Sin and Punishment

[StrangenessDSS]

Theoretically, I shouldn't have to use the sword much, since I can shoot most everything. In practice, I end up using it a lot. It's invaluable for getting things you miss, especially when your aim is off from being nervous.

Also, remember that your shots can hit targets you're not aiming at. If there's a lone projectile below a row of others, sweeping along the row will usually take out the lower projectile as well as the others.

And, of course, moving from side to side will help you move the aiming cursor faster.

For a detailed strategy...

The first wave is a simple meteor shower. It's also simple to take out, just spin the aiming cursor around and around.

Next the little blue things start appearing, in groups of three on each side. Since they move further apart, the best way to take them out is to get them right as they appear, but it can be tricky if you don't finish the first wave immediately. If you don't get them then, you have enough time to still get them without too much trouble, if you have good enough aim. At the end of this wave, twelve or sixteen additional blue things will appear in the middle, but even if you're a little behind, you should be able to take out most of the middle while moving from side to side.

Don't worry too much about getting all of the top row of the blue things. Before they fall down too far, four green explosive things appear. Sweep from right to left along the four, and you should take out anything left in the top row, although you might not if all four are left (but you should then be able to get them with the sword).

Then a bunch of blue things will start appearing, in a diagonal pattern moving from right to left. Shoot while moving right, then stand beneath the rightmost column and aim at the top of it; your shots will take out anything below as well. Move to the left as more appear, perhaps wiggling the cursor a bit to take out any last things that appear to your right, and this wave is easy.

Unfortunately, a bit before those stop appearing, you'll see four LONG rows of blue things appear. Keep at your previous pattern for a bit, since the diagonal pattern is still coming, and if you don't you'll be left with a dense cloud of projectiles on the left side. You'll also take out the leftmost part of the first two rows. Then sweep back and forth along the four rows, and, well, hope you hit everything. If you don't, and you probably won't, good luck getting the remainder with stray bullets as you sweep back along, or the sword if you're desperate (and close).

As if that weren't hard enough, six green things will appear above you as you're doing that. They're not too hard to take out before they explode, if you can take out the rows of blue things quickly, but that's probably the biggest "if" in getting the Perfect Bonus.

After that things get a bit easier. Columns of four blue things appear on alternating sides, with a few meteors in the middle. Shoot the blue things in the order they appear, and get the meteors while moving back and forth.

Then a lot of meteors start appearing in the middle, but they aren't any harder to take out than the first ones were. You'll also see two long diagonal lines of blue things moving in from each corner; just sweep down along the right line (don't worry about the few at the top), sweep up along the left line (making sure to get everything), and then get any of the right line that you missed.

A few moments later, three tornado cocoons spiral in; the first will appear in the middle, the second on the left, and the third on the right. Shoot the first, shoot the second, then move over to the right and jump to slash the last. Easy.

Then two huge flaming red things will appear; just slice, dodge, and slice. Easy.

Three more red things go flying by; they don't do any damage, but you can slice two of them.

Then it starts again. If you've gotten everything, you should win a few moments before the four long rows of those annoying tiny blue things appear.

A couple thoughts on points:

If you don't slice any of the last three huge red things, you should end up with more hits. But since you'll be getting over 2500 points for every point of damage you do, I would guess it's better to slice them. I haven't tested the numbers yet, though, so I'm just assuming that right now.

You can also get more hits by letting the green things explode and then destroying the four small blue things they shoot out. But I haven't tried to do that purposefully yet. You'd have to if you want to reach the 360 Valgar has listed as the target HIT; I get around 340 now.

If anyone wants it, I could record a video of how I get the Perfect Bonus. Having a capture card is handy. ^_^

[Ryan]

If you don't slice any of the last three huge red things, you should end up with more hits. But since you'll be getting over 2500 points for every point of damage you do, I would guess it's better to slice them. I haven't tested the numbers yet, though, so I'm just assuming that right now.

You can also get more hits by letting the green things explode and then destroying the four small blue things they shoot out. But I haven't tried to do that purposefully yet. You'd have to if you want to reach the 360 Valgar has listed as the target HIT; I get around 340 now.

If anyone wants it, I could record a video of how I get the Perfect Bonus. Having a capture card is handy. ^_^

Nice work

I forgot to mention that, but the guide specifically states that it is best to avoid the 3 meteors that pass by. Just as you said, letting the green blobs explode then jumping and slicing the 4 green orbs will give you more hits (does it do less damage too?). The first wave of green orbs (single row of 4), I only leave one alone. I'm still figuring out what would be best for the 6 (2 rows of 3), but I've found you can leave 3 of them to explode.

Nice find on the Earth Eyelid rear engines, I did not know that. Now I have to make a new strategy for that one

[Mister DAN]

I would love to see a perfect bonus vid, if you have time... It would probably help me a lot

Great idea with the green exploding things.... although I'm certainly not ready to experiment with those...

[StrangenessDSS]

Perfect Bonus video here.

Those fireballs have a full 20 HP - with the amount of kills you'll have at the end of a normal game, slicing one would give you about 60,000 points. I don't care what the guide says, there's no way a couple extra hits is better than that.

Gods, that video was a pain to record... I'd had some problems with my computer freezing while recording things before, but I hadn't been able to figure them out, and it seems it's just gotten a lot worse. That's actually the third Perfect Bonus I managed to get, but it froze partway through recording the first two (for whatever reason, the game image and sound keeps working even when everything else freezes). And since I wasn't playing too well at first, I must have rebooted more than a dozen times while trying for that... damnit, why can't I get it to just work? ;_;

[AstroBlue]

AWESOME!

You basically play it exactly like I do... just with more precision

The only thing I noticed is that around 20 seconds in, you aim for the highest green blobs in the rows and the bullets take out the lower blobs on the way up. Didn't know that, I usually zig-zag up and kill'em one by one.

Can you do that with the rows of green blobs 28 seconds in? Or is that too much area to cover?

[StrangenessDSS]

I'd tried that a couple times, but it's just too much area to cover. By the time the top row appears, the bottom is too low. It is possible to move back and forth taking out two rows at a time, but I haven't experimented with that too much yet. You can't take them out quite as fast like that. Hmm... I probably ought to go try taking out the first two rows as I've been doing, and then aiming up/walking sideways for the last two.

Edit: No luck. You can do it that way, but it seems just as hard as any other way. There just doesn't seem to be an easy way to clear that section.

How does the brightness look on that video? My monitor is somewhat screwed up, so I don't know how it looks on a regular monitor.

[Mister DAN]

Great vid... VERY helpful.

I didn't know that the white ice cocoons couldn't hit the earth at all to get the bonus... That looks to be one of the most difficult parts, correct me if I'm wrong...

[AstroBlue]

Great vid... VERY helpful.

I didn't know that the white ice cocoons couldn't hit the earth at all to get the bonus... That looks to be one of the most difficult parts, correct me if I'm wrong...

No, you're not wrong, they're usually the only thing standing between me and a perfect bonus.

[StrangenessDSS]

The cocoons? But... those are the easiest part! Well, those and the fireballs.

Once you know where they're going to appear, they're not hard to kill in the second or two you have after they appear.

[Mister DAN]

Alright... Two questions for you Strangeness...

#1: Is it worth grabbing all the yellow crystals when going for the perfect bonus, or is it too much of a risk? I noticed you missed some. Probably because they were worth so little since you were in practice mode...

#2: What condition is your N64 controller in? My analog stick is still working pretty well, but it is a relatively archaic design compared to sticks on newer controllers. Yours must be working pretty well...