I'm not going to apologize for the game being hard, its that type of game, in that type of style. If you wanted to be hand-held on how to play then you've not played the arcade games of the 80's. As it is, I think it rather easy and requires a certain level of skill, skill that is obtained once you've played it a few times. Since everyone is spoiled for choice these days, and expect to complete a game in few hours; when a game comes along and kicks their arse it immediately must be bad or too hard?
I made the bullets what they are, the colours are what they are, lucky you haven't seen the psychedelic levels in the 20's.
Go here http://users9.nofeehost.com/huhugrub if here you want to use the
keyboard since the iframe doesn't look to support it. Otherwise use the mouse.
The only advise I can give is use your shield to gather power-ups and not just as a defense. The power-ups are the key to game progression...