Thanks!
I really suspect that the reviewer played the first sector with all three ships and called it a day, not realizing there was more to the game. It's certainly not easy, although I've won with all three ships. Wish I could contact him and figure out what happened.
I recommend Blade as an introductory ship. It has most of the Dart's movement, but managing your tension becomes more important, and there's more room for error due to the added defense. The key to surviving past the first couple sectors (which you can easily win by beelining to the exit) is to use evasive maneuvering to avoid enemy fire. Don't travel in a straight line if you can help it: the enemies are decent at tracking you, but they have trouble with a moving target.
In sector 6, the enemies are overwhelming, and you basically want to fly in circles until you can make them crash into each other. Here's a shot of my most recent winning run:
By all accounts, it looks like I should die there. There are five ships on the screen between me and the exit, plus an elite Cobra coming from the other direction. The previous turn probably looked a little worse.
The Dart largely plays like the Blade, except you can outrun everything and can't take a hit. The Cobra is a little more interesting, although it tends to be trickier due to your limited options. It does afford you the option of ramming straight through enemy Darts, which is fun. Collision damage is based on remaining health, so you can easily ram through an enemy Blade if you shoot it first.
Thanks again for playing. Hope you get this message -- I know I'm a couple of weeks late in replying.
