullets have been destroyed. First, you need to destroy every other turret while keeping at least one destructible turret gun alive. Next, set your options to trace and move to the top of the screen, which is safe from the bullet sweep. It is possible to position yourself to the side and slightly above the boss so that your options point blank the central turret without hitting the destructible bullet gun. Finally, grab a drink or snack and take a break to stretch while the tick points roll in.

Post-wall

The section immediately following the wall is an important opportunity to set up homing options for the rest of the stage. Between the six weapon fragments dropped by the side turrets of the midboss and the weapon fragments dropped by the six small tanks here, there are twelve fragments to work with. Picking up all of the fragments from the turrets and one from the tanks or five from the turrets and two from the tanks both work. Option power-ups are often dropped by the orange tanks here.

In addition, the two large tanks can drop large weapon fragments if you destroy their treads first. Getting the large weapon fragment from the first large tank is easiest by point-blanking it. As for the second, a common strategy is to suicide here after or right before the last weapon fragments to trigger homing leave the screen. This guarantees an option power-up to trigger the formation and the shrapnel will disable the turrets and treads on the large tank and orange tanks, allowing you to safely dispatch them and collect their spoils. Done correctly, you can leave this small section of the game with homing options and 2½ weapon stocks, one from each of the large tanks and ½ from the suicide.

Tank hatches

There are hatches throughout the second half of Stage 6 that will continuously spawn small tanks of many varieties (although the type is set per hatch). These hatches can be destroyed with a special weapon and will uncover two medals each. They also stop spawning tanks when destroyed, which can make sections easier. However, consider that each tank spawned will drop a small weapon fragment. Thus, the decision to destroy or not destroy the hatches requires weighing the benefits of immediate safety and maybe some extra points against the utility of having lots of special weapon ammunition for endgame.

Laser turret

The four laser turrets throughout the second half of Stage 6 are worth 5,000 points when destroyed normally and 50,000 points when destroyed by a special weapon. In addition, there is an exploit by which you can double the point gain from the turrets, essentially making them worth 100,000 points each! To do this, you must be at low rank so that the turrets don't have too much health. As the turret comes on screen, point-blank it while it is still above the "INSERT COIN" text and invincible. If you deal enough damage here you can points for defeating it "twice" with a special weapon, once normally and once for a hidden health bar damaged while it was off screen.

• The laser turrets are guaranteed to drop an option power-up. Be careful if you are point-blanking here since picking up this drop can accidentally activate a hidden option formation, overriding homing options!

4th Laser turret

Immediately after the 4th laser turret is a section where three of the large tanks from Stage 2 enter the screen that can be difficult for survival. However, it is possible to prevent one of these large tanks from spawning due to a sprite overload, making the section much easier! To do this, follow these steps:

• Stop firing after destroying the laser turret and move to the right edge of the screen, slightly below midscreen.
• Many tiny tanks will spawn from the hatch to the left. Stream the bullets that they fire by slowly moving down and to the left.
• Once you see the two large tanks you can resume firing, but continue streaming. By the time you reach the left side of the screen, you should be able to perform a cutback relatively easily. By now, you should have cleared the large tanks if executing the strategy correctly.

Pre-boss tanks

Right before the start of the boss fight, ten small tanks will enter the screen from the side, five from the left and five from the right. There is a setup for homing options here that involves the following steps:

• Destroy the five tanks on one side and pick up the bottom two weapon fragments.
• Move to the other side. Destroy the tanks here and pick up the middle fragment right before it scrolls off screen. Let the remaining five fragments go.

Stage 7 is the final stretch. It is shorter than the previous stages and consists of a series of sections where the screen will stop scrolling until specific enemies are eliminated or timed out. It ends with a pair of suitably ridiculous final bosses.

Rear thrusters

The first section where the screen pauses is the rear thrusters. The screen will resume scrolling upon destroying the eight turrets or time out.

• The two rear thrusters themselves may be destroyed with a special weapon, and award 50,000 points each.

Large turrets

The second section where the screen pauses contains two hatches that will spawn tanks that fire aggressively. Each hatch may only have one tank spawned at a time, and popcorn enemies will continuously swoop down to harass the player as well. The screen will resume scrolling upon destroying both hatches or time out.

• If you left a turret from the "rear thusters" section alive, the screen will not resume scrolling until time out even if you destroy both hatches. This is useful for milking the popcorn enemies for medals.

Carrier deck

The carrier deck consists of many turrets. There is a ring of standard turrets surrounding the crest on the deck, smaller turrets above and below this ring, and hatches on the left and right sides of the screen. Upon destroying the standard turrets or time out, the final boss Glow Squid will emerge from the deck and flee. After this, the screen will resume scrolling.

• There is a wave of shrapnel emitted during Glow Squid's escape that awards extra points when bombed. The easiest way to maximize the shrapnel destroyed is to leave a turret alive and use a special weapon right at time out.

Carrier nose

The final section before the final bosses is the carrier nose. The two runways beneath the nose will continuously launch popcorn enemies until the nose is destroyed. The screen will resume scrolling when the nose is destroyed or upon time out.

• It is possible to delay destroying the nose in order to milk the popcorn enemies for medals and power ups.
• Immediately following the carrier nose is a wave of mini Black Heart planes. It is practically impossible to collect any items they drop, so the best way to maintain a medal chain here is to fix the item drop order such that no mini Black Hearts drop a medal. The easiest way to do this is to destroy the nose immediately after a popcorn enemy drops a second small shot power up after an option or large shot power up. The popcorn spawned during the death animation should drop a medal, and the mini Black Hearts will then drop an option/large shot power up and a small shot power up.

References & Contributors

1. Icarus, ST: Battle Garegga, https://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=351
2. Icarus, Eaglet, and Plasmo, Battle Garegga Q&A, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz1kXyXOz_4
3. T3-Kamui, Special Demonstrations #13, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4fnxn4xeBE&feature=youtu.be&t=825