However, there is only one hyper meter that when filled, the player can activate by pressing what would normally be the bomb button. Hypers are built up through large combos, attacking enemies at close range, and collecting green bee medals. The hyper gauge is the primary method of scoring and has been changed from the previous game as well.
Once revealed, the bee medals will alternate between yellow and green until the player collects them. Green bee medals give a meager score bonus but massively increase the Hyper Gauge. Yellow bee medals give a large score bonus that increases the more you collect without losing a life. There are now 2 types of bee medals, which are still revealed with the laser like in previous games. Strong style (Introduced in Black Label and Version 1.5) gives the player max firepower as well as bombs but makes the game slightly harder. Normal is the same amount of firepower as it is the Bomb style, but Boost doubles the firepower and gives you a larger laser. Power style replaces bombs with a Normal/Boost system, where pressing a third button on the controller/joystick would change your style of firepower. To compensate, your firepower is somewhat small.
Bomb style, recommended for beginners gives you a stock of 3 bombs that can be increased upon death, the MAXIMUM bonus upon obtaining bombs past your maximum capacity, an autobombing skill that deploys a weak bomb in case you get hit, and bomb powerups that increase your stock of bombs. In addition to all 3 ships seen in the original Donpachi and Dodonpachi, there are 3 different ship styles to choose from to suit one's playstyle.