The close combat upgrades don't seem all that useful when all the medals pretty much require receiving no damage. Maybe they'll come in useful for getting the last few levels on diamond but I doubt it. The game is great fun and it's rare that I can enjoy repeating levels for a perfect win.
timing is a little hard to get right, but its solvable
5G4,4L3,4L1,4L0,4L4,2L4,1L3,1L2,1L2,2L1,2L1,3L3,3D2,3D3,2A2,4>15B4,0P-1,3P-1,2P2,-1P3,-1P5,1P1,5P3,5P-1,1P1,-1P4,-1