Which weapons are your best choices ? I love lighting (autotarget) + laser (hit everything on a line) for hero and 2x beam for the ship (for strong mobs, the lighting caught the others).
survival mode is ... well, all have been said. When you die, there is so much obstacles you're being revive on ... another obstacle (i lose all my life on 4 successive obstacles). And the strategy becomes : take unlimited jump and just press up in continue, hoping you'll get a heal to continue