When continuing, the gauge will return to half on all difficulty levels.
*Differences between X-mode and conventional modes
When the light blue gauge is at 1/6, you can hold one shield, and when the gauge is at half, you can hold one more, for a maximum of two shields (X-HARD is half and only one).
When hit with a shield, the gauge does not decrease, and you cannot gain additional shields unless you decrease the gauge by activating a hyper or losing your ship.
When you activate a hyper while holding a shield, you get a bonus of 10,000 points (X-NORMAL is 10,000 points with 2 shields remaining, 1,000 points with 1 shield remaining).
When not in hyper mode, the light blue gauge rises when you shoot at an enemy.
