Aegis Wing

Okay, so this massive book isn't really a guide for 'Ace', but it's many tips, glitches and also some lag issues that I found through my many years of playing Aegis Wing. I tried to make titles, so you can read what you are looking for. Be aware that I can help you out if you join one of my 3 weekly sessions, every saturday, this guide is just to give you some info on the game to help you get better at it.

RANDOM TIPS

Using the EMP for more points:

Pro: gives 20% more points

The EMP (it looks like a yellow box, and makes the screen blurry) gives you 20% of the total points for deactivating enemies, and still offers the points for killing them afterwards.
Example: the large green ships give 100 for deactivating them, and another 500 for killing them after, giving you a total of 600 for one enemy instead of the regular 500.

Con: can potentially leave you vulnerable

The main problem about that is running out of power ups and not being able to take out the disabled enemies before the new ones spawn. That can be potentially deadly; pay attention to the screen, and make sure you don't crash into the disabled ships as it will most likely instantly kill you. If you feel like there are too many enemies for you to kill, try and make a path through them as fast as you can, while still killing the new enemies.
Being in multiplayer here could help a lot simply because you get more firepower to ram through the enemies and avoid being overwhelmed.

Pay attention to red's score as I'm disabling enemies.



Temporary invincibility:

Attaching or detaching from someone will grant you about 2 seconds of invincibility to bullets, enemies and meteors. Use this to your advantage to get out of heated situations.
The only thing that it does not work with, are the lasers.

It works in local multiplayer too.

In this video I quickly show you just how much you can escape by detaching/attaching!



Destroying meteors:

Destroying meteors will give you an extra 30 points for every meteor destroyed. They also occasionally give new power ups, so destroying them is a lot more useful than most people would think. Try to destroy meteors if you have lasers and get an opportunity, but don't keep your lasers only for that. Again, those are bonus points.

(The meteor HAS to be destroyed with the laser to earn the points)­.


Destroying enemies faster:

Moving towards a target at max speed will make your bullets reach the target faster. I tend to use this to make short work of tough enemies. Moving the opposite direction of a target will make your bullets reach it slower, keep that in mind.

In this video, I show you just how fast you can take out one of those frustrating laser guys, and then I compare the damage dealt by staying still VS moving forward on a boss. (Listen to the sound of the bullets hitting it)



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LAG ISSUES


Lag when attaching in multiplayer online:

So when you attach to someone that is not using the same console, you are most likely going to lag. Here is how the lag can get you killed;

Depending on how much it is lagging, your ship won't be synchronized on your driver's screen, even tho you are attached. That does mean that you can get hit on your screen, but it won't appear as tho you did on your friend's screen. Now this can be confusing, as your driver may appear to make you crash in a meteor, but this is only delay in the connection. Also, the host tend to have less lag if they're the one driving. Attaching to someone who is not the host will most definitely end in your demise.

To counter this, the driver will have to pay attention to his teammate's bullets, because the spot from where those bullets spawn on his screen, is the real location of the other ship. Just to understand what I mean, start up the first level, have your friend attach to you, and have him shoot straight, then move up and down repeatedly. You will realize that his bullets are not totally synchronized with his ship. His actual location is the spot from where the bullets are coming from! NOT the ship that is attached to you! This is something you'll have to get used to when playing multiplayer. Sometimes it gets so bad that it's impossible to stay attached for more than 30 seconds without dying.
Same thing goes with the power ups: if you try to give a power up to your attached partner, you'll have to check from where his bullets are coming from, then try to make him hit the power up.


Yellow Ships:

You know those yellow ships that move around and shoot you? Well those are most of the time lagging when playing online. They won't be synchronized on both screens, and even sometimes are totally at different spots.
Now this isn't a problem if you're not attached to someone. But if you are, then the best way to counter this, is having the driver killing it as fast as possible. Because, since it's not at the same spot on both screens, the enemy WILL eventually crash right into you, even if the driver thinks he's dodging it (and he is dodging it... on HIS screen, not yours)...

A few tips I will add for this kind of enemy. They tend to rush towards you, and if you don't pay attention to them, they will run straight into you. They most of the time go in straight lines. So just go up or down to dodge them, and always try to kill them as fast as possible, because they can be really dangerous.

Giving a power up to 2 people

It is possible to use that delay in the connection to give the same power up to 2 people at once. To do that, make sure you have someone attached to you, and simply put the nose of the ship above the power up, and quickly move down in a slight angle to the right.

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METHODS TO PLAY THE GAME


So there are many ways to go for ace. It would be better on Insane, as there are many more enemies. I think it is possible on Normal, I've never tried it tho. The best thing you could do is combining some of them into your playstyle.

-on Normal (I never did it on Normal. I eventually will try and post my score here)
-alone with one controller (hardest way)
-alone with 2 controllers
-playing multiplayer
-using the glitch of going under the screen
-using the boss of level 5

Single player

Going on Normal:

Like I said I've never tried it, but trying it out can't hurt. I'd suggest using the EMP frequently and the laser on those meteors for extra points. Play aggressive for your 2 first lives, then try to play more defensive for your last lives (as you don't want to have to restart). You can also use the boss glitch described somewhere below to get more points before going to last level. Like I said, I never tried it on normal, so I don't really know how many points you need to have at the beginning of the last level to be able to get Ace.


Playing alone (with one controller):

There is not much to say about this... Just keep trying, you will eventually remember the spawning points of the enemies. You will learn how the game works and get better much faster this way... But expect a lot of Aegis Wing playing, as it is the hardest way to play this game and you will probably have to restart many times. Read the first part of this guide for some tips.

Playing alone (with 2 controllers):

Playing with 2 controllers by yourself probably is the very best way to play aegis wing, as being combined gives you a higher rate of fire for the gunner, the ability to shoot in angles, stronger power ups, a good mobility/firepower ratio, and, since you're playing in local, you don't have to worry about any lag at all.

Take the controller of the ship you will use to drive(the guest or account that does NOT need Ace) in your left hand and the other controller in your right hand.
When the level starts, press with the right controller. To shoot, use with your right controller to shoot in angles. You can also hold to simply shoot in front. Use on the left controller to drive. You should shoot with the right controller only, but there are times when there are just too many enemies, so you might have to shoot with both controllers for more firepower. To do that, I use my right pinky to hit on the left controller.

You can see this as one controller: With you left thumb; on the left controller and with your right thumb; on the right controller, just like when you have one controller so the controls should be fairly easy to learn.

Also you should always have a backup power up with the driver, in case. The best should be EMP or shields.


Multiplayer

!!!!!!! Before attempting anything in multiplayer, make sure to read and understand the ''Lag when attaching in multiplayer online'' part, near the top of this guide. !!!!!!!.

So there are multiple ways you can do it on multiplayer. You can be 2 and attach together, or be 3, attach to a friend, and the third one stays back in case you guys die. Whatever you choose to do, be sure to choose good teammates, because if they arent serious about it and/or keep dying, you won't be able to get new power ups, due to the fact that you'll keep getting the little ships to revive them, and in the long run, it's going to kill everyone.

Attaching together

Roles: Gunner: Person who needs Ace.
Driver: Person who does NOT need Ace.
Person flying alone (optional): Person who does NOT need Ace.

Gunner:
So you can attach to someone and be the only one shooting and using the offensive power ups. I cannot stress you enough to use your power ups extremely frequently, borderline wasting them. That way you'll destroy the enemies before they get a shot at you, and get new power ups. I would suggest not detaching from your partner to go get a power up he didn't see, or at least warn him that you are going to do it. Don't try to shoot enemies that are behind you. Always, ALWAYS, shoot the ones in front of you as they have a chance of hitting you, in other words, pay attention to what's going on in front, not behind you.

That being said, the gunner is the eyes of the ship - always look at the far right of the screen to see where the enemies are spawning and for the purple enemies and warn your driver of their location in case he did not see them. Also warn your driver when power ups pop up.

Power ups kill enemies. Enemies give power ups. Power ups are good. Using them is good. Saving them up is bad.


Driver (practice makes better):
For the driver, first tip would be not to rush too much. Always watch the bullets that are coming towards you and try to find the safe spots as fast as you can. Note that the enemies come in groups of 3, 5 or 7 on Insane, but they all follow each other, so the bullets may seem intimidating, but they all go through the same path, making them easy to dodge. Don't panic, stay focused and the game will be a piece of cake. For the sperm looking things, there are some parts where they spawn on the entire screen. If it happens and none of you have power ups, again, don't panic. Just move at the top or bottom of the screen and kill at least 3 rows of them and rush through the hole you made. Some will follow you. What I do is simply make a circle around them to get behind their back and shoot them. In these times, you should also shoot.

For the power ups, try picking up the EMP or the shields, and use them wisely. Make use of the glitch to give a power up to 2 people, described somewhere above in this guide.

There is also a lot of lag in multiplayer, so be careful with that. That's where the attach/detach glitch I described above becomes useful. If you get stuck in front of meteors, or there is a huge wall of bullets, just detach and rush through everything as fast as you can, and then you can get back together and keep going. Try experimenting with the glitch before the Ace run to understand it fully.

Person flying alone:

So this third person is totally optional, but can really help. The only thing this one does is stand back and occasionally assist when there are WAY too many enemies on screen. They can also pick up the EMP and disable enemies to let the guy who needs ace kill them. Playing with 3 people like that is the technique I use when I make sessions for Aegis Wing to get Ace to some people.



Playing in multiplayer but not attaching


You can also stay on your own, as described by x athiktos x in his solution, just you shoot, and the other player is just there to revive you. Although a thing I will add with that, the second player can pick up the EMP and deactivate enemies around you, and let you kill them. You can try with 3 players that way; the 2 other players attach together, and pick up the EMP, since they are attached, their EMP is going to affect a lot more enemies, but like I said, make sure they don't keep dying. (You can also attach to them to get more power for your lasers/missiles).

Going under the screen

This only works between local players.

This is a glitch I found out years ago, and I think there are other solutions about it, but I'll still write it in here.

Using 2 controllers, you can go under the screen, making you invincible to everything. To do that, plug in two controllers. Take the controller with your main account (one that needs ace) in your right hand, and the other controller in your left hand.

Right when the level starts, you will want to bring both ship at the bottom of the screen, and hit on the controller in your right hand, then wait about half a second and press again on the same controller. Do the exact same with the left controller, then repeat with the right controller again, and as you do this, you should see your ships slowly going under the screen.

(To make sure you are completely under the screen, do it around 2 more times when both ships are out of sight.)

When both ships are under the screen, you will want to be able to shoot.. Try pulling up on on your right controller.... If you don't see your bullets coming out from the bottom of the screen, then it means this ship is the driver. To switch to the turret, just press X twice with your right controller to switch places. Also make sure your isn't stuck upwards or you will go back on screen.

As for boss battles, I would recommend not getting back on the screen (at least not on insane). The battle will last much longer, but you'll be sure to survive and keep your points. This is up to you.

There are two things that can cause a problem. At the beginning of level 3 (Hive and Seek), there will be 10 kamikaze enemies near the bottom of the screen. Take those out before attempting to go under the screen.
Secondly, during the boss of level 5 (Re-entry (first level with the sky background)), you will want to go to the right of the screen, because this boss can kill you with its lasers.

Here's a clip to show you what it looks like.



Using the boss of level 5

This is the boss I was referring to in the previous paragraph. It's the boss that throws meteors at you and then uses a laser to destroy them (and possibly you at the same time). When you are against it, every object you pick up (power ups, health or ships to revive you friends) gives you 50 points. You can sit there for as long as you want and pick up as many things as you want, so you can play through the game on normal, and when you get to that boss, use this glitch to get to at least 120k and [if you don't die] you should be able to get Ace on the last mission. This, by the way, is how the people on the leader-board got their huge scores, including myself. I did this for like 4 hours and got totally tired of it.

When you get a laser, try destroying the meteors for extra points (30 each) but be careful not to shoot the boss, as this is the weakest of the game.


POINTS PER ENEMY & ITEM

Here are the points each enemy gives (same amount of points for insane and normal):
------------------------------- Killing --------------------- (disabling with EMP)
Blue fighter:------------ 50 points-----------------------------(10 points)
Red fighter:-------------50 points------------------------------(10 points)
Blue kamikaze:-------50 points------------------------------(10 points)
Red kamikaze:--------50 points------------------------------(10 points)
Purple ships :---------150 points-----------------------------(30 points)
Yellow fighter:---------200 points-----------------------------(40 points)
Green ships:----------500 points-----------------------------(100 points)

Power ups, health and ships to rescue another player: 50 points
Meteors: 30 points (must be destroyed with laser to get the points)

First boss (level 1; Turning point): 5000 points
Second boss (level 3; Hive and Seek): 5000 points
Third boss (level 5; Re-entry): 10,000 points
Fourth boss (level 6; Gigantomachia): 15,000
Fifth boss (level 6; Gigantomachia): 20,000

With that being said, you should concentrate your fire on the bigger enemies, and also try to deactivate them, before killing them, to earn extra points!


SCORE DIVIDED BY LEVELS (my score on insane using 2 controllers)

Here is my score divided by levels using everything I said up there:

Level 1: 19 000
Level 2: 55 000
Level 3: 90 000
Level 4: 120 000
Level 5: 193 000
Level 6: 290 000 without EMP
310 000 with EMP


TIPS FOR BOSSES

Boss of level 1
Ideal power up: Shield
Attacks: Shoots 2 groups of 15 bullets then moves and repeats.

One of the weakest bosses. What I like to do is pick up a shield, and go straight in front of him. The boss shoots about 15 bullets at once, and you should also know that the shield reflects bullets and doubles the amount of bullets while making them yours. Making 15 enemy bullets, 30 of yours.
So just stand in front of the boss with the shield. Every two times you hear the sound of bullets hitting your shield, back up or the boss will run into you. You should try it on Normal before trying it on a play-through for Ace, even tho it does not really matter since it's only the first level­.

If you don't have a shield, I would recommend standing as much to the left as possible, focus on dodging while still shooting, and wait for offensive power ups.

Not a really hard boss, good to practice the dodging skills.

Boss of level 3
Ideal power up: laser
Attacks: Goes up and down shooting bullets

This is a really simple boss. You will meet it twice during the level. All it really does, is go up and down shooting random bullets. Just find a path, usually on top or bottom of the screen. Best power up for that one is the laser.
The first time you meet it, it will shoot and sit in the center while spraying you, then will go down and up, shooting the entire time. Second time it attacks, it will stand still and shoot, then stop shooting and go down. This is your chance to hit it. Laser is your best offensive for that one.
Only thing - try to keep some of your power ups for after the first encounter, because when you defeat it the first time, it will run away and the level will go on and a huge wall of kamikazes will show up. Use the power up you kept to defend yourself through those enemies.

Boss of level 5
Ideal power up: lasers
Attacks: Vertical lasers
Diagonal lasers

Weakest boss of the game health-wise. If playing multiplayer, one player should keep lasers for that one. 12 lasers is about enough to kill it. If not, it will be almost dead.
If you don't have lasers, the boss might become a bit trickier.
It's attacks are lasers going straight up or down and lasers going in angles. The boss takes about 2 seconds to charge the beam, which is about how much time you have to go to a safe spot.

Now if the boss goes up or down, go at the top or bottom of the screen as fast as possible. Don't stay in the middle - or the laser will kill you.

If the boss stays in the middle and starts facing you in an angle, go to the right of the screen, under or above him.

You should always go the opposite way the boss is facing, it will give you more time and won't get you killed due to you panicking and hitting a mine.
(Example: The boss is going up and charges its beam; go down.)

Attack it when it just finished doing it's laser. Then when the new meteors come in, stop shooting, focus on dodging the meteors, and then wait for the boss to take a position and finally search for safe spots. Rinse and repeat until it blows up.

First boss of level 6
Ideal power up: rockets
Attacks: Shoots bullets
circles the screen
charges from right to left of the screen (after 3 attacks)


Fairly simple boss. Make sure to count the number of times he attacks, because first it will randomly alternate between the bullets and the circling; 3 times.
For the bullets, simply go up or down. For the circling, as scary as it may be at first, stay in the middle of the screen - you'll be safe.
Once you counted 3 attacks, the boss will ram straight from his position to the left of the screen, so make sure to move out of the way.
After that, a wall of red enemies (shoot one bullet each) will appear. There are 2 power ups available in that group, so make sure to clear as many of them as possible.

Your best offensive is the rockets. Wait for the boss to start a run around the screen, and as soon as he starts moving, spam your rockets. They will follow him around the screen and all land on him once he stops moving, so no effort required on your end at this point.

Other than that, straight forward boss. Takes a while to take down without rockets, but is in no way a problem.

Last boss of the game (second boss of level 6
Ideal power up: Rockets or lasers
Attacks: Shoots bullets (lots of them completely randomly)
Detaches parts
Randomly lasers the screen (Evil)
Once almost dead: Sprays the entire screen with bullets


Easily the hardest boss of the game, you'll have to give it everything you've got to take it down. His main attacks are random bullets in no specific path, random lasers, again, in no specific path, and an attack where he detaches the little parts of his ship and tries to hit you with them. The number of attacks before new power ups is also random. Enemies will come in 2 groups, one line above and one under the boss. The amount of power ups available in those 2 groups can be 1 or 2, also random.

First, for the bullets, usually going up or down does it, but otherwise, your dodging skills will be tested. Shields would be good in a team of 4, where one player uses the shield and the others hide behind them, but I would recommend having offensive power ups to take him down as fast as possible, as this boss is a very big pain in the butt.

For the lasers, there's absolutely nothing I can say other than good luck. Those lasers are glitched, and will often just kill you out of nowhere. If playing in multiplayer, perhaps hiding a player at the bottom right or top right corner of the map would be an option. That way, there will always be a way to revive the other players and defeat him. Using the outside of the map glitch is also a VERY good option for this last boss, and I often will do it when helping people beating the game on Insane, just to make sure we don't die.

For the detaching parts attack, you'll hear a different noise, and you'll see little parts detaching from his ship and rushing towards you, make sure to stay in front of him, as much to the left of the screen as possible. This is basically the only attack that uses 3D perspective in the game. What I mean is, the parts will circle around your ship, and not hit you. This attack is the easiest to dodge, and is a very good way to deal lots of damage to the boss since you can stay in front of him spraying him while he does it.

Once you destroy all the little parts, the boss is going to start spinning while shooting bullets EVERYWHERE on the screen. This part may seem intimidating, but stay completely to the left of your screen, and focus on the dodging more than actually hitting him, and keep your finger on the trigger. The boss will eventually die from you randomly hitting him while dodging. A good option here is to wait for a shield before destroying the last ball-looking part, meaning you'd have to stop shooting and wait for enemies to appear to get the wanted power up, and use it to take him out fast once it goes nuts.

OTHER INFO

If you are still struggling to get that achievement, you can try sending me a message over TA, but I'm really not as active as I used to be.
I may reply or not, I'm sorry if I don't reply, just means I'm too busy at that moment. I'm also slowly stopping to take requests for aegis wing, but you still can message me, you may be in luck and I may actually have some time to reply!

If there is something wrong, missing or not clear, or if you simply have a question, feel free to message me or leave a comment!

(I wish I could underline my text or change the size of some words... oh wait...I now know how, THANKS Redodua :D)

1. Make sure to have 2 controllers signed in.
2. Start the game on INSANE.
3. When the game starts, immediately bring the 2 ships to the bottom of the screen. This can be the most tricky part as you are using the 2 controllers.
4. Click on the 1st Controller this will attach the first ship to the 2nd one.
5. You will need to quickly click Twice on the 2nd controller( what you are doing is - Deattahing and reattaching again)
6. By now you will see that both ships are "Hidden" under the black area at the bottom of the screen. You can no longer see them
7. Start shooting with the 1st controller using the Right Stick to guide missles to enemies on top (they can no longer hit you)
8. You will have to repeat this process in the start of every level.
9. It can get very tricky in level 3 to do this, because enemies coming at the bottom fast on you, they might kill you before you "disappear", So quickly shoot the bottom line of enemies and the start the Attach de attach process.

You will be simply shooting invisible all the way to the final boss.

Credit goes to ZenithMarth............... There is a couple of things i will add.When your attaching your ships you will have to attach and reattach 4-6 times to get low enough that you wont get hit by anything.And dont forget you shoot with the profile your getting the cheeve with and move acrosss the bottom with 2nd contoller. You will need move kinda close to the bosses in level 5-6 because there lasers can reach you still.

The easiest way I have found is to do this.
2 Player game, Insane difficulty.
You get Laser and Missile items.
You attach to your ally.
Your ally should get shields and EMPs.
Only you should shoot except for bosses. Otherwise your ally just protects you. Be very careful of lasers, they can end the game instantly.
Be careful of the purple ships shooting lasers. They can take you both out instantly and end your game. They start appearing on the third mission.

If one player gets taken out, be ready to survive. Sometimes one player may die, and then you need to collect the ship for them to respawn. So be ready to move even if you are just attached and not normally moving, or you will run into something.

You can also do this by beating the game Insane difficulty without dying, a more challenging and rewarding way to do it for those interested.

I found an even easier (yet more time consuming) method.
If you have a guitar hero controller, it will make this easier.

-Start up a local multiplayer game. Make sure you are an easy color to find in a huge firefight (just a general tip).
-Have your second controller attach to you so you have control (if you have the guitar controller, it will fire backwards constantly, covering you). Having the second controller increases the power of your lasers, special attacks, and does not sacrifice your mobility. On bosses, you can hold down the whammy bar with your foot or something and it will always fire straight ahead.
-Play the game normally, making sure to pick up as many power-ups as possible and use them to destroy as much on the screen as you can.
-When you get to the meteor boss, get comfy. Avoid the meteors and his laser, and just collect the powerup that come across. You get 50 points a piece. You could stay here a good hour collecting points slowly. If you die more than 4 times, use your second controller to scoop up the extra ship. Remember that you want about 165,000 because the last boss will give you 20k. Merely survive and get the achievement.

Tips:
-The metor boss unleashes a power-up every 2 throws.
-Memorize the patterns of bosses and levels. If you fail enough times, you'll know where they will come from eventually, making you a better player.
-You don't need guitar hero, just a good buddy who doesn't mind being bored for a couple hours no doing much.
-Edit 2012: The boss you are looking for is at 5:13 in this Youtube video (thanks to hipoopyhello aka zackj191)

I got this by myself doing normal difficulty with a second controller. Just attach the ship from the other controller right away at game start so that your upgrades are more powerful. The only difficulty is that if you or your 2nd player die, you have to attach the ship again mid-game which can be awkward, so keep other controller close by.

Try to kill as many enemies as possible, which the laser and missiles are good for, but you want to get the other upgrades as well since they do give you points. Also get the health even if you don't need it since I believe this also gives you points. You want to make sure that you get the upgrades and not the other ship, so fly under the upgrades to get them. You also want to blow up as many of the red meteors as possible since they also give you points, which can only be done with the laser. If all is done right, you should just have enough. The last boss is worth 20,000 so you need 165,000 when you get to him.

Helpful Tip: For the final boss if you are having problems beating him without dying (those lasers always seem to kill me even though I'm sure I'm out of the way). Detach from your other ship and hide all the way to the right of the screen behind the boss. His body can be covering you, but it won't kill you. Meanwhile fight the boss with your second controller. If your 2nd player dies, come out from behind the boss at the point where the enemies fly out that give you the upgrades and kill them, and one of them should release the ship thingy that revives your other player. Then quickly go hide behind the boss again and resume fighting him again with other controller.

Insane difficulty with 2 players.

I personally don't like to attach to the other player because it makes you slower, and there is a possibility that both of you could die at the same time which would end the game instantly.

Instead, let the one trying to get the achievement do nearly all of the shooting unless the enemies are too hot to handle alone; both players can shoot the bosses at the end of the levels and it won't affect the final score for the one going for the achievement.

The 2^nd player is really there to revive the shooter if needed and only help when there are too many enemies. Normally, when your partner dies, an extra life will be the first "help" to come from killing an enemy. So, grab an occasional bubble shield, stay alive, and tell your partner how bad they are when you have to revive their tail over and over.

First, you need two controllers. Attach the second player's ship onto yours in a local co-op game on normal difficulty. This will increase the effectiveness of your powerups. Do not let the other player shoot while attached to you, and try not to let him have any powerups (be careful to come from below when collecting them). However, when facing the bosses, tape down the second controller's fire button. Both players get points for defeating the boss anyways so your game might as well go by faster, and you'll be less likely to spend all of your lives dying during such battles. Make sure to have at least 165,000 points before the final boss, because destroying him will give you the final 20,000.

This achievement was not as hard as I was led to believe when I attempted it. I easily got 193,000 points using an aggressive strategy that utilized ALL of the powerups. Yes, that's right - they are ALL good. Plus, you get points for collecting them. Use the bubble when the enemies (small blue, red, and yellow) are shooting, and get very close to them so their shots ricochet, thereby allowing them to destroy themselves and their friends. This power is particularly good in the later levels when facing large groups of enemies. Also, the warp powerup is awesome against the bigger purple, green and yellow ships. Again, be aggressive, get up close, and immobalize them. Try to center yourself in a group for maximum effectiveness, because many enemies, particularly the big green ones will leave the map and never return. Using the warp stops them escaping, and thus gives you an opportunity for more points. (And they can't shoot back!)

The missile is in my opionion the best powerup. Use them generously, because the more people you kill, the more points, AND the more likely you are to reveal new powerups on the map. The beam is good for the larger enemies, and the red mines. (Those stationary red things on the map give you points too, but the only way to destroy them is with the beam). As for the health packs, pick them all up, even if you don't need them. Yes: more points!

The most important message I want to get across is that being aggressive WORKS. Use powerups generously, Use them All, and don't worry if you die a few times, because you replenish your 4 lives after every level. Kill enemies just as they are coming onto the screen. You don't have to wait for a huge group before using a missile or beam, because if you hold off, enough enemies may come on screen that you become overwhelmed and cannot fight effectively. Things may devolve into a massive, cluttered mess, where instead of kicking ass, you are trying to dodge a screen-full of red dots.

Finally, make sure your second controller is near. You WILL die, so it will be necessary to reattach the other player. And if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. (Took me a few before I got my strategy down pat)

Here is how I did this (actually did it twice, once both ways)
Way #1:
Play by yourself on Normal. Kill as many enemies as possible. Do this and you should get about 185,000 points. But you have to kill most of the enemies.

Way #2:
Play with a 4 player team on Insane. Have the rest of your team not get any kills at all UNLESS you need help in a tough situation. I find this way much easier because you have the teammates to cover for you. I got a really high score doing it this way, dont remember the exact number because I did it so long ago, but it was high.

hope this helps.

This is a variation on the Normal play though methods and more specifically General Joury's method...or maybe an elaboration.
(I played on normal but Slider87 was able to give it a go on insane, just play what feels comfortable to you!)

Either way I was originally trying to do the 4 person on Insane method and we did fine and would have gotten it if we could stay alive but we would zone out and everyone would die at once...very annoying when you have 160k+ on the last level. So to mix things up I went to try the "under screen" method laid out by OG Baker and in the confusion of trying to re-enter the bottom of the screen after my one of the ships died I found both controllers in my hand and it seemed to be keeping me alive so I thought "let's see how long this can last". On my first full play-though on NORMAL I got the achievement with 189,690 and here are the details.

These are the Shorthand notations I will use in the rest of this Solution:
(C1) = controller 1 - the player that you want the achievement with.
(C2) = controller 2 - your second controller signed in as someone else or a guest account "gamertag(1)" I used the guest account.

(A nice thing about having two controller games is you can pause the game)
I started an Online Multiplayer game with Public slots and had my C2 sign in and join (I used public slots and no one joined so it was fine but I'm sure private would work fine if you are having trouble with Random people joining)

To start out get used to the grip. I held C1 in my right hand so I could have easy access to the and buttons. hold C2 in your left hand so you have control of the (left joystick) to move around.
(I found this position most helpful when one or both of the ships die. simply move your C2 ship over to your C1 ship and re-attach by pressing C1's button and you are back in business with little to no confusion on which controller is the one needed. I was able to do this easily even in the heavy firefights on the last few levels)
(yes you are holding two controllers and you can expect some weird/confused looks from anyone in the vicinity ;)
(If you have a Wii and have used the Nunchuk controller its kind of the same feel. Think of it as one controller with two parts)

You can sit however you find it comfortable but I was sitting on the floor for the whole game so if I dropped something or I needed a break they wouldn't have to go too far. I also used the floor for my boss fighting strategy that is explained later, but any flat surface should work.

Once a level starts immediately attach the ships together by pressing on C1 so your primary account is the Turret ship (ship on bottom of the formation). Now just hold down the button on C1 to fire continuously straight forward and use the joystick on C2 to steer your combined ship as you would normally control one ship. Being in the attached mode as the turret ship allows you a faster rate of fire and I was able to dispatch almost 100% of the enemies on the first few levels with no problem. Just remember some of the tips from other solutions like make sure your C1 ship gets most of the power-ups by coming from the top side of power-ups to gain them. another Key thing to note is that by being on the floor I was able to press the of C1 against the floor to fire my C1 ships power-ups (possible edit later and I'll try when I get home but can you use the to fire power-ups as well?) I only got 1 or 2 of the shield power-ups per level with the second account on C2 but didn't really need to use them until I was on the later levels where the bullets on the screen get excessive or during boss battles.

Speaking of boss battles I always paused the game when one started and set the controllers on the ground to position them. Position C2 directly North (above) of C1 such that you can hold down C1's button with your Right Thumb at the same time holding C2's button with your Right Index finger so both ships are firing at the same time. (you can also use a rubber band or tape for C2's button but this is the way I did it just make sure you can still control the ships with C2's joystick!) Since you don't get points for most of the power-ups that come during the boss battle its OK to grab them with the Top ship (C2) and use them on the boss with C2's button. On normal difficulty most of my boss battles did not last very long using both ships lasers and power-ups.

Then simply rinse and repeat for the remaining levels.

I also kept track of my level by level score so everyone can have something to gauge how they are doing and know where they need to improve their score to keep on track.

feel free to let me know if this list needs more detail with what bosses are on what level. I forgot to write some of the details down as I was playing (i.e. I don't remember what level the boss that "swims around you" is on)

Summary to how I got to 185k:
Level 1 - Turning point
End of level score – 11,060

Level 2 - Hostile Welcome
End of level score – 36,360 (no boss fight)

Level 3 - Hive and Seek
End of level score – 60,030

Level 4 - Last Hope
End of level score - 84,610

Level 5 - Re-entry
End of Level score - 121,030

Level 6 - Gigantomachia
Part 1
Score after mid boss - 153,230 (The boss that doesn't die but just runs away and the level "tricks" you by continuing on and not going to the score summary screen)(P.S. I also missed a bunch of enemies right after this score/boss because I forgot it doesn't go to the summary screen and I was writing my score down when I looked up and the level was still going so I estimate I missed around 500-700 points in this section)

Part 2
Score before Final boss - 169,690
After final boss (Boss with all the lasers and the ring of red Meteorites) - 189,690 You win!


One last thing I did a little differently then what i have seen described is that I tried to ONLY use the Beam power-up exclusively on the Red Meteorites, they give you points and extra power ups. You never know, it may be the difference between 184,960 and 185,010 and I didn't want to take that chance.

==========================
Edit
I didn't mean only use the Beam powerup and forget the rest. what I meant was when you have the Beam power up only use this power up on meteorites. when its used up grab any other power ups and use them as normal. the EMP one is good for knocking out big/dangerous enemies
================================

I hope this helps people out, this can be one of the more annoying achievements out there. If you have any questions or if this worked for you let me know via a comment on this solution or a PM.
Good Luck!!

Difficulty: 6/10
Mode: Online (Co-Op) or Offline
Time Invested: 1 Hour+ (Depending on Skill)
Information: This achievement is Skill dependent.

This method was briefly stated above by ClevelandFan, however I will elaborate a bit on it.

As far as I know, even with a perfect game, 185,000 points cannot be achieved solo on Easy difficultly. It is possible though to earn over 200,000 points playing solo on Medium/Normal difficultly.

If you do not have an adept friend to play with, or do not own a second controller / guitar hero controller, then you will most likely be trying this method.

During my play-through, I do not think I lost a life until level 4, and I didn't lose another life until mid level 5. In total, I died (I think) 4 times, with two being during the final level.

The trick is to fine-tune your ship handling ability, and always kill everything. If I had to estimate, I'd say I ended up killing about 96~97% of all enemies to reach 201,000 or so points. If you aren't killing nearly absolutely all of the ships on the first 2 levels, and/or if you have died at least once, then you should consider restarting, as there is a very narrow cut-off limit. Wasting time to reach the end, and finding out you scored 182,000 points is a total letdown.

Avoiding death isn't too difficult on Normal/Medium difficultly, but it can be challenging to stay focused as the game can become boring after your 3rd or 4th try - and almost put you in a daze.

It's best to practice as much as you can/want, and memorize everything possible (boss methods, enemy placement, etc) an hour or so before your serious run. Practice, then play a different game for half an hour to ensure you aren't bored to tears and making mistakes that could easily have been avoided. Just be sure when you do go back to Aegis Wing to start your serious run, you spend a minute or two making sure to re-familiarize yourself with the nuances of the controls!

Lastly, goodluck! A lot of this method can come down to reaction time and making sure you don't leave any enemies behind. Thanks for reading my solution!

Hey you can struggle getting this achievement on your own reading all these posted guides OR you can message on XBL "Salut Allo" to help you... Your choice but he is a FREAKIN BEAST and he has helped many of gamers including me get this achievement for several years now.. I couldnt believe how easy he made that achievement seemed...

Most of the other guides are pre patch, but if you at least have 2 controllers (if not 2 players) this one isnt as tough as it's made out to be. The main trick is getting to the boss on the next to last level and farming drops+destroying the meteors with lasers when possible. Taking care not to hit/kill the boss, farm til you have about 120k points and you should be able to hit 185k without much of a problem after the final boss. Big ups to TechnoHunter99 for helping to figure this out and noting the score requirement at said boss.

Solo: just attach the alt onto your ship at the beginning of each level, pick up shields with the alt, offensive power ups with your ship. While u really dont *need* to use the alt ship, it provides extra protection and an increase in drops.

2 player: can be a bit trickier due to lag, so the person not shooting should seperate->pick up shields->reattach in order to prevent the shooter from picking them up. The benefits of doing it with an actual 2nd player is you can kill the bosses quicker. Also in the last couple levels, some things might hit the fan and it's easy to lose a bunch of lives quick. So long as 1 of you stays alive, the other can be brought back. This obviously applies to using 2 controllers solo, but makes life a lot easier not having to actually juggle your controllers.