Took me just 3 days to beat the final boss. I'm so happy right now... Despite the tips @Olinser wrote down the game speed was just to fast for me. So I used a some kind different strategy. I've picked Anna (because I like her the most, any other character will do too) with the banana board. Cheats I used: heart item, shield item, speed -5%, -10%, -15%, extra heart 1 & 2. Handicaps: Attack -5%, -10%, -15%, no death bomb and pacifista.
Even though I used the two items I got really unlucky but beat the boss anyway. The item cheat is a bit of RNG but if you are lucky the boss will drop a heart or two.
Now going for easy mode and shoot the sh*t out of everything...
Some of these are beyond my ability, but at least I can slog through the 10K enemy quest. Any advice on a level that provides scads of enemies to rack up the kill count?
I think Level 4-2 (Icecube Avalanche) might be the sweet spot. It has 332 enemies, which means about three rounds for every 1,000 you need. At about 2 minutes per round, that's not too bad.
Well, after getting the 10K Quest, I would like to register a complaint --
I think these quests are mislabeled. For example, this 10K quest is shown as "Easy" but it's going to be a while before a player gets this one. At roughly 100-150 enemies per level for most levels, that will be from 90 to 100 plays to 10K. It's not necessarily difficult, but it seems like this would be better listed as a "medium" quest ... especially since (with cheats) you could beat the 10-5 Boss for the medium "Space Clear" quest in only 50 plays.
The 10M quest seems more than just "Hard," since only 52 people have completed it; I'm not the strongest player in the world, but that seems a fairly "impossible/insane" one for me.
I recommend playing earlier stages(e.g. world 1) for kills if you are really so inclined to get kills, with maxed weapons and maxed bullet speeds for faster spawn times. Enemies tend to get tougher hp-wise for higher worlds.
On the other hand, if you're actually trying to earn ranks on stages, the 10k enemies is ridiculously easy. Unless you're superbly good at this game, you will be repeating stages a looooooooot.
As a fun fact, doing 1-1 with all 13 diamonds (and 210% handicaps) will earn you 10.5 M points. Max handicapping (plus extra bombs) is actually a really good way to 3 star a lot of early stages (~5 diamonds needed). Unfortunately, this strategy doesn't work well with bosses unless you're really good.
Re 10M point Quest: Do what random suggests and use the chap who shoots with sabers (Matt?), paired with his garish pink outfit that increases your grab range, and use the sub weapon with a lock on sword. Easy to wipe out most of the waves, but I always die on the bonus stage. More practice for me!
I realize that getting 10K is fairly easy in technique, but it is long quest no matter how you do it. For the length alone it should be classified as "medium."
@popington - Well you basically have 4 ways to increase your score
1) Are you playing on Heavenly? If not then you need to be
2) Make sure you are picking up ALL of the coin drops
3) Do NOT use the 'No Bullet Clear' handicap. Yes, it gives you a bigger multiplier, but the huge point boost from all of the shots being cleared is worth much more
4) Put on one of the 'increased graze radius' items and graze more bullets.