Iron Chouquette

Iron Chouquette is your classic vertical shooter. You can pickup powerups which will give you a variety of shots and can also be fired away (as a bomb) to clear the screen of bullets. You earn points by killing enemies, there are no score bonuses in this game.

Powerups

Green - Overall 5/5

    Green does the most shot damage of all the powerups. It is a vertical shot with a small spread from additional powerups. Green provides a lot of power vertically, but does not have the amount of range or spread as other weapons.
  • Standard Shot - Your ship will always fire 1 green shot, if you pick up a green powerup then you will fire 2 shots straight ahead.
  • Additional Shots - If you get 2 or more green powerups, you will do heavy damage. Each additional shot will fire a large spread and strengthen the center bullet. Stocking up on greens is a good strategy.
  • Bomb - The bomb fires a ball straight ahead, it will destroy any enemies in its path but does not cover a large area.

Purple - Overall 4/5

    Purple is the second best powerup, it covers a large area and deals a good amount of damage. When you have purple in your loadout you won't need to spend much time 'aiming' your shots.
  • Standard Shot - A random spray of purple orbs will cover a wide area of the field. Each orb does about the same damage as a single green shot.
  • Additional Shots - 2 purples fire twice the shots, 3 purples fire triple the shots, etc. Stocking up on purples is a good strategy.
  • Bomb - Purple's bomb is a black hole that immediately destroys all enemies on the screen. The only downside is that you will not earn any points for killing enemies with a purple bomb, so only use it to survive.

Yellow - Overall 4/5

    I am always satisfied with a yellow powerup. It does not shoot straight ahead, but covers the wide range and can somewhat be controlled. In the early to middle game, hold the Down Arrow to shoot the yellow shots forward killing many enemies.
  • Standard Shot - Two streams will fire on the side. If you hold Down, the shots will fire forward. If you do not touch anything, they will fire to the sides. If you hold Up, they will fire backward. Enemies caught in the stream will take about the same damage rate as a single green stream.
  • Additional Shots - Additional yelllows will adjust the range of the shots by adding 2 more streams. The shots will be more vertical and wide at the same time. Stocking up on yellows is a good strategy.
  • Bomb - Yellow's bomb hits all enemies on the screen but is pathetically weak. It quickly clears the screen of bullets but does almost no damage to enemies. After you use a yellow bomb, be ready to use your next one as it probably won't do much to save you.

Red - Overall 3/5

    Red is a decent powerup always hitting an enemy, however it doesn't have a strong rate of damage.
  • Standard Shot - A flexible beam will track an enemy and do constant damage. The amount of damage it does is no good compared to green, purple or yellow.
  • Additional Shots - The beam will do more damage, but 2 reds still do not have as strong of damage output compared to a single green, purple or yellow.
  • Bomb - Reds bomb will create an aura around your ship for a few seconds immediately destroying any enemies you come in contact with. You are completely invisible when a red bomb is activated, however you won't earn any points for destroying enemies with your red aura bomb ship. After activating a red bomb, try to stay away from enemies while shooting them so you don't miss any valuable points.

Blue - Overall 2/5

    Blue is not the worst powerup, but it has a very low damage output.
  • Standard Shot - Two blue missiles will fire from your ship and track onto an enemy. They have a slow rate of fire and do not do much damage.
  • Additional Shots - Each additional blue will fire 2 more shots from your ship.
  • Bomb - About 10 missiles will fire from your ship and bullets on the screen will be cleared (as with all bombs). The bomb is a bit stronger than yellow but don't count on it to destroy a strong enemy.

Pink - Overall 1/5

    Pink is primarily a speed boost. A tail of damage will come from your ship but don't count on it to destroy anything. Faster speed is nice, but having a high damage output is what will get you through the end-game.
  • Standard Shot - Your speed will slightly increase and enemies who get right next to you or behind you will take a tad bit of damage.
  • Additional Shots - Your speed will increase further and that tad bit of damage will double to two tad bits of damage! If you get your hand on two pinks, quickly bomb one because that super speed will completely screw up your maneuvering.
  • Bomb - Though pink doesn't have offer much in the standard damage department, it has one of the best bombs in the the game. A giant beam will fire from your ship allowing you to cover the entire screen if you move. It will not instantly destroy enemies, but it does enough damage to quickly destroy most. One downside is that you may not see enemy bullets fired at you after you initiated the bomb, so watch out!

Extra Slot - Overall 5/5

    An extra slot will allow you to carry one extra powerup. If you get one of these, don't hesitate to keep a red, blue or pink in your loadout.

Tips

Try to get green, purple or yellow powerups. It doesn't matter so much if you stock 3 of the same color or a combination, I have done well with all green, purple and yellow layouts.

In the early game, stay at the bottom of the screen in the middle. Later on (when you see Horizontal Rectangles) you will want to move up a bit to avoid enemies coming from the back.

Do not look at the enemies, keep your eyes around your ship watching bullets. If you look at the enemies you will not be able to see bullet-free paths to help you survive. Dodging bullets is more important than killing enemies.

All enemies have a pattern, keep playing to learn those patterns.

Save your bombs as means to clear the screen of bullets when there are no paths for you to escape or when things get too crazy to control.

'Mines' are enemies that explode into a spray of bullets when you destroy them. Shoot them as quickly as possible to make that spray wide by the time it reaches you. It will be hard to dodge those bullets if the mines are destroyed close to your ship, avoid shooting if they are close to you.

As stated before; green, purple and yellow are the powerups you want in your loadout. Think ahead to ensure you can get those in your loadout if the opportunity arises. For example, if you have a green and a blue, then a aurple pops up: fire off the Blue to make room for a potential green purple or yellow that will hopefully show up.

Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG8KJ_RgU0w